There were continued protests at schools and colleges in Namibia in the second half of 1987. Many took place against a background of mounting concern over the role of the SADF in education programmes as part of its 'hearts and minds' programme.
NANSO The role of the SADF was one of the central issues raised at the third annual congress of the Namibian National Students' Organisation (NANSO) in Windhoek in July. Attended by over 500 delegates, it was the organisation's largest congress to date, testifying to its growing influence at schools and colleges. Over the previous two years NANSO had been involved in several struggles at schools.
In the keynote address NANSO president Paul KALENGA called for the transformation of NANSO 'from a school organisation' to one which actively 'participated in the total liberation struggle of the country'. The conference called on teachers to 'stop being used as instruments by the colonial state to indoctrinate and brainwash the minds of our students by allowing and passively accepting military activities such as cadets in our schools'. Resolutions adopted at the congress expressed concern at interference by police and soldiers at schools and reaffirmed support for the immediate implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 435.
MILITARISATION In October NANSO and the Council of Churches in Namibia organised a northern region 'Student Council Consultation'. It provided a forum for student councils at 20 schools in northern Namibia to discuss problems common to the region. These centred on the proximity of SADF bases to schools and the 'hearts and minds' campaign of paramilitary cultural organisations such as Etango. Delegates called for the withdrawal of armed forces from the region.
Between July and October there were several protests at the activities of the army at schools in the north of the territory. In July there were reports in the local press that Koevoet and Etango were supplying guns to children at secondary schools in the Ogandjera and Etalakelo areas. It was not clear from the reports who the recipients were. However, the issue sowed division in the student body and led to student strikes at some schools.
Students at the Ponhofi Secondary, which was the target of SADF attacks in March, drew up a letter in September demanding the withdrawal of a nearby army base at Ohangwena. The students rejected the notion that the base was there to protect them from SWAPO, saying they regarded SWAPO as freedom fighters.
In another letter which appeared in the press, a pupil at the Valombola Technical Institute complained that in June and July the school soccer field had been used for training by members of a nearby Koevoet camp at Ongweduva, and that the school kitchen had been used to store meat for the unit.
KAVANGO BANTUSTAN Similar reports from the Kavango bantustan pointed to SADF intervention in schools across the territory. Pupils at the Rundu secondary school stated that the majority of teachers at the school were the wives of SADF and Koevoet members. According to the pupils, children were sponsored by the army to participate in song festivals. The choir at the school had been set up and sponsored by 202 Battalion and the Ezuva cultural movement attached to the SADF.
On 6 November Koevoet members went on the rampage following a demonstration led by students from Rundu Secondary School. The students, supported by local residents, were protesting at the mysterious death of a Kavango bantustan employee. In the evening police raided a cuca shop, assaulting two women assistants, looting the stock and beating up the owners. Several neighbouring home owners were attacked, of whom at least three required hospital treatment.
Two youngsters, Mauno HAUSIKU and Joseph KALICKI, were arrested and held to appear in court on 16 November charged with malicious damage to property, namely a Casspir armoured vehicle.
The next day men in army uniform entered the dormitories at Rundu Secondary School while the students were at lunch. They tore up posters and other material relating to the demonstration.
In October there were signs that the authorities were responding to increased NANSO activity in the north of the country with a smear campaign. There had earlier been a similar smear campaign against an independent school run by the Council of Churches in the Caprivi bantustan, emanating from the SADF-backed organisation Namwi. Students of the Manyuni Secondary School in Katima Mulilo were summoned to a meeting where the school committee chairman informed them that NANSO had plans to burn down the school. At a later meeting, a schools inspector told students that NANSO was a SWAPO front, seeking to engage students in activities furthering the aims of SWAPO. Also in October a SWATF news release accused NANSO of being involved in an incident at the Oshigambo Secondary School where a group of pupils was allegedly 'abducted' by SWAPO as part of a recruitment drive for its military wing, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN). NANSO denied that it had any links with PLAN and rejected the allegation as 'a malicious smear campaign'.
HIGHER EDUCATION Student organisation and protests continued at Namibia's principal institute of tertiary education, the Academy in Windhoek, where NANSO was recognised by the university authorities after a three-year campaign. In August 1987 a student mass meeting resolved that the Academy should withdraw all its sports teams from the Central Sports League (an official body), because it contained teams based on political and 'ethnic selection'. The teams also included members of the police and SADF.
In October students organised a 200-strong demonstration against an attempt to oust an academic known for her support of NANSO. Prof Annemarie Heywood – a senior lecturer in English who had reached retirement age – had not been offered a renewal of contract although such practice is usual. As part of their campaign, the students had collected a petition of 478 signatures demanding that her contract be extended. The authorities eventually renewed her contract for one year.
