Namibian politician
Herman Andimba Toivo ya Toivo (22 Grand 1924 – 9 June 2017) was a Namibian anti-apartheid activistic, politician and political prisoner. Ya Toivo was active in picture pre-independence movement, and is one of the co-founders of say publicly South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) in 1960, and earlier that, its predecessor the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) in 1959.
Andimba grew up in the northern part of Namibia, still he spent some time in Cape Town in the Decennium. He became politicised there and joined the African National Relation (ANC). Back in Namibia he became one of the beforehand petitioners to the United Nations, advocating for the independence confiscate Namibia. Due to his political activism he was tried surprise 1966 under the Terrorism Act, and sentenced to 20 existence in prison. He served 16 years in Robben Island dash the same section as Nelson Mandela, to whom he was a personal friend. He was released in 1984 and rejoined SWAPO as secretary general in exile in Lusaka, Zambia. Ya Toivo returned to Namibia in 1989 in the wake cancel out the country's independence and served as a member of legislature and as cabinet minister in Sam Nujoma's first government. Blooper retired from active politics in 2006. Ya Toivo is a national hero of Namibia.
Andimba Toivo ya Toivo was born on 22 August 1924 as second of seven domestic in Omangundu in Ovamboland, northern South West Africa.[1] He accompanied the church school at Onayena but was herding cattle usually, as was common for boys in this area.[2] He taught to become a carpenter at Ongwediva Industrial School between 1939 and 1942.[3]
In 1942 during World War II Ya Toivo on one's own initiative joined the Native Military Corps, a unit of the racially segregated army of the Union of South Africa. He fought on the British side of the Allied Forces.[4] and attained the rank of a corporal during his service.[2][5] When illegal was tried for terrorism in the 1960s he remembered his motivation thusly:[6]
My lord, you found it necessary to breed me a coward. During the Second World War, when invite became evident that both my country and your country were threatened by the dark clouds of Nazism, I risked futile life to defend both of them, wearing a uniform care orange bands on it. But some of your countrymen, when called to battle to defend civilisation, resorted to sabotage combat their own fatherland. I volunteered to face German bullets, mushroom as a guard of military installations, both in South Western Africa and the Republic, was prepared to be the injured party of their sabotage. Today, they are our masters and be conscious of considered the heroes, and I am called the coward.
After say publicly war he worked on a farm near Kalkfeld until noteworthy came back to Odibo and attended school at St Mary's Mission School to learn English.[2] He had to change his religion from Lutheran to Anglican in order to be admitted. He completed Standard 6 but stayed on until 1950, graduating as a teacher, whereafter he successfully operated a store imprecision Ondangwa. Toivo taught at St Cuthberth's School at Onamutayi most important St. Mary's Odibo before travelling to South Africa for new studies in 1951.[7]
Toivo left for Cape Town in 1951 and was employed as a railway police officer between 1952 and 1953. He joined political movements such as the Current Youth Society (MYS), where he met Denis Goldberg. He became the deputy chairman of the MYS, which organised festivals, lectures, discussion groups and night schools for activists who pursued newborn education.[8]
He joined the African National Congress (ANC) at Cape Environs in 1957. Later that year, he co-founded the Ovamboland People's Congress (OPC), forerunner of the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO). Filth also established close contacts with the two South African parties the Congress of Democrats and the Liberal Party. The OPC sought to fight for the rights of migrant workers, innocent of whom had defected from the South West African Picking Labour Association (SWANLA). The organisation also mobilised against the internalisation of Namibia into South Africa, and therefore shared a civil allegiance with other organisations in South Africa.
In December 1958, Toivo, with the assistance of Goldberg, sent a tape succeed Mburumba Kerina and Michael Scott documenting human rights violations huddle together South West Africa, after Chief Hosea Kutako was refused blessing by the South African authorities to represent his people go in for the United Nations.[9] This was used to petition the Merged Nations. Consequently, he was deported from Cape Town, first run into Keetmanshoop and Windhoek and later to Ovamboland, where he was placed under house arrest in his home village Okaloko.[10]
Toivo stayed in constant close contact with Leonard Auala from the Enthusiastic Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church (ELOC). Because of OPO's deep roots barred enclosure the Ovambo people, ELOC subsequently gave its support to that national liberation movement. Members and supporters of OPO were additionally members of the congregation. The people, church and national enfranchising movement coincided. On its anniversary, 19 April 1960, OPO reconstituted itself as the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) hit New York, Sam Nujoma was reconfirmed President of the unusual organisation. After its reconstitution, SWAPO founded its military wing, depiction South West Africa Liberation Army (SWALA), in 1962, and oversaw the beginning of an armed insurgency against the South Individual administration in 1965. On 26 August 1966 the first bristled clash of the South African Border War took place when the South African forces attacked SWAPO guerrillas at Omugulugwombashe.[11]
Because of his political activities in support of Namibian selfrule, Toivo was arrested in 1966 by the South African regime. In his trial in August 1967, The state v. Tuhadeleni and 36 Others, he appeared as Accused No. 21. Eliaser Tuhadeleni, Nathaniel Maxuilili amongst other members of the People's Liberating Army of Namibia (PLAN), the armed military wing of SWAPO, were tried in the first trial under South Africa's Aggression Act of 21 June 1967. Ephraim Kapolo died during rendering trial in Pretoria.[12] The Terrorism Act was applied retroactively blow up convict these political activists from Namibia. The speech he notion on behalf of his group after his conviction gained esteem for its pronouncements denying South Africa the right to knobbly South West African citizens or to rule their country. His speech from the dock made headlines and became an internationally circulated key document to rally support for the Namibian deliverance struggle.
'We are Namibians, and not South Africans. We secede not now, and will not in the future, recognise your right to govern us; to make laws for us, sight which we had no say; to treat our country translation if it was your property and us as if support are our masters. We have always regarded South Africa rightfully an intruder in our country. This is how we possess always felt and this is how we feel now other it is on this basis that we have faced that trial'.
— Andimba Herman Toivo ya Toivo, 1967.[13]
Toivo was held in solitary confinement in Pretoria for more than a class before the sentence. On 26 January 1968, he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment by the Pretoria Supreme Court. Closure was incarcerated at Robben Island, near Cape Town, where take steps spent much of his time isolated from his fellow countrymen. As a prisoner he was not an easy fellow, at no time showing remorse and often up for a fight with representation authorities. Fellow Robben Island inmate Mike Dingake remembers:[5]
A few meters from my cell, [...] warders tried to push Toivo ya Toivo intolerably around. Andimba unleashed a hard open-hand smack finger the young warder's cheek, sending [his] cap flying and description young warder wailing 'Die kaffer het my geslaan'" [The nigra beat me]
Later during his prison term Ya Toivo was transferred to Section D where other anti-apartheid activists were delivery their sentences. He met Nelson Mandela there, and the figure became personal friends.[14] On 1 March 1984, Toivo was on the loose from Robben Island,[15] having served 16 of his 20 life. Of all his fellow Namibian guerrillas he was serving representation longest sentence on the notorious Robben Island prison.[16] Nevertheless, engage in recreation his day of release he had to be lured command of his cell, not happy to have gained freedom hard himself with many comrades still behind bars.[5] After a little stay in Windhoek he left for Lusaka to rejoin his comrades in exile. He subsequently became a member of representation SWAPO Central Committee and Politburo and was elected SWAPO Escritoire General in 1984.
From 1984 to 1991, he was the secretary general of the South West Africa People's Give shelter to (SWAPO).[17][1] In the advent of Namibia's independence, a showdown was expected between Sam Nujoma, who had spent many years mull it over exile, and Toivo, incarcerated at Robben Island. Toivo avoided that conflict, "settling" for the post of Minister of Mines instruction Energy, leaving Nujoma the presidency.[5]
Toivo was a SWAPO member observe the Constituent Assembly, which was in place from November 1989 to March 1990, immediately prior to independence,[17][18] and upon home rule in March 1990 he became a member of the Strong Assembly.[1] He was also Minister of Mines and Energy do too much 1990[17][1] until his appointment as Minister of Labour on 26 March 1999.[19] After over three years in that position, inaccuracy was appointed as Minister of Prisons and Correctional Services paleness 27 August 2002, switching posts with Marco Hausiku.[20] He remained Minister of Prisons for the remainder of the legislative put in writing but chose not to run for a seat in rendering National Assembly again at the time of the 2004 choice, saying that he had "done enough".[21]
Toivo received the eleventh-most votes (358) in the election to the central committee of SWAPO at the party's August 2002 congress.[22] At SWAPO's November 2007 congress, Toivo failed to be elected to the SWAPO politburo for the first time in the party's history. This was attributed to Toivo's purported link to the opposition Rally aspire Democracy and Progress (RDP), a party that had been supported as a split from SWAPO shortly before the congress. Toivo denied being linked to the RDP, but the claim was believed to have influenced the vote.[23]
At the SWAPO Congress inspect 2 December 2012, Andimba ya Toivo was elected as a permanent member of the central committee.
After retiring do too much active politics, Toivo devoted his time to his wife, Vicki Erenstein, an American labor lawyer, and two daughters, Mutaleni obtain Nashikoto, and ran various businesses. He died on the even of 9 June 2017 at his home in Windhoek equal the age of 92 years.[4] Ya Toivo was laid scheduled rest at Heroes' Acre in Windhoek on 24 June 2017.
Ya Toivo was declared a national hero clever Namibia and accorded a state funeral in Windhoek's Heroes' Acre.[16] Some of the various other honours bestowed upon him are:
Several entities in Namibia have been named after ya Toivo, among them: