Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

IN view of South Africa's decision not to prosecute chemical and biological warfare mastermind Dr Wouter Basson, Namibia has requested its South African counterpart for his docket and court proceedings reports to make a decision on the matter.

Dr Basson, dubbed Dr Death, was acquitted on charges that he helped commit war crimes in pre-independence Namibia, Swaziland, Mozambique and London.

Charges that Dr Basson was involved in the poisoning of 200 Swapo detainees in an internment camp and other five detainees at a military base were among the 46 charges dropped in 2002.

On Monday, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana met her South African counterpart, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Brigitte Mabandla, during which this issue came up.

Sacky Shangala, Special Adviser to Iivula-Ithana told New Era yesterday that Namibia wanted to look into the documentation on the case, investigate the matter and take a decision.

Although he said the ministry was in a position to determine the way forward, it was important "that closure be brought to the matter".

The National Prosecuting Authority recently said it could not prosecute Basson, as it was not possible in legal terms because he had already been acquitted.

Dr Basson was acquitted in 2002 of charges ranging from murder, conspiracy, fraud and drug trafficking amid protests even from Namibia, which at that time said the matter would not rest until justice was done.

"For us the matter will not rest until we see justice," said Theo-Ben Gurirab, who was Minister of Foreign Affairs then.

Gurirab added, "Basson's acquittal was a scandalous and monumental travesty of justice."

Aside from the Wouter Basson issue, the issue of the mass graves which have been discovered in the Ohangwena Region also came up in view of the fact that President Hifikepunye Pohamba has asked for forensic experts from South Africa.

Safety and Security Minister, Peter Tsheehama told the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday that Pohamba had sent a letter asking for help in conducting the investigations.

Shangala said the ministry fully supported the move by the President because the country would require assistance in tracing the identities of the victims.

The mass grave issue, added Shangala, should be handled in a suitable way for the sake of the people lying in the graves and also for the relatives' sakes.

"We are taking a cautious approach as there are still lots of things that have to be undertaken," said the adviser.

According to the South African Press Agency, Mabandla said it was too early to link the graves to Basson.

So far, reports the Namibia Press Agency (Nampa), seven mass graves have been discovered in the Ohangwena Region. Workers of the Road Contractors Company, who are constructing and expanding oxidation ponds at Eenhana, more than a week ago uncovered the first grave.

One of the two latest mass graves that were discovered on Monday contained bones, skulls and military uniforms such as those worn by Swapo Plan combatants during the liberation struggle, while the other one contained human remains inside closed body bags. Contacted for comment on the meeting between the two ministries, South African High Commissioner, Timothy Maseko said although the meeting was part of the ongoing consultation between the two ministries considering that the two governments were the latest to attain their freedom, the mass grave issue might have come up.

"I would not say that the visit was solely to do with the mass graves, and I would not say it did not come up," said Maseko, adding: "It is an issue of interest to the Ministry of Justice."

He said he presumed that it came up because there was interest in the identification of the victims in the graves. Maseko noted that there was great expectation especially on the part of parents who lost their sons and daughters during that time, and it was a social responsibility on the part of the Government to inform the families about what happened.

The South African diplomat also said the two countries have warm bilateral relations from the highest office of the land (President), right down to ministerial level in education, agriculture and health among others.

At ministerial level for instance, the justice ministries would discuss how to run the ministries and other issues of prosecution, as well as personnel.

Both countries, Namibia and South Africa are faced with crimes of the apartheid regime, with South Africa still missing people who are believed to have been buried on farms.

Maseko reiterated his earlier statement to the press that his country would offer assistance to Namibia should there be any need.

Meanwhile, a South African weekly newspaper has reported that a former South African Defence Force (SADF) soldier has come forward with details about the apartheid army's "execution-style" shootings of opponents in April 1989.

The Sunday Sun newspaper quoted former apartheid soldier Michael Jacobs as saying that 56 former guerrillas of Swapo's armed wing, Plan, were butchered by the notorious Koevoet unit at Ombalantu along the Namibia/Angola border on Sunday, April 28, 1989.

He told the newspaper that the 56 bodies were buried in a mass grave. Jacobs, whose SADF member number was 80579945BW, served in Namibia from December 1985 to May 1989, the newspaper stated.

He said the recent uncovering of mass graves in the Ohangwena Region is "just the tip of the iceberg".

Apart from Eenhana, other areas where mass grave spots have been identified by the public, police and the army are Okakwa and Omungelume.

Jacobs told the Sunday Sun that some of the SADF members who took part in that operation in Ombalantu are serving in the new South African National Defence Force (SANDF), while others are in the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Peter Stiff, the author of a book entitled The Covert War, which is about the Koevoet operations in Namibia between 1979 and 1989, says for the Namibian Government to plead ignorance on the recently discovered mass graves in Eenhana is ridiculous.

Stiff says when the UN ordered that post-mortem examinations be conducted on all bodies, that is when these mass graves could have happened.

Stiff has written extensively about the wars in Southern Africa leading up to independence. He witnessed the events that occurred which led to the nine-day war between Swapo soldiers and SADF soldiers.

The discovery of the mass graves has got everybody talking. But no one seems to know what happened.

Still, everybody seems to agree that those human remains found were of Swapo people. For Stiff, who has spent time writing about Namibia's history, "this is all nonsense".

He says this could be traced back to the 1988 New York Accord between South Africa, Angola and Cuba that allowed Namibia's independence to come into effect. This meant that Swapo troops had to be withdrawn to Angola, the SA army to their bases and police counter-insurgency units patrol the border.