Gerson Hitjevi Veii (18 January 1939 – 14 February 2015) was a

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n politician. Veii was founder member of the

South West Africa National Union The South West Africa National Union (SWANU) is a Namibian political party founded in 1959. Most of its members came from the Herero people, while fellow independence movement SWAPO was mostly an Ovambo party. Structure and leadership SWANU ...

(SWANU) and its president from 1968 to 1982. After

Namibian independence The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990. From 1884, Namibia was a German colony: German South West Africa. After the First ...

he was the first governor of

Kunene Region Kunene is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Opuwo, its governor is Vipuakuje Muharukua. The region's name comes from the Kunene River which forms the northern border with Angola. Geography Besides the capital Opuwo, the reg ...

. Veii was born on 18 January 1939 in

Kalkfeld Kalkfeld is a settlement in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It is situated halfway between Omaruru, Namibia, Omaruru and Otjiwarongo on the national road C33 and belongs to the Omatako Constituency, Omatako electoral constituency. The place ...

in central Namibia. He was the first Namibian to be tried under the 1962 Sabotage Act of

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Following a December 1967 speech in Windhoek's

Old Location The Old Location (or as it was known then the Main Location) was an area Apartheid, segregated for Black residents of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was situated in the area between today's suburbs of Hochland Park and Pioneers Park. Histo ...

against the incarceration of

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

leaders in the wake of the military actions at

Omugulugwombashe Omugulugwombashe (also: ''Ongulumbashe'', official: ''Omugulu gwOombashe''; Otjiherero: ''giraffe leg'') is a List of villages and settlements in Namibia, settlement in the Tsandi Constituency, Tsandi electoral constituency in the Omusati Region o ...

he was arrested, convicted of inciting racial hatred, and sentenced to five years in prison. He spent one year in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, and a further four years on

Robben Island Robben Island () is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch language, Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrika ...

. When he was released in 1972 he had developed a brain tumour and several other debilitating health problems. His family suspected that he was the subject of experiments on Robben Island. Veii died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

on 14 February 2015. He was married with eight children. Veil was elected deputy secretary-general of SWANU in 1960. In 1968 while imprisoned on Robben Island he was elected party president ''in absentia'', a position he held until 1982. Following Namibia's independence in 1990 he was appointed first Governor of

. Veil received a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

on 25 February 2015. He was buried at Heroes' Acre near Windhoek, the first card holder of an opposition party to receive this honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veii, Gerson 1939 births 2015 deaths Governors of Kunene Region National heroes of Namibia SWANU politicians Inmates of Robben Island Herero people Politicians from Otjozondjupa Region Namibian rebels