Eliaser Inamutwika Noah Tuhadeleni, ''
nom de guerre
A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war.
In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...
'': Kaxumba kaNdola (1 January 1918 – 28 November 1997) was a Namibian anti-
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 ...
activist, guerrilla fighter, and
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...
. He was one of the co-founders of the
Ovamboland People's Congress in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
,
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 ...
, and became one of the first participants in the Namibian War of Independence. Tuhadeleni also took part in the battle of
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 ...
, which was the first battle of the
Namibian War of Independence
The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...
.
Tuhadeleni evaded arrest but was eventually caught and sent to Pretoria Central Prison, where he was charged under the
Terrorism Act of 1967. He was tried with other Namibians in the Pretoria Terrorism Trial from September 1967 to February 1968 and was sentenced to life imprisonment 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 ...
, but was released in 1985. He died in November 1997.
Early life
Kaxumba kaNdola was born in Omatangela village, Ongenga Constituency, in the northern part of Namibia, a year after the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
-
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 ...
n forces conquered the
Oukwanyama
Oukwanyama (''Uukwanyama'' in the neighbouring Oshindonga dialect) is a traditional kingdom of the Ovambo people in what is today northern Namibia and southern Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Centr ...
kingdom. His father, Lyaalala ya Tuhadeleni, was one of the senior headmen of Oukwanyama King
Mandume ya Ndemufayo
Mandume ya Ndemufayo (1894 – 6 February 1917) was the last king of the Oukwanyama, a subset of the Ovambo people of southern Angola and northern Namibia. Ya Ndemufayo took over the kingdom in 1911 and his reign lasted until 1917 when he died of ...
. Kaxumba kaNdola's wife was Priskila Ndahambelela Tuhadeleni, and they had seven children together. The Tuhadeleni household is based in Omanyoshe village in
Endola Constituency
Endola is an electoral constituency in the Ohangwena Region of Namibia, on the border of Angola. It had 14,100 registered voters . The constituency covers an area of and contains numerous settlements, including part of Ongha. The constituency o ...
,
Ohangwena Region
Ohangwena is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Eenhana. Major settlements in the region are the towns Eenhana and Helao Nafidi as well as the self-governed village of Okongo and the proclaimed settlements Ongha, Ongenga and O ...
.
Political career
In 1943, Kaxumba kaNdola got involved in political activities as a member of the Mandume Movement. He was involved in a workers' strike at the Kranzberg Mine, near
Omaruru. Kaxumba closely worked with the Anglican priest
Theophilus Hamutumbangela, writing petitions and sending them to the colonial administration and the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
, complaining about the ill-treatment of migrant workers.
In the mid-1950s, Kaxumba left Namibia for South Africa. He was one of the first Namibians to work in Cape Town through the contract labour system. He became a member of the "Barber Shop Crew," which was instrumental in forming the
Ovamboland People's Congress (OPC) in 1957. The following year, the leader of OPC,
Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, sent a petition to the United Nations through
Mburumba Kerina
Mburumba Kerina (born William Eric Getzen; 6 June 1932 – 14 June 2021) was a Namibian politician and academic. He was a co-founder of SWAPO, NUDO, and FCN, and the founder of a host of smaller political parties. For independent Namibia, he w ...
and Rev.
Michael Scott Michael Scott, Michael Scot, or Mike Scott may refer to:
Academics
* Michael Scot (1175 – c. 1232), mathematician and astrologer
* Michael L. Scott (born 1959), American academic and computer scientist
* Mike Scott, British linguist and designer ...
, based in the United States, complaining about human rights abuses in the contract labour system and the unlawful occupation of South West Africa by the apartheid government of South Africa. This led to a mass deportation of Namibian contract workers from Cape Town. Kaxumba was one of those deported from the city.
In 1959, the OPC was formally constituted into the
Ovamboland People's Organization
The Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) was a nationalist organization that existed between 1959 and 1960 in South West Africa (present day Namibia). The aim of the organization was to end the South African colonial administration, and the plac ...
(OPO) by
Jacob Kuhangua
Jacob Kuhangua (1933–?) was a Namibian nationalist and anti-colonial activist who played a key role in the pre-independence movement. He was a founding member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in 1960 and served as its fi ...
and
Sam Nujoma
Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma ( ; 12May 19298February 2025) was a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first president of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and t ...
in
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 ...
, and Kaxumba became one of its leaders in
Ovamboland
Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan and later a non-geographic ethnic-based second-tier authority, the Representative Authority of the Ovambos, in South West Africa (present-day Namibia).
The apartheid government stat ...
, where he held meetings with local people known as ''Oyoongi ya Kaxumba'' ''("Kaxumba's rallies")''. He used these meetings to mobilize and educate them about colonial resistance. Following the transformation of OPO into the
South West Africa People's Organization
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 ...
(SWAPO) in 1960, many of its leaders went into exile to lobby for support from the international community and to pursue the armed liberation struggle. Kaxumba remained in the country as one of the main leaders. His house was raided multiple times and used for important SWAPO meetings by internal leaders. He eventually went into exile in 1965 to prepare for the armed liberation struggle with the newly created
People's Liberation Army of Namibia
The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) during the S ...
(PLAN). In 1966, when one of the first PLAN guerrilla units arrived in Ovamboland, they stayed at Kaxumba's home for several months before moving off to set up a camp 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 ...
. After the attack on Omugulugwombashe, the South African regime arrested SWAPO leaders, including Andimba Toivo ya Toivo and other members of the PLAN. They searched for Kaxumba for months before they were able to capture him.
He was eventually arrested and taken to Pretoria. He then became Accused No. 1 in the trial The State v. Tuhadeleni and 36 Others under South Africa's Terrorism Act of 21 June 1967.
Ephraim Kapolo died during the trial in Pretoria, while Kaxumba and twenty-nine other Namibians were sentenced to
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 ...
. He was one of those who received a life sentence. When Kaxumba spoke at his trial just before being sentenced to life on Robben Island, he "remained defiant and unbroken." Addressing the court, he said: "David slew Goliath because he had right on his side, and we Namibians have faith that we, too, have right on our side."
Tuhadeleni spent 18 years in prison until his eventual release in 1985. Namibia gained independence on 21 March 1990.
Death
Kaxumba lived to see the independence of Namibia, where he died in November 1997 in
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 ...
.
External links
* JSTOR: Kaxumba Kandola: Man and Myth: The Biography of a Barefoot Soldier by Ellen Ndeshi Namhila
* National Archives of Namibia Fidaid "Terrorism Trial": https://nan.gov.na/documents/522238/526054/Findaid_2-066.pdf/84083019-21da-8cfe-75d1-f14e1f0e1e93
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuhadeleni, Eliaser
1918 births
1997 deaths
Inmates of Robben Island
People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel
Colonial people of German South West Africa
Namibian people imprisoned abroad
Namibian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by South Africa
People paroled from life sentence