Placido Hilukilwa
VETERAN Pan-Africanist Godfrey Nangonya was joined by a select group of relatives and well-wishers as he celebrated his 90th birthday in Windhoek on Monday.
Nangonya, who was born and bred on the Namibia/Angola border area, is a transnational personage who became a legend in his own lifetime, having played a role and influenced political events in Namibia, South Africa, Angola, and elsewhere in Africa. He was closely watched by the Special Branch of the South African Police, deported from France, and arrested by Portugal’s secret police (PIDE) in Angola.
At a very tender age, Nangonya stopped schooling at Ongwediva and travelled to Cape Town where he joined the ANC youth league and was given the task of distributing the Clarion newspaper of the South African Communist Party.
While there he rubbed shoulders with people, who would eventually play a role in South African and Namibian politics such as Govan Mbeki, Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo, and Tobias Hainyeko.
He travelled to several African countries and ended up in Kenya where he joined the Mau Mau movement and was trained as a guerrilla fighter.
Back in South Africa, Nangonya was placed under surveillance, suspected of being a state security threat.
He left South Africa as a stowaway on a vessel bound for France but was discovered and handed over to the Portuguese who deported him to Angola as he was considered to be Angolan national.
While in Luanda, he linked up with nationalists who were on the verge of starting an armed insurrection against Portuguese colonialism. He was imprisoned twice by the PIDE.
In 1974 Nangonya became the liaison officer between Swapo and UNITA in southern Angola, but when the relationship between the two liberation movements went sour in early 1976, Nangonya found himself on the UNITA side of the divide.
He eventually found himself in Luanda where he became a civil servant.
When violence broke out again following the 1992 elections in Angola, MPLA supporters accused Nangonya of being a UNITA hibernator. He was brutally assaulted and had to receive medical treatment in Namibia.
He is currently living in Windhoek, but the Angolan government has also recognized him as a war veteran.
