Sustjie mbumba biography

He was drafted to serve in the Second World War, like many Namibians of his generation. Upon his discharge from that war, he became a contract farm worker and experienced first hand the terrible conditions of contract workers. He always said that this played a major role in his decision to get involved in the movement to liberate Namibia.

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His politics have always been rooted in concern for workers and the underprivileged. Andimba then completed his education at Odibo, qualified as a teacher and taught for a while. Thereafter, he moved to South Africa where he worked in several capacities and tried to earn a better living. What transpired in-between and to-date is history as we all know.

However, I would like to take this particular opportunity to confine or rather highlight my reflections on my personal interaction with Andimba. Andimba could be described as a non-assuming and highly principled personality, who had great faith in the cause of his people, and who was an anchor for activism and friends around him. In other words, he was a rallying point, committed to the common good.

This was reflected by his ongoing political activism in northern Namibia when he was deported from South Africa. His home became a mobilizing centre even though the enemy thought that they had demobilised him with their actions. It was reflected in his famous speech during his trial in Pretoria when he told off the South African judge with these famous words:.

We are Namibians and not South Africans. We do not now, and will not in the future, recognise your right to govern us, to make laws for us in which we had no say, to treat our country as if it was your property and us as if you are our masters. It was further reflected in his refusal to comply with prison regulations on Robben Island that would have improved his conditions, because he did not accept their right to imprison him in the first place.

Andimba was arrested in and put on trial in South Africa in with more than 30 Namibians.