By the time Fillemon ‘George’ Nambinga turned 20 years old, he had already survived two missions of no return.
His first was when he was barely 19 and crossed into Namibia in January 1979.
The mission was to infiltrate the Miellie Driehoek (the maze triangle of Tsumeb, Otavi and Grootfontein), with the ultimate aim to target Otjiwarongo.
The mission was to target and sabotage economic-related infrastructure and make life unbearable for the enemy.
Matias ‘Mbulunganga’ Ndakolo, who was the regional commander for the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia’s (Plan) north-eastern front, gave the marching orders.
His orders were also to avenge the Cassinga massacre.
“He said anyone with a gun must be killed; even if they are a child, as long as they have a gun, they must feel Cassinga as well,” recalls Nambinga.
They were in two groups of 12 when they crossed into Namibia. Nambinga’s group was led by ‘Fiilangemo’ and its mission was to infiltrate through Tsumeb, Grootforntein, Kombat, Otavi and ultimately to reach Otjiwarongo. The second group, led by Micheal Cleopas, was to target Otjiwarongo, Okahandja and then Windhoek.
They were escorted into Namibia by commander Martin Nashandi, who took them up to the Tsintsabis-Omangeti area before turning back.
Nambinga and crew spent seven days in the Tsumeb area. They set up camp in the mountainous bush around the town for seven days, while some would go into town to get supplies and make contact with the Swapo network in the town.
Fearing detection, the team then proceeded to Otavi, where they split with the larger group. Namibinga and Matheus went ahead to do reconnaissance work towards Otavi.
The two of them spent about three days there before being joined by three more soldiers, Iiata Kalyenge, Cowboy and Shishani.
When hunger called, the five men decided to slaughter a cow on a farm they were travelling through. Coincidentally, the farmer was bringing salt to the cattle post in his Chevrolet. “We shot the white man and took his G3 assault rifle,” he remembers, adding that the farm worker who accompanied the farm was not touched. They applied Zam-Buk ointment on the cuts he sustained as a result of glass splinters when the guerrilla fighters shot his boss.
As if nothing happened the guerilla fighters continued eating the meat and left the farm afterwards. The farm worker was left behind unharmed. Plan orders were not to touch innocent black civilians. Not too far off, the crew encountered six military motorcycles. An exchange of fire happened, and the guerrillas escaped into the bush. The two incidents happened west of the main road (today’s B1 Road) and they decided to cross eastwards.
After walking for almost a day, they got into farm Orupemberoua.
The guerrillas again killed an ox, and while roasting the meat, they saw a yellow Toyota pickup approaching. Nambinga remembers that the car had a gear lever on the steering wheel.
They shot and killed the white driver of the vehicle and took his Carbine rifle. They then broke the car’s gear lever off and set off without harming the black farm worker who accompanied the slain farmer.
Nambinga remembers that as much as they needed the car to move faster to Otjiwarongo, none of them could drive, so they left the car behind and walked.
They then started walking along the main road, destroying electrical poles as well as parts of the railway line. At some point they saw a Volkswagen Beetle approaching; they shot at it but missed.
“Volkswagen and other sedans were our target, even if it was driven by a civilian. Blacks at the time only drove Ford and Chevrolet pickups,” he stated.
As an explosives expert, Nambinga continued blowing up parts of the powerline outside of Otjiwarongo. As midnight approached, the team decided to go into the township (Orwetoveni) and decided to cross the main road and enter the town from the east. That was a mistake. The guerrillas unknowingly walked to the military base on the outskirts of town.
“We just saw a soldier in a vest and socks walking towards us, and we opened fire,” he remembers. The Plan fighters actually walked themselves to the base’s doorstep.
A fight ensued, and Shishani died there. Kalyenge escaped to Angola alone. Running out of ammunition, the guerrillas made a run for it and escaped towards Otavi.
Near Otavi was a farm where the German owner was sympathetic towards the Plan fighters; one of his workers, an Ombadja speaking man, was a Swapo operative and assisted guerrillas in distress.
They could not stay long as they were being followed. Eventually the enemy troops caught up with them.
“Matheu threw a hand grenade, and with the confusion of the explosion, we escaped,” he recalls. But Matheu took an alternative route, never to be seen again.
Then there was just Nambinga and Cowboy.
They escaped to Otavi and went to look for meme Lucia. She was a Swapo operative in the town. She hailed from Onamhinda near the Odibo, Oshikango area. Meme Lucia was just coming from detention for her Swapo activities. She helped Nambinga with a change of clothes and supplies while Cowboy was hiding in the bush. The town was also a hive of activities, with a Swapo-Democrats (Swapo-D) rally to take place later that day. Swapo-D was the breakaway faction led by Andreas Shipanga.
The two guerrillas then went via Namutoni and found themselves near Tsintsabis.
“We walked for seven days with no food or water; we drank our urine,” he recalls his journey back. By then the lice and ticks picked up in the bush were also feeding off their flesh. On the eighth day, they found water, and eventually they ran into Ruben ‘Danger’ Ashipala.
Ashipala gave them two soldiers and asked them to escort a group of 62 civilians seeking to join the struggle into Angola.
In Angola, he underwent further training, with lessons from the previous missions.
By then, Plan had lost many soldiers. This new training for the elite commandos was conducted by Martin Shalli, Ashipala and Martin Nashandi. The special group was now transformed into Volcano, which would later be changed to Typhoon.
Nambinga was to undertake another mission of no return, this time in the Grootfontein area, and make it back alive. By 1980, he was only 20 and was already battle-hardened. Martin Shalli then made him his assistant.
But when Shalli was promoted to Plan chief of operations, Matias ‘Mbulunganga’ Ndakolo took Nambinga to the north-eastern front to continue fighting for his country, and he participated in many more battles after that.
