Elly Shilomboleni spent a significant part of his 20s terrorising the South African army and the SWATF in the then Caprivi strip.
This was the period between 1974 and 1989, the area extending from Divundu north-east of Rundu to Katima Mulilo.
Shilomboleni, who today is mainly known as commander Shingwalulu, embarked on numerous Plan missions to attack military targets in the region, including an audacious 1977 attempt to capture the whole Kongola area and declare it a Swapo/Plan controlled territory where the apartheid government and military forces would not dare set foot.
Fast forward to post-independent Namibia, and Shingwalulu’s first assignment as a member of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) was to protect and defend the very military bases he attacked as a Plan fighter.
After independence former members of the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (Plan) and the South West Africa Territory Force (SWATF) were integrated into a unified Namibian Defence Force (NDF) when Namibia attained independence from South Africa in 1990.
His immediate duty station after 1990 was in the Kasikili Island area of the Caprivi region, which was renamed the Zambezi region in 2014, where he spent many years protecting his country from outside threats.
It also came as no surprise when his government turned to him in 1999 as one of the senior and experienced NDF soldiers to lead the fight against a Unita threat to Namibia’s sovereignty.
He was a trusted soldier. So much so that when legendary Plan’s chief of reconnaissance Isaak ‘Pondo’ Shikongo died in a landmine blast, Shingwalulu was the soldier tasked with the responsibility to go back to the scene, dig Pondo’s remains out of the shallow grave he was buried and transport him to get a dignified burial befitting of revered freedom fighter.
Retired Lieutenant General Martin Shalli, who was Plan chief of operations at the time, recalls warning this brave soldier that, should he not return with Pondo’s remains, he should not bother reporting back for duty.
Shingwalulu started his Plan career in 1974, and 12 months later, he received his first mission brief. In 1975, he was part of a unit sent to cross into Namibia from Zambia’s Satota (Oshatotwa base).
“The mission was to do reconnaissance on the Kamenga base, so we hit it, and we did successfully hit the base,” he said as he burst into laughter.
The team of Plan fighters crossed from Zambia in January of that year, and it took them about two months before hitting the base.
During March, the Plan fighters attacked. This was also the first time Plan used GP rocket launchers.
After the successful attack, Shingwalulu was again sent back into Namibia. This time, he was second in charge of a 40-member team headed by Nanyemba Nanyemba. The mission was simple: hit all enemy convoys on the road from Rundu to Katima Mulilo, on the stretch starting at Divundu, Omega, Kongola and Bagani, especially the area in and around the Bwabwata National Park.
While on that trip, they were joined by three senior Plan officers, Niipele, Hamutele and Namele.
Together, they launched an attack on a convoy of Neumock military vehicles carrying about 20 soldiers. It was one of the first times Plan decided to attack the enemy in broad daylight. The team took hold of maps and supplies. They later realised they were being pursued by the enemy forces. The Plan contingent decided to lay an ambush at Oluyana and opened fire on the troops following them.
Four died on the spot, and they were to later find a lone soldier with a broken leg. The Plan fighters learnt that the pursuit was aimed at recovering the crucial material captured in the earlier attack.
“He was thrown into the river and left for dead,” said Shingwalulu.
Shingwalulu and his comrades soon discovered that there was value in attacking smaller units with the aim of capturing whatever it was they were carrying. He said they would find a lot of material that would provide valuable intelligence about the enemy.
At the same time, the SADF had figured this out and started putting up more resistance and beefing up their patrols. This meant longer, drowned-out battles for the under-resourced Plan fighters.
Shingwalulu and his comrades were so audacious that in 1977, under the leadership of commander Lazarus Hamutele, who was deputised by Phillip Nambuli, they decided to capture the Kongola area. They wanted Kongola to become their territory and for the SADF/SWATF troops to not set foot there anymore.
But the battle for Kongola did not go as planned; the Plan troops were forced to retreat after the South Africans called in air support. Shingwalulu said the number of soldiers wounded was increasing, and they had lost three comrades in that battle.
Little did Shingwalulu and company know that while retreating, deputy regional commander Hanganee Katjipuka Kavezeri accompanied a team of about 20 men to offer them reinforcement. Unfortunately, the legendary commander found himself behind enemy lines, and only three of his men survived. The rest died bravely fighting alongside their commander, who was shot several times.
This heartbreaking experience appears to have just fuelled Shingwalulu and his comrades to not give up and continue their assaults.
In 1978, the guerrilla fighters were at it again, but this time they decided to attack the Kwandu base in the Nukwa area. James Auala was in charge of the operation. Plan hit the base with GP, Mortars and B10 rocket launchers.
The attack started at around 05h00 until the base was up in flames. The heavy artillery team then went back into Angola, while the ground command remained behind. After setting up camp overnight, they realised the next morning that they were being tracked by the apartheid troops. It was about 07h00 when the fighting ensued. “The enemy flew troops behind us towards Zambia. We then realised that the more we attempted to retreat, the more enemy troops we encountered,” recalled Shingwalulu, who is now laughing about the experience.
They finally made it into Zambia and shook off the enemy offensive.
From 1974, Shingwalulu was in battle and carrying out insurgent missions into Namibia until April 1989; this time he walked 250 kilometres to be in his motherland, which he spent years trying to free.
In that period, he held various positions, including north-eastern front chief of operations, chief of staff for the Moscow Battalion, detachment commander, deputy detachment commander, detachment reconnaissance commander and platoon commander.
