Shityuwete state funeral row: Family questions hero criteria

The shityuwete family has questioned the government’s decision to bury liberation struggle veteran Helao Shityuwete at Gammams Cemetery instead of Heroes’ Acre.

The family yesterday at the funeral asked the government to tell them what requirement their ‘tatekulu’ [uncle] did not meet to have accorded him a state funeral at Heroes’ Acre.

“Why was a man with such an extraordinary, undeniable liberation record not accorded a national hero’s funeral and buried at Heroes’ Acre? What requirement did he not meet?” family spokesperson Julius Ngweda asked.

Presidential spokesperson Jonas Mbambo is yet to respond to questions on the matter.

Shityuwete died on 29 August a few days after he turned 92.

He leaves Betuel Nuunyango as the only surviving member of the group of 37 Namibian nationalists who were imprisoned on Robben Island during the 1960s.