The SAAF Forum

The legend of Karel C Ndjoba by Erika Gibson:

Funerals and memorial services are usually sad occasions where those present reflect on the virtues of the deceased. However, one particular service a week ago left me stunned to realize how little is really known about one giant of a legend in the recent history of not only the SADF but in the Namibian Defence Force (NDF).
In fact, the service was a rare occasion where there was not only paid homage for what this man achieved to lay the foundation of the NDF, but how he managed to do so because of his training and achievements in the SADF. It also brought the realization of how one erstwhile Ovambo foot soldier managed to bridge the gap between him and his former enemies – all in the name of patriotism.
The man was Brig.Genl. Karel Ndjoba who was the NDF’s military attaché in Germany until his untimely death on 16 November this year.

Ndjoba joined the SADF at the age of 16 when Ovambo soldiers became part of 1 Ovamboland Battalion – later 101 Battalion. These soldiers were used as translators and trackers before they later on became foot soldiers and in Ndjoba’s case, young leaders. In fact, he made such an impression on his superiors that he became the first of these soldiers to be selected for officers’ training. He excelled in it, because he was a militarist with a strategic mind in heart and soul.
Ndjoba had every reason to hate Swapo and its military wing, PLAN. In 1982 his father, a pastor and Ovambo leader, was killed in a landmine ambush by PLAN fighters. The reason was that he was considered a radical thinker on the opposing side of Swapo. In 1987 his mother was also killed when she happened to be in a bank in Oshakati which was blown up to target certain police commanders.
He later became a company commander in 101 Battalion, which was one of the most feared and respected units in action against Swapo. Ndjoba did not only walk the walk - he talked the talk and even in those days of hard-core bush fighting he must have been aching all the time. For Namibians it was a war of brother against brother; family against family on opposing sides.

In fact, it was only after the war that Ndjoba was told that Lt.Genl. (rtd.) Martin Shalli, who was one of PLAN’s senior commanders, was actually his cousin. As such, Ndjoba was part of various operations to try and capture Shalli never knowing that he was hunting a member of his own family.

Shalli later became the Chief of the NDF and then retired.
Ndjoba was part of the last action in the war before a negotiated settlement was reached and the SADF withdrew its forces in 1989. He and his family moved to 21 Battalion at Lenz in Johannesburg, but this child of Ovamboland missed his country. He was a soldier never questioning where he was deployed, but he was a Namibian first.
It was in 1990 that his remarkable life reached a crossroads. The Swapo government offered a hand of reconciliation and approached him to become part of the team to handle the integration and foundation of the NDF. Ndjoba agreed in the name of patriotism. He wanted to see the country of his birth flourish and most of all, he wanted to see all Namibians live in peace in harmony.
It could not have been easy. He suddenly had to work with those responsible for the death of his parents. His colleagues also knew what he did during the war and no doubt there would have been tension at times.

The golden thread through this all was the personality of this man who always believed that there is good in all men – even in your enemies. He never lost his human touch or his gentle (albeit firm) approach to bring people of different creed and colour together to achieve a mutual mission. He was a strategist of note. He had a mind as sharp as a razor blade, but it was his soft spoken sense of humour and humaneness that brought everybody together a week ago.
Shalli was there and the whole senior command cadre of the NDF. The simple Lutheran church in Katutura outside Windhoek was filled to capacity.

I asked Shalli how Namibia managed to achieve a fairly peaceful integration of forces. He had a simple answer: “We had been in a war to fight for peace. Now we have peace there is no use to keep on warring amongst one another any longer.”

However, Nahas Angula, former prime minister of Namibia and now defence minister, had the most powerful words to say about Ndjoba.
He (from Swapo’s side) and Ndjoba worked together on the foundations of the NDF. Ndjoba wrote all the manuals for the training of the NDF-to-be based on his knowledge compliments of his staff training and experience in the SADF.

“You get officers and you get commanders. Some of you sitting here in the front are all officers, but few of you are an officer and a commander. Karel was one of these rare ones and then to top he was a gentleman.”

“When we started with the training of the NDF’s soldiers they wanted to know with which weapons to march. Some wanted to carry their AK-47’s, but Karel said no because the AK’s belonged to the war and the war was over. They then marched with F1’s.”
“He proceeded to reprimand the senior officers never to walk with parcels while in uniform; not to walk and smoke with a beret.”
“Karel has left us a legacy of basic discipline to always be proud and never to forget that you are the faces of the NDF. Don’t ever forget about that legacy! Karel never discussed politics because a soldier doesn’t partake in politics and Karel was the soldier of soldiers.”
Lt.Genl. John Mutwa, Chief of the NDF, called himself Ndjoba’s “professional parent”.

“He was my child and I lost my son. He was part and parcel the soul of the NDF.”

Also in church were a number of Ndjoba’s former colleagues from 101 Battalion. They travelled all the way from South Africa and elsewhere in Namibia to pay their last respects to their friend. They never lost touch with him and Ndjoba’s family were theirs as well. They visited together and Ndjoba never missed a single one of his former battalion’s annual reunions.

Next to them was a group of former sergeant-majors of the SANDF’s Special Forces. These battle-hardened toughsters are creating the NDF’s own special forces. The NDF knew exactly where to find the best instructors and Ndjoba was behind the plan to get them to make the NDF’s soldiers just as good.

It was not only the simple service of heartfelt grief that left one to ponder. The ministers present did not arrive with blue light cavalcades and body guards all over the show. They arrived quietly with a driver and with respect, because Ndjoba was a true soldier who believed a man will be known by his actions rather than his fanfare.
It was equally apt that it was one of his former mates from 101 Battalion – now serving in the NDF – who played the bugle at Ndjoba’s funeral.

Ndjoba’s favourite verse from the Bible, probably carried the most powerful message of all: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”
Salute, Brig.Genl. Ndjoba. Your shining legacy lives on.