Never follow the wolf
The Autobiography of a Namibian Freedom Fighter
Helao Shityuwete
ISBN 9789994557264
2023 revised edition by University of Namibia Press. First published in 1990 by Kliptown Books Ltd.
This is the compelling autobiography of a Namibian freedom fighter. The son of a Rain King in southern Angola, Helao Shityuwete attended mission schools in Namibia before circumstances forced him into the migrant labour system – virtual
slavery under the South African occupation of Namibia.
His involvement in workers’ rights led him to join the newly-formed SWAPO movement and to make the dangerous and difficult journey to Tanzania, where SWAPO had its external headquarters. One of the first Namibians to take up the armed struggle, in 1966 Shityuwete joined a group of 10 SWAPO combatants on their hazardous return to Namibia to prepare for the war of liberation.
Captured and horribly tortured, Shityuwete was one of 37 Namibians tried in Pretoria in the notorious Terrorism Trial. He spent the next 16 years on Robben Island in the company of Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, Nelson Mandela and other Namibian and South African political prisoners.
Originally published in 1990, this updated version includes an epilogue where Shityuwete reflects on his life and challenges young Namibians to continue the fight for equality and social justice, to which he has dedicated his life.
