Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba has requested South Africa send forensic experts to help investigate apartheid-era mass graves recently found in the north of the country, an official said.
Namibian Minister of Safety and Security Peter Tsheehama said late on Tuesday that Pohamba sent a letter to Pretoria asking for help to conduct investigations, according to the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC).
”President Pohamba sent a letter asking for forensic experts from South Africa to help with the forensic police work,” Tsheehama told the NBC.
Two mass graves were found earlier this month at a former South African military base near the village of Eenhana, about 850km north-east of Windhoek, and three more were found over the weekend after locals tipped off the police.
Pohamba visited the site of the mass grave at Eenhana shortly after their discovery and called on former soldiers of both sides of the liberation struggle to come forward with more information.
During Namibia’s fight for independence from apartheid South Africa, several hundred members of the local Owambo-speaking communities served in the notorious ”Koevoet” (Afrikaans for ”crowbar”) unit of South Africa’s apartheid police, fighting against their fellow citizens.
On Monday, South Africa’s Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Brigitte Mabandla, said her country would cooperate with Namibian authorities after meeting in Pretoria with her Namibian counterpart, Pendukeni Ivula-Ithana, who is on a four-day visit to South Africa. — Sapa-AFP