Lubango dungeons

The South West Africa People Organisation (SWAPO) was recognised as a genuine national resistance movement against the apartheid colonial regime of South Africa from the 1960s until the independence in 1990. Thus, SWAPO was a primary caretaker of about 60 000 Namibians war refugees in exile that were accommodated mainly in camps.^[11] The term "camps" basically refers to the central areas where Namibians in exile were residing. The life in these camps has shaped the narrative of public history of Namibia's liberation struggle. The first camp for SWAPO was established in Kongwa, Tanzania, in the 1960s.^[11] In the 1970s SWAPO moved to establish various camps in Zamibia along the Namibian border to accommodate trained guerrillas that were to carry out attacks inside Namibia. When the Portuguese colonial regime weakened in Angola in 1974, that effect facilitated SWAPO in establishing a networks of camps in Angola. Those camps accommodated various Namibians fleeing the atrocities of the apartheid regime. SWAPO ruled these camps with stringent control that begins at moment of entry into the camp as well as living within the camp. The day-to-day life in the camps was designed in a way that inhabitants of those camps were required to follow the established rules, orders and routines. When individuals within the camp break the rules, they were disciplined in various ways such as detention and corporal punishment.^[11]