Hanna Mupetami is a recognised name in Walvis Bay’s history. The Atlantic Gazette spent some valuable moments with this iconic struggle stalwart at her home in Walvis Bay’s Kuisebmond suburb recently during an interview.

She is among the last of our living generation to have attended school at the Rhenish Mission Church (Lion’s Church), which is a national monument today and the oldest surviving building in town. She lives in the same house where she moved with her father and siblings on New Year’s Day 1959, when people were relocated from the old location to the then newly established Kuisebmond.

Of course, many would recognise Hanna Mupetami’s name on the street sign that replaced the former 18th Road to pay tribute to her rich contribution to Walvis Bay’s history. It was a contribution that found a careful balance between conducting domestic work for many a white family to bring bread to the table, while also joining Swapo as a young woman and being active on the home front in the liberation struggle for a free Namibia.

At the age of 87, she now enjoys the closing years of her life peacefully in her meticulously neat and tidy home in Kuisebmond’s Diamant Street—a place she has called home for more than 65 years and where all of life’s trials, tribulations, and celebratory moments found her.

The Atlantic Gazette’s Floris Steenkamp had the honour of meeting this extraordinary woman for the first time during October 2025 and sat down with her at home for some unforgettable moments to get a glimpse into her equally extraordinary life.

“We never had it easy. My father worked for a boat builder. We walked all the way from the old location to school every day. After school, I did domestic work for a German family that used to own the Poly Press. Then it was off to the railway line to pick up coal for the fire to provide my father with a cooked meal when he came home tired from the day’s toils,” she explained.

The Rhenish Mission Church building served as a school. The building is situated in Walvis Bay’s 5th Road near the port’s southern entrance. The school building was first erected on the port’s premises near the south gate but was relocated to its current location in 1918.

In those years, it was not possible for Black learners to complete a full school career in Walvis Bay. Education only went as far as Standard 3 (today’s Grade 5), and to progress in a school career, Black students had to relocate to Windhoek.

“I spent two years in Standard 3, as there was no money to send me off to Windhoek. It brought an end to my school career, and I started to work as a domestic worker,” she further explained.

“I have been a domestic worker for all my life, and in my latter years before retiring, I worked for Marthinus and Elsa Lombard and helped to raise their sons Antonie, Paul, and Fourie.” She added that when she joined the Lombards, they stayed in the house that is now the Namib Times offices in Sam Nujoma Avenue. The Lombards later moved to a house where the old location was once located.

“We moved into this house in Kuisebmond on 31 December 1959. The Lord blessed me with six children: two sons who have since passed away, and my four daughters Elizabeth, Louisa, Hilma, and Rosalia. I have four grandchildren, and I am blessed that all my children are well educated and are building their lives with dedication and pride,”.

Hanna Mupetami joined Swapo as a girl in her early twenties. Earning her living by working for white families did not deter her from holding onto her political affiliation and conviction that Namibia had to be freed from apartheid and the oppression of Black people. In the case of the Lombards, they had the opposite party-political affiliation, but that did not bring any harm to the deep friendship and respect they still share today.

Her role in Swapo brought her into confrontation with the white-ruled authorities from time to time, and she had to spend a weekend in jail when a Swapo delegation visited Walvis Bay for a political rally. Every rule in the book was used to bring Swapo supporters into trouble with the law, and she did not escape that, just like many other political activists.

Her run-ins with the law were not only confined to Walvis Bay but also extended as far as Namibia’s southern region and the northern region. In fact, she had to travel extensively across Namibia for political rallies, and the ever-present police roadblocks did not make things easier.

One day, a policeman at a roadblock said, “We are looking for Hanna Mupetami.” She replied, “I am Hanna Johannes,” using her name and the name of her father. She was allowed to continue her journey.

“It was all worth it in the end. If it was not for the sacrifices we had to make, Namibia would not have been free today. I am honoured to have received an award from Swapo for my contributions, and I was delighted to learn that a street in Walvis Bay was renamed after me. I was happy because I remember how much I had to go through along with other Swapo members to achieve the liberation of Namibia,” she further explained to The Atlantic Gazette.

When asked how she perceives Namibian society today as opposed to when she was young, she did not hesitate to state that life today is not that good anymore.

“In those years, you were safe. By day and by night. Today we have so many dangers lurking and so many challenges. Crime, children growing up with minimum discipline in their homes, and the very cost of living when it comes to water, electricity, and household expenses, to mention just a few,” she said.

“I am praying to God to remove this dark cloud over our country. Gender-based violence, rampant crime, and the cost of living. Today, children don’t respect their parents and the elderly anymore. If you reprimand a child, he goes and commits suicide or challenges you that you are not his parent to challenge him on his or her ill-discipline. I am praying to our Lord,” she concluded.

As to political developments in Namibia, Ms Mupetami is satisfied with the fact that Namibia has its first female Head of State.

“We are in a society where men don’t listen to women in higher authority. Our people must start to respect one another and work together. We cannot allow prejudices to affect our country,” she explained. “President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah must talk to our youth. Communicate with them and tell them that outside influences, like the selling and usage of drugs, are not who we as Namibians are. These are outside influences brought to us by people from outside which contaminate our Namibian society today.”