Anna Mungunda stands as a powerful example of women's resistance to the repressive apartheid regime enforced by the South African police in Namibia. After the First World War, Namibia fell under South African occupation following German colonial rule, and the country was subject to the same racist and colonial laws as South Africa under apartheid. Understanding this historical context is crucial to fully appreciate the courage and sacrifice of Anna Mungunda.
The colonial and apartheid history of Namibia is crucial to understanding Anna Mungunda's resistance. After the First World War, the League of Nations transferred South West Africa (now Namibia) to South African administration as a Class C mandate territory. South Africa effectively treated the area as a fifth province and transferred its own system of racial segregation, apartheid, to Namibian soil. Black Namibians were denied political rights, freedom of movement and basic civil rights.
South African rule began in 1915 when its armed forces defeated the German colonial authorities and took control during the First World War. In the following decades, apartheid laws were tightened and rigorously applied in Namibia: Black Namibians were subject to passport laws, experienced segregation in housing and employment, and lived under restrictions designed to ensure white minority control. In the 1950s and 1960s, Black Namibians increasingly began to resist by organizing themselves politically, for example through the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO), which later became the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO).
Oppression entrenched economic inequality and fostered a political consciousness that drove the long struggle for independence. This environment, decades of institutionalized discrimination and repression, provides the framework for understanding the courage of acts of resistance such as those of Anna Mungunda during the protests in the Old Location.
Anna Mungunda was born in 1932. Details about her family history are scarce. What is known is that she lived in Windhoek's Old Location, a segregated Black community within the city, and worked as a housekeeper. Due to the apartheid government of South Africa, Black Namibians were subjected to severe restrictions in employment, housing, infrastructure and health care and were systematically discriminated against and dehumanized - realities that Mungunda experienced personally.
Windhoek's Old Location was more than just a segregated Black neighbourhood it was a close-knit community with families, networks, cultural ties and social life that undermined apartheid's attempts to isolate and marginalize Black Namibians. Life in the Old Location before forced relocation was characterized by informal economies, social solidarity and a shared sense of identity. Residents not only built physical homes, but also social cohesion extended family networks, community gatherings, local music bands, sporting events and communal celebrations strengthened unity in the face of adverse circumstances. A freely available publication about the Old Location highlights how residents shared strategies to cope with restrictions, resist fragmenting measures and preserve local culture despite material deprivation.
Women organized protests and boycotts in late 1959 to oppose the forced relocations, showing how everyday social life became political resistance. When the authorities planned to relocate people to Katutura, a neighborhood further away from the city center, harder to reach for work and without established social ties, residents felt this was a break in their community. The Old Location was in many ways the emotional center of its residents' lives, a place where people found strength in mutual support in the midst of systematic marginalization. Its destruction destroyed families, networks and the social memory of a generation - a background that explains the determination and anger that characterized the protests of 1959.
Anna Mungunda's legacy is closely linked to the massacre and protest in the Old Location in 1959. The South African authorities planned to forcibly relocate Black Namibians from the Old Location to a new settlement area called Katutura. This new area was further away from the city center, made commuting more difficult and was designed to destroy the close-knit communities of the Old Location.
The role of the Women in the anti-apartheid struggle in Namibia has often been overlooked, despite their key contributions. From organizing protests and boycotts to supporting families and resistance networks in urban and rural areas, Namibian women were active participants long before formal independence movements emerged. The protests in the Old Location in 1959 were largely driven by women who organized boycotts of municipal services and led marches against the forced removals - an expression of collective civic agency, even in the face of violent repression.
Women were subjected to multiple oppressions under apartheid: they suffered not only from systematic racial injustice, but also from gender discrimination. Scholarly studies show how Black Namibian women organized resistance actions, stood up for their rights politically and did crucial emotional and organizational work in both formal political organizations and grassroots community networks.
While figures such as Anna Mungunda became symbols of resistance due to extraordinary actions during major confrontations, many other women worked quietly and persistently, organizing families, households and local boycotts that prepared the ground for broader movements. Post-independence, this legacy is recognized, such as through the combined Human Rights Day and Namibia Women's Day on 10 December, which celebrates both collective resistance as well as honoring the special contributions of women.
On 10 December 1959, a peaceful protest was organized, but it ended tragically. During the violence, Anna Mungunda's son was fatally shot, which sent her into a state of rage and defiance. In an act of resistance, she set fire to the car of apartheid official De Wet, a superintendent of the South African colonial police. She was immediately shot dead. Mungunda was the only woman among the ten victims of the massacre, in which 60 other people were also injured.
The massacre in the Old Location on December 10, 1959 is considered a decisive moment in Namibia's resistance to apartheid. When the authorities in Windhoek wanted to relocate black residents to Katutura, they organized protests, boycotts and demonstrations to prevent the forced relocation, a widely opposed measure that reinforced segregation and destroyed community structures. On that day, a large crowd gathered in front of administrative buildings to demand the release of detained protesters; police reinforcements arrived, tensions rose and stones were thrown.
In the ensuing violence, South African police opened fire on unarmed protesters. Eleven people were killed instantly, others died later, and dozens were injured, an event widely recognized as a Massacre in the Old Location will be remembered. Anna „Kakurukaze“ Mungunda, the only woman among the victims, became an emblematic figure of resistance when she reportedly set fire to a colonial official's car and was killed on the spot. The massacre intensified political activism, contributed to the consolidation of liberation organizations such as SWAPO and marked a turning point in Namibia's struggle for self-determination. Today, December 10 is celebrated in Namibia as both International Human Rights Day and Namibian Women's Day, underscoring the enduring significance of the massacre and the central role of resistance in the national memory.
Anna „Kakurukaze“ Mungunda's life was shaped by the intersecting forces of colonial occupation, racial discrimination and personal loss. Born in 1932 to Theopoldt Shivute, a migrant worker, and Emilia Kavezeri, Mungunda grew up under the systemic disadvantages faced by Black Namibians.
As a housekeeper in the racially segregated Old Location, she experienced the harsh realities of apartheid on a daily basis: limited employment opportunities, restricted access to basic services and pervasive discrimination. Her personal loss, particularly the fatal shooting of her son during the protests, is often cited as the pivotal moment that sparked her defiant act on December 10, 1959. Although sources differ on details, many accounts agree that Mungunda set fire to a colonial official's car in the chaos of the massacre, an act that symbolized both personal outrage and broader resistance to institutional oppression.
This profound personal sacrifice, in the context of decades of systematic injustice, illustrates how the everyday violence of apartheid drove ordinary people to take extraordinary risks. In the decades that followed, their actions were recognized not just as a singular act of resistance, but as a symbol of the emotional and psychological burdens that apartheid imposed on families and communities across Namibia.
The life and sacrifice of Anna Mungunda exemplifies the struggles of women and marginalized communities during the colonial era. She was neither a politician nor a soldier, but her courageous act spoke volumes about the will to resist oppression and the profound emotional toll of systemic injustice.
The legacy of Anna Mungunda goes beyond her dramatic act on December 10, 1959 and underscores themes of resilience, remembrance and national identity. Independent Namibia actively honors those who stood up against colonial rule: Mungunda was declared a national hero and commemorated at Heroes’ Acre near Windhoek with a gravestone symbolizing her courage. The massacre itself has become a defining reference point in Namibia's collective memory and is commemorated annually as International Human Rights Day and Namibian Women's Day, recognizing the contributions of women to the liberation struggle.
Beyond Namibia's borders, initiatives such as the renaming of part of Petersallee in Berlin to Anna-Mungunda-Allee show how their history reflects global struggles against racism and colonialism. Such naming and acts of remembrance serve not only to honour individuals, but also to challenge colonial narratives, reshape public spaces and make previously marginalized histories visible. As new generations grapple with these stories, Mungunda's legacy continues to inspire discussions about gender, resistance, national identity and the ongoing confrontation of historical injustices.
Did you know about Anna Mungunda before today? Her story is an important reminder of the countless unacknowledged heroines and heroes who stood up against colonial rule and apartheid. By remembering her, we honor the resilience and strength of all those who stood against oppression and ensure that her legacy continues to inspire future generations.
Want to find out more about strong heroines? Then book our Black & Queer Feminism Tour in Berlin Schönenberg!
https://www.aamarchives.org/history/namibia.html
https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Namibia
https://sahistory.org.za/article/namibian-timeline
https://www.namibian.com.na/windhoeks-old-location/
https://www.namibian.com.na/the-old-location-a-place-of-pain-and-joy/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Mungunda
https://www.namibian.com.na/why-namibia-celebrates-human-rights-day-as-womens-day/
