Danger Ashipala

Ashipala was a military commander in the 1970s and 1980s with the People's Liberation Army of Namibia, the armed wing of SWAPO during the Namibian War of Independence.[1] He earned notoriety for capturing South African soldier, Johan van der Mescht, in an operation in Namibia in 1978.[2] It was widely believed in South Africa that Van der Mescht had deserted; after four years in prison in Luanda, he was eventually exchanged at Checkpoint Charlie in 1982 for Russian spy Aleksei Koslov.

Following independence in 1989, Ashipala became a commander in the non-racial Namibian Defence Force before eventually becoming an advisor to the inspector general of the Police Sebastian Ndeitunga. He retired in 2007. Ashipala died in his sleep on 9 May 2010 in his home in Windhoek's Academia suburb at the age of 62.[3] He was buried in his native Omusati Region next to his mother. A number of prominent national politicians attended his funeral, including President Sam Nujoma, Prime Minister Nahas Angula as well as cabinet ministers Nangolo Mbumba and Abraham Iyambo.[4][5] In Swakopmund, a street was named after him.

The Full Circle Productions-produced film Captor and Captive, described by the local Villager newspaper as "a story of forgiveness and redemption",[6] documents Ashipala's reunion with van der Mescht after the latter's return to Namibia in 2009. It was broadcast by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) in 2011.[7]