Shalli’s throat-cutting remarks indefensible – Kapere

SWAPO parliamentarian Mandela Kapere says the remarks by former chief of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF), Martin Shalli, in which he called for the slitting of throats of Swapo defectors were unfortunate and indefensible.

Kapere said Shalli’s remarks cannot even be considered as “colorful political rhetoric”, often used by politicians during an election cycle.

Shalli came under fire over the weekend for suggesting that those who left Swapo to form their own political parties should have their throats slit.

He made these threats while addressing a crowd at a Swapo rally held in Okahandja on Saturday.

“People who talk bravely about the party and later betray the party must be killed,” Shalli said.

The ex-general added that these people “must not be shot with a gun”.

“They must be slaughtered. Slag die donners, jong. Their throats must be cut open,” Shalli said in Oshiwambo and Afrikaans.

Shalli yesterday denied he had incited violence.

He refused to withdraw or apologise.

After receiving condemnation from various opposition leaders and commentators, Shalli issued a statement, claiming his remarks were wrongly interpreted.

He said his call for the cutting of opposition throats was figurative speech meant to encourage Swapo members to defeat their opponents at the ballot box.

However, Kapere said the former NDF chief, “overshot the mark, whatever the context” and that it was indefensible.

He said the remarks do not represent the values of Swapo and that they were also in contravention of the code of conduct guiding the behavior of political parties and candidates during an election.

“Even if we take General Shalli at his word and accept that his words were an attempt to use figurative language to drive a political point, they unfortunately in my view, cross a line that is indefensible, considering the fact that we remain a deeply fragmented post-colonial society that has emerged from a protracted war that ended within some of our lifetimes,” he said.

Kapere, in a statement issued yesterday, asked Shalli to retract his statements unconditionally and apologise to the Namibian people.