Anna "Kakurukaze" Mungunda (1932–10 December 1959) was a Namibian woman of

Herero Herero may refer to: * Herero people, a people belonging to the Bantu group, with about 240,000 members alive today * Herero language, a language of the Bantu family (Niger-Congo group) * Herero and Namaqua Genocide * Herero chat, a species of b ...

descent. She was the only woman among the casualties of the

Old Location The Old Location (or as it was known then the Main Location) was an area Apartheid, segregated for Black residents of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was situated in the area between today's suburbs of Hochland Park and Pioneers Park. Histor ...

uprising in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

on 10 December 1959. Since Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990, Mungunda is regarded one of the heroes of the Namibian nation. Mungunda was born in 1932 to

migrant labour A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

er Theopoldt Shivute and Emilia Kavezeri, a niece of

Hosea Kutako Chief Hosea Katjikururume Komombumbi Kutako (1870 – 18 July 1970), was an early Namibian nationalist leader and a founder member of Namibia's first nationalist party, the South West African National Union (SWANU). "During his life, he exp ...

. She had three siblings who all died in their infancy. Sources disagree on what exactly happened to Mungunda, who was employed as a domestic worker, on the day of the Old Location uprising. It is reported that the fatal shooting of her only son, Kaaronda Mungunda, enraged her so much that she ran towards the car of a high-ranking administrator, poured petrol over it, and set it alight. The car either belonged to

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Jaap Snyman Jaap may refer to: * Jaap Sahib, Sikh prayer * Jaap (given name) Jaap is a Dutch given name that is short for Jacob or Jacobus (Jacob or James in English). People with this name include: Academics *Jaap R. Bruijn (born 1938), Dutch maritime his ...

or to Old Location Police Superintendent de Wet. Both cars were set alight during the demonstration. She was shot dead during or immediately after this action. Anna Mungunda is one of nine national heroes of Namibia that were identified at the inauguration of the country's Heroes' Acre near Windhoek. Founding president

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, (; born 12 May 1929) is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first ...

remarked in his inauguration speech on 26 August 2002 that:

On that fateful day f the Old Location uprising twelve peaceful demonstrators were killed and more than fifty others were injured. In the face of this brutality, a courageous and fearless young woman by the name of Kakurukaze Mungunda demonstrated her bravery and heroism by setting alight the car of De Wet who was the superintendent of the Windhoek Old Location. She was shot on the spot and Killed in cold blood by the South African apartheid repressive police. To her revolutionary spirit and his visionary memory we humbly offer our honour and respect.

Mungunda is honoured in form of a granite tombstone with her name engraved and her portrait plastered onto the slab. The city of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

announced that the street "Petersallee", in the

Afrikanisches Viertel The ''Afrikanisches Viertel'' ( en, African Quarter) is a neighborhood in Wedding, a locality of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. It is bounded by Müllerstraße, Seestraße, Volkspark Rehberge, Goethepark, and the border with the neighboring borough ...

, would be renamed "Anna-Mungunda-Allee".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mungunda, Anna 1932 births 1959 deaths Herero people South West African anti-apartheid activists National heroes of Namibia Deaths by firearm in Namibia Namibian domestic workers 20th-century Namibian people 20th-century Namibian women Namibian women