Andimba Toivo ya Toivo
Namibian anti-apartheid activist
Died when: 92 years 291 days (1113 months)Star Sign: Virgo
Herman Andimba Toivo ya Toivo (22 August 1924 – 9 June 2017) was a Namibian anti-apartheid activist, politician and political prisoner.Ya Toivo was active in the pre-independence movement, and is one of the co-founders of the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) in 1960, and before that, its predecessor the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) in 1959.
After growing up in northern Namibia, Ya Toivo spent some time in Cape Town in the 1950s.He became politicised there and joined the African National Congress (ANC).
Back in Namibia he became one of the early petitioners to the United Nations, advocating for the independence of Namibia.
Due to his political activism he was tried in 1966 under the Terrorism Act, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.He served 16 years in Robben Island in the same section as Nelson Mandela, to whom he was a personal friend.
He was released in 1984 and rejoined SWAPO as secretary general in exile in Lusaka, Zambia.Ya Toivo returned to Namibia in 1989 in the wake of the country's independence and served as a member of parliament and as cabinet minister in Sam Nujoma's first government.
He retired from active politics in 2006.Ya Toivo is a national hero of Namibia.