Lubango – A delimitation of a space constituting the nucleus of Cassinga village, in Angola’s Huila province, as a historical cultural site, has been proposed by the provincial department of culture.

The information was released by the provincial director of culture, Marcelina Gomes.

The official said the programme will include the rehabilitation of the ruins of  buildings and construction of a monument in memory of the victims of the Cassinga massacre that occurred late in the 1970’s.

 
She said Cassinga represents a historical landmark for the Huila province, strongly attached to the Portuguese settlement in the eastern part of the province in that period.

 
The official stated that the project is part of the effort to preserve the country’s cultural patrimony.

 
"On May 1978, in a chase to Swapo guerrillas (Namibian freedom fighters), the South African army, under the apartheid regime, occupied Cassinga, where there was a camp for Swapo guerrillas and their families”, she recalleld.
 

Marcelina Gomes recalled that the South African army heavily bombarded the village, killing thousands of people, among Namibians and Angolans, which came to be known as the “Cassinga Massacre”.

 
The locality of Tchamutete (Cassinga) is 300 kilometres to the east of Huila capital city, Lubango.