SOMETHING is brewing in Namibia, especially among people who call themselves the /Khomanin in the Khomas Region, and it should be of serious concern to our leaders.
This is the same community who, more than 15 years ago, camped at ≠Arexas (also known as Aukhaikas) outside Daan Viljoen to claim their ancestral land rights.
This week their traditional leader Josephat Gawa!Nab told the /Khomanin people through the Damara/Nama radio service of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation that he is taking back what belongs to them “whether there is a death or not”.
The community gave him a petition and demanded he responds within 30 days but one of them said “not even he will stop us” and that they were heading back to their ancestral land regardless.
“We waited for 20 years and now we feel like orphans wandering around. We had enough of that,” another shouted.
The off-hand remarks carry a very radical critique on the land issue in Namibia. It means that nearly two decades after the country’s Independence, many people remain in the same landless situation. But more about that later.
First, it was clear that the whole petition handover ceremony was set up. Why else would the community stage a public demonstration and hand over a petition to someone who is not only known to support them but is part of their campaign!
The /Khomanin group is a very subtle movement. While they might look like a small group to the authorities, they are quietly being joined by people from as far afield as Omaheke, Kunene and the South.
That is an indication of the growing unhappiness, not only among them, but many landless people.
I do not support claims for ancestral land. It would lead to chaos because, among other reasons, it would be very difficult for some to prove that their ancestors owned the land. If they fail to provide documentary evidence, it could lead to more frustrations and unnecessary fights.
The answer is in fast-tracking the land reform programme.
Many have described the land question as a painful and sensitive topic yet the wheels of justice have been very slow for the last 20 years.
A few years back a Legal Assistance Centre report said that at the current pace of resettlement, it will take around 100 years to get everyone on the Government’s list a place they can call home.
This despite there fact that since 1995, Government had been setting aside about N$20 million per annum in the National Budget to purchase land, and this amount has since been increased to N$50 million a year.
One of the main reasons for the failure of the land reform programme has been the willing-seller-willing-buyer approach which is cumbersome. But then land expropriation was introduced and even that has loopholes which those who want to hold onto large tracks of land are exploiting.
The result is that more than 200 000 Namibians who want land remain on the Government’s waiting list.
While there are differing figures on the land that has already changed hands – Government claiming to have placed more than 300 farms in black hands and the commercial farmers stating that their records show more than 1 000 – the issue needs a genuine and honest reflection from all sides.
If someone has four large farms of which they use one for holiday hunting, one for weekend farming, one for a lodge and another to entertain overseas friends, surely that is excessive when you compare it to what people like /Khomanin, meaning people from Khomas, have.
The /Khomanin demands should thus be seen as a springboard and treated as such. Beneath it is a threat that could boil over into an ethnic unhappiness.
Already many are unhappy about the way the people – many of them grandparents – were being pushed around and jailed for taking up this issue.
So let’s tackle the land issue once and for all!
* This column first appeared in The Namibian
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Parties seem to have gone back to sleep
LAST year’s presidential and national elections had one thing in common – Caprivi and the two southern regions of Namibia seemed to be rethinking their allegiance to Swapo.
The performance of the opposition in several constituencies of the three regions gave some the impression that a shift in political power was emerging, while Swapo apparatchiks perhaps sat up to take note of their fading influence in those parts.
Political analysts were unanimous that Swapo’s performance in some constituencies of the Hardap and Karas regions was a clear indication that the voters were unhappy with either the local leadership or what they were getting out of their membership to the party.
In fact, political infighting at local and regional authority level resulted in many casualties and a feeling that certain groups in the party were promoted at the expense of mainly indigenous people from the regions.
The high number of votes received by mainly the Rally for Democracy and Progress also signalled that the electorate has become aware that they can turf out those who try to lead them astray.
The impression created was that the electorate had shown those in high office that their positions came as a conditional gift – you keep them only as long as those who gave them to you allow you to keep them!
As a result most observers believed that the 12 months leading up to the next election (local and regional ones in November this year) will be crucial.
In fact, I thought that political parties, especially Swapo and the RDP, would become involved in a battle for the soul of Karas, Hardap and some constituencies in Caprivi.
Yet, I get the impression that RDP is not much different to Swapo!
Both groups, as well as other opposition parties, including new ones, have gone back to sleep.
Since the December election hardly any political rally by the opposition has taken place in those areas to explain their intentions to the masses, yet, come November this year, they will scream to high heaven of impending danger if the ruling party continues to rule there.
It is a proven fact that successful political parties have a penchant for directly interacting with voting masses. The best time to improve your image as a political party is to campaign and reach out to the masses when everyone else is more distant or removed from the people.
Given the anxiety which political leaders went through as the results trickled in last December one would have thought that politicians had learnt something.
How wrong I was. The same flaws are still in play.
In fact, politicians continue to concentrate on minutiae of political contestation such as who should stand in which district and who are the hibernators in which party.
I would not be surprised if we have a below 30 per cent voter turn out in this year’s November elections because the purges happening in Swapo, coupled with the lacklustre approach from the opposition, is likely to discourage voter turnout.
For me, RDP has left in the streets the hundreds of votes they picked up in the South in last year’s election.
Not only are they absent in Parliament, despite being voted in, but they are also not seen as championing the aspirations and wishes of the people who voted for them.
There are so many issues out there which the political parties can use to jointly tackle with social movements (the Basic Income Grant and the land issue a case in point) but it seems none stand a snowball’s chance in hell to get the attention of the politicians until a month or two before elections.
Ultimately, it tells us a lot about the state of our political parties, doesn’t it?
* This column first appeared in The Namibian
The performance of the opposition in several constituencies of the three regions gave some the impression that a shift in political power was emerging, while Swapo apparatchiks perhaps sat up to take note of their fading influence in those parts.
Political analysts were unanimous that Swapo’s performance in some constituencies of the Hardap and Karas regions was a clear indication that the voters were unhappy with either the local leadership or what they were getting out of their membership to the party.
In fact, political infighting at local and regional authority level resulted in many casualties and a feeling that certain groups in the party were promoted at the expense of mainly indigenous people from the regions.
The high number of votes received by mainly the Rally for Democracy and Progress also signalled that the electorate has become aware that they can turf out those who try to lead them astray.
The impression created was that the electorate had shown those in high office that their positions came as a conditional gift – you keep them only as long as those who gave them to you allow you to keep them!
As a result most observers believed that the 12 months leading up to the next election (local and regional ones in November this year) will be crucial.
In fact, I thought that political parties, especially Swapo and the RDP, would become involved in a battle for the soul of Karas, Hardap and some constituencies in Caprivi.
Yet, I get the impression that RDP is not much different to Swapo!
Both groups, as well as other opposition parties, including new ones, have gone back to sleep.
Since the December election hardly any political rally by the opposition has taken place in those areas to explain their intentions to the masses, yet, come November this year, they will scream to high heaven of impending danger if the ruling party continues to rule there.
It is a proven fact that successful political parties have a penchant for directly interacting with voting masses. The best time to improve your image as a political party is to campaign and reach out to the masses when everyone else is more distant or removed from the people.
Given the anxiety which political leaders went through as the results trickled in last December one would have thought that politicians had learnt something.
How wrong I was. The same flaws are still in play.
In fact, politicians continue to concentrate on minutiae of political contestation such as who should stand in which district and who are the hibernators in which party.
I would not be surprised if we have a below 30 per cent voter turn out in this year’s November elections because the purges happening in Swapo, coupled with the lacklustre approach from the opposition, is likely to discourage voter turnout.
For me, RDP has left in the streets the hundreds of votes they picked up in the South in last year’s election.
Not only are they absent in Parliament, despite being voted in, but they are also not seen as championing the aspirations and wishes of the people who voted for them.
There are so many issues out there which the political parties can use to jointly tackle with social movements (the Basic Income Grant and the land issue a case in point) but it seems none stand a snowball’s chance in hell to get the attention of the politicians until a month or two before elections.
Ultimately, it tells us a lot about the state of our political parties, doesn’t it?
* This column first appeared in The Namibian
Monday, July 5, 2010
Imagine a Namibia without Nujoma
FORMER US politician Chester Bowles once said: “Government is too big and too important to be left to the politicians.”
He was 100 per cent right. I want to take his quote a little bit further by stating that a Swapo without Sam Nujoma is too big and too important to be left to Swapo alone.
That is why I have decided to raise the question: If Nujoma dies tomorrow, who will be his successor as the main power broker in the party?
Who will succeed him as the one who holds the party together? Who steps into his shoes? Who will hold things together when Swapo is clouded by his absence? Where will the power come from? And will democratic centralism (which requires that the ruling party should provide direction to the government of the day) in Swapo still remain as powerful as it is now?
I don’t think people wish for Nujoma’s death, and that includes myself.
However, it is time we start thinking about a Swapo without him.
With the word ‘successor’, I do not mean someone who can just take over as a leader of the party. For that we already have President Hifikepunye Pohamba and others will follow in time.
I also don’t argue that Nujoma is irreplaceable. I am one of those who said more than six years ago that he had served the country brilliantly but that it was time for him to make way for new blood.
At that stage I also expressed concern about the perceived lack of ingrained culture of succession in the party.
I am thinking along the lines of a United National Independence Party in Zambia without Kenneth Kaunda or the Kenyan African National Union Party without Daniel arap Moi and the impact their absence had on the election performance of the two political parties.
That means I am looking towards someone who has the gravitas of a struggle background and also the necessary charisma to pull the party in a new direction and at the same time hold it together.
Of course, charisma alone is probably not sufficient to guarantee the survival of a party in the future.
Pohamba has since taken over but, for me, being a good person does not equate to effective leadership.
Judging from the open infighting between Swapo cadres, he also appears not to be able to stamp his authority.
You need more than just being a good person but then again we get some strongly Machiavellian characters. A good person also cannot wield that type of leadership.
The others include the cantankerous type who foments things like tribal wars and dictatorships.
For me Pohamba is best described as benign but I am not convinced that he has what it takes to hold things together in Swapo.
If one throws the net wider it will mean zooming in on the likes of Hage Geingob, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, Nahas Angula, Marco Hausiku, Jerry Ekandjo and possibly also Nujoma’s son Daniel Uutoni Nujoma.
Do any of them have the characteristics displayed by Nujoma who held the party together for more than 40 years or will it result in a power vacuum and intense power struggles?
Another key question will be: What does Nujoma have? What makes him tick? Who is therefore the ideal person to replace him?
This can be coupled with questions such as whether people will still be loyal to the Nujoma-less Swapo.
I am raising all these questions because Swapo needs to brainstorm them.
They cannot afford a vacuum as experience elsewhere has shown that such a situation can be exploited.
Perhaps one of the key issues is whether he mentored or coached someone to take over from him and indications are that he has not.
Is there still time for him to do succession planning even though he is no longer the leader of Swapo? Will such a move be seen as him interfering with or remote-controlling party structures?
I believe now is perhaps the time for the party to start interrogating the ‘Nujoma succession’ in order to avoid a power vacuum and the subsequent exploitation of such a leadership lacuna.
* This column first appeared in The Namibian
He was 100 per cent right. I want to take his quote a little bit further by stating that a Swapo without Sam Nujoma is too big and too important to be left to Swapo alone.
That is why I have decided to raise the question: If Nujoma dies tomorrow, who will be his successor as the main power broker in the party?
Who will succeed him as the one who holds the party together? Who steps into his shoes? Who will hold things together when Swapo is clouded by his absence? Where will the power come from? And will democratic centralism (which requires that the ruling party should provide direction to the government of the day) in Swapo still remain as powerful as it is now?
I don’t think people wish for Nujoma’s death, and that includes myself.
However, it is time we start thinking about a Swapo without him.
With the word ‘successor’, I do not mean someone who can just take over as a leader of the party. For that we already have President Hifikepunye Pohamba and others will follow in time.
I also don’t argue that Nujoma is irreplaceable. I am one of those who said more than six years ago that he had served the country brilliantly but that it was time for him to make way for new blood.
At that stage I also expressed concern about the perceived lack of ingrained culture of succession in the party.
I am thinking along the lines of a United National Independence Party in Zambia without Kenneth Kaunda or the Kenyan African National Union Party without Daniel arap Moi and the impact their absence had on the election performance of the two political parties.
That means I am looking towards someone who has the gravitas of a struggle background and also the necessary charisma to pull the party in a new direction and at the same time hold it together.
Of course, charisma alone is probably not sufficient to guarantee the survival of a party in the future.
Pohamba has since taken over but, for me, being a good person does not equate to effective leadership.
Judging from the open infighting between Swapo cadres, he also appears not to be able to stamp his authority.
You need more than just being a good person but then again we get some strongly Machiavellian characters. A good person also cannot wield that type of leadership.
The others include the cantankerous type who foments things like tribal wars and dictatorships.
For me Pohamba is best described as benign but I am not convinced that he has what it takes to hold things together in Swapo.
If one throws the net wider it will mean zooming in on the likes of Hage Geingob, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, Nahas Angula, Marco Hausiku, Jerry Ekandjo and possibly also Nujoma’s son Daniel Uutoni Nujoma.
Do any of them have the characteristics displayed by Nujoma who held the party together for more than 40 years or will it result in a power vacuum and intense power struggles?
Another key question will be: What does Nujoma have? What makes him tick? Who is therefore the ideal person to replace him?
This can be coupled with questions such as whether people will still be loyal to the Nujoma-less Swapo.
I am raising all these questions because Swapo needs to brainstorm them.
They cannot afford a vacuum as experience elsewhere has shown that such a situation can be exploited.
Perhaps one of the key issues is whether he mentored or coached someone to take over from him and indications are that he has not.
Is there still time for him to do succession planning even though he is no longer the leader of Swapo? Will such a move be seen as him interfering with or remote-controlling party structures?
I believe now is perhaps the time for the party to start interrogating the ‘Nujoma succession’ in order to avoid a power vacuum and the subsequent exploitation of such a leadership lacuna.
* This column first appeared in The Namibian
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Government At 100 Days: Keeping A Finger On The Pulse
NEXT week President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s class of 2010 Cabinet will mark their first 100 days in office. It will be a time for them to reflect on the work they have done so far. It is also a good time to assess the President’s performance.
From the outset, it’s good to point out that there are plenty of positive signs so far.
While the President’s first 100 days some five years ago marked a good start, there was no clear game plan and now at least there is one!
Pohamba leapt out of the starting blocks on March 21 2005 on issues such as graft and made the right noises with little or almost zero strategy – or so it looked to us outsiders.
Back then I thought his performance was wishy-washy but again it is good to point out that the strategy was probably continuation of the Sam Nujoma era. Thus many saw Pohamba’s first Cabinet as an interim Cabinet to appease Nujoma. Pohamba said a lot but delivery was below par.
In fact, there was a sense that he did not have the toughness of character to take on non-performing ministers and permanent secretaries nor determination to push for a new direction for Namibia.
This time around things look much different. Considerable work has been done behind closed doors and ministers have very clear terms of reference on what and when to deliver. In fact, next week is the deadline for them to submit their very first quarterly reports since they were (re)appointed.
With the advent of his second term in office, I believe Pohamba has pushed the ‘reset’ button although the size of the Cabinet, as well as most of the faces, remain largely the same.
It is very clear that Pohamba is not just out to reverse some of the egregious mistakes he might have made over the past five years. He also seems to want to leave an impression.
In terms of Cabinet he did not make monumental changes. But that’s his character, I’m told by those who have been close to him for many years. He likes playing safe and generally has an inclusive approach to life, which borders on preference for extensive consultation within Swapo’s top structures.
That explains why some of the ministers who hardly worked over the first five years retained their jobs.
While many of us thought that the size of Pohamba’s second Cabinet ran counter to the sentiments that had endeared him to the people, like his campaign against corruption, the President opted to keep the size basically the same.
Those who left were not sacked, to put it bluntly. They either retired or worked themselves out of Swapo congress voters’ favour. Their fate was not decided at State House.
Pohamba is well aware that the trouble with retaining the same people who have been ministers for over 15 years is that in many respects this practice is not helpful. Scarcely a handful can be regarded as people who have been effective and thus indispensable in the management of the affairs of the nation.
However, the ‘reset’ button seems to have been effective, so far, in that we see some ministers making regular ‘ministerial statements’ on key issues in Parliament and that they have also started publicly demanding increased productivity from permanent secretaries and other senior staff.
One minister recently even went to the extent of blocking a foreign trip by senior management members whom he had instructed to submit monthly reports that will help him compile his own for State House. That is encouraging.
Two weeks ago, Pohamba read the riot act to permanent secretaries. He told them to up the ante. He and Prime Minister Nahas Angula also worked on the terms of reference (ToR) of permanent secretaries, I understand.
Pohamba could take it a step further by instructing Foreign Affairs to come up with ToR for ambassadors before they are reshuffled/appointed and posted.
There is a need to place each foreign mission under the microscope. We need to see returns from some of our missions abroad.
For some there is not even the faintest sign of a trade-lead yet they receive huge funds each year to run the office, pay staff salaries, give allowances to their spouses and live in luxury.
Perhaps here is a case for the Auditor General to zoom in on non-performing missions with the hope of helping the President to decide which ones to close.
For the President to leave a mark, he needs to look at issues holistically. Some are immediate fixes, but others will serve the nation’s long-term interests although they might not make him popular among his comrades.
Otherwise, we will get nothing more than a crutch when we need a cure.
However, as things look right now, Pohamba seems to be keeping his finger on the nation’s pulse.
* This article first appeared in The Namibian
From the outset, it’s good to point out that there are plenty of positive signs so far.
While the President’s first 100 days some five years ago marked a good start, there was no clear game plan and now at least there is one!
Pohamba leapt out of the starting blocks on March 21 2005 on issues such as graft and made the right noises with little or almost zero strategy – or so it looked to us outsiders.
Back then I thought his performance was wishy-washy but again it is good to point out that the strategy was probably continuation of the Sam Nujoma era. Thus many saw Pohamba’s first Cabinet as an interim Cabinet to appease Nujoma. Pohamba said a lot but delivery was below par.
In fact, there was a sense that he did not have the toughness of character to take on non-performing ministers and permanent secretaries nor determination to push for a new direction for Namibia.
This time around things look much different. Considerable work has been done behind closed doors and ministers have very clear terms of reference on what and when to deliver. In fact, next week is the deadline for them to submit their very first quarterly reports since they were (re)appointed.
With the advent of his second term in office, I believe Pohamba has pushed the ‘reset’ button although the size of the Cabinet, as well as most of the faces, remain largely the same.
It is very clear that Pohamba is not just out to reverse some of the egregious mistakes he might have made over the past five years. He also seems to want to leave an impression.
In terms of Cabinet he did not make monumental changes. But that’s his character, I’m told by those who have been close to him for many years. He likes playing safe and generally has an inclusive approach to life, which borders on preference for extensive consultation within Swapo’s top structures.
That explains why some of the ministers who hardly worked over the first five years retained their jobs.
While many of us thought that the size of Pohamba’s second Cabinet ran counter to the sentiments that had endeared him to the people, like his campaign against corruption, the President opted to keep the size basically the same.
Those who left were not sacked, to put it bluntly. They either retired or worked themselves out of Swapo congress voters’ favour. Their fate was not decided at State House.
Pohamba is well aware that the trouble with retaining the same people who have been ministers for over 15 years is that in many respects this practice is not helpful. Scarcely a handful can be regarded as people who have been effective and thus indispensable in the management of the affairs of the nation.
However, the ‘reset’ button seems to have been effective, so far, in that we see some ministers making regular ‘ministerial statements’ on key issues in Parliament and that they have also started publicly demanding increased productivity from permanent secretaries and other senior staff.
One minister recently even went to the extent of blocking a foreign trip by senior management members whom he had instructed to submit monthly reports that will help him compile his own for State House. That is encouraging.
Two weeks ago, Pohamba read the riot act to permanent secretaries. He told them to up the ante. He and Prime Minister Nahas Angula also worked on the terms of reference (ToR) of permanent secretaries, I understand.
Pohamba could take it a step further by instructing Foreign Affairs to come up with ToR for ambassadors before they are reshuffled/appointed and posted.
There is a need to place each foreign mission under the microscope. We need to see returns from some of our missions abroad.
For some there is not even the faintest sign of a trade-lead yet they receive huge funds each year to run the office, pay staff salaries, give allowances to their spouses and live in luxury.
Perhaps here is a case for the Auditor General to zoom in on non-performing missions with the hope of helping the President to decide which ones to close.
For the President to leave a mark, he needs to look at issues holistically. Some are immediate fixes, but others will serve the nation’s long-term interests although they might not make him popular among his comrades.
Otherwise, we will get nothing more than a crutch when we need a cure.
However, as things look right now, Pohamba seems to be keeping his finger on the nation’s pulse.
* This article first appeared in The Namibian
Friday, June 18, 2010
World Cup 2010; The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of
FOR the next three weeks the mantra on everyone’s lips is the 2010 Fifa World Cup, and quite rightly so!
It is the biggest sporting show on earth and billions will remain glued to TV screens as the ball, called ‘Jabulani’ (‘rejoice’ in Zulu language), will be chased around the pitch by hundreds of players and cheered on by billions worldwide.
The design of ‘Jabulani’ is significant in that eleven colours are used on it, which marks the 11th time that an Adidas World Cup ball is the official match ball for all games, but it also marks the 11 official South African languages, 11 South African communities and 11 players on the field.
I must confess that, for once, I envy my former colonisers, South Africa.
They coughed up no less than N$50 billion to get their infrastructure upgraded for the World Cup. That is almost double Namibia’s annual budget.
However, the benefits of hosting the tournament will probably overshadow that N$50-billion expenditure for South Africa.
The World Cup is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Africans. It must be because we can’t really afford to spend so much on a four-week football tournament! There are no tangible economic benefits from it and thus I expect the debate about the tournament’s economic value to continue long after the final whistle has blown on July 11.
Yet, the World Cup will definitely shape the way in which South Africa is viewed by the rest of the world.
The positive media coverage the country has received over the past weeks is just awesome.
Friend and foe seemed to have buried the hatchet, with major rugby matches being played in Soweto and many rugby-obsessed Afrikaners seen blowing the vuvuzela and embracing football like never before. That’s the stuff dreams are made of.
On Friday last week, as the hour drew closer for the opening match, I couldn’t believe the euphoria around Windhoek. Most people went completely soccer-crazy and the city witnessed proud seas of SA’s multi-coloured flag, along with a few others like those of Brazil, Germany, France and even Mexico.
The Bafana shirt became the most popular item on the shopping list of Namibians and Windhoek was a real explosion of African pride with almost every second car on the road with a flag attached to an aerial, window or rear-view mirror.
Soccer shirts were selling so fast that even traders in Chinatown who normally would beg you to buy from them, decided to cash in by upping their prices.
The cherry on the cake was when I decided to stroll down Independence Avenue to treasure the moment.
One guy stood out. He was walking towards the City of Windhoek offices and had on a lime-green goalkeeper jersey, black goalkeeper shorts, lime-green socks and white sport shoes – basically ready to play the game.
Like me, many others (some shaking their heads!) paused to look at him but he just pretended not to notice the staring.
Surely our neighbours defied so many negative expectations and prophets of doom. In fact that was already clear by watching Thursday night’s successful live concert graced by the likes of Alicia Keys, Shakira, Angelique Kidjo, K’Naan and Black Eyed Peas.
I agree with many who say that the World Cup is not the solution for the many problems that beset South Africa. It will not eradicate the social ills such as the lack of employment, housing, access to education.
But former SA President Nelson Mandela (Madiba) and others like Danny Jordaan who campaigned to bring the Cup to SA knew very well that it was never about football or development.
They used the game loved by billions as an instrument of bringing about true reconciliation and patriotism.
When he officially opened the tournament, together with SA President Jacob Zuma, Fifa president Sepp Blatter said “football is not only a game, football is connecting people”.
That also explains why many people who otherwise would normally not look East, were cheering North Korea on against Brazil on Tuesday evening!
Just a pity that, despite Namibia being a stone’s throw away, we have nothing to show our children and great-grandchildren one day in terms of World Cup.
K’Naan sang: “When I get older, I will be stronger, just like a waving flag.”
How I wish we could have hosted a pre-tournament camp for the likes of Germany, Spain, Brazil or England so that I and others could show pictures and other memorabilia to our grandchildren when we get older.
Hopefully, we have learnt a lesson about the negative impact sluggishness has had on our World Cup spin-offs.
* This column first appeared in The Namibian
It is the biggest sporting show on earth and billions will remain glued to TV screens as the ball, called ‘Jabulani’ (‘rejoice’ in Zulu language), will be chased around the pitch by hundreds of players and cheered on by billions worldwide.
The design of ‘Jabulani’ is significant in that eleven colours are used on it, which marks the 11th time that an Adidas World Cup ball is the official match ball for all games, but it also marks the 11 official South African languages, 11 South African communities and 11 players on the field.
I must confess that, for once, I envy my former colonisers, South Africa.
They coughed up no less than N$50 billion to get their infrastructure upgraded for the World Cup. That is almost double Namibia’s annual budget.
However, the benefits of hosting the tournament will probably overshadow that N$50-billion expenditure for South Africa.
The World Cup is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Africans. It must be because we can’t really afford to spend so much on a four-week football tournament! There are no tangible economic benefits from it and thus I expect the debate about the tournament’s economic value to continue long after the final whistle has blown on July 11.
Yet, the World Cup will definitely shape the way in which South Africa is viewed by the rest of the world.
The positive media coverage the country has received over the past weeks is just awesome.
Friend and foe seemed to have buried the hatchet, with major rugby matches being played in Soweto and many rugby-obsessed Afrikaners seen blowing the vuvuzela and embracing football like never before. That’s the stuff dreams are made of.
On Friday last week, as the hour drew closer for the opening match, I couldn’t believe the euphoria around Windhoek. Most people went completely soccer-crazy and the city witnessed proud seas of SA’s multi-coloured flag, along with a few others like those of Brazil, Germany, France and even Mexico.
The Bafana shirt became the most popular item on the shopping list of Namibians and Windhoek was a real explosion of African pride with almost every second car on the road with a flag attached to an aerial, window or rear-view mirror.
Soccer shirts were selling so fast that even traders in Chinatown who normally would beg you to buy from them, decided to cash in by upping their prices.
The cherry on the cake was when I decided to stroll down Independence Avenue to treasure the moment.
One guy stood out. He was walking towards the City of Windhoek offices and had on a lime-green goalkeeper jersey, black goalkeeper shorts, lime-green socks and white sport shoes – basically ready to play the game.
Like me, many others (some shaking their heads!) paused to look at him but he just pretended not to notice the staring.
Surely our neighbours defied so many negative expectations and prophets of doom. In fact that was already clear by watching Thursday night’s successful live concert graced by the likes of Alicia Keys, Shakira, Angelique Kidjo, K’Naan and Black Eyed Peas.
I agree with many who say that the World Cup is not the solution for the many problems that beset South Africa. It will not eradicate the social ills such as the lack of employment, housing, access to education.
But former SA President Nelson Mandela (Madiba) and others like Danny Jordaan who campaigned to bring the Cup to SA knew very well that it was never about football or development.
They used the game loved by billions as an instrument of bringing about true reconciliation and patriotism.
When he officially opened the tournament, together with SA President Jacob Zuma, Fifa president Sepp Blatter said “football is not only a game, football is connecting people”.
That also explains why many people who otherwise would normally not look East, were cheering North Korea on against Brazil on Tuesday evening!
Just a pity that, despite Namibia being a stone’s throw away, we have nothing to show our children and great-grandchildren one day in terms of World Cup.
K’Naan sang: “When I get older, I will be stronger, just like a waving flag.”
How I wish we could have hosted a pre-tournament camp for the likes of Germany, Spain, Brazil or England so that I and others could show pictures and other memorabilia to our grandchildren when we get older.
Hopefully, we have learnt a lesson about the negative impact sluggishness has had on our World Cup spin-offs.
* This column first appeared in The Namibian
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Deliver Us From Vision 2030
A COLLEAGUE of mine can’t stand words such as ‘stakeholders’, ‘synergies’ and ‘dovetailing’. She has advised reporters to steer clear from those words in their stories. I wish she could do the same with Vision 2030 and people who haven’t read it but continue to week in and week out churn out references to it without contextualising them.
The centre of her target should be veteran politicians, many of whom have not even read the document they are often quoting, as well as some upcoming ones who think they know it all despite knowing nothing!
The Vision is the brainchild of former President Sam Nujoma and a noble idea indeed as it aims to put the quality of life of all Namibians on a par with people in the developed world by 2030.
The blueprint for the country’s long-term national development policy was officially launched six years ago although Nujoma addressed Cabinet on the need to plan for the country’s future already way back in 1998. So it took six years to come up with it.
Trade Minister Hage Geingob recently described Vision 2030 as “a tall order” while the former Director General of the National Planning Commission Peter Katjavivi said “vision is one thing; the process to get there is another thing”.
I agree with both.
That is why I don’t take many people who use the phrase ‘Vision 2030’ seriously.
Many of them can hardly explain the reality, but opt for the cheap way out by making trite statements like “we need to work towards Vision 2030”. They trot them out whenever they want to avoid thinking and it can mean whatever the user wants it to mean!
I actually believe that many use Vision 2030 to make claims about Government achievements that are not true - like that we are on target with things such as information and communication technology goals.
Will Rogers, a United States humorist and showman who died 75 years ago, once said: “I don’t make jokes. I just watch the Government and report the facts.”
I fall in the same category today. This is no joke.
I believe that many speakers do not use Vision 2030 in their speeches to explain a reality, but to avoid doing so.
You turn up at a blanket donation ceremony to impoverished people in Okahandja Park or Ombili and politicians talk about Vision 2030 without even explaining how it links to the occasion. They leave many at grassroots misty-eyed over those big words but get away with blue murder in the process.
As Andre du Pisani said a few years back, Vision 2030 requires “much hard thinking, much doing and much dialogue”.
A quick check on the Vision and targets has revealed the following, among others:
* to significantly reduce unemployment to less than five per cent of the workforce – “close to a condition of full employment”;
* have a social security support guarantee with an acceptable quality of life for the disadvantaged (think Basic Income Grant);
* have a strong and active opposition;
* media that are mature, investigative and free;
* have independent ‘watchdog’ institutions to monitor Government, private sector and civil society organisations and agencies;
* new towns throughout the country, so that the big cities are no longer congested;
* IT training to start at the pre-primary level!;
* There will be a functioning University of Applied Science and Technology by 2005;
* 50 per cent of all Namibian students will study at the University of Applied Science in the areas of electrical and electronic engineering, and computer science;
* by 2005 selected governmental institutions will provide e-business services to the Namibian public and to foreign investors;
* from 2004 win at least four gold medals in international competitions in boxing, cycling, swimming and marathon;
* win at least three gold medals at the Summer Olympic Games of 2004; and
* equip all schools with furniture, water and electricity by 2006.
However, at the current rate land redistribution is going, it will take 40 years before half of Namibia’s commercial farmland will be turned over to black people.
To their credit those who developed Vision 2030 said it is a process and not a plan.
However, a process needs a clear national strategy to give guidance and direction and also people who will be mindful of what they say about the Vision.
The way in which politicians subject citizens to the parroting around Vision 2030, currently amounts to nothing less than verbal abuse.
If there is such thing as the Vision 2030 zeitgeist, it must be now (2010). Two decades should have been enough time to change things around. Or else we will be confined to the dustbin of history.
If not the case, please deliver us from Vision 2030.
* This article first appeared in The Namibian
The centre of her target should be veteran politicians, many of whom have not even read the document they are often quoting, as well as some upcoming ones who think they know it all despite knowing nothing!
The Vision is the brainchild of former President Sam Nujoma and a noble idea indeed as it aims to put the quality of life of all Namibians on a par with people in the developed world by 2030.
The blueprint for the country’s long-term national development policy was officially launched six years ago although Nujoma addressed Cabinet on the need to plan for the country’s future already way back in 1998. So it took six years to come up with it.
Trade Minister Hage Geingob recently described Vision 2030 as “a tall order” while the former Director General of the National Planning Commission Peter Katjavivi said “vision is one thing; the process to get there is another thing”.
I agree with both.
That is why I don’t take many people who use the phrase ‘Vision 2030’ seriously.
Many of them can hardly explain the reality, but opt for the cheap way out by making trite statements like “we need to work towards Vision 2030”. They trot them out whenever they want to avoid thinking and it can mean whatever the user wants it to mean!
I actually believe that many use Vision 2030 to make claims about Government achievements that are not true - like that we are on target with things such as information and communication technology goals.
Will Rogers, a United States humorist and showman who died 75 years ago, once said: “I don’t make jokes. I just watch the Government and report the facts.”
I fall in the same category today. This is no joke.
I believe that many speakers do not use Vision 2030 in their speeches to explain a reality, but to avoid doing so.
You turn up at a blanket donation ceremony to impoverished people in Okahandja Park or Ombili and politicians talk about Vision 2030 without even explaining how it links to the occasion. They leave many at grassroots misty-eyed over those big words but get away with blue murder in the process.
As Andre du Pisani said a few years back, Vision 2030 requires “much hard thinking, much doing and much dialogue”.
A quick check on the Vision and targets has revealed the following, among others:
* to significantly reduce unemployment to less than five per cent of the workforce – “close to a condition of full employment”;
* have a social security support guarantee with an acceptable quality of life for the disadvantaged (think Basic Income Grant);
* have a strong and active opposition;
* media that are mature, investigative and free;
* have independent ‘watchdog’ institutions to monitor Government, private sector and civil society organisations and agencies;
* new towns throughout the country, so that the big cities are no longer congested;
* IT training to start at the pre-primary level!;
* There will be a functioning University of Applied Science and Technology by 2005;
* 50 per cent of all Namibian students will study at the University of Applied Science in the areas of electrical and electronic engineering, and computer science;
* by 2005 selected governmental institutions will provide e-business services to the Namibian public and to foreign investors;
* from 2004 win at least four gold medals in international competitions in boxing, cycling, swimming and marathon;
* win at least three gold medals at the Summer Olympic Games of 2004; and
* equip all schools with furniture, water and electricity by 2006.
However, at the current rate land redistribution is going, it will take 40 years before half of Namibia’s commercial farmland will be turned over to black people.
To their credit those who developed Vision 2030 said it is a process and not a plan.
However, a process needs a clear national strategy to give guidance and direction and also people who will be mindful of what they say about the Vision.
The way in which politicians subject citizens to the parroting around Vision 2030, currently amounts to nothing less than verbal abuse.
If there is such thing as the Vision 2030 zeitgeist, it must be now (2010). Two decades should have been enough time to change things around. Or else we will be confined to the dustbin of history.
If not the case, please deliver us from Vision 2030.
* This article first appeared in The Namibian
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Kazenambo right to rebuke ‘struggle kids’
YOUTH Minister Kazenambo Kazenambo’s reaction to the ambush laid by ‘children of the liberation struggle’ on his office this week was refreshing and honourable with lofty intentions which patriots would do well to applaud rather than criticise.
I have waited for this day for quite some time but many of the ruling party’s leaders have diplomatically avoided telling the children ‘in the face’ how they feel about their manners and attitude towards what Government is trying to do for many young people in the country.
Namibia has been independent for more than 20 years, enough time for some of those ‘struggle children’ to have lifted themselves from the misery they find themselves in – if they had really tried to do so and not waited for Government handouts.
Like many others, I recognise the contribution made by the parents of those young people in the liberation of Namibia. I am also fully aware of the fact that many of them had to start from scratch when they returned to Namibia in 1989 and that some did not even have basic documents like Namibian identity cards.
They faced a serious uphill battle in the struggle for identity and survival.
However, they have been riding on the ‘liberation struggle’ ticket for too long now.
So many other children also lost their parents in the struggle – some even within the country – while the past 20 years have seen many white children also marginalised in terms of things like bursaries, as Government intensified efforts to correct the wrongs of the past. Some are still paying for the wrongs of apartheid masters as they are denied certain rights through affirmative action and black economic empowerment policies.
Therefore there is no reason for the ‘children of the liberation struggle’ to be selfish and arrogant as they had been over the past few years. There are thousands of other black children who do not carry the ‘struggle’ tag, who are in the same boat as those who have been accommodated and fed at Berg Aukas – they have no jobs and no free food.
The group of eight who met Kazenambo on Tuesday claimed they had given him enough time (less than three months) since his appointment to act on their demands. The demands include jobs in Government and education opportunities for those who wish to study.
I found this to be unfair to the Minister but also very arrogant on the part of the ‘children’ – some of them already parents themselves.
Last year the Police were forced to use teargas on some of the ‘struggle kids’ in the North after they occupied a bridge as part of their demand for jobs. Others had also camped at various places such as in the centre of Windhoek for months.
Some of those from Berg Aukas are the same young people who last year, when Cabinet announced it has set aside N$2 million for them, said the Government could keep its money and instead give them jobs or bring their deceased parents back from the dead!
I have no objection when people demand their rights but the arrogance displayed by a small group of youth compared to the thousands who drop out of school each year and are left stranded due to lack of opportunities or many others who are discriminated against because of their colour must also be considered at the same time.
A few weeks ago Defence Minister Charles Namoloh announced that 600 of them would be recruited into the army. Many others had been given places in the Police while hundreds of others were taken up in Government.
Last year we were informed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Dr Peingeondjabi Shipoh, that the ‘struggle children’ could cost the Government up to N$300 million through jobs, education, training and assistance in becoming self-employed.
Last year Swapo Party Secretary General Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana said the struggle children must accept that they are part of a bigger challenge and that even some of the people who did not go into exile did suffer for Namibia’s independence.
Until now the struggle children have continued to cock a snoot, not only at Government but also at fellow youth who have been denied similar opportunities as well as law abiding citizens who respect laws such as not loitering in city centres and urinating in public!
Somebody needed to call them to order and Kazenambo was right in the way he did so.
* This article first appeared in The Namibian
I have waited for this day for quite some time but many of the ruling party’s leaders have diplomatically avoided telling the children ‘in the face’ how they feel about their manners and attitude towards what Government is trying to do for many young people in the country.
Namibia has been independent for more than 20 years, enough time for some of those ‘struggle children’ to have lifted themselves from the misery they find themselves in – if they had really tried to do so and not waited for Government handouts.
Like many others, I recognise the contribution made by the parents of those young people in the liberation of Namibia. I am also fully aware of the fact that many of them had to start from scratch when they returned to Namibia in 1989 and that some did not even have basic documents like Namibian identity cards.
They faced a serious uphill battle in the struggle for identity and survival.
However, they have been riding on the ‘liberation struggle’ ticket for too long now.
So many other children also lost their parents in the struggle – some even within the country – while the past 20 years have seen many white children also marginalised in terms of things like bursaries, as Government intensified efforts to correct the wrongs of the past. Some are still paying for the wrongs of apartheid masters as they are denied certain rights through affirmative action and black economic empowerment policies.
Therefore there is no reason for the ‘children of the liberation struggle’ to be selfish and arrogant as they had been over the past few years. There are thousands of other black children who do not carry the ‘struggle’ tag, who are in the same boat as those who have been accommodated and fed at Berg Aukas – they have no jobs and no free food.
The group of eight who met Kazenambo on Tuesday claimed they had given him enough time (less than three months) since his appointment to act on their demands. The demands include jobs in Government and education opportunities for those who wish to study.
I found this to be unfair to the Minister but also very arrogant on the part of the ‘children’ – some of them already parents themselves.
Last year the Police were forced to use teargas on some of the ‘struggle kids’ in the North after they occupied a bridge as part of their demand for jobs. Others had also camped at various places such as in the centre of Windhoek for months.
Some of those from Berg Aukas are the same young people who last year, when Cabinet announced it has set aside N$2 million for them, said the Government could keep its money and instead give them jobs or bring their deceased parents back from the dead!
I have no objection when people demand their rights but the arrogance displayed by a small group of youth compared to the thousands who drop out of school each year and are left stranded due to lack of opportunities or many others who are discriminated against because of their colour must also be considered at the same time.
A few weeks ago Defence Minister Charles Namoloh announced that 600 of them would be recruited into the army. Many others had been given places in the Police while hundreds of others were taken up in Government.
Last year we were informed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Dr Peingeondjabi Shipoh, that the ‘struggle children’ could cost the Government up to N$300 million through jobs, education, training and assistance in becoming self-employed.
Last year Swapo Party Secretary General Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana said the struggle children must accept that they are part of a bigger challenge and that even some of the people who did not go into exile did suffer for Namibia’s independence.
Until now the struggle children have continued to cock a snoot, not only at Government but also at fellow youth who have been denied similar opportunities as well as law abiding citizens who respect laws such as not loitering in city centres and urinating in public!
Somebody needed to call them to order and Kazenambo was right in the way he did so.
* This article first appeared in The Namibian
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