Job Shipululo Amupanda
3 December 2008
opinion
I draw inspiration from a black consciousness leader, W. E. B Du Bois, who lived his life and tirelessly fought for the right of people with the chocolate skin to ensure that they come at par with their oppressors of all times.
My gratitude this point in time goes to those individuals who installed black consciousness in me either through history or politics. Individuals like Mr Abraham Philemon Lenga (my primary school social studies teacher), Mr Nespect Butty Salomon (my high school history teacher), Mr John 'Tate Kajoni' Nghifikilwa (my Grade 12 history teacher), Ms Martha Akawa (my university history lecturer), Mr Goodman Gwasira (my university history lecturer), and Dr Lesley Blaauw (my university political science lecturer).
I should state here from the onset that the views expressed in this article are not at all that of my university, neither are they the views of the people back home (Omaalala village) and they should not be twinned with any position that I hold in either my village or in a capitalist setting. They should be seen at all times as the views of Job Shipululo Amupanda.
In The soul of the Black folks, Du Bois made the following statements which were evident in Namibia, evident in today's Namibia and if blacks do not stand up, it will be the same in tomorrow's Namibia. He eloquently and bravely said the following: 'Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here at the downing of the twentieth century.
This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle reader; for the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line. I pray you, then, receive my little book in all charity, studying my words with me, forgiving mistakes and foible for the sake of faith and passion that is in me, and seeking the grain of truth hidden there'. Along the same line of thought, Du Bois gave me a framework of what I would like to share with you today. This article looks at two case studies that give testimony to what some of our white compatriots do despite our much cherished and sacrificed policy of National Reconciliation.
De Klerk Compromising Legacy
Women's Action for Development (WAD) was established to empower women and as a self-help organisation programme which aims at uplifting the socio-economic and socio-political situation of women. A first of its kind, WAD contributes significantly as its purpose, to the socio-economic and socio-political situation of our mothers in rural areas.
It is true that WAD encourages women to make use of their own potential, to stimulate a sense of cooperation and to motivate them to organise themselves into self-help groups. It is true and undisputable again that WAD has established itself as a leading and ground breaking role player in steadfastly leading rural women in Namibia to emancipation and empowerment, through its development grogrammes in the socio-economic and socio-political field.
The services that are offered by WAD such as skills development training and more so basic computer skills training have significantly contributed and added value to unemployed women youth because they will use the qualification obtained to acquire jobs and further training.
In one of WAD's publications, it is indicated in bold 'can't you see that your opinion of the world is also a confession of your character?' - keep that quote as your read the article. All the wonderful deeds of WAD cannot be divorced from its Executive Director, Veronica Cecilia de Klerk, who has been at its helm since 2001. My fear today is here that, the Executive Director (Madame De Klerk) is compromising legacy.
My fear emanated from the remarks that she made at Omaruru where she was addressing a WAD field day at the beginning of October referring to a recent incident in which a six-year-old girl allegedly lost both of her eyes after a traditional healer treated her.
She said: "This latest shocking incident is a very serious wake-up call for every citizen in the country to stay away from witchdoctors, who dress up in cow skins, who are often under the influence of alcohol while treating people, and who call up the spirit of their ancestors to advise them on how to treat people".
To me, these statements were not only derogatory but also ridiculous to be polite. WAD's code of ethics which is the guiding principle in the execution of their duties, responsibilities and commitments for WAD employees states that 'I honour the principle of the worth of every person, irrespective of her or his origin, ethnic or cultural ties, gender, creed or political convictions and his or her abilities to make a contribution towards the upliftment or the well-being of the people of our country'. It also states ' refrain from biased actions'.
The supreme law of the land in terms of Article 10 (2) states that 'no person may be discriminated against on the grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social or economic status' - the same Article is in coherent with Article 19 on Culture that states 'every person shall be entitled to enjoy, practise, profess, maintain and promote any culture, language, tradition or religion '
Statements made by Madam De Klerk are in no way in line with the above stated documents (WAD's code of ethics and my country's constitution), as a matter of fact they are in conflict with them.
I am still asking myself the framework of making such a statement. If one does not have a culture, that must not be the foundation of disregarding other cultures.
If one does not know where and who are his ancestors and where they are buried, that should not be the premise of disregarding other people when they call upon their ancestors for help.
As a matter of fact, that is the practice that has been with my people (the black people) before you and I were born. We are a collective and not an individualistic society, remember!
Maybe others will, but I refuse to keep quiet when my people are being mocked and ridiculed by someone who hardly knows what is going on. It is such statements that make me within the context of African politics to define an African not just on the bases of an ID, marriage certificate and passport, but on account that someone's ancestral origin can be traced in an African continent.
If one has money that should not be the justification for you to tell people that they should listen to you or assume that everyone has money - remember that money does not produce oxygen. Let me make it known to you, Madam, that our traditional doctors are not witchdoctors as you wrongly referred to them.
Ladies and gentlemen, with the knowledge of our society, we all know that there is no white person that is referred to as a 'witchdoctor wearing cow skins' thus, the statements were clearly channeled to black people and on that account, they are tantamount to racist remarks that bring me back to my title - Is this national reconciliation?
Another insult that manifested from Madam de Klerk's mouth was when she said 'witchdoctors who dress in cow skins'. Do you know that most traditional doctors are women and WAD is supposed to uplift them, not ridiculing and disrespecting them?
Let me make it known to you that our people do not just put on cow skins like putting on high heels - these attires have symbolic significance to our people. Is it not our people's choice to put on what they want to put on and not to mention that which defines who they are? Or maybe our traditional doctors should consider putting on red make-up.
We should always try to understand other people. Namibia is not just dominated by white culture and if even such a thing exists, Namibia is unity in diversity. The fact that we have a foreign language (English) as our official language does not make us uniform.
In her statements Madam de Klerk called upon the citizens to stay away from what she referred to as 'witchdoctors' and make use of the professional medical services. She however forgot to mention where the money would come from.
It is easy to urge people to make use of the hospitals, speaking in and from a western context, because that is all that exists to you since you grew up with the medical aid and never faced financial difficulties.
It is easy when you grew up with a car in your yard to take you to see a medical doctor to see how much you weigh, thus making you blind to the realities that not everyone was and is so fortunate like you.
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