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.
The case referred to by Madam De Klerk of the eyes of the poor child is one of the unfortunate cases that I personally do not agree with and condemn it with all the condemnation it deserves.
Having said that, this cannot be the reason for one to stand up on national television and insult people, their cultures and their parents and grandparents (ancestors) that are laid to rest.
This is just one of the unfortunate and disappointing cases which is 100% similar to those cases in the professional medical setup. A nine year old Uetuhena Tuneeko was reported to have been a victim of poor medical treatment that left him paralysed. It was reported earlier this year that at Rundu a newly born kid died in similar circumstances in a professional medical setup, not to forget a kid that got bitten by a snake and died due to poor attendance at the hospital.
Despite all that, did we have any black person on national television saying that these events must be a serious wake-up call to all citizens to stay away from western doctors and their methods of treatment, who wear high heels and use the models and formulas of their dead physicians and scientists?
Everything has its role to play in society, just as Panado cannot cure a mentally disturbed someone that follows and sleeps on the road everyday. So as the traditional doctors cannot do heart surgery and just as flu cannot be cured at the hospital, while Iizimba can cure it in a matter of seconds.
I am sure this is news to some of our compatriots. As a nation and as a people, we are happy with what WAD and you in particular do for our people in rural areas - wearing graduation gowns is seen as for only those that make it to tertiary institutions. WAD has changed that perception, no one can dispute that. My only message is that, please, please leave the wounds to heal and do not compromise legacy.
Mr Proud to Be White
In the local daily, The Namibian, Friday, October 17, there was an article entitled, 'In defence of the whites', written by a white fellow I presume who according to the article hails from Walvis Bay that has however given his/her name, but the editors decided to keep the name out for the reasons only known to themselves.
After reading this article, I asked Hafeni 'Celle Nanadi' Nashoonga (a friend and a university colleague) to read it and tell me what he thinks since it was too insulting to believe.
Let me tell you what Mr Proud to Be White wrote in case you missed it. The direct quotes will do for now: 'No one gave us the economy, it was worked for. We did not come to this country and ask someone to develop it for us, we did it ourselves If governments in Africa stopped begging from the rest of the world and started putting out the message that the only way to improve your lot was to work hard, then maybe whites would be more interested in politics local government is the one level where I think whites would like more say. After all, we are the most law-abiding group in the country, pay the majority of taxes, do most of the volunteer work and do not throw rubbish everywhere.'
Ladies and gentlemen, true sons and daughters of the soil, these are the direct words of Mr Proud to Be White, and if you do not believe me, visit your copy of the Namibian, Friday 17 October 2008.
As a true Namibian by birth and origin, a pan-Afrikanist and more so as a black conscious young Namibian, I cannot let this go without opening the eyes of my people unlike those that let this pass by or are afraid to take on the 'half citizens'.
If I do not do so, my kids will come and ask me, 'daddy, why didn't you defend the dignity and integrity of black people?' and that, that I cannot allow (getting history come judge me).
If defending black people is a crime, I stand for arrest!
Ok, enough of the anger, let's put the quotes of Mr Proud to Be White into perspectives: 'No one gave us the Economy, it was worked for'.
Yes, of course no one gave you the economy, you came, killed and subjugated our people, confiscated our land and cattle.
Yes, no one did, you grabbed our means of production. I can see the oral history was indeed passed on by your white ancestors of what they did. I did not understand or agree when you said the economy was worked for unless you mean that hard work is murder (killing our people), stealing (taking and grabbing our land and resources).
If that is hard work, then you will be right that you guys worked hard for it. I am not sure what your kids are learning at school, but my little cousins at Omaalala are learning the true definition of hard work.
'If governments in Africa stopped begging from the rest of the world and started putting out the message that the only way to improve your lot was to work hard, then, maybe whites would be more interested I politics'.
Maybe it is true that we are begging, don't you think you guys owe us because what you have or what you get comes from our rich continent whether directly or indirectly?
But Mr Proud to be White, when was the last time you checked our National Assembly if whites are not interested in politics?
On hard work, I tend to be guided because you insinuated throughout your article that we are not hard working and the whites are. If you guys are hard working, why did you introduce the contract labour system?
Was it not to get labour, knowing it well that you guys are only good at making coffee and smoking cigarettes and tons of instructions. Have you ever seen a white guy doing hard labour?
For your information, British cities like Manchester were built from the profits made from plantations that were worked on by black slaves.
Let me make it known to you if the history is not passed on to you by your ancestors.
The primary reason for the contract labour system and slavery was because your ancestors needed what they did not have (strength, energy and conviction of working hard that the Englishmen coined into what he called labour).
We worked hard by defeating you guys during the struggle despite your sophisticated weapons that we made with African resources.
What really belongs to you guys purely without a component from Africa? 'Local government is the one level where I think the white would like more say'.
After reading this statement, I just realised that imperialism and encroachment are in the blood. What this means ladies and gentlemen is that Mr Proud to Be White basically would like to continue what his forefathers did before the glorious 21 March.
The thinking is still there for colonialism. Now they want to go to the local government, to go and do what? Remove our traditional doctors so that we can all go to medical doctors to give money to their fellow capitalists? Do your maths! 'Afterall we are the most law-abiding group in the country, pay the majority of the taxes and do most of the volunteer work and do not throw rubbish anywhere'.
I do not agree with someone saying a particular race is the most law-abiding group because until now we do not know who the B 1 Butcher is; it can be anyone from whatever race despite my reservations.
About paying the majority of taxes, well, yes it is only logical for you guys to pay most taxes since you guys own more than 50% of our economy despite the fact that you guys are the minority.
'We do most of the volunteer work and do not throw rubbish everywhere' - most volunteer work? Hell no! How many whites volunteered at the recent railway project? LOL!
Maybe volunteers at rugby matches or at car races. About throwing rubbish everywhere, again we cannot say that a particular race does that because we still do not know for sure who threw body parts everywhere (B 1 Butcher) even though human beings are not rubbish.
In conclusion, I leave you with the question, is this National Reconciliation? Some of us are committed to this policy, the events of the past and placed in my subconscious, but such statements that I shared with you awaken lions in me.
I do not have a grandfather and my kids will never see him - after hearing and reading such statements and seeing someone in parliament whose father served as a leader of the regime that killed my grandfather and still wants to be my president. Do you seriously think it will go down well with me?
National reconciliation is a two-way thing; it was designed to ensure that those that were at each other's throats are at peace. If one makes such statements, his/her part of the train of national reconciliation stops the process.
It is statements like that which makes the clock start ticking to the period called time bomb. Think about that!
Job Shipululo Amupanda is a third year Political Science and Industrial Psychology student at the University of Namibia.
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