||Kharas governor Dawid Gertze has dismissed suggestions that the Hardap and ||Kharas regions should sever ties with Namibia, calling the idea unrealistic and politically driven.
"That's a wish that will never happen," he says.
Gertze was responding to Landless People's Movement (LPM) leader Bernadus Swartbooi, who claimed southern communities were being marginalised.
Gertze says such comments lack substance and are aimed at inciting residents ahead of the elections.
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"This region has been led by them (LPM) for the last five years. Statements made in a vague manner are difficult to respond to. I am a southerner as well, but I am telling you these are political gimmicks.
"They carry no weight - they are meant to incite people for all the wrong reasons without providing any substance," Gertze says.
He adds that political leaders often take advantage of the frustrations of southerners for their own gain.
"Many times, the thinking and mindset of people in the south are taken for granted, and they are entertained with these kinds of statements. Everything he said does not need any discussion, it's fantasy," he says.
Swapo parliamentarian Salomon April says Swartbooi's remarks were more political rhetoric than a reflection of reality on the ground.
"Most of us in these regions do not subscribe to that statement, but we do hear the sentiments, and we can align with some of them," April says.
He adds that while he disagrees with Swartbooi's generalisation, he understands the frustrations expressed about unequal access to the country's resources.
"I agree with some of the sentiments - especially on resource distribution. Whether in education, natural resources or economic opportunities, access is a must.
"Unfortunately, these issues become tribalised because people feel they are not getting their fair share. But even those we think are better off also have issues," April says.
SEEKING ASYLUM
Last week the LPM asked the United States (US) government to grant asylum to Namibian women and children who support the party, citing risks of political intimidation ahead of the regional council and local authority elections.
In a letter dated 17 November addressed to US secretary of state Marco Rubio, Swartbooi, without providing evidence, claims that LPM members are being targeted through state-driven intimidation and military activity in the Hardap and ||Kharas regions.
"We ask for asylum because the military occupied local authority spaces without permission and remained there during the election campaign," he writes.
This is not the first time Swartbooi has reached out to the US.
In 2021, LPM had written a letter to former US president Joe Biden, accusing the Namibian government of political persecution and claiming that senior LPM leaders' lives are being threatened.
The letter was written a few days after Swartbooi and his deputy Henny Seibeb were forcefully removed from parliament during former president Hage Geingob's state of the nation address.
In the letter signed by then LPM operative secretary Edson Isaaks, the party alleged political violence and assassination attempts against its leaders.
At the time the party accused the government of misusing state security structures to intimidate opposition figures.
The party appealed to the US for "political asylum" should conditions worsen.
CALL TO ORDER
Seibeb says national security services should call in Swartbooi, to explain his "secessionist" views.
He was reacting to Swartbooi's recent comments questioning whether southern Namibia should still be part of the country.
According to Seibeb as a member of parliament, Swartbooi took an oath to protect the Constitution, yet he "is now undermining" it.
"He must withdraw his party from parliament if that is the case and challenge the government openly in court," Seibeb says.
He says Swartbooi's comments amount to hatred and ethnic politics often used by "failed politicians" in Africa, adding that no region is being marginalised, nor is there any oppression.
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"He was a governor of the ||Kharas region and should know better unless he was oppressing his own people and failed to share resources for their intended purpose," Seibeb says.
Political analyst Marius Kudumo says Swartbooi's letter should be seen within a broader context of community tensions and unequal access to opportunities.
"Leaders have constitutional obligations to uphold the rule of law and that state institutions need not formally respond to Swartbooi's remarks," he says.
Legal practitioner Sam-Leon Nakantimba says Swartbooi's request for foreign intervention does not meet the threshold for treason.
"Asking a foreign political figure to intervene or offer asylum may be politically reckless, but it is not treason," he says, describing the letter as hyperbolic political rhetoric.
Questions sent to Swartbooi were not responded to by the time of going to print.
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