On Workers’ Day And Tribalism
THE people’s paper did us proud again. It is without a doubt the primary platform in this country in which the real issues are debated since open dialogues in many other newspapers and on the national television and radio stations have been closed down.
We were struck by two topics in the people’s paper last week, i.e. the May Day rally and tribalism. The article ‘Tipeeg moving too slowly’ (The Namibian, 2 May) reported on the Workers’ Day meeting held in Keetmanshoop with a theme that focused on workers’ rights, productivity and sustainable development. This raised a number of questions for us. It seems to us that workers cannot only focus on rights in the workplace, but in a society like ours we should highlight the socio-economic rights of the workers much more.
Certainly, the right to decent food, a decent education or health system and decent housing are extremely important to poverty-stricken people? The rather narrow focus on rights in the workplace means very little in the context of massive unemployment and poverty. It is also relevant to inquire who benefits from this productivity and sustainable (capitalist) development. For us it is difficult to understand why the trade union leaders would be so preoccupied with the concerns of the bosses who make mega-profits.
How could a May Day rally have the main speakers as non-workers? In fact, even worse, the main speaker was the president of a bourgeois government. Admittedly, President Pohamba was a worker many decades ago, but, objectively, he is now at the head of a government that first and foremost serves the capitalist class. The President is on the other side of the class line. This undoubtedly confuses the working class of this country and is probably part of a deliberate strategy by the ruling elite. On top of this, the representative of the bosses, Tim Parkhouse, even gets to speak at the workers’ rally. What kind of trade union leadership invites the bosses? This moderate Namibian trade union leadership that made peace with the bosses is the main reason why the NUNW [National Union of Namibian Workers] is in such serious trouble. Such a reformist leadership is unable to represent the interests of the working class. The workers of Namibia should be struggling for the fundamental transformation of the capitalist economy instead of collaborating with the bosses. That was clearly just a May Day rally in name but not in substance. Hopefully, in future we would have more militant workers’ rallies.
The simple fact is also that job creation through the so-called private sector is very limited due to the profit/greed motive. We should create jobs through massive public works programmes, through expanding the public sector and making serious attempts at manufacturing-driven industrialisation. Stop the transfer-pricing (theft) of the multinational companies and we would also have more than enough money for creating jobs.
The excellent editorial on the dangers of tribalism ‘Swapo must shutdown tribalism’ (The Namibian, 3 May) and the progressive letter ‘A tribalist project’ (The Namibian, 3 May) reflect the disconcerting increase in tribalism as presently displayed in the clamouring for an Ondonga region.
The logic of tribalism inevitably leads to increasing fracturing of the nation and the continual creation of little (tribal) fiefdoms. This is the road to division and discord. What is required to maintain the unity of the Namibian nation is to be moving in exactly the opposite direction, i.e. stop the formal recognition of tribal authorities as in countries like Mozambique and Tanzania. Separate the existence of these tribal structures from government privileges. This is the only way to block the dangerous trend towards tribalism. It is really the material rewards that keep these tribal labels going. In this regard, we fully concur with the urgent call to counter the ‘ethnic entrepreneurs’.
The disturbing chauvinism that Oshindonga-speakers deserve special recognition for the anti-colonial struggle is embarrassing when there is so much evidence of the valiant resistance of many others against colonialism since the early 1800s. In our view, for example, Jonker Afrikaner (and not Sam Nujoma) is the real founder of the Namibian nation-in-the-making or the ‘sleeping (capitalist) state’ that is called ‘Namibia’ today. Not to mention the resistance of Maharero, Witbooi, Marengo, Nehale, Mandume, etc.
Only those who do not know our history make silly claims about some language or political groupings deserving credibility. In fact, we could take the history of southern Africa even further back and point at the great Khoi-Dutch War of 1739 and the effective guerrilla warfare for at least 50 years of the San against Dutch colonialism that made it possible for Namibia only to be colonised much later. Surely, all those who fought against our colonisation deserve recognition.
As Namibians we should always strive to make the slogan of ‘One Namibia One Nation’ a reality. The unity of the workers is central to this. We should not let the scourge of tribalism divide us. Forward to unity!
KP Shitumbapo and D Aluteni
Katutura