A Left‑Wing View of Namibian Independence

Independence brought hope but the promises remain unfulfilled.

The lowering of the colonial-apartheid flag was a moment of profound symbolic transformation but did not lead to emancipation. Inequality and poverty continue despite independence.

Political sovereignty was achieved, but economic sovereignty has not.

The structures of racial capitalism were not dismantled; they were redecorated.

The promise of independence was constrained by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the global neoliberal ascendancy in the 1990s, which disciplined new states into market‑friendly governance.

In other words, the flag was lowered, but the soil stayed poisoned by the old order.
 
ECONOMIC BASE

A left‑wing reading acknowledges the accomplishments, namely: constitutionalism, peace, gender equality, infrastructure, social spending.

But it also interrogates who benefited, who continues to be excluded, and why progress plateaued.

High social spending does not automatically produce equality if the economic base remains capitalist and extractive.

Peace without social justice is a thin peace, maintained by patience rather than prosperity. A small civil society and pluralistic media are important but they cannot compensate for structural inequality.

Diplomatic prestige does not feed households. The achievements are real, but they are successes within a constrained paradigm, not feats that transform the paradigm itself.

Inequality persists as the core failure, but a left‑wing perspective deepens this because neoliberalism lingers as the dominant logic in contemporary Namibia.

Even when softened by social spending, Namibia’s economic model has been shaped by privatisation by stealth; market‑driven development; elite accumulation; weak labour power; regressive taxation; and dependence on foreign capital.

This is not accidental.

It is the predictable outcome of a post‑colonial state integrated into global capitalism. Namibia’s economy remains dependent and extractive, while social democracy requires a strong industrial base.

CAPITAL AND CORRUPTION

Class formation merely replaced racial hierarchy.

Where apartheid created racial capital, independence created class capital: a politically connected elite emerged; redistribution favoured insiders; the working class and unemployed remain structurally marginalised.

This is not merely a betrayal of liberation ideals by a few individuals but is the logic of capitalism, which reproduces inequality unless deliberately constrained.

Corruption is a symptom, not a disease.

It is vital not to essentialise African politics in this regard and to not underplay class dynamics. Our analysis should be materialist, not moralistic.

Corruption thrives where the state is used to mediate access to capital.

It is not a cultural defect; it is a structural feature of elite accumulation in a capitalist periphery.

Corruption is not the cause of inequality but is one of its expressions. Inequality is a structural necessity.
 
‘CAPITALIST LOGIC’

Despite Vision 2030 and national development plans (NDPs), the policy incoherence undermines development. Namibia lacks an integrated strategy for the food–energy–water–jobs nexus.

What appears as incoherence is often class coherence.

Policies that favour elites are not accidental but reflect the interests of those who hold power.

The absence of a coherent strategy is not a technocratic oversight; it is the result of a development model that prioritises capital over people.

The state’s ‘policy incoherence’ may be partly imposed by global economic structures, not just internal failures.

It is crucial not to underplay how external pressures (International Monetary Fund, global markets) shape domestic policy.

New resources such as oil and gas are not threats but the continuation of capitalist logic.

The coming oil and gas economy in Namibia risks creating a petro‑elite, deepening dependency and inequality.

Without structural transformation, Namibia could become a green colony, i.e. exporting hydrogen, oil, and minerals while importing inequality.

In any case, Swapo has become an elite class project and an obstacle to progress. That party’s implementation of neoliberalism hollowed out social democracy.

CLASS CONTRADICTIONS

In the end, it is important not to romanticise independence and treat it as a moral event, rather than a transfer of power from one elite to another, while the working class endures dispossession.

The colonial class structure remained intact and there was no transformation of the economic base.

The liberal-democratic achievements are not indicators of class emancipation (such as the abolishment of private property).

If anything, Namibia is fully integrated into global capitalism, and the state is performing its structural function for capital.

The state is not neutral, and the consolidation of the new elite meant a bureaucratic middle class and a regulated working class.

The decline of ‘One Namibia One Nation’ is because of the exposure of class contradictions concealed by nationalist ideology.

Namibia failed not because of corruption or incoherence but because capitalism – even with a nationalist face – cannot deliver emancipation.
 

• The authors are members of the Marxist Group of Namibia.

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