…Take Action, Or Shut Up
Finally, somebody has let the cat out of the bag.
Now we know that we have been banished into a life of everlasting homelessness. So, yes, the stink around Windhoek's sprawling populations of squatters will continue to linger on for a while. Meaning, not every flying object in the Hakahana settlement will be a bird. Which could present a market opportunity for the new poop disposal system that fills poo bags with helium to float that away. But, that's a story for another day.
'Scuse my thoughtlessness, but it's starting to look like Namibians enjoy being taken for a ride. When one of our mis-leaders maintained that he has never seen so many shacks in Windhoek, about 20 years following his return from an almost lifelong 'vacation', we created social media memes about the madness and went on about our business.
Some single-doored dwellings and hostel-style homes were constructed, which served to enrich the elite even further. Needless to say, many of these houses remain unsuitable for habitation.
While the masses are dealing with this shock, in came Chester with a brand-new plan. One which declared the shack-dwelling conditions in Windhoek a humanitarian crisis, and then improved the situation with the construction of more corrugated iron houses. Kamma, low-cost housing. Still we took to social media and created more memes.
Let's not even bother resuscitating clauses in the grand vision that founded this republic. We're eight years towards its target time and we're yet to get a report on its deliverables – pertaining to housing. And, yes, we have been whispering our views about this archaic, comatose, document – which no one actually read – and creating social media memes.
Be that as it may, and despite having grown accustomed to the tomfoolery, when the spin doctor at the city council told newspaper reporters that affordable housing in Windhoek is reserved for folks who earn more than N$25 000 it did hit as a shocker. Damn, folks, initially I thought it was all a colossal public relations blunder – like that of State House stating that Namibia was pulling out of the Southern African Development Community organ on politics. Until I read that one needed to earn at least N$8 000 to qualify for this affordable housing project. That's when it all came to me. The smell of Rehoboth's cannabis whiff, that is.
And knowing that the city's former mayor and radical shot caller was concurrently gallivanting somewhere in Jamaica and contemplating bringing back a whole reggae festival made everything even clearer. They smoke the strong stuff – all of them. But, aint' no shame in your game, right? Wrong. When you're sitting with close to a million folks living in shacks you've no right to any other game plan than housing provision. Besides, hitting the pot back to back has been associated with deficits in decision-making that impair the ability to make sensible decisions over time.
Which explains the haphazard manner in which developmental plans are approached in this country. And do not be fooled. It is all part of the plan. Each regime creates its own set of promises. In that way, none of the others can be held accountable for its problems. Smart, if you ask me.
But where does that leave the sheeple in all this? On social media, of course. The constituency that hardly bears any fruits, other than entertainment. Yes, the Egyptian revolution came about as a result of all these handles. But that was accompanied by noticeable action on the streets. Look, no one is calling on folks to run amok or create shite mounts around the city. But look, the votes that some political parties got on Facebook would have seen them running this joint.
Too bad, Facebook votes don't count. So, all the crusades for speedy land delivery were in vain. Now you are sitting with a municipality that's playing a game of 'catch phrase', with the masses. You know, where you've to guess what they're about to say, or do, based on the clues they're giving. Which, with a fractured town council, the clues are so many one can't piece them together. While the rest of us nincompoops are out here posting memes on how the city council is decaying, the damagers over there remain focused on political slates, salad plates and the multiplication of the sheeple. Take action … or shut up. Ons is gatvol.
– untamedscribe@gmail.com
