Political Perspective

SWAPO seriously needs to sort out its identity as a political movement.

Gone are the days of being Marxist poseurs. We all know that this was largely as a result of the liberation movement’s ties to the Soviets in bygone struggle days, but Swapo was never really ‘communist’ at heart, as the former apartheid regime tried to depict it.Nor were they even vaguely Maoist, which leads me to the subject of my column this week: the proposed founding of a Swapo Party School to be modelled along the lines of those of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC).SWAPO has always primarily been a nationalist movement.Yes, in the struggle days, it was important for obvious reasons that they flew the flag of Marxist militancy, and this was evidenced primarily by the title ‘comrade’ and of course, the clenched-fist salute as well as slogans, and their proximity to allied countries such as Cuba and the Soviets, which assisted Swapo in various ways.But that is all more or less where their ties with revolutionary Marxism ended.I would argue the case, as a young journalist during the liberation struggle years, that Swapo was not communist.It was a hard act then trying to convince, in particular the whites of this country, that I was right.And so of course I was perceived to be a ‘communist’ myself.Whites in general were then so inundated by the barrage of South African propaganda which peppered their reportage on Namibia and Swapo with the usual ‘communist’ and ‘terrorist’ adjectives when describing the movement.Whites (and let’s face it, not only whites, but other pro-South African black groups as well) completely bought into this propaganda and were frightened into submission.The then apartheid regime warned constantly of the ‘dangers’ of allowing a Swapo government to come to power, and the strong prospects that the ‘red flag’ would be hoisted above the capital.So, face it: most whites believed just that and rallied to the cause of fighting the ‘communist menace’.Lest we berate then racist South Africa alone, we must remember that its allies abroad, the United States in particular at the time, perceived Swapo in exactly the same light.Of course those who labelled Sam Nujoma a “Stalinist dimwit’ (and they weren’t right about this either, whatever Nujoma’s real faults may be!) had their own agenda for doing so at the height of the Cold War.But even those who swallowed the South African propaganda then have surely seen the light by now, some 16 years after the Swapo movement came to power: that in its governance of the country, at least, there is not the faintest vestige of communist leanings.The business community knows it as well.There’s 16 years of proven governance to illustrate my point, and with calls for Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), the antithesis of communism, reaching a crescendo, there really isn’t any doubt anymore.So, they weren’t communist then and they aren’t communist now.But the only people who seem not to see this are the vast majority of Swapo leaders and party cadres themselves.Swapo still has a mixed identity; it still shows the trappings of old allegiances to former Cold War allies, all of whom have disappeared with the exception of Cuba.They continue to call one another ‘comrade’; they still hold aloft the clenched-fist salute, and shout out the slogans …but whereas it all had some meaning in the struggle years, it now looks and sounds somewhat silly! Add to this the often clownish (sorry to say this but it’s true!) appearance of leaders in red, green and blue stripes from head to toe and thick woolly scarves thrown in, and one feels there is a real need for Swapo, once and for all, to reinvent itself.If nothing else, then to finally make the transition from liberation movement to political party.So to see on TV and read in the papers of the ‘comradeship’ between the CPC and Swapo makes one’s stomach turn.Swapo may have been pretend Marxists, but they were never Maoists (the political party Swanu was more closely allied to Communist China than Swapo ever was!).And even our Information Minister, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, looked a little foolish when addressing the recent gathering, speaking of the growing friendship and donated computers.And now there’s the promise of a Party School.For heaven’s sake! We need more and proper schools, proper education for our youth and not propaganda institutions which are a throwback to the Cold War.We’re not living there anymore.Neither is Swapo, so they should really stop the pretence now.We all know that this was largely as a result of the liberation movement’s ties to the Soviets in bygone struggle days, but Swapo was never really ‘communist’ at heart, as the former apartheid regime tried to depict it.Nor were they even vaguely Maoist, which leads me to the subject of my column this week: the proposed founding of a Swapo Party School to be modelled along the lines of those of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC).SWAPO has always primarily been a nationalist movement.Yes, in the struggle days, it was important for obvious reasons that they flew the flag of Marxist militancy, and this was evidenced primarily by the title ‘comrade’ and of course, the clenched-fist salute as well as slogans, and their proximity to allied countries such as Cuba and the Soviets, which assisted Swapo in various ways.But that is all more or less where their ties with revolutionary Marxism ended.I would argue the case, as a young journalist during the liberation struggle years, that Swapo was not communist.It was a hard act then trying to convince, in particular the whites of this country, that I was right.And so of course I was perceived to be a ‘communist’ myself.Whites in general were then so inundated by the barrage of South African propaganda which peppered their reportage on Namibia and Swapo with the usual ‘communist’ and ‘terrorist’ adjectives when describing the movement.Whites (and let’s face it, not only whites, but other pro-South African black groups as well) completely bought into this propaganda and were frightened into submission.The then apartheid regime warned constantly of the ‘dangers’ of allowing a Swapo government to come to power, and the strong prospects that the ‘red flag’ would be hoisted above the capital.So, face it: most whites believed just that and rallied to the cause of fighting the ‘communist menace’.Lest we berate then racist South Africa alone, we must remember that its allies abroad, the United States in particular at the time, perceived Swapo in exactly the same light.Of course those who labelled Sam Nujoma a “Stalinist dimwit’ (and they weren’t right about this either, whatever Nujoma’s real faults may be!) had their own agenda for doing so at the height of the Cold War.But even those who swallowed the South African propaganda then have surely seen the light by now, some 16 years after the Swapo movement came to power: that in its governance of the country, at least, there is not the faintest vestige of communist leanings.The business community knows it as well.There’s 16 years of proven governance to illustrate my point, and with calls for Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), the antithesis of communism, reaching a crescendo, there really isn’t any doubt anymore.So, they weren’t communist then and they aren’t communist now.But the only people who seem not to see this are the vast majority of Swapo leaders and party cadres themselves.Swapo still has a mixed identity; it still shows the trappings of old allegiances to former Cold War allies, all of whom have disappeared with the exception of Cuba.They continue to call one another ‘comrade’; they still hold aloft the clenched-fist salute, and shout out the slogans …but whereas it all had some meaning in the struggle years, it now looks and sounds somewhat silly! Add to this the often clownish (sorry to say this but it’s true!) appearance of leaders in red, green and blue stripes from head to toe and thick woolly scarves thrown in, and one feels there is a real need for Swapo, once and for all, to reinvent itself.If nothing else, then to finally make the transition from liberation movement to political party.So to see on TV and read in the papers of the ‘comradeship’ between the CPC and Swapo makes one’s stomach turn.Swapo may have been pretend Marxists, but they were never Maoists (the political party Swanu was more closely allied to Communist China than Swapo ever was!).And even our Information Minister, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, looked a little foolish when addressing the recent gathering, speaking of the growing friendship and donated computers.And now there’s the promise of a Party School.For heaven’s sake! We need more and proper schools, proper education for our youth and not propaganda institutions which are a throwback to the Cold War.We’re not living there anymore.Neither is Swapo, so they should really stop the pretence now.