Political Perspective

GOVERNMENT has created a ‘monster’ with the ‘struggle kid’ saga I’m afraid, and while already over 10 000 have been registered as such, we can all expect this number to swell further as others jump on the bandwagon of entitlement.

At least 1 000 have already been taken up in the NDF and 540 have been relocated to Berg Aukas. Now we learn of a Cabinet decision to reserve all vacant entry-level posts in the civil service for ‘struggle kids’ as well. I seriously wonder why the Prime Minister bothers with a Performance Management System (PMS) for the public service!THE question is also what is left for other, perhaps even more qualified, young job seekers when preference is given to the ‘struggle kids’? And what will this mean for the promise of increased productivity in the public service, when the ‘struggle kids’, on their own admission, have only basic education?The decision by Government to give preference to them is extremely discriminatory towards the youth in general, and I wonder whether it is not also unconstitutional? A number of Chinese scholarships favoured the children of the elite, an already discriminatory move, and now thousands of jobs are going to be reserved for youth allegedly born in exile! I dispute the latter in terms of the sheer numbers anyway (over 10 000 struggle kids?!) since the country has already been independent for 19 years and children are deemed to be adults when they reach the age of 21.Sorry to say that ‘exile credentials’ is something that should be done away with as soon as possible. Why, after nearly two decades of independence, should this be the key to entitlement and handouts while those not born in exile are given nothing?Approximately 43 500 Namibians returned home through the official repatriation programme of the UNHCR in 1990, and it seems this number continues to swell, even 20 years later. It is incomprehensible, and like the fact, in my view, that affirmative action should be a process that is put in place to right the wrongs of the past over a specific period after which a level playing field should be in place, so too the country cannot be expected to bankroll the former exile community nearly two decades after they came home! If so, where will it all end, if ever?Are we, after all, doing any favours for these kids as they will continue to be looked after for the foreseeable future? Government hasn’t been clear on what may look like a ‘food for work’ programme at Berg Aukas, and if this isn’t sorted in the foreseeable future, the youth there will have little to do with themselves and their numbers will multiply as they themselves have more kids!The 540 who have been relocated to Berg Aukas will clearly live as they did in exile. In makeshift camps, with donated food and little to do until they decide they’ve had enough and demonstrate once again. It is a dependent lifestyle which will clearly stay that way. The thousands of others who will take up vacant posts at entry level in Government may be equally unhappy as they find they are relegated to more menial work and/or get placed in positions for which they are not qualified.After independence Government decided not to afford special treatment to exiles in general (the former fighters excepted, many of whom were taken up in the NDF) precisely because they wanted to be fair to all Namibians. It is also not right to take the position that only those in exile suffered for this country’s independence. Quite the contrary. But those who remained in Namibia wouldn’t be taken seriously if they made similar claims to those who have been in exile!And it is incomprehensible how, after 19 years of silence, the ‘struggle kids’ suddenly developed into a phenomenon that had to be dealt with. And everyone is expected to accept they all have legitimate claim to being looked after.I feel slightly differently about the former fighters. While they too should not eternally be entitled, I feel that they had legitimate claim to at least a pension and some assistance from Government, as most soldiers get the world over.Like it or not, with the above scenario it is clear that we are still living in a highly discriminatory society. It’s not the apartheid of the past, but it is definitely favouring some over others and we have to find a way to stop the entitlement that our country cannot afford.Perhaps the controversial Basic Income Grant (BIG) should have been considered for some of those in dire circumstances, struggle kids or otherwise, and the matter should end there, with no preferential treatment for some who are considered more Namibian than others. Better still, a plan for job creation for all Namibian youth!