Political Perspective

RAPE is the order of the day in Namibia.

In respect to crimes of violence, our women and children are being abused and even killed on a daily basis. With regard to the country itself, the rape of our resources continues without respite. We are in a sorry state and there is little evidence that these societal scourges are diminishing in any way, shape or form. In fact they are escalating. This is our reality, and the real tragedy is that our people have become numb to both atrocities, and I use the word deliberately.IN the last few days alone, some of our headlines have read as follows: ’17 years in prison for rape of child’; ‘Police investigate rape of toddler’; ‘Cow theft trumps rape in sentencing stakes’; ‘Mother recounts fatal assault on her child’; ‘Police accused of failing 19-year-old rape victim’; ‘Forensics pending in Reho matricide’, ‘Crack binge amnesia raised as rape defence’; and so it continues, day after day. When I read about the case this week in which a man allegedly beat and killed a two-and-a-half year-old girl, I felt sick to my stomach, not only because of the heinous nature of the crime itself, but also because of the absence of hundreds, if not thousands of Namibians, at the courts protesting these horrors against vulnerable and fragile infants and toddlers. It struck me forcibly that we have become immune to the sickness inherent in our own society.The violence in our society has truly reached epidemic proportions and our people are curiously quiet about it.Corruption too has skyrocketed in recent years. Strangely enough, getting worse even since public and political protestations about the ‘evils’ of graft manifested in the creation of an Anti-Corruption Commission and a Zero Tolerance Campaign. Instead of ‘zero’ its quite the opposite. There are simply few repercussions and consequences and it has clearly reached endemic proportions.Again, the headlines mirror increased incidences of the rape of our resources.’Avid 7 and Teko Trio on the back burner’ is one of them. It is astounding that the outcome of the embezzlement of N$30 million from the Social Security Commission (SSC) in 2005 won’t see the light of day until 2012 at the very earliest. In the meantime some of the accused continue to serve in public positions. There are simply too many cases to recount here, but the disease of corruption, graft, theft and maladministration has truly got a hold on this nation.One doesn’t quite know whether to laugh or cry when one learns about developments like ‘Roads Authority, ACC, sign agreement to fight corruption’. Time will tell whether in fact the RA does in fact grant ‘unrestricted access’ to the ACC in terms of its systems and information database. And what does and will this really mean unless Government for instance, insists that all parastatals should follow suit and do the same.Corruption cases range from those in elevated positions of power and influence and authority in the political and business spheres to the ordinary man or woman employee also trying to get a piece of the action and emulate the ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes that have become an inherent part of most so-called Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) deals through tenders and other kickbacks and schemes. Seldom do the benefits trickle down to those who need it most. But the rich are visibly getting richer, while honest members of the middle class battle to pay their bills, and the poor can’t pay them even if they wanted to.Sometimes I wonder if the political and business elite don’t wonder what the currently disadvantaged think of them when they see them in their flashy cars with tinted windows, designer clothes and boastful lifestyles of parties and excess.It’s one thing to enjoy a life achieved through years of honest hard work which has paid dividends. It is quite another when the gains are clearly ill-gotten and a youthful elite, who have hardly had to work a day in their lives to have millions fall into their laps through patronage and political or family connections and access, in short, nepotism, who show off their wealth and materialism for all to see and envy their ‘success’.But this is not real-time success. These are seldom people who’ve created companies and jobs, or given back to society and the less privileged. They have really little to be proud of, and it is a pity that those who see them drive by in their luxurious vehicles don’t really see this, but simply hope to be like them one day.How sad it is that we cannot seem to get a grip on either violent crime or corruption. The best of intentions aren’t good enough. There has to be concrete, concerted and sustained action to change Namibia for the better and stop the backwards slide down the moral abyss.