Stop The Hatred Before It’s Too Late

MUST we as Namibians pick up on the silliness of the USA and start calling ourselves:
Afrikaner-Namibian, Oshiwambo-Namibian, Nama-Namibian etc? Or must we go back to the time when a number on your ID categorised you into one of these ethnic groups? Wouldn’t we be going backwards then?

I am currently reading a book by Max Du Preez (Dwars) in which he refers to the genocide in Rwanda. He tells of Hutu men, married to Tutsi women, killing their wives and children. A Mayor of a certain town send a lot of Tutsis (50 000) to a school which was still under construction under the pretence of giving them a place to hide. When all 50 000 where gathered inside, he called in the militia. They killed the people with knives and machetes. All 50 000 in 24 hours! They killed one million people in 100 days. That amounts to 10 000 people per day. I am not repeating myself for the fun of it, but sometimes it takes repetition of facts in numerals for people to understand the sheer horror.One million people senselessly murdered! Namibia’s entire population is only two million. That accounts for half of our population – in other words – as many as the people participating in our National Elections (according to ECN). Are our leaders also on this road? Why do we get speeches from our leaders to create a greater divide between fellow Namibians? Why is it always (like Rwanda) these speeches get delivered to the rural communities? Is it because their education is lacking and they are therefore more gullible? Why create hate? Why are we always being threatened and told that we are not patriotic when we challenge the election results? Must we opt for the Kenyan way? Is that not what they are hoping for? Will our opposition be ready to handle the responsibility if they come to power? The opposition, and we as a nation, are paying a high price for their lack of punctuality. The PM said the opposition must stop their appeal and tackle our common enemies – poverty and unemployment – which the Swapo Party created in the first place! Every day I meet Namibians of all walks of life. My experience is telling me that we as ordinary people do not carry hate in our hearts, but it seems our leaders do. In my career of 20 odd years in sales, I have never experienced any hate or racism from my fellow Namibians. However, whenever I have to deal with one of our leaders, and the proceedings do not go his/her way, they pull the race and hate card. Why? Things that have been bothering me in the last few weeks is:1. The people do not believe in elections anymore. Look at Okahandja’s elections. Only 5 000 of the 15 000 registered to vote participated. I’m worried about the 10 000 that did not vote. That is more than the votes the Swapo party got. So Swapo must not view it as a win, but as a defeat. In my humble opinion the attitude of the voters is: ‘Why must we bother to vote. Swapo will always win. Even if it is because of fear of retribution or by cheating, but they will win.’ 2. The Government of the day is failing to create more jobs.3. The Government of the day is failing the people in terms of education. When you are educated and still find it hard to find employment it can only lead to negative thoughts. Attitudes like this are fodder for a revolution. Tracy Chapman said: ‘Don’t you know what a revolution sounds like? Like a whisper. Standing in the line of unemployment. Standing at the doorstep of starvation.’4. The hate speeches of the Swapo Party are always outside Windhoek and mostly at their stronghold in the North.5. The term ‘Omusati Clique’ is starting to find a foothold under the masses.What I am trying to do is to cry ‘wolf’! but I hope I am wrong. As I said previously most of the Namibian population are tolerant people, but you only need one spark to set off a bomb. So my plea to our leaders is: ‘Stop what you are busy with, and let the courts decide on the elections, don’t go looking for trouble where there are none, and don’t be so paranoid about the Opposition.’ Let it be….Theuns DreyerVia e-mail