Too Many Public Holidays

• Sara Kasim

Yes, Namibia has an excessive number of public holidays which often mean nothing.

It appears these days are designed to allow the government to control the hours in which certain biological processes close and open.

It is on days like these when they (the government) try to keep you out of places where you can be productive. Places such as your workplace, away from home, and in places where politicians will regurgitate the previous night’s mac and chicken feet.

These are no longer vacations, but rather days gone by.

Consider the Christian holidays that are imposed on citizens in a secular state.

These are national holidays, and you are obligated to observe them. I’ve always assumed that a secular state should be impartial on religious issues and not favour one religion over another.

However, the full month of April has been devoted to Christianity.

The loveliest December days are also reserved for an elderly birthday.

On some holidays, we even prohibit the consumption of alcohol, working and thinking.

Why hasn’t the day when water was turned into wine been designated a special public holiday?

Would we still close all the shebeens in Tura and allow those in towns to operate because they have special permits?

“Jou moer, my dear, we are drinking the wines,” a person wearing pyjamas would shout at the city police vehicle, as they try to close the bar on ‘national first miracle day’.

Either we mean these things or we don’t.

If you’re going to celebrate the death of Namibians, you should also mourn the death of almost 80 000 individuals.

How can a government make individuals remember the death of a single foreign ancestor, but not the loss of an entire people?

I’m not referring to Cassinga Day. They were genuine Namibians.

I’m not sure where this government gets the idea that it has the authority to decide when my oesophagus closes and opens.

How did they think that removing my ability to swallow liquids would force me to go to the stadium and listen to empty promises?

This time, I genuinely had a problem.

During public holidays, most government agencies and banks are closed.

There were no transactions, and my pay wasn’t released until Tuesday afternoon.

Everyone had returned from Mariental by that time.

Because Thursday was a regular working day, I couldn’t drink on Wednesday.

Let’s just agree that unproductive behaviour occurs more frequently on unproductive days.

At the moment, I believe we have much too many holidays.

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