Wanted: Leadership With Vision

I AGREE wholeheartedly with Gwen Lister’s column regarding Swapo’s undemocratic rhetoric.

The test of true democracy in this country will come when an opposition party wins an election against Swapo. That day will come.Will the reactionaries within Swapo’s ranks resort to their first love, namely violence, or can they use true democratic principals to win elections? The problem with Swapo as I see it is twofold: their rhetoric is struggle rhetoric and the problem with this is that the world has moved on.Apartheid was a construct of the Cold War.It could only construct legitimacy while the forces of communism roamed the planet looking for a home.As soon as those forces were constrained, the lights went on and apartheid was exposed for what it was – bald racism.Everyone except Swapo, it seems, has come to terms with this history.I have long since come to the view that Swapo and their counterparts in other southern African nations found themselves to be anachronisms almost immediately after they took power.This is because the reason for their existence disappeared with the Cold War and the end of apartheid.Politics based on racial identity is by its very nature abhorrent.Swapo finds itself to be the unenviable holder of this racist political tag currently.The second problem I referred to is related to the first.Swapo has been unable to appeal to a broader church of people.They have not been able to become more inclusive or to break away from the politics of identity.Swapo should prove to the electorate that they are not merely the other side of the apartheid coin.They should do this by moving away from their arrogant and self-righteous ‘Africanist’ position and move towards a more democratic and inclusive rhetoric.I’m not suggesting for a moment that this will be easy, but it is necessary.The litmus test is Zimbabwe.What is happening there could easily happen in Namibia and if that does not fill ordinary Namibians with fear and loathing, it should.What we need in southern Africa at the moment is leadership with vision.Vision that can take us past the narrowly defined self-interests of a couple of old warhorses.Andrew Wright AustraliaThat day will come.Will the reactionaries within Swapo’s ranks resort to their first love, namely violence, or can they use true democratic principals to win elections? The problem with Swapo as I see it is twofold: their rhetoric is struggle rhetoric and the problem with this is that the world has moved on.Apartheid was a construct of the Cold War.It could only construct legitimacy while the forces of communism roamed the planet looking for a home.As soon as those forces were constrained, the lights went on and apartheid was exposed for what it was – bald racism.Everyone except Swapo, it seems, has come to terms with this history.I have long since come to the view that Swapo and their counterparts in other southern African nations found themselves to be anachronisms almost immediately after they took power.This is because the reason for their existence disappeared with the Cold War and the end of apartheid.Politics based on racial identity is by its very nature abhorrent.Swapo finds itself to be the unenviable holder of this racist political tag currently.The second problem I referred to is related to the first.Swapo has been unable to appeal to a broader church of people.They have not been able to become more inclusive or to break away from the politics of identity.Swapo should prove to the electorate that they are not merely the other side of the apartheid coin.They should do this by moving away from their arrogant and self-righteous ‘Africanist’ position and move towards a more democratic and inclusive rhetoric.I’m not suggesting for a moment that this will be easy, but it is necessary.The litmus test is Zimbabwe.What is happening there could easily happen in Namibia and if that does not fill ordinary Namibians with fear and loathing, it should.What we need in southern Africa at the moment is leadership with vision.Vision that can take us past the narrowly defined self-interests of a couple of old warhorses. Andrew Wright Australia