Namibia: The land where you buy back your own life (Part 1)

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FLUITJIEBLASER WRITES:

A personal indictment regarding the price of survival in a country where virtually everything has a price – even dignity. Namibia inherited an economic system deeply shaped by exploitation under apartheid. What is deeply troubling is the extent to which, after independence in 1990, many of the structures and practices that disadvantage ordinary Namibians appear to have remained largely intact – sometimes under new names, new institutions and new beneficiaries. Instead of dismantling every mechanism that makes ordinary people poorer, we seem to have become accustomed to them.

Look around. The prices of goods. The cost of housing. Rent. Transport. Electricity. Water. Banking charges. Insurance. School fees. Medical care. Legal fees. Licences. Permits. Levies. Mobile services. Municipal services. Everything costs. And everything keeps costing more.

WHY DOES EVERYTHING COST SO MUCH?

Take ordinary consumer goods. Countless examples are circulating on social media of identical or comparable products being substantially cheaper in countries such as Botswana, Nigeria or China than in Namibia. One is left asking a painfully simple question: How can a relatively small country, geographically close to major manufacturing and distribution centres in Southern Africa, repeatedly end up paying such extraordinary prices?

And then there is the uncomfortable perception that major retailers often arrive at remarkably similar prices. If competition is supposed to protect consumers, why does the ordinary consumer so often feel as though there is nowhere to run?

Consider fast food. A social-media reel recently demonstrated how much KFC food one could purchase in China for the equivalent of about N$150. Here, the same amount can barely cover a modest meal. Similar comparisons are frequently made about other international food outlets. Another reel by a well-travelled individual described Namibia as the most expensive country he had visited and asked a question that should embarrass every person responsible for economic policy: How do Namibians survive at all? That is not a silly question. It is the question. My sincere answer to him would be, by God’s grace alone.

HOUSING

Housing may be the most brutal example of all. Claims have circulated in international housing-cost comparisons that Namibia ranks among the world’s most expensive housing markets relative to incomes. Whether every such ranking uses a methodology that accurately reflects the Namibian reality is another matter. But walk through our informal settlements. Look at backyard shacks. Look at families sharing overcrowded houses. Look at young Namibians who work but cannot come remotely close to owning a home. Then ask yourself whether the numbers really matter when the lived reality is staring you in the face.

Recent reporting has highlighted just how high an income can be required to qualify for an ordinary home loan in Namibia. N$43 000 a month! For the average Namibian, that is not an income. That is a fantasy. If one compares that with the median salary of N$3 000, where on earth will ordinary Namibians ever get that type of money?

And rent? Don’t get me started. In some cases, rent has become a mechanism through which people who cannot afford to buy are forced to surrender enormous portions of their income simply to remain housed. The poor do not need another lecture about financial responsibility. They need an economy in which their income can actually sustain a life.

A PIECE OF THE PIE

Housing and transport are not merely expensive because of the basic product. There are layers upon layers of costs – banks, law firms, government departments, NamRA, municipalities, agents, boards, contractors, utilities, registrations, licences, permits, interest, levies, fees, fines, rates, taxes and countless other charges. Everyone has a hand in the pie. By the time an ordinary Namibian finally gets the house, car, service or piece of land, the original price has been buried beneath an avalanche of additional costs. Is it any wonder that so many people remain poor? And how about the evil fact that an average house is paid off in 20 to 30 years while a farm of the same value as a house is paid in one installment and a car also with the same value in five years? What inconsistency is this that is geared at milking Namibians completely dry?

A South African once sneered at me on Facebook about Namibia’s poverty and homelessness. I wanted to ask him one thing: Have you ever tried to survive here on a Namibian income?

THE CONVENIENCE OF BEING EXPENSIVE

Service stations are another example. Walk into a convenience store and compare the price of an ordinary product with what you would pay at a supermarket. Sometimes the difference is astonishing. The same applies to food and drinks at hotels and other establishments. At what point does convenience become exploitation? And at what point does profit become greed? Those are uncomfortable questions, but somebody needs to ask them.

TAXES

Then there are taxes. VAT. Income tax. Customs duties. And the many other taxes, charges and duties that accompany everyday life. Social-media articles have claimed that Namibians effectively encounter more than a dozen different forms of taxation. Whether every item on those lists technically qualifies as a tax is beside the point. The ordinary Namibian experiences them as costs.

Then add licences, permits, premiums, levies, administrative fees, service charges and municipal tariffs. Suddenly the salary that looked reasonable on paper has become almost worthless in practice. You earn. You are taxed. You pay fees. You pay levies. You pay charges. You pay interest. You pay for services. And then you discover that there is barely anything left with which to live. You are successfully scammed out of a decent, happy life. – To be continued

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