Terrible mistake (Part 1)

SALOM SHILONGO WRITES:Everything that went wrong in the country was blamed on the whites. They felt increasingly marginalized, to the point where many decided: “We are being treated as second-class citizens. We will focus on our businesses and let the black people handle politics,” said Henk Mudge, the President of the Republican Party in Namibia.Mudge was quoted in an article titled, “Republican Party is not just for whites,” The Namibian newspaper, 12 August 2024. Mudge is right. Everyone knows that after independence, many whites in Namibia just gave up on politics and retreated into the private sector. Back then the economy was doing relatively good. The country was also receiving lots of foreign aid. White Namibians have been staying in their own bubble but now it has burst.The economy is now doing badly and crime is very high. No one is safe anymore, neither economically nor physically. White owned businesses are also facing tough competition from Chinese, Indians and the politically connected “tenderpreneurs”. White Namibians have finally woken up to reality. A large number of whites took part in the 2019 national elections. Most of them said they will not vote for Swapo.FAILED TO PLANBut how did we get here? The truth is that white Namibians have totally failed to plan for the future-politically. They knew very well about what happened to many African countries after independence. Many African countries went bankrupt due to corruption and economic mismanagement. In his book, The state of Africa, Martin Meredith said that many African countries didn’t come up with a strategy after independence. That is why so many African countries are so poor.Namibia is one of the countries with the largest population of whites in Africa. No one can doubt the tenacity of the white people. They don’t complain about the same problem over and over like the black people. They just act and they are also pragmatic. In his book, Capitalist Nigger, Chika Onyeani stressed that black people don’t have a long-term plan and they are very poor at financial management.The naked truth is that white people understand the economy better. And they have the resources to take on the ruling party. But they made a terrible mistake. After independence, white Namibians were supposed to make sure that their children learn the local languages, culture as well as the local history. Because trust starts with a language.A white Namibian speaking Afrikaans or English to many local people he will be seen as just another colonizer. But a white man who is fluent in a local language would definitely gain trust among the local people. Imagine a white politician addressing a political rally in the local language.If there was a political party led by a combination of young black and white Namibians who are fluent in the local languages, then that party would definitely give Swapo a run for its money.MANDELAWhen Nelson Mandela was in prison on Robben Island, he started to learn Afrikaans, as well as the history and culture of the Afrikaner people. His comrades said to him, “Mandela, the Afrikaners are oppressing our people, yet you are studying their language/history. Why are you wasting your time?” Mandela replied that he wanted to learn the culture and the history of his oppressors in order to understand them better. He further said he was learning the history of the Afrikaners in order for them to trust him better.So, when Mandela first met with the then apartheid President P.W. Botha; before they started with their formal discussions he talked about the history of the Afrikaners and so on. President Botha was probably expecting to meet an angry and ill-informed terrorist/communist shouting; “Amandla! down apartheid! Down colonialism! Amandla!” But he met a different man who was well informed, someone who knows the history and the culture of the Afrikaner people-to which President Botha belongs. So, Mandela gained the trust of his opponent before they even started their formal discussions. – To be continued on Monday* Rubrieke, meningstukke, briewe en SMS’e deur lesers en meningvormers weerspieël nie noodwendig die siening van Republikein of Namibia Media Holdings (NMH) nie. As mediahuis onderskryf NMH die etiese kode vir Namibiese media, soos toegepas deur die Media-ombudsman.

Terrible mistake (Part 1)

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Republikein 2025-06-17

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Terrible mistake (Part 1)

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Republikein 2025-06-17

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