Opinions

Last week, two white pupils at a local school performed a grotesque pantomime of racism. They painted their faces black and referred to themselves as “Kaffir 1” and “Kaffir 2, invoking one of the most odious slurs in Namibia’s tortured history. It wasn’t just blackface; it was blackface with the added sting of apartheid’s legacy layered on top. This was not ignorance alone: it was wilful disregard for decency, for history and for the fragile social contract of our post-independence nation. Many in the community demand that the pair be expelled or even criminally charged. The school and the parents…

Namibia stands on the precipice of an unprecedented judicial crisis. The looming nationwide strike by magistrates, the first of its kind in recent memory, is not merely another labour dispute; it is a thunderclap warning of deep and festering discontent within the very foundation of our justice system. If this strike proceeds tomorrow as threatened, it will shake public confidence in our courts, disrupt thousands of pending cases, and place the credibility of our judiciary under severe scrutiny. For years, murmurs of frustration have echoed through the corridors of our lower courts: complaints of overwork, understaffing, inadequate facilities, and stagnant…

The government has finally clarified what it means by “free education”. While the clarification may have disappointed some who expected full coverage of every education-related cost, from tuition to accommodation, transport, and registration, it deserves acknowledgement for its honesty and fiscal realism. In a time when public expectations often outpace the limits of public resources, this is a bold and mature move by the government. For years, “free education” has been a politically loaded term, used loosely and often misunderstood. Many citizens equated it with “everything free”, but in truth, no education system in the world is ever entirely free.…

For far too long, Namibia has danced around the issue of black economic empowerment, turning what should have been a sober national conversation into a shallow talking point. Government after government has touted policies, programmes, and slogans meant to uplift black entrepreneurs, but when you strip away the rhetoric, what’s left is a system that continues to strangle black business while protecting entrenched privilege. You cannot claim to be pro-development while simultaneously being anti–black business.  The two positions are fundamentally incompatible. Yet that is exactly where Namibia finds itself today, where black entrepreneurs are publicly vilified as “tenderpreneurs”, where every…

A country that is building roads, schools, clinics, airports and power lines cannot afford a docile Engineering Council. Namibia’s development agenda depends on quiet, often invisible, disciplines: design standards, competent supervision, rigorous inspections, and professional accountability for the people who sign off on the nation’s concrete, steel, electrical systems and digital infrastructure. When the Engineering Council of Namibia (ECN) is at a standstill months after its appointment, the costs are not abstract; they multiply daily through risks, delays, corner-cutting and declining public confidence. The ECN is not a ceremonial board. It exists to register engineers and technologists, set and enforce…