“The practice of racial discrimination and the practice and ideology of Apartheid…..shall be prohibited and by an Act of Parliament such practices, and the propagation of such practices, may be rendered criminally punishable by the ordinary Courts by means of such of such punishments as Parliament deems necessary for the purposes of expressing the revulsion of the Namibian people at such practices.”
Read Article 23 of the Namibian Constitution, titled Apartheid and Affirmative Action.
This provision has been meant to eliminate, if not totally do away with, the exclusion of the indigenous, meaning the Africans, from the mainstream economy.
This, in turn, cleared the path for their financial independence and marked the start of the Namibian Revolution’s final phase.
This heralds the start of the Second Revolution in true revolutionary terminology.
This economic emancipation, which of and in essence, entails a radical socio-economic transformation to eventually transition into the Second phase of the Namibia Revolution, encompasses, in turn, “times in the history of every nation when its morals, its conscience, its values and its principles are subjected to severe tests and strains. Times when every individual confronts himself/herself and faces questions and problems basic to his/her very existence.
As late Goabamang Kenneth Koma, founder of the Botswana National Front (BNF), writes in his intellectual and revolutionary depository, “The Second Phase Of The African Revolution Has Now Begun.” The BNF is a constituent of Botswana’s Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), now the governing party. According to Dr. Koma, every country must confront a pivotal moment until it achieves a state of balance.
Granted, Namibia has completed the first phase of her revolution, which is the democratic revolution and/or political flag independence, as it is in reality.
The question begs to what extent she is and has been and would reach that stage, necessary for ushering in the beginning, ala Dr. Koma, of the Second Phase of her, the Namibian Revolution? Because the elections from which she has just emerged by no means, as has been the case with the other six previous elections before, represent by any means and/or even any stretch of imagination, the beginning of the Second Phase of the Revolution.
Yes, democratic consolidation may be of essence, but only as far as it is a bridge towards the second phase of the Namibian Revolution, which is about and should be about radical economic transformation.
Such a radical economic transformation must be predicated on not only the elimination of discrimination at the workplace, thereby facilitating participation and integration of the indigenous into the mainstream economy, in Namibia currently a pure capitalist economy.
Nowadays, the focus is on reaping the benefits of the nation’s natural resource extraction and exploitation. Which, for that matter, is structured in a way that the country and her citizens rely on no more than a mere trickle-down effect of such an exploitation.
A trickle down that practically means the country does not own these natural resources, as many government officials and political principals of the ruling party, Swapo of Namibia, have been on record reminding and hammering home the point that “legally” Namibia does not own these natural resources.
The Namibian economy, currently, is driven by the private sector, meaning the so-called investors, who own most of the companies. The indigenous people are reduced to the status of mere slaves in this system.
The extent to which these companies offer equal opportunities and equity to everyone, particularly those previously excluded from the mainstream economy, remains unclear.
The exploiters’ rent-a-Black appeasement strategy is fulfilled by the indigenous people.
This is not just a matter of conjecture that in these companies, equity, as far as it pertains to the indigenous, remains only a smokescreen where it is supposedly applied and in others non-existent.
Because of the hidden mechanisms employed by these companies in terms of the various benefits accruing to the employees with their own kind, meaning white employees, being the most favoured when it comes to various aspects of human resource policies.
This holds true for recruitment, promotion, and other benefits.
The responsibility for ensuring equity in the Namibian labor market rests with the Employment Equity Commission.
But it is no secret that this Commission, when it comes to private sector companies, is either incompetent and incapable, if not totally toothless, in bringing these companies to account for their equity policies, safe for presenting the Commission with only bodies or faces’ counts, without daring and delving deep into the hidden and structured ways in which inequities are perpetuated in these companies.
In essence and reality, the pre-colonial era still holds true, with specific jobs reserved for white individuals. On the surface, it may appear that this is no longer the case for many private sector companies, but who knows what is going on within the unknown and hidden exclusive confines of these organizations? Given that they are and have never been transparent about their affairs, let alone to the Employment Equity Commission, it’s important to understand their inner workings.
Yours Truly Ideologically provides firsthand accounts of how white monopoly capital hegemony has deployed and applied mechanisms in these companies to manipulate and sidestep the indigenous. For that matter, even in would-be reputable companies.
Yours Truly Ideologically is amazed by the high regard and esteem government officials and politicians typically hold for these companies, their owners, and bosses, after hearing accounts of their hidden mechanisms.
The situation is further exacerbated by the actions of trade unionists and labour inspectors from the Ministry of Labour, who, at best, are supposed to act as protectors of the previously and currently exploited workers.
Reduced to no better than mere rent-a-trade-unionists and inspectors of the very same companies with the indigenous employees of and in these companies left to their own devices to fight their own battles.
