PAUL T. SHIPALE
André du Pisani, emeritus professor of politics at the University of Namibia, wrote an article with the headline: “Politics as a Site of Extraction” that appeared in one of the daily newspapers on Friday, 24 January 2025.
In that article, du Pisani says the SWAPO Party’s manifesto outlines laudable and necessary priorities such as; economic growth, development of agriculture, natural resources beneficiation; energy and infrastructure as well as youth empowerment, but despite the President-elect, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, emphasis that the manifesto would be consistently and fully implemented, he thinks none of these priorities will be realized as the manifesto is a framing that sees politics as a site of extraction in the form of rent (rent-seeking), taxes, patronage networks, corruption, etc, that is unlikely to meaningfully improve the quality of life and dignity of all Namibians as opposed to ethical and humane governance, which requires consistent and comprehensive adherence to people-centred integrated planning and policies.
On one hand, I agree with emeritus professor du Pisani that Namibia cannot afford weak planning legislation, wrong policy, or the inept application of its planning frameworks, as planning is everything if it provides for Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) based on open, participatory planning in consultation with interested and affected parties and when he says all real and potential synergies between different policy domains need to be explored.
On the other hand, I disagree with him when he says that the difficult normative and practical challenge for SWAPO lies in its ability and resolve to depart from politics as a site of extraction and its accompanying master narrative of supremacy and populism. According to du Pisani, “the aesthetics of power and the grammar of ‘the mighty SWAPO’ is a form of triumphalism that kills the emphatic imagination”. “It is the politics of the politically connected, of the powerful, privileged and the strong and banishes politics as a site of ethical, humane governance”, du Pisani said.
This is not the first time the learned emeritus professor du Pisani is purporting to speak for the “majority marginalized” of those he said are given ‘thorns’ as opposed to the “few minority well fed moneyed elite” given ‘roses’ in salubrious suburbs and gated estates, lifestyle complexes or security villages in “a folie de grandeur” far from “the infested social and spatial economy of the multidimensional poverty, inequality and visceral precarity” when he wrote an opinion piece last year on “privatized & corporatized liberations” of what he termed ‘a pact between capital and the elite’ with ‘empty hollow ringing manifestos’ in a country where words have lost their meaning”.
Dr. Magalie L. Masamba wrote an article that was published on 22nd November 2024 calling for South Africa’s G20 presidency to pave the way for sustainable finance and debt reform in global governance. Dr. Masamba is a law and policy advisor who advocates fair debt solutions for developing countries. In her various roles, she conducts research and consults on global economic governance, sovereign debt, climate finance and other key areas of international economic law. Dr Masamba says Africa’s growing debt crisis, exacerbated by economic shocks, the impact of climate change and inadequate global responses, highlights the urgent need for South Africa’s G20 presidency to advocate for innovative, inclusive, sustainable and long-term debt strategies that strengthen African nations’ agency and financial resilience.
The Group of Twenty (G20), a collection of the world’s largest economies, plays a critical role in shaping global economic policies. This group comprises 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU).
Prior to the AU joining the G20 as a permanent member in 2023, the G20 represented 85% of global GDP, 75% of international trade and two-thirds of the world’s population. The inclusion of the AU is particularly significant as it represents 54 member states with a combined GDP of USD 3 trillion and a population of 1.4 billion people.
This group, which was initially established in response to the 1997-1998 Global Financial Crisis, has continued to play a critical role in responding to financial crises and in addressing broader global challenges, such as the growing debt burden in developing countries. As such, the rotating presidency of the G20 is more than a symbolic position; it gives the presiding country the opportunity to set the agenda, steer discussions and push forward reforms that reflect global priorities. Brazil held the G20 presidency for 2024, when the country took over from India, which led the group in 2023. Looking ahead, South Africa is scheduled to host the G20 summit in 2025, followed by the United States in 2026.
The presidency of the G20 also works within a ‘troika’ system, which comprises the past, present and future presidents working together. This system creates some element of consistency and longevity in the G20s agenda. The Troika during South Africa’s presidency will comprise of Brazil, South Africa and the United States of America.
As has been the case with the past two presidencies of Brazil and India, the role again presents an opportunity for greater representation of developing countries in international financial decision-making processes. South Africa, as a member of both the G20 and the AU, and as the current holder of the G20 presidency, is uniquely positioned to champion necessary reforms and push them through.
On their part, Vera Songwe and David McNair in their opinion piece, published on December 16th, 2024, say South Africa’s G20 presidency has the moral authority and political leverage to push for solutions. Songwe and McNair argue that South Africa’s 2025 presidency of the G20 comes at a moment of global instability. Volatility in financial markets, escalating geopolitical tensions, and challenges to multilateralism have heightened the stakes for international cooperation. For South Africa, the first African nation to lead the G20, the challenge is immense – but so is the opportunity.
In the decade leading up to 2022, Africa’s debt stocks more than doubled, rising from $283bn to $655bn. This debt accumulation was a logical response to historically low interest rates and the continent’s massive infrastructure needs. For many African nations, borrowing was not reckless but necessary. However, the Covid-19 pandemic changed everything. As revenues from tourism and remittances collapsed, and government expenditures rose to manage the health crisis, debt sustainability deteriorated.
Today, 23 out of 40 African nations assessed by the World Bank are at high risk of debt distress or are already in distress. Half of the $102bn in debt service paid by African countries in 2024 was paid to private creditors – and this debt has become expensive. African countries pay an average premium of 500% on private loans compared to the rates offered by institutions like the World Bank.
To tackle the global poly-crisis, South Africa has embraced the theme “solidarity, equality, sustainability” for its G20 presidency. The high-level deliverables and priorities under this theme, lie at the core of the original G20 mandate of promoting strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth. By aligning its G20 agenda with these initiatives, South Africa can build a broad-based coalition of support, bridging divides between traditional powers like the G7 and emerging blocs such as BRICS. This collaborative approach will be essential for managing the geopolitical tensions that often complicate G20 negotiations.
Key areas of focus for South Africa’s G20 presidency include: advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the objectives of the AU’s Agenda 2063; addressing the debt vulnerability of developing countries; reforming the International Financial Architecture; tackling predatory mining practices targeting Africa’s raw materials and critical minerals. Other important areas of focus include industrialisation, employment and inequality, food security, and the implications of artificial intelligence.
These align closely with Namibia’s priorities such as; economic growth, development of agriculture, natural resources beneficiation energy and infrastructure as well as youth empowerment, as contained in the SWAPO manifesto.
Another important focus is sustainable finance for projects that align with both national adaptation plans and global sustainability targets. This includes pushing for greater investment in sustainable infrastructure, green technologies and climate adaptation projects. Here too Namibia could benefit from South Africa’s G20 presidency as this aligns with our developmental agenda for the next five years.
As such, with South Africa’s G20 presidency, Namibia should learn to have consistent and comprehensive adherence to people-centred integrated planning and policies as suggested by du Pisani. I therefore concur with emeritus professor du Pisani when he proposes that each ministry, office and agency needs to build meaningful policy capacity as part of an agenda for the incoming government and President, and it would make practical sense to do a thorough audit of parliament and its ancillary committees as well as to revisit planning capacity at all levels of the state to fully harness the creative economy’s potential.
Now is the time for the transitional team of the President-elect to start planning and integrate her broader vision of economic growth, development of agriculture, natural resources beneficiation, energy and infrastructure as well as youth empowerment into other priorities such as South Africa’s G20 presidency, the AU Agenda 2063, the UN SDGs, etc. So far, I have only seen the National Council, the //Kharas and Erongo Regions conducting planning workshops.
In this regard, I am happy that President Mbumba issued a directive announcing a temporary travel ban for government leaders until the transition to a new government has taken place. This directive also applies to Executive Directors and Accounting Officers who are expected to assist their Ministers, as stated by the Secretary to Cabinet.
While we are at it, even though, in essence, I subscribe to the Latin aphorism that says; “De mortuis nil nisi bonum dicendum est”, which translates to ‘of the departed nothing but good should be said’, I should nevertheless say that given that next week will be the launching of the book “Whispers of Freedom: the Odyssey of Hage G. Geingob” (initially proposed as Destiny and Power; the Odyssey of Hage G. Geingob); who is credited as the Chief Architect of the Namibian Constitution and the Champion of our Governance Architecture based on sound processes, systems and institutions, and an outstanding visionary and inclusive leader as well as a proponent of the core values of enhanced accountability and transparency, and who fervently advocated for the Namibian House which he said was built with different bricks, symbolizing our diversity, and painted with our national colours to reflect our unique Namibian identity which he weaved together with mastery in a common tapestry with his mantra of “The Namibian House in which no one should feel left out”, maybe it is high time that the nation is taken into confidence on how much money was spent on his burial that took 21 days?
Similarly, why should there be a commemorative banknote in his honour, on the occasion of the anniversary of his untimely passing, instead of a commemorative stamp to honour his indelible legacy? Even the Late Comandante Fidel Castro Ruz, who was the leader of the Cuban Island for nearly five decades, is not yet honoured with a banknote. Was the Late President Geingob not honoured already with the renaming of the School of Medicine, including the Hosea Kutako International Airport road named after him, on the occasion of what would have been his 83rd birthday in August last year?
Let us not forget that the Late President Geingob did not subscribe to personality cult. “Even when he received four Honorary PhD Degrees, he refused to use the honorific title of “Doctor” until he studied and earned his own”, said the Secretary to Cabinet, on the occasion of the memorial service in his honour. I say this, so that we don’t fall into the trap of deification lest we are accused of “politics as a site of extraction of the politically connected, the powerful, privileged and the strong that banishes politics as a site of ethical, humane governance”, as du Pisani said. DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of my employer and this newspaper but solely my personal views as a citizen.
