Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro
The National Equitable Economic Empowerment Bill (NEEEB), which is to see the implementation of the National Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework(NEEEF) seems to have reveal the true characters of some of the organisations in our society.
One of them is none other than Team Namibia, which all along has been making the country believe it is there in the best interest of the country, Namibia, hence its name Team Namibia. However it is becoming clear that Team Namibia is more than meets the eye in terms of its broader interests in Namibia, particularly those of Namibian workers.
From Team Namibia’s criticism of the Bill, as many of us may have been suspecting all along, it is clear that behind the façade of Team Namibia, lay a partisan champion of one sector of the Namibian society rather than a do good for the whole of Namibia as the organisation has hitherto been pretending. Revealing its true colour as a champion or apologist of the free market system. In other words a champion of Capitalism rather than a true champion of the rights of the workers of this country.
Granted there’s nothing Constitutionally wrong with anyone, and Team Namibia for that matter, standing and/or rallying fair and square for and behind the free market system, all things being equal. Because in terms of the Constitution there should be as much an equal place in Namibia for a free market system as there should be for a command and/or controlled economy. Hence the Constitutionally enshrined concept of a mixed economy in Namibia. But the reality today in Namibia after 31 years of freedom and independence, and pseudo democratic stability and peace, the free market system, meaning Capitalism, has continued to thrive and entrenched, thanks to some good and able and competent apparent patriotic champions like Team Namibia, and its members. That has been masquerading as a home for all Namibians with honourable nationalistic and patriotic intentions but which is being proven as no more and better than just mere apologists for the free market system, thus conniving and conspiring in the continued exploitation of the workers in the name of Namibia.
The flipside and reality of the free market system has been the entrenchment of Capitalism and the continued exploitation and impoverishment of the workers. While presumably Namibia’s is a mixed economy, mixed assuming to be a command economy existing alongside and parallel to the avowed free market system. But from the self avowed champions of Namibia like Team Namibia, there’s has been little mention of the other equation, the command and/or controlled economy necessary for preparing and laying the foundation for the gradual transformation of the economy to a command economy where the State serves in the interim as guardian of the national resources for the equal and egalitarian benefit of all.
Instead what one has been observing in the Namibian economic status quo of Capitalism, is a condition of the survival of the fittest, where the capitalists fronted by entrepreneurs oil the industries for the amassing and siphoning off of the national resources for a few. Of course with the help, moral, ideological and otherwise of organisations like Team Namibia.
Yours Truly Ideological is and has never been under any illusion that NEEEF would ever deliver the workers from the yoke of Capitalism. Nor would it ever be the panacea for all the ills of the Capitalist system prevalent in Namibia. But organisations like Team Namibia, must be exposed for what they truly are, champions of Capitalism, for which nationalism and patriotism is nothing but sugarcoats for the entrenchment of Capitalism. Because more than anything their clarion calls for betterment of society has essentially be no more then the betterment of the economy. Not so much to benefit all Namibians alike, including the workers, but the Capitalists/entrepreneurs/investors with benefits to the real creators of such wealth, the workers, only an incidental peripheral good. Certainly it is becoming more evident that the Namibia, Team Namibia has been aspiring, envisaging and campaigning for, is a Namibia attracting investors, with workers only good to provide cheap labour in the Capitalists extractive and expl
oitative mechanisations of wealth creation. Wealth creation in which the siphoning off of the national resources and its repatriation to foreign lands, is the main consideration with little regard to the most important people in the process, the workers. Who are only good as long as they in slave-like conditions toil day and night to create the necessary wealth for the would-be investors. Wealth born out of their sweat and toil, and their resources but from which they are alienated.
“In a free market system, markets are best suited to allocate scarce resources and allow supply and demand to set prices. The role of government is to uphold the rule of law, maintain the value of the currency and protect property rights. Job creation cannot be achieved if the protection of the private property is not entrenched in government policy. Under One Namibia, One Nation, NEEEB will do more harm than good. There are better alternatives to address the root causes of the socio-economic marginalisation of those who are most vulnerable and affected by poverty and unemployment, and we can find them if we work together,” Team Namibia has been quoted in the local media as saying.
The long and short of this quote is that unlike Team Namibia would make the country believe regarding its nationalism and patriotism, it is only for self preservation by preserving and defending at all cost, even at the expense of the workers, the free market system, and Capitalism. Naively believing workers as exploited as they continue to be, benefit equally. Which the workers shall never until and when the workers stand up, see what the likes of Team Namibia are in reality there for, and chart their own course and destiny.
