The African Renaissance is taking place and through it we are fortunate to be at the forefront of seeing Africa take her place in the world. There are ongoing efforts at decolonising several industries, reclaiming narratives as well as embracing and contextualising cultures. The idea of Global Africanism looks at where Africa finds herself during this transformative era and how she interacts with her global peers.
The term was popularised in an edition of the General History of Africa project which was introduced by UNESCO in an effort to support Africans reclaiming their narratives. The purpose of the Global African movement was to bridge the militant goals of the Pan-African movement with the diplomatic efforts of international bodies such as the AU and the UN. On one end, making PanAfricanism fit global diplomacy standards has been seen as a form of giving up and folding over to forceful powers, with leaders such as Malcom X fervently urging his followers to remain distrustful when it came to diplomatic approaches to conflict resolution. On the other hand it is the diplomatic approaches of leaders such as Nelson Mandela, that helped translate PanAfrican goals and get state freedom.
In his 2019 paper A call for a ‘right to development’- informed pan-Africanism in the twenty-first century, Kamga discusses how the rest of the world can take part in the African Renaissance particularly in the realisation of the right to development. That way, he essentially incorporates Global Africanism in his arguments. Outlining how international tools created to maintain diplomatic relations, can be useful pathways for development only if Pan-African goals are centralised rather than the neo-colonialist outcomes that many African countries have become subjected to. This right is outlined in Article 22 of the 1981 African Union Charter, the basis of the 2001 New Partnerships for Africa’s Development program by the Au as well as Resolution 41/128 of the UN General Assembly (the Declaration on the Right to Development) and is embodied in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In a 1998 speech Thabo Mbeki made a reference to the Japanese Meiji period when illustrating the possibilities of the African Renaissance, a time of industrialisation for the Japanese and successful resistance to being colonised. In this it’s made clear that most important means of achieving this is building such an interest, especially amongst the emerging young Africans, to form united African nations, to learn and contextualise what’s working for others, all while maintaining cultural integrity.
Thabo Mbeki spoke a lot about the African Renaissance during his presidency, making clear his ambitions to bring South Africa to a level playing field with global superpowers. This ambition and vision stirred up hope for a much more successful South Africa, but in implementation, he faced criticism for placing so much focus on these diplomatic relations that he’d neglect meeting many South Africans’ immediate needs like employment for a great amount of the youths. That being said, Kamga’s approach seems to address what much of Thabo Mbeki’s approach missed. Voicing how the need to meet practical needs is an international objective that can still be met.
Global Africanism and the African Renaissance are PanAfrican concepts that, not only call for the imagination of a better future, but collaborative efforts to making that future a reality. Kamga makes it clear that the potential exists for everyone to take part in this. We’re one year closer to the Global Agenda for Sustainable Development’s vision 2030 and it’s exciting to see ideas that aim to make PanAfrican goals a reality.
The Swakopmund Protocol was created to make sure that Africans are the beneficiaries of all African Traditional Knowledge and it’s the central player in our latest exploration of rights in the series, Africa for Africans. We’re diving into works by some artists who have been using these intellectual property rights to pay homage to their cultures and contribute to the evolution of folk telling.
In a nutshell, this protocol was developed by the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), with the goal of allowing customary groups to have their traditional knowledge and expressions of folklore protected. The colonial era brought about the consequence of demonizing African lore. All of a sudden stories that had been shared for educational purposes, entertainment and community building became sub-par. It’s no secret that such systemic changes had greater, long lasting impacts. Some notable impacts are biopiracy, the false retelling of local knowledge by invaders, and a forced depersonalization of cultural identities.
Protecting the knowledge and how it is expressed and who gets to express in allows African groups to reclaim narratives and forge new, desired identities. In this legal tool, “expressions” include:
verbal expressions, such as stories, epics, legends, poetry, riddles and other narratives such as signs, words, symbols and names;
musical expressions, such as songs and instrumental music;
expressions by movement, such as dances, plays, rituals and other performances, whether or not reduced to a material form; and
tangible expressions, such as productions of art, in particular, drawings, designs, paintings, carvings, sculptures, pottery, terracotta, mosaic, woodwork, metal ware, jewellery, basketry, needlework, textiles, glassware, carpets, costumes, handicrafts, musical instruments and architectural forms.
ARIPO was established in 1976 in Lusaka, to specifically regulate and address the intellectual property rights of Africans. Soon after this, the Harare protocol was created in 1982, giving special attention to patents and industrial designs. Following this was the Banjul Protocol of 1993 which addressed trademarks and service marks.
Neither addressed traditional knowledge and folklore. In 2004 ARIPO sought assistance from the World Intellectual Property Organisation seeking assistance with formulating a legal tool that could address this. After all, traditional stories, lore, music and art are aspects of cultural identities and are not like other creative works that can be copywritten and attributed to specific, clearly identifiable, individual artists.
So, the Swakopmund Protocol was created to address the need to protect traditional knowledge and folklore in August 2010. There are still some conflicts surrounding rights over traditional knowledge, like ownership of brewing processes or rock painting styles that stretch across different cultures, these aspects are still being worked around and well dive into them more in upcoming releases. This introductory post gives a brief glance at this tool, stay tuned as we talk more about how this has helped in the development of Afrofuturism, contemporary artworks and economic development in different African countries.
Uno and Hatago is an aptly timed production. It was largely marketed as a lesbian film, and it is, but it goes beyond that by addressing harmful cultural practices and promoting unity.
Uno and Hatago follows the story of a nurse, Uno, played by Diana Master, who’s world suddenly crashes when her family finds out about her sexual orientation. Up until then, Uno had been living in Windhoek with her partner Hatago, a feminist and LGBTQ+ rights activist played by Uakamburuavi Jeomba.
Patriarchy, Family Secrets and Tradition
The film is centered on how Uno’s family of OvaHerero traditionalists react to finding out that she is a lesbian woman. The traditionalism is explored from two ends. First is the ‘traditionalist’ idea that lesbianism is not acceptable or that is something foreign, and second is a traditionalism which acknowledges that lesbian women (and other members of the LGBTQ+ community) have always existed in Namibia and that true tradition is that this is not unAfrican.
The patriarchal nature of the first perspective is perfectly portrayed by Uno’s uncle, played by Mervin Cheez Uahupirapi, and her father, played by Lesley Tjiueza. These two played these characters so well, I left the theatre with so much animosity for fictional characters. The way they are written doesn’t stretch far from reality at all, the audience is likely to think of characters in their own lives who are like these two.
We meet Uno’s uncle during an intimate gathering at a restaurant, where they (Uno, Hatago and a few of their friends), have gone to celebrate Uno’s graduation. During that same night, Uno’s uncle is having dinner with his girlfriend, an extra-marital partner. His girlfriend insists on taking a picture of him, and as he protests this, he notices that she also captured his niece, Uno, kissing a woman right behind him. Suddenly his focus turns away from the possibility of being caught cheating to excitement having caught his niece in what he considers to be a cultural ‘sin’. He asks his girlfriend to share this picture with him and takes it to her father under the guise of taking immediate action to save the family’s reputation. His solution to this is to marry her off to Tove, his nephew with seemingly low marital prospects. The two agree on a dowry that Uno’s father can pay and thereafter, call Uno to the homestead to tell her that they found out about her ‘city life antics’ and about the marriage they have organized for her. In line with unspoken cultural norms, this uncle sexually assaults Uno to ‘prepare her’ for marriage.
Her father shows pride in his recently graduated daughter for her qualifications before completely discarding that in favour of viewing her as a shameful person. From the moment he finds out that his daughter is a lesbian, he focuses on hiding this “shame.” Essentially, it seems like, she is not truly successful if she does not let a man dominate her. He expresses this more by defending her uncle and disowning her after she reports the assault and carries on her relationship with Hatago. Embracing her lesbianism is a rebellion against the idea that she is not a real woman if she is not in a relationship with a man, just as being gay may be falsely viewed as not ‘real manhood’ if one is not dominant over a woman.
This form of ‘traditionalism’ which focuses on filling heteronormative and patriarchal templates completely undermines that dignity of women and this film explores this in a realistic way. The fact that Uno’s uncle was cheating is a non-issue while Uno’s committed and healthy relationship is. The fact that he has violated his niece is less of an issue than the fact that she is a lesbian, even to the police officer who recieves the matter.
It is Uno’s grandmother who sheds light on another of the other view of ‘traditionalism.’ The idea that lesbianism has always existed and that assault on women is an unacceptable norm. She helps Uno escape and return to the city after finding out that her uncle has attacked her, and the film ends with her sharing a story of a same-sex partner that she had before being married off to her husband. She shares about the grief she experienced when that partner passed away and the pain she felt not being able to express the extent of that grief given the nature of their relationship. She emphasizes togetherness through love and acceptance within a family, rather than allowing harm to go on, in the name of protecting family honour. She frames honour as being something that can come from showing up for each other rather than maintaining socially imposed images. In this case, the images of the ‘macho men’ and ‘high achieving, good girl daughter.’
Uno’s mother starts off with a similar stance to that of her husband. Rejecting her daughter because of her sexual orientation. However she gradually leans towards accepting her daughter after seeing that her family is becoming torn apart because of this, and worse still, that Uno’s sexual orientation has not stopped her from becoming a productive, successful and helpful member of society, or from having a child. Throughout the film, she maintains a regal and stoic disposition, not showing affection and avoiding vulnerability until it becomes clear that her husband’s stubbornness may force Uno to completely cut them off. This may have also been amplified when she meets her daughters mother-in-law, Buruxa (I hope I spelt that right), who shows unconditional love, encouragement and acceptance to Uno. Buruxa is the mother Uno needed and this may not have landed well with Uno’s biological mother. Soon enough, she takes on the grandmother’s stance, to lean into love and acceptance, while maintaining her rigid mannerisms. The character doesn’t change drastically, but in subtle ways like inviting Uno home and making her tea, and in her most expressive moment when she stands up for Uno to her husband, pointing out that his pursuit of family honour is fueled by hatred and that this is not the kind of family that can stay together for very long. She seems to represent anyone who has experienced this changing of perspectives, from a tradition rejection to one of radical acceptance.
Criticisms
Unfortunately we do not get to see Uno’s mother reacting to the assault and we do not get to see her express pride in her daughter’s achievements. We just see her expressing a whole lot of disappointment and coldness. Which can bring up the question of whether her distant nature is just who she is or if it came as a result of finding out that her daughter is a lesbian. Sure, Uno becomes tense when she notices that her mother is upset with her but the inexpressiveness seems to continue even after they have made amends, and seems to be there when Uno’s grandmother shares her story. It is not clear if we should expect affection from this woman if this is the personality she has always had or if she has taken on this persona as a reaction to Uno being a lesbian.
With the exception of Uno and Hatago’s friends whose cultural backgrounds and sexual orientations remain a mystery, the OtjiHerero heterosexual women we meet are all homophobic. On the other end of the scale, Buruxa, the only other woman we meet who is accepting of Uno and Hatago’s relationship, is of Damara heritage. Her sexual orientation doesn’t come up, but there would have been some reality balance in seeing a non-Herero speaking homophobe or a non-LGBTQ+, OtjiHerero speaking ally. This may come off as pitting the two customary groups against each other in how they view LGBTQ+ issues given that Namibia has the added context of tribalism and these two groups are mentioned on opposing ends of this issue. (But then again, the existence of this dynamic in this one story doesn’t mean there’s no alternative dynamic elsewhere, so don’t miss the plot by centralizing these criticisms)
Conclusion
More LGBTQ+ stories are needed in media, especially one’s like this one that humanize same-sex partners. Homophobia is just dispensed without consideration for the humanity of the people being attacked and the fact that they too are members of society (Just scroll through the comments section of any LGBTQ+ related post on the Namibian pages, it’s a mess). Beyond this, the authenticity of LGBTQ+ stories told by a predominantly LGBTQ+ production team didn’t go past any of the audience members, and likely contributed to how impactful the overall story is. The story touches on other themes that are not LGBTQ+ centric such as family, harmful cultural practices, civic action, women’s rights, gender norms and romance (I didn’t get into it but Hatago is such a supportive and loving partner, they’re a wholesome couple which makes it so much easier to root for them. The way their relationship is depicted is enjoyable and if not for the political aspect of this movie, you may want to watch it for the romance story.)
On the 21st of June 2024 the High Court of Namibia ruled in favour of declaring the sodomy law unconstitutional in the case of Dausab v the Government of Namibia. This follows years of activism alongside a steadily rising amount of homophobic attacks and an Anti-Gay Bill. We are in a pride revolution and here’s why its an important step against colonialism and genocide…
What does this have to do with colonialism?
Before colonialism, being gay was a norm. This sounds like a taboo to many who have fed into the false idea that tradition justifies homophobia. In many African countries, the word “gay” was normal enough to acquire its own title. For example; Eshenge in OshiWambo, Ngochani in ChiShona and Adofuro in Yoruba.
In the Namibian Ovambo cultural context it was believed that these men simply possessed a feminine spirits and were regular members of the community rather than ostracized minorities. German anthropologist Kurt Falk confirmed this during the 1920s having spent time with several Namibian tribes, including the Ovambo, OvaHerero, Nama and Himba. Ethnologist, Carlos Estermann supported this during the 1970’s and added that it was a culturally acknowledged ‘third gender’. The very first anti-homosexual trial was conducted under the German colonial rule. Four German men were banished for having defied paragraph 145 of the German Code which outlawed sodomy. This outlawing of sodomy was carried on by the South African colonial regime after taking over Namibia as a protectorate. If it isn’t already clear, the anti-homosexual laws were not born of tradition but of colonialism.
Over time, the colonial effect of self-rejection (a phenomenon whereby subjects to colonialism consciously reject colonialism but have learned to look down on their ethnic origins, cultural groups, cultures and customs) included a rejection of the LGBTQ+ community. Colonialism left in its wake, many with the idea that “all are equal but some more equal than others.” In our context, this idea from George Orwell’s animal farm wasn’t limited to just financial pursuits, but to the pursuit of love and happiness as well. A 2013 baseline study revealed that about 73% of nmaibians were under the impression that members of the LGBTQ+ community were accorded equal rights. This has not been true since the pre-colonial era. It has since become more evident that many are more aware of their own rights than those of others. So when words like moffie are blurted out in the same tone as the word nigger or kaffer , it is easy to play it off as common rhetoric despite the fact that such terms are intended to humiliate and undermine an entire group of people for natural differences that they have no control over. Worse still, many have used these rhetorics and the laws supporting them to justify their violence and hatred, and further to pervert religion to suit these hateful narratives in the name if dispensing justice for God’s wrath. But that’s another conversation. In short, the same way colonial laws emboldened racist attacks, is the same way anti-homosexual laws embolden homophobic attacks. The same way racism was rationalized to seem like something morally acceptable, is the same way homophobia is rationalized to seem like the more morally acceptable stance. It is not.
The Dausab v Government of Namibia Judgement
Fortunately many LGBTQ+ people and allies have taken a stand against these senselessly exclusive laws. Everyone should have the opportunity to freely pursue romantic relationships. Human rights are a core aspect of the Namibian Constitution and are found in Chapter three. These have been developed with various religious and ethical concepts in mind, with the goal of ensuring that the law treats us all fairly. That we treat each other fairly.
The court in this case had to deliberate on three issues that relate to this;
Whether the sodomy law violates the right to equality (Article 10(1))
Whether the criminalization of same-sex relationships between men serves a justifiable purpose
The balance between the interests of society and the interests of gay men
A few interesting points came up during the discussion that led to the decision that the sodomy law is unconstitutional. These are that;
If the same act takes place between men and women, it is not criminalized, which means that this law targets and unfairly discriminates against men on the basis of gender.
This law does not serve a legitimate purpose. The moralistic justification that sex between men is unnatural is subjectively held by people whose rights are not infringed by the existence of these consensual relationships. Upholding these peoples morals over those directly affected by this law goes against the principle of democracy.
Outlawing these men’s private relationships is irrational and serves no justifiable purpose.
Although the discrimination differentiating heterosexual men from homosexual men is not covered by the grounds listed in article 10, it still amounts to unfair discrimination.
This landmark judgement has made room for more Africans to enjoy their sovereignty within the continent. If we keep moving in this direction, LGBTQ+ may not be discouraged from living and thriving in their own continent, and in turn, will not move away from helping their continent thrive. LGBTQ+ rights are human rights. Let’s change the statutory provisions to make them more inclusive of LGBTQ+ people.
NTN (The National Theatre of Namibia) came back with a bang and I am more than glad that I didn’t skip this play, The Wasp was, in one word, jaw-dropping. When we act like there’s no elephant in the room, it will eventually stomp us. That’s one of the major themes in NTN’s latest production “The Wasp.” This play is not for the feint-hearted, you might just question your own ethics while watching it, at least that’s what I found myself doing during the climax of this, thriller.
The Wasp is the story of two women, who reconnect after years to rekindle what they keep referring to as a friendship, but, friendship is the furthest term I’d use to describe this relationship. They are the only two characters we meet and they’re all we need, Morgan Lloyd Malcom’s writing this had a fly on the wall effect to it, giving us the sense that we know the characters very well through us eavesdropping on some very hush hush conversations, meanwhile still being able to deliver twists that keep the audience hooked. So a 10/10 from me on those stage directions and the dialogue. Here are my biggest takeaways from this play:
On Friendships and “Friendships”
Ever wondered what the worst case scenario could be in a friendship where unaddressed competition and bitterness are at the core? Well The Wasp does a great job at showing us just what might happen if you and that frienemy keep walking on blurred lines. This play shows us that things can change and eventually something has to give in blurred line based relationships.
The play starts with a meeting at a café between the two, Heather and Carla. Heather has become wealthy since their school days while Carla lives more paycheck to paycheck, the remnants of what was a love-hate relationship between the two are clear in how they speak to eachother. In in their first meeting in years, the awkwardness of an unlikely meeting between two people who had fallen out was very well portrayed and spilt over into the audience. It was clear that there were a lot of unspoken words between them throughout that first meeting. Carla has little patience for any outside opinions about her, she has shown up fully prepared to fight Heather, should the need arise, it doesn’t, but if it had, best believe Carla was ready to go from the very beginning. Meanwhile, Heather is the embodiment of the seemingly polite aristocrat whose back handed statements are delivered like they are either facts or gifts.
Heather has a proposition, for Carla to kill her husband. Why Carla? A strong belief in her capacity to be callous. The oddness of the proposition struck us all, a very much needed “o O” from one of the audience members, vocalized what we were all thinking. If someone wants their husband, or anyone killed, why would they reach out to an old high school frienemy? Well the twist ending was the perfect pay-off for this confusion.
All too often fears of being alone, the need to assimilate or be one of the ‘cool kids’ can lead to whitewashing rather than confronting violations. This play shows how, if left unaddressed, these dynamics can spill over well into adulthood. How talks of ‘healing the wounded inner child’ don’t just stop at some internal reflection, but also involve looking at addressing conflict and hurts from other people, and how if that doesn’t happen, the cycles continue until either you or the cycle are broken.
The Authority of the Sacred Victim
*Big spoilers here*
Molly Brigid McGrath published a paper called “The Authority of the Sacred Victim” in 2020 which talks about the harms of maintaining a template of how a victim should be observed. That the possibility of harm by a social victim can result in the creation of new villains. It is wrong when an individual uses their trauma to justify causing trauma, it explains it, but it definitely doesn’t make it right or acceptable. This play does an excellent job at exploring that. It takes this a step further by giving us two protagonists who have understandable backstories for why they are the way they are, and why they do the things they do. Heather is the one looking to murder her husband for infidelity, resorting to catfishing Carla and spying on her before presenting this proposition, and even convincingly threatening to torture and kill Carla after the proposition is made. On the other hand, Carla violently bullied and sexually assaulted Heather in high school, because she was the more teacher’s pet type and her family was more loving than Carla’s abusive family. I’ll admit that it’s easier for me to lean towards Heather in this situation, bullies, especially the ones who do it intentionally not out of ignorance, are disgusting. Yup, I said it and I’d say it again. But the play is written in a way that asks us to both empathize with and dislike these two. Both are ‘sacred victims’ and the finale has one offering the other a way out, to choose to walk away and be forgiving, and start a new chapter or to embrace animosity. The choice she made was definitely worth the wait (not spoiling everything ).
Perfect is in the eye of the beholder
We are introduced to Carla the pregnant Mother of five sitting outside a café and smoking and Heather enters the scene making her out-of-placeness apparent. This place is a casual enough place for Carla yet too casual for the likes of Heather. On first listening their ‘have and have not’ relationship makes Heather’s situation more preferable until she speaks about how much she’s been struggling to have children. Carla dangles her upper hand in this instance and even offers to become a surrogate for some money, bragging about how easily she can get pregnant. After some awkwardness over this, the two gossip a little about a former classmate who is in a relationship with a serial cheater, briefly sharing a high horse over this before even that high horse is broken by how differently they think about it. Carla thinks its normal for men to cheat, the role of the woman is to tighten the leash on him, while Heather believes men should not be excused for such behavior. (Very much noted the heteronormativity of these views and their normalcy.)
Each woman is desperate to escape aspects of their lives. Heather longing for a healthy family of her own while Carla hopes for financial freedom. In our discovery of this, each one is free and confident with whatever they have over the other, and to point out the inferiority of the other. It is Heather who announces Carla’s difficult financial situation, repeating how desperate she must be, and that she’d “obviously” do anything for money. And while Heather speaks of her marital and fertility struggles, it is Carla who emphasizes how easy this part of life should be and adds salt to the wound by making light of Heather’s struggle, the discovery of the abuse in high school make Carla’s jokes more jarring and almost make her seem inhumanely cruel.
Conclusion
All in all, this play is fully worth the watch. If the opportunity ever presents itself, GO WATCH IT!!! These are only a few of the themes I picked up but there’s a lot more I left out. The cast, stage design, directions, all of it were a superb “welcome back to the theatre.” I hope to see more from this writer and can’t wait to see what else NTN has in store for us.
Happy April first, we’ve got a new addition to our mini-March stories series, where we’re sharing stories written that center the holidays that we celebrated in the month of March, International Women’s Day, Independance Day and Easter. Girls Night Out is a story that acknowledges violence against women and girls following independence, how it has become something that spoils freedoms hoped for by many freedom fighters and how these terrifying situations have often become just common cautionary tales.
The dance started promptly at 6pm. Thandeka and Mary and I were already there by 5:30 , we didn’t know that people never came early for these events and we’d soon find out that we didn’t need to save up for new high heels unfamiliar make-up and heavy jewelry, we could have easily pulled off a look with some high tops, tube-tops and flared mini-skirts or shorts and lipstick. But it didn’t matter, we had just made it to our first school dance and that’s what mattered the most.
It was well orchestrated, we had told our parents that we would have a hockey match, an away game, and that’d work for a good cover to see the dance through to the end. None of us was particularly good at hockey, we’d made the team thanks to a quota formality and would tag along and bench. There was no game this weekend though, but we needed an excuse to make this happen, it was the last year of high school and we were going to make it count. The night would end with a sleepover at the home of Thandeka’s aunt, Ms Marange.
She was one of the teachers at the school with a house on campus, and, had played the role of a fairly open-minded older sister to her rather than that of an older mother as her familial title “mainini, young mother” had demanded. She’d go along with their plan as long as they promised to report to her every 15 minutes and to make sure they would head home and do their homework as soon as the dance was over. She was in her late forties, a former soldier who met her husband when he was in exile and moved to his home town soon after the war. He’d remained in the army, and travelled on missions with the NDF and she left that life and was now a drama teacher and writer, known for being unreserved and amicable enough for students to be very liberal in her presence yet firm enough to innerve cold-feet in anyone who thought of disrespecting her. “Yho, maborn-free with your pre-occupations” she mused upon seeing our shoes. I felt a slight wash of embarrassment because I really felt like an adult in my peep-toed heels.
People started piling into the school hall by 6:30, this was the big Independence day bash that took place annually and was always the source of the juiciest gossip and stories that would illicit a fear of missing out that served as enough justification for lying to our parents. “We were doing this for a greater cause…we must enjoy our youth,” we agreed. By the time everyone was settling in, we were barefoot, dancing in the glory of a very well executed con on our parents and a coming of age moment being experienced. Our fifteen minute report-backs to Ms Marange started off as a group endeavor and after around 8pm became individual check-ins. We’d separated after Terrance, a classmate of ours, had asked Thandeka to dance, Mary and I didn’t want to hover around them, so we moved away and soon enough Mary was swept away by Ndapewa, a girl she’d been enthralled with in the previous year while I remained absorbed in the music and dancing. Ms Marange didn’t seem to mind us splitting up, her responses to our check-ins were a slight nod and waving away while talked to some of the other teachers.
I was just about to show off my routine to Soulja-Boy’s CrankThat when Mary tugged at my arm asking where Thandeka was. My impulsive shrug-off was met with a loud, “Where did she go!” from a raging Ms Marange. I knew the fifteen minute mark had just passed but this was a rare opportunity to show off that I knew all the moves from the music video. “I told you girls to make sure you report back every fifteen minutes. Both of you, go and find Thandeka now!” We raced out of the room, averting our eyes from the gaze of our nosey peers, none of whom had a word to say about Thandeka’s whereabouts.
“You were on the dance floor, didn’t you see where she went?” Mary asked.
“Honestly Mary, I wasn’t paying attention. Where’s Ndapewa, why isn’t she helping us look?” I responded in a tone that made my irritability very apparent.
“She’s checking the bathrooms, Marange started with me before we got to you, Ndapewa and a couple of other students were told to go check the bathrooms and the junior classes, you and I should probably head over to the car-park, the sports field and senior block.” Mary remained unbothered
“Why is she so furious, it’s not like Thandeka has been missing for hours, it’s just been a few minutes. Did you tell her she was with a boy?”
“No, and let’s keep it that way, you just know she would never let us forget if we did.”
“I don’t know, all I know is that I would rather search for Thandeka for the rest of the night than have my mother know where I really am.” Mary said, making me focus on the bigger picture.
We called for Thandeka and Terrence, scanning through the car park and the sports fields. The more we looked, the more the thought that they were somewhere fooling around eroded. She and Terrance flirted often and passed each other notes from time to time. She once said they had been texting on Mxit throughout the holiday before her phone was confiscated. So we had no reason to suspect that anything was awry. Our walk up to the classes was silent. Neither one of us wanted to discuss the possibility of anything terrible happening to Thandeka. The distress Ms Marange had shown had caught up to us, but neither of us would acknowledge it, jokes about horrid possibilities and expressions of annoyance turned into fast paced marches and echoed calls.
So when we headed back up-school to a crowd in front of the science lab, I was certain that the anvil I felt weighing on my chest had also struck Mary. She was braver than I was though, she shoved through the crowd to find a bleeding Thandeka centering this crowd of mumbling students being herded back by teachers. A teary eyed Ms Marange pacing rapidly on the phone, coupled with involuntary eaves dropping confirmed a worst case scenario that had just been too convoluted for us to plan for. Thandeka wasn’t moving, and Terrance had been taken to a separate classroom. My mind couldn’t comprehend it. Suddenly what had been my worst fear earlier that night paled in comparison to the actual reality. My parents were called, and they too were caught in the surrealness of what had taken place.
A combination of piecing together questions from the police interrogations and newspaper articles eventually helped us draw pictures of what had happened.
Thandeka and Terrence had been dancing, a supervisor who had been reminding them to stay at an arm’s length distance apart, claimed they stopped keeping track of them after realizing that they had been reporting to Ms Marange, and that they generally had been trusted students, so “…they didn’t require as much monitoring as more rowdy students.” A line in a newspaper article read. Eventually they left the hall and snuck into one of the science labs. They began to make-out and eventually she worried about her aunt looking for her, she wanted to head back to check-in, but Terrance insisted that she stay longer, he claimed that they tussled and she fell and hit her head on the corner of the table. Mary and I think he wanted a lot more, she’d wanted to save herself for marriage, and was deathly paranoid about becoming a mother before she was ready. But we only had his version of events.
We didn’t get to talk to Ms Marange after that night, not even at the funeral. To apologize for being lackadaisical about her panic that night. To apologize for putting her in that position and for causing this, to be part of her legacy at the school.
Figure 1: President Nangolo Mbumba (Left) and Vice-President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah (Right)
The former president, Hage G Geingob is to be buried on Sunday the 25th of February 2023, as we draw nearer to the day, more and more people are curious about who this man was, the legacy he left and the successor to his office. In what turned out to be nearly clandestine, the Zenze page got access to the inauguration of the vice president who is being elected in accordance with Article 34 of the constitution of Namibia.
Article 34 requires the vice-president to take over as the interim president in circumstances such as the present one. President Mbumba will be the interim president until a new president is elected.
The Zenze team is no island to this curiosity, and so on the 4th of February 2024 a teammate found herself at this inauguration, hearing about the man, the legacy and the successor from some of those who were closest to him would beat a Google search rabbit-hole. It was without a doubt the type of nerve wrecking adventure for the young journalist, that makes it into an individuals’ “Hi, that’s me, I bet you’re wondering how I got here…” life reels. The room was top-full of dignitaries, head-officials from the NDF, Correctional Services and Police, not to mention members of the very slight 1% in Namibia.
“I just wore the face of someone who was meant to be in the room, broken camera in one hand and a phone on just 2% in the other…I just knew I had to be there,” she recounted a story that’ll make a good analogy for overcoming imposter syndrome someday. None apart from a keen-eyed correctional services official questioned her presence there after noticing that her camera wasn’t working. The room was sullen, sure, a new leader was being promoted, a woman becoming the first female vice-president of the nation, the occasion had all the elements of a celebration, but the circumstances that led to this were the undertone of the entire proceeding.
The somberness of it all was unavoidable, with congratulations delivered in light of shoes that needed to be filled rather than a new job attained. To say, “no pressure,” to President Mbumba would be like pointing at the eggshells surrounding his current role, and to say that to the newly elected Vice-President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the first female vice-president of Namibia would be like telling her “hey, there’s a nail under one of these eggshells you’re treading on.” President Nangolo Mbumba has said that he will not be running for office in the November 2024 elections, and further added that even though he’s become president, he’d only ever dreamt of becoming a school principal, when they say “trust the journey” it’s because of stuff like this, you never really know how far that trust can take you, a title humbly claimed in light of the departure of his predecessor. Vice-President Nandi-Ndaitwah additionally takes up the role of the new presidential candidate for the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO).
The Minister of Information Communication and Technology has announced that President Hage G Geingob will be buried at the Heroes Acre in Windhoek on Sunday 25 February and the event is set to be broadcasted to the nation. Presidential elections will be held in November 2024 and youths all across the nation are becoming engaged in civic action and voters are highly encouraged to go through the manifestos of the parties to make informed decisions as voters.
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The third President of Namibia, Dr Hage Geingob passed away recently on the 4th of January 2024. The news followed updates on treatment for cancer that had been taking place in the days leading up to his passing. While his office was laced with evidence of corruption, his leadership upheld the type of Pan-Africanism that seeks to unite. One mark of this was his endorsement of the abolishment of the Namibia and Botswana use of passports which contributes to the Pan-African United Africa vision. Let’s take a look at some of the great work he carried out to feed into this vision:
A progressive constitution
The Constitution of Namibia was finalized in 1990 soon after Namibia had gained its independence amongst its chief contributors was the former president Dr Hage Geingob. The Constitution has been credited for the largely inclusive principles that it is based on as well as being as a well crafted guiding tool for the nation.
This attitude has not gone unnoticed. On Friday the 9th of February, a vigil is being held in his honour by the LGBTQ+ community.
Charisma Charisma Charisma
While politics and corruption scandals had resulted in a plunge in support, his wit and charisma did not alienate the youth from political discourse. Many leaders’ tone and discourse can come off dictatorial in a way that is alienating. African politics and cultures have often coincided at the “respect your elders” mantra. This, while important for social relationships, can, in many places plays out as authoritarian leadership with little room to have contrarian opinions. The Namibia led by President Hage saw the formation and rising of youth empowerment movements, voices and in some instances, visible, respectful and non-demeaning responses from officials. Of note was the meeting with the #shutitalldown leaders. The rhetoric of putting heads down to “respect the elders” even in the face of violations, is gradually being replaced with a politics of respect and tolerance, in part, because of the way he led.
Representation
Apart from the visible youth participation, in his time in power, women’s representation in parliament increased to an impressive 44%, the number of over 90% of laws have been gender responsive and his successor as leader of the SWAPO party was to be a woman. His approach to public scrutiny seemed to be that of collaboration and humour rather than being dismissive and undermining in some instances, I say this with the response to the #shutitalldown marches in mind, however much of a sell out, it may appeared to some, it can be translated into an effort towards recognizing citizens’ concerns.
Namibia is by no means a perfect country and President Hage Geingob was by no means the perfect president, but he made significant efforts which are deeply revered by many of those who lived in the country under his leadership. The passing of the president was a massive shock to many and his loss will be deeply felt. May he rest in eternal peace.
ZENZE 