Dr Job Amupanda
The design of the capitalist society and the inherent class struggle always concerned leftist thinkers. Marxists always argued that institutional control over the education, religion, media, culture and economic systems by the dominant groups leads to the spreading of ideas that justify and reinforce inequalities of power and status.
The concept of false consciousness was developed to explain this domination. In 1846, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels submitted “The class which has the means of material production at its disposal has control at the same time over the means of mental production”.
The controlled mental environment by the dominant group leads to the production of consciousness in the disadvantaged group, reflective of the dominant group’s interest, outlook and orientation.
This false consciousness also delivers to the dominated/disadvantaged through psychological machinations, false conceptions about themselves.
They conclude and see themselves as worthy of only that which the dominant group permits. In a final analysis, the disadvantaged/dominated are rendered as mere bystanders in matters impacting their lives – often negatively.
This makes it easy for the dominant group to pass laws and regulations regardless of the views of the dominated – the bystanders who must wait for the dominant group’s ‘generosity’.
In short, the dominated are seen as unconscious patients in an intensive care unit at the mercy and caprice of doctors and nurses.
Think of how confident instructed Kenneth Matomola, the chief executive of the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa), was in defending regulations to accompany the Financial Institutions and Markets Act (FIMA).
‘It’s in your interest’, he retorted. This is despite the fact that workers were not consulted. A brief background for completeness: in 2021, Parliament passed the FIMA. President Hage Geingob subsequently signed it into law. FIMA has empowered Namfisa, through the finance minister, to pass regulations.
One of the regulations requires pension fund members to preserve 75% of their money until the age of 55. They are only allowed access to 25%. When we came across this regulation, set to take the workers’ money from 1st October 2022, we alerted the masses about their imminent fate.
We did so in fighting false consciousness and following the wise counsel of Professor Noam Chomsky that “it is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies”.
Currently, workers who are dismissed, resigned or retrenched are allowed to withdraw 100% of their pension as they move on with their lives.
With his savings, when he left the health ministry, Henry Shimutwikeni went to establish a successful law firm. Employing more than 10 employees; he has changed the lives of many.
Nafimane Halweendo recently left the defence ministry to open Nafimane Halweendo Legal Practitioners.
With his pension, he will confidently build his law firm and employ other youth languishing in unemployment.
In his youth, Reinhold Kamati resigned to go study in Europe, where he obtained a PhD in Economics.
He is now a principal economist at the Bank of Namibia and a country expert for the Euromoney Country Risk.
Lisa Matomola worked for the health ministry and PricewaterhouseCoopers. She now heads her successful firm, Hito HR and Training Consultant, employing others.
Only imbeciles would underestimate the role played by pensions in building successful companies by these youth. Examples of how pension withdrawals changed lives, provided jobs and built our economy are many.
The new regulations mean there will be no new Matomola, Kamati, Shimutwikeni and Halweendo. Unemployment will rise, and we will degenerate from bad to worse.
Beyond bureaucratic explanations, we are not presented with any scientific evidence that suggests any disadvantage of early withdrawal.
As part of false consciousness, we were only told: “it’s in your best interest”.
Think of a 32-year-old employee dismissed because of a scandal and her face published on newspaper front pages.
With her four kids, this single mother resides in an NHE house she bought for N$750 000.
At the time, her pension stood at N$1.2 million, and with tax and other deductions, she ended up with N$850 000.
When she left employment, she only owed N$600 000 on her house.
She uses the N$850 000 to pay off her house and start a small business – a home shop. With the current regulations, with 75% kept until she turns 55, none of this would be possible.
She will receive less than N$250 000 and will struggle to get a job because of the scandal. She will subsequently lose her home and her life will be miserable.
She may even commit suicide, leaving the children without a mother. The idea of accepting a miserable life while waiting for a better life at 55, 20 years later, reduces workers to children and government as – the “Master of High Court”.
It is reminiscent of Christian evangelists, who told our people to accept the earthly sufferings, including brutal colonialism, for they will be rewarded for their obedience in heaven.
Imagine if freedom fighters had accepted this gospel, subsequently accepting colonialism in exchange for imaginary benefits in heaven.
This idea was rejected by even Christian clergy, who championed what was called black liberation theology in the 1960s.
The idea that life after 55 would be better when your kept 75% is released is another false consciousness sloganeered by the bureaucratic bourgeoisie.
In finance, there is a concept called ‘time value of money’, which simply means money today is worth more than that same amount in future.
In the year 2000, with N$300 000, you could buy a house in Windhoek.
In 2022, 22 years later, this amount cannot even buy a plot. This effectively means preserving your money until 55 is effective to your disadvantage.
The N$750 000 in 20 years may only be worth N$300 000. How is this “in the interest of workers”?
Given the fact that workers have not been consulted, pension funds are disowning the regulations and that we have not been presented with any scientific evidence that supports the assumptions of stopping workers from accessing their article 16 properties (pension), it is clear that somewhere in dark corners, a scheme is being hatched and FIMA was identified as the vehicle.
It is clear that these k*k gimmicks as regulations must fall.