Windhoek
Bornface Mate refuses to allow the fact that he is of San origin to define his destiny, despite growing up under the weight of discrimination most of his life.
The 30-year old is eloquent and nothing about him hints at the fact that the man, who introduced himself to this journalist as the “infamous Bornface Mate” is indeed of Khoisan origin.
His journey was no walk in the park, but determination and a will to defy the odds put Mate in a position where he is today a shining example of success to other marginalised people.
Mate holds a B Juris law degree from the University of Namibia and an LLB degree from the University of South Africa. A legal practitioner, he was born and raised in the Zambezi Region and is one of only a few San people to have obtained a law degree, despite the hardships that many San people face.
As he walks this journalist to his office, where the interview is to take place, he utters a few words to a female colleague in Khwedam, a San dialect spoken in the Zambezi Region.
Mate holds two positions in the Office of the Vice President. He is a personal assistant to Deputy Minister of Marginalised Communities Royal /Ui/o/oo. He is also a development planner in the same office.
Part of his job is to identify and devise programmes for marginalised communities in the country. He is also often presented as a role model to encourage marginalised communities to dedicate more time and effort to educational attainment.
Mate today enjoys the luxury of working in an air-conditioned office, as well as field trips in and out of the country. However, at some point in his life it was almost impossible to imagine that this would become his life.
Growing up in abject poverty and going to school with no shoes, exposing his cracked heels to his classmates, Mate and impoverished San children were often the laughing stock of their class.
“It was not easy. It was actually hectic, because all those I started school with from our San communities, most of them – if not all dropped out of school along the way,” he says as he reflects on his life achievements as a person from a historically disadvantaged community.
“As a San I was lucky to have come this far, because I had my father encouraging me about the importance of education, even though he was not educated himself,” adds Mate, who remembers his father as a man who “understood the importance of education”.
“I also had great support from my teachers, because I was very brilliant,” he smiles.
Mate’s father – with whom he spent most of his life – was of Khwe (Khoe) San descent and his mother is of the Masubia people of the Zambezi Region.
Having lived through the harsh realities of the abject poverty that San people face on a daily basis, as well as the ridicule and scorn they are subjected to by other ethnic groups, Mate hopes that – through his contribution – he will see an improvement in the lives and circumstances of marginalised communities, like the San.
“I always wanted to serve my community,” he says. And so, when Deputy Minister
/Ui/o/oo asked him to join the office, he knew he had to go. He resigned from the Ministry of Justice, where he had worked as a legal officer since 2010.
“We went through the hardships and we understand what the marginalised people are going through,” were the words of the deputy minister that convinced Mate that he had to bolster the office of marginalised communities.
“We also give motivational talks to school kids and the communities to sensitise them to the importance of education,” he added, saying he and a couple of other educated and successful people from marginalised communities are often presented during motivational talks as examples of people who have risen above their circumstances.
Challenges of the marginalised
Mate knows firsthand what a challenge it is to be San. His father was never educated or in fulltime employment. “The San are hunter-gatherers. My father was a hunter-gatherer. Sometimes we would go as far as Zambia to hunt and gather food just to survive,” he recalled.
This meant that at times he would be away from school for weeks. “My teachers would always summon my father to the school, so that he can explain why I have been out of school for so long,” he reflects.
With a sense of pride he adds that, despite the challenges that he faced, he always loved school and was determined to progress in his studies. “I’ve always been an academic. I like to study,” he says with a sense of pride.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for all San children, as many tend to drop out of school even before they reach Grade 10. Sadly, his paternal younger sister is one such example.
“She dropped out of school because of peer influence. I’ve tried many times to take her back to school but it didn’t work,” he says with a look of disappointment.
However, that will not stop him from advocating for education and social upliftment of marginalised people. “The school drop-out rate is high among the San and marginalised communities, because the parents do not understand the importance of education,” he stressed.
Poverty levels are also so high that even if the children want to go to school, they do not stay in school because of hunger and a lack of food at home, exacerbated by the walking distance to school.
“Yes, there is a school feeding scheme, but that is limited as it is only confined to the school environment. They eat at school, but when they go back home there is nothing,” he explained.
Further, Mate feels that although many marginalised children now attend school because of free education, there are significant obstacles that prevent them completing their schooling.
Education is free, but parents still have to buy school uniforms, as some schools do not accept learners to attend classes without uniform, he noted.
A 2015 national review of school dropouts and out-of-school children in Namibia, conducted by UNICEF, UNESCO Institute of Statistics and the Ministry of Education, indicates that large numbers of children from the age of 15 years old are dropping out of school. This includes many Grade 10 learners.
The report also indicates that children at risk of not going to school include children of farmworkers, Khoisan children from remote rural areas and Ovahimba children in remote areas.
“This makes education more expensive for them, because parents have to pay for transport to the school, as well as accommodation at the schools,” according to the report.
The San and Ovahimba are historically semi-nomadic peoples, meaning they practice a form of transhumance – a migratory lifestyle that corresponds to the seasons of the year and the associated environmental conditions.
“This continuous movement is a challenge for children who want to attend schools. There has, however, been some progress in making sure children from such communities have access to the education system through the use of mobile schools,” reads an extract from the report.
Mate says: “Our people have developed the culture of relying on government handouts. The people need to be empowered so that they know how to produce for themselves.”
Asked if he had any message for the wider public, particularly those from marginalised communities, Mate stressed: “Education, education, education. It is the greatest equaliser and we must take it seriously.”