Dark phrases of womanhood, of never having been a girl. Half-note scattered without rhythm. No tune distraught. Laughter fallin’ over a black girl’s shoulders.
It’s funny. It’s hysterical. The melodylessness of her dance. Don’t tell nobody, don’t tell a soul. She’s dancing on beer cans and shingles. This must be the spook house.
Another song with no singers, lyrics no voices and uninterrupted solos, unseen performances. Are we ghouls? Children of horror? The joke? Don’t tell nobody, don’t tell a soul. Are we animals? Have we gone crazy?
The stanza above is from a poem by American playwright Ntozake Shange, who perfectly encapsulates the feelings of abused women, the women whose voices are silenced; women whose families are robbed of sacred moments and robbed of peace.
The fantasy of change has been portrayed. A national conference was held, resolutions passed, in fact the country came to a standstill, in prayer for this social evil to end.
Yet, mothers stand before empty caskets, with remains that do not resemble the babies they once nursed. Are we animals? To have our cadavers found dusted and burned in landfills? To have our remains found amongst the dirt?
Is Namibia the spook house, the place where women shall live in torment, in fear of those supposed to be our brothers?
I do not believe that the blood of Anna ‘Kakurukaze’ Mungunda watered a partial freedom for women in this country. I do not believe – not for a moment – that the late Getrude Kandanga-Hilukilwa mobilised women to form part of the struggle, so that women may endure and be subjected to such desolation in an independent Namibia. We too deserve to enjoy peace and stability.
As the National Young Women Association, we applaud the efforts of different agencies, in regards to alleviating the effects of gender-based violence (GBV). However, the fact that GBV itself still persists is worrisome.
It’s sickening – not only the acts themselves, but rather that there are people among us who harbour such thoughts; callous people, who are not in any way hesitant in taking someone else’s life.
This clearly indicates dilapidation of the current value-system in our country. Then again, without research on the contributory attributes towards this social behaviour it is difficult to pinpoint the exact causes of this moral decay.
It could be the removal of religious education from the school curriculum creating a culture of unaccountability among children. It could be the introduction of laws on corporal punishment eroding the element of discipline in our societies. It could be the waning of our cultural norms leading to a sense of disconnect between our current selves and our identity as Africans. It could be our churches, or our parents, who are failing to install the seeds of humanity in us.
Did Ubuntu die with Madiba? In addition to strengthening current implementation of policies and structures against GBV, the leadership should also play a vocal role in reminding the people what it means to be Namibian, what it means to be African and what it means to be human.
Ubuntu is a philosophy that holds socio-moral significance. It is a concept widely accepted as a set of ideals that guide and direct the life of Africans. Steve Biko described this social consciousness as a deliberate act of God to make us a community of brothers and sisters jointly involved in the quest for a composite answer to the varied problems of life.
I do not believe that men should be one of our problems as women. We, as women cannot contribute effectively to the development of our country while living under intimidation. We want unity so that we may all focus on economic liberation and other challenges.
As we cry for the women who have been killed, let us explore the mindset of these men with the aim of finding out the problem and fixing it to prevent our children inheriting a country with a culture where men objectify women and women feel the need to actively and collectively defend themselves against their own brothers.
Let us revive Ubuntu in our beloved Namibia.
* Hallo Angala is president of the National Young Women Association.