Windhoek
Following violent clashes last week involving ‘struggle kids’ in Brakwater, the government this week called for calm while pleading for time to address the plight of the group and that of similarly affected youth in the country.
The ruling party Swapo has in the meantime tasked its think tank to propose lasting solutions to the issue of struggle kids, which involves sustained demands for jobs by young people born in exile during the country’s liberation struggle.
Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, speaking exclusively to New Era, called the confrontations – which led to the hospitalisation of some Brakwater farmers as well as some of the struggle kids – ‘highly regrettable’.
She hinted strongly that police are investigating the violent Brakwater incident and those guilty of provocation would be dealt with accordingly.
“The relevant institutions responsible for dealing with that situation are taking appropriate measures, using existing systems and procedures,” the PM said.
“It is important to emphasise that the law enforcement agencies will not hesitate to take action against anyone who provokes confrontations with others,” she said. Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said government has not forgotten the struggle kids, whom she urged to maintain order while their situation is being attended to.
“With regard to unemployment, the government is seized with the problem of the struggle kids and using overall programmes to address unemployment among the youth,” she said.
“It is important to note that the national programmes do jot only cover the struggle kids but all other unemployed youth in the country.”
There were 8 853 struggle kids officially registered by February 2010, but six years on, the number might have skyrocketed.
A member of the Swapo think tank this week claimed there is a strong feeling within the ruling party that there are forces instigating the group against government – a claim often dismissed by the struggle kids.
“We brought it upon ourselves as Swapo because we did not give this issue the necessary attention it deserves when it started, but despite that, we know there are people behind the scenes spurring these kids on,” said the official, who commented on condition of anonymity.
“After the struggle some of the kids whose parents died on the battlefield were adopted by strangers, who ended up turning them into cattle herders and farm workers.”
The party member also castigated top ranking officials in the ministry of youth, saying: “They hijacked the state intervention to recruit some of the struggle kids in the defence ministry.”
“It is obvious the children from the liberation struggle cannot be compared to the born frees, so there is need for special intervention.”
“Some of the top ranking officials sidelined the struggle kids and employed their relatives,” he said.
Overall unemployment in Namibia currently stands at 28 percent, while youth unemployment is at 41.7 percent.
Youth unemployment remains one of the most complex problems facing government today.
The 2011 national population census shows that the youth make up more than 60 percent of the country’s total population, which translates to roughly 1.2 million young people.
About 460 struggle kids have been living at the Ndilimani Cultural Troupe farm in Brakwater since early December after they were relocated there from the Swapo headquarters in Windhoek.
It is members of this group who came into violent confrontation with a Brakwater family last week after the group allegedly entered Naas Fourie’s private property without permission and started to cut down trees for firewood.
In August 2014 one member of the group, Frieda Ndatipo, was shot dead during violent confrontations with the police near the Swapo headquarters in Katutura.