In 1963, colonial South Africa’s government published the Report of the Commission of Enquiry into South West African Affairs, commonly known as the Odendaal Report.
The Odendaal Commission concluded that in order for development to take place in Namibia, society must be divided into homelands, where each tribe or race is exclusively confined.
Homelands, argued commissioners of the plan, would not only speed up development but also mitigate rivalry between the country’s diverse ethnic groups.
Racial rivalry and segregation continue to grow in the country, but especially at Gobabis where the leadership of the town is seemingly not doing enough to unite residents, especially blacks and whites.
Last week, Gobabis hosted two trade shows, one predominantly for black people and another one, almost exclusively, for whites.
It is an open secret that Gobabis remains home to racism, reminiscent of how Namibia as a whole was before independence when blacks were deprived of fundamental rights at the expense of their white compatriots.
As we pen this piece there is a racism case pending, emanating from an ugly physical fight at a Gobabis pub, christened Buffalo’s.
The founding editor of this newspaper, Rajah Munamava, also once found himself being denied entrance to a golf club belonging to the same pub, apparently because of the complexion of his skin.
Overall, Gobabis remains one of the racism hotbeds in Namibia, with blacks mostly the victim as opposed to the other way round.
Of course generally, there have been rare cases where blacks subjected whites to racial provocations and that too should be condemned with the contempt it deserves.
Our chief concern however is the seemingly laid-back approach by leaders in fighting racism, especially at Gobabis where the town hosts trade shows that are racially defined.
True, colonialism has everything to do with it, having affected the construction, governance and policing of Namibia, Gobabis included.
But it’s time we give colonialism a break in some aspects, especially where we possess power to effect change.
Colonialism is now a distant memory and we cannot tell our children that the reason why they don’t attend certain schools or are not allowed to play at certain grounds is because of colonialism, something that ended nearly 25 years ago and which they are not familiar with.
The proliferation of racism and anything that promotes it must be arrested. At this stage of our life as a nation, there should be no more second and first class citizens. No more inequality because one is indigenous, black, Muslim or has an accent.
Leaders in Gobabis must discourage racism by not allowing the town to be racially divided, including at social events that should actually serve as platforms to bring residents together. Having black and white shows nurtures the seeds of suspicion and racial mistrust.
We are delighted to hear that there are attempts to merge the two shows – starting next year. This merger could be a good starting point of teaching the residents that there’s only one race – the human race.
We cannot in this day and age embrace the Odendaal Plan of dividing Namibians. Colonial South Africa created homelands to ensure that different ethnic groups do not join hands and wage a war against their common enemy. It was a divide-and-rule tactic.
Called the ‘Cattle Country’, Gobabis could emerge out of the woods to become a town of massive economic importance. The potential is undeniably there, but the residents, with assistance of their leaders, have to overcome their racial egos and rally together as a unit.