Two years later, now that the wearing of masks is no longer mandatory, it is my obligation to unmask Namibia – thanks to our much-vaunted freedom of expression.
Three decades of political freedom, and the focus of the glory is still on the victory of the liberation struggle.
Nostalgic much?
Who cares, when the dignity of the people, rooted in the economic system, is constantly violated? It is a cliché to state that many Namibians live in poverty that the point is no longer unemployment because even those who are employed are struggling to make ends meet.
Most working Namibians are anyway just a few missed salaries from ruin. More than 43.3% of Namibia’s population live in multidimensional poverty.
According to a 2011 African Development Bank (AfDB) study, less than 10% of Namibia’s population falls into its middle class, living on between US$4 and US$20 a day. That was 2011. I wonder how many disappeared out of this classification since the tenders dried up.
We need to question the validity of that social status, especially breadwinners who have more mouths to feed. A whole third (roughly) of this part of the population’s income goes to the taxman, while a considerable chunk is spent on what is jokingly referred to as black tax. Only, it is no joke, and the needs of the extended family whose emergencies tend to occur around payday seem to increase as more people land on the streets.
They wonder what else to cut from the budget – a relentless but often futile exercise, which is often avoided.
Those who are seemingly “fortunate” are trying hard to capitalise on as many streams of income as possible, and registering for the next course that might boost their CVs and get a “higher-paying job”, a promotion in their current jobs or miraculously getting a salary increment.
Namibian companies are not even trying to keep up with inflation-related salary increments, and many have completely abandoned annual salary increases. Even those who make profits use the multitude of excuses available to keep salaries low as “there are many looking for jobs out there”.
Those who can have jumped to the banks to bail them out, which only serves to pull them further into the poverty trap.
An analysis by Simonis Storm Securities showed that Namibians borrowed N$4.6 million every day in 2021. Most of this was spent on houses and personal loans.
‘It’s tough’ is the daily response to greetings. Yes, it is tough indeed – the economic situation. Financial problems are now disguised as emotional and mental problems.
More and more Namibians have to decide between necessities like electricity and petrol during the last week of the month. Often earlier.
We simply cannot afford daily or monthly needs, and the hopelessness of the economic struggle has brought with it a myriad of mental issues. Anxiety and panic attacks are the order of the day. You are either overworked and managing to pay bills, or managing your health and not being able to pay bills – neither is ideal. What an impoverished middle class!
What is more hopeless is the fact that we cannot stop thinking about those in worse situations. Photos of learners recently circulated. They need school uniforms. My heart bleeds!
What is next, and what are the worst conditions we have not heard of – deep in the remote villages?
My fear is that very few will care about integrity and values when they are desperate to make ends meet. If the bribe comes well in time – when it is needed the most – it becomes a blessing more than an act of corruption. An educated nation with a high unemployment or underemployment rate is fertile ground for crime – many unimaginable crimes, as even when the government acts by creating employment opportunities, people will have already gotten used to the fast money and the hype.
This is why poverty is a state of emergency.
We need policies in place that will firstly help to emancipate people, and systems to practically help to boost the domestic economy. We need integrated systems in place to speak to the formal and informal economies, as well as to not necessarily urbanise rural areas, but to empower them to operate in their current state. If we can create approaches and systems to spread the word about Covid to the deepest corners of rural areas for even grannies to wear a mask, and making vaccines everywhere, then anything is possible.
*Linea Hamukwaya is a copy-editor at New Era. Her opinions are her own.