2017-09-06Staff Report 2 Selma Ikela Windhoek-A black Windhoek-based lawyer who went for her usual morning walk in the company of her two dogs was reportedly racially abused when one of her dogs stepped on the pavement next to the house of a Caucasian man in Olaf Palme Street. The lawyer, who prefers anonymity, said she was called a f***ng black bitch and a kaffir when her dog went under the man’s tree and scratched a little sand on the pavement. The lawyer has since opened a case with the City Police. She said the suspect who was driving a pick-up truck screamed at her from behind: “Get off my pavement with your f***ng dogs, you f***ng black bitch.” “He brought his vehicle to a standstill and started swearing more at me: ‘What are you kaffirs doing this side, f***ng kaffir. I cleaned my pavement yesterday now your f***ng dog messed sand on it,’” she related. The lawyer told New Era the man then drove towards her, still insulting her and almost bumping her. The man allegedly threatened her that he would open his gate so that his big dog could attack her and her dogs. She said the man’s father came from the yard and she related the incident to him and he said the pavement was a public space because the public paved it and planted trees on it. Eileen Rakow from the Office of the Ombudsman told New Era that not only is racism rife in Namibia but all sorts of discrimination as well. “It is really scary if we sit down and listen to these incidences,” said Rakow. She said it would be good if there were a system, like a tribunal, for people to get some sort of redress. “Our criminal system currently does not provide for this kind of redress, and I think this is what the ombudsman is going to propose,” she said in reference to the public hearings held by the ombudsman to establish the level of racism and racial discrimination prevalent in the country. “There is no proper redress. I can’t even advise you to take it to court because there is nothing going to fix it in our current system. That’ why we need to come up with something.” Rakow said such incidents are indicative of intolerance among people. “This is not isolated, but what comes out is that we are not tolerant. The race issue has been in the spotlight because it is still there. It is not gone. It is the same with the tribalism issue. We all are Namibians and to be Namibian we need to leave colour, tribe behind because we can’t be a white or black Namibian, or Herero-speaking Namibian.” 2017-09-06Staff Report 2
