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Home / The present socio-economic system and politics in Namibia
The present socio-economic system and politics in Namibia
2017-10-27Staff Report 2 Some of us still believe in Marxist-Leninist theories. I must however admit that our generation of believers in revolutionary Marxist theory is dwindling away to nothing. Many of my comrades who were forthright believers in Marxist-Leninist theory and ideology and total annihilation of capitalism and imperialism are being lost either through death or taken out of the system by diehard capitalists. Some of us who were ideologically advanced could hardly be understood and appreciated by the capitalist elites because of our pro-poor social policies and the way we used to interact with the masses of poor proletariat and peasants. However, I must say that while our revolutionary ideas were disliked by the capitalist elites our radical ideas will never totally be destroyed. One thing for sure, we as personalities might be suppressed but our revolutionary ideas will always remain. After independence I have come to know that many of our people are ideologically strongly linked to Western Capitalist Ideology. Some are afraid that our ideological stands will arouse the enmity of pro-capitalist elements and other strong capitalist nations to which they are aligned. The only solution was to attempt to take us out of the system or to help the reactionary forces to tarnish our names. The liberation struggle was long and bitter and some of us were during this struggle too radical, ideologically speaking. However, because of the political pressure of five Western countries some of us tried to have a hybrid of institutions in independent Namibia that included various sectors in society while maintaining strong support from marginalized revolutionary forces. Because of what was happening just before independence we decided not to be seen as fighting for a socialist system but just to be anti-imperialist revolutionaries. I must reveal here that some of us really wanted a country which was not going to align with Western Capitalist Imperialism, but which was going to align towards anti-imperialist revolutionary countries and radical movements and forces across the world. Unfortunately, particularly now, our country seems to be strongly moving fast towards alignment with Western Capitalist powers, which were against our liberation movement and supporting the South African colonial regime. It is from this ideological perspective that I am analyzing the socio-economic system and politics of Namibia. As far as Namibia’s economic system is concerned, we are talking about a “mixed system” but Namibia is by all intents and purposes a capitalist state. This system was imposed on us by the strong five Western powers. The imposed capitalist economy (by the Gang of five Western states) is pre-dominant in the country. With this imposed capitalist economy the high-income inequality will always be skewed in the interest of the capitalist classes at the expense of the working classes and peasants. Namibia is rich but under the present capitalist economic system the gap between the rich and the poor will persist and even widen. The poverty will remain a painful reality for most of our people. The rich will become richer and the poor will become poorer. The wealth and the means of production will always produce profits for the owners of those means of production who are the capitalist class, while the workers will only survive from providing their labour to the capitalist. The investment opportunities in Namibia will produce profits that will end up enriching the capitalist investors while the working class will only continue to survive from providing their labour to the capitalists. Only very few workers might manage to break through this complicated economic web to join the middle class. We are now going around begging for development aid from the Western countries. However, this so-called development aid from Western countries comes with strong political strings attached. Therefore, Namibia will eventually become a surrogate state, a puppet of the Western countries which is just going to represent the interest of the West. We have to realize that we have adopted and put in place a capitalist economic system in the country. Therefore, even if we come with policies upon policies and development plans upon development plans, the capitalist class will grow richer while the poor proletariat will become poorer. In this regard the culprit is not the policy but the economic system. Surely you beg rich capitalists to invest money in the country’s economy. They will do so but the profits accrued from the investment will be theirs and they will become richer. The workers will only benefit by providing their labour to the capitalists and so it will go on and on. In a socialist system the invested capital belongs to all the people and the profits that accrue from such investments belong to all the people and that will never be accepted by the capitalist classes. We are now trapped in this capitalist web. The issue is not who is in power at a given time in this capitalist-oriented economic set-up because whoever is in power is guided by the capitalist laws and economic system. The policies and plans are to be drafted to always maintain the existence of the capitalist system, otherwise one will run the risk to violate the capitalist laws. The challenge is not lack of policy nor inability to implement the plans, the culprit is the capitalist economic system in which we are trapped and operating. Under a capitalist economic system the policies are surely designed to create better opportunity that will always protect and enhance the capitalist economic system. No one can enhance and promote socialist values with a capitalist economy – the two do not go together. The capitalist system creates better opportunity for the capitalist class to make more profit for those who are owners of means of production, and not necessarily to create opportunities for the poor proletariat class who are only there to provide their labour to the owners of the means of production. The moment one wants to move away from that he/she becomes a menace to the capitalist set-up and is perceived to be a danger to the existence of the system. As long as we have an entrenched capitalist system we shall never have tangible socio-economic transformation in our country. This is the reality. The only hope is for SWAPO Party to address these issues seriously and bring about legal changes that will enable us to introduce economic policies which are intended to empower the working class. It is, indeed, difficult to get out of this imposed capitalist system, but there must be always those who are going to fight for the interest of the workers and peasants in this country and SWAPO should be the party that will fight for the interest of those classes. The workers and the peasants must always benefit fully from the resources and wealth of the country. SWAPO was founded by the proletariat and ideologically it must be guided by the ideology which is to improve the living standard of the working masses. Unfortunately, some people are now locked in power struggles and their efforts and attention are put on either getting or mounding positions either in the party or the government, but not to mobilize the masses of our people to maintain the legacy of the struggle. Some do not even know the difference between the aims and objectives of the party and its ideology. I really agree with Comrade Nahas Angula when he is quoted saying: “The party has been turned into an empty bureaucracy without an ideology to guide the members and the party has been hijacked by elite, as opposed to the values and principles it was founded on.” Comrade President Hage Geingob said he would like to have a Namibian house where no one is left out. It is, indeed, a good idea but I wonder that under the capitalist system which is predominant in our country, the poor working class will not be left out of this beautiful Namibian house. Be that as it may, SWAPO has the capacity to solve the abovementioned issues and the time to do so is now. 2017-10-27Staff Report 2
