10-02-2018, 10:43 PM
*** 3-Oct-18 World View -- Namibia may follow South Africa with land confiscation without compensation
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Namibia may follow South Africa with land confiscation without compensation
****
![[Image: g181002b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g181002b.jpg)
Namibia white-owned farm (Pixabay)
Namibia's president Hage Geingob announced on Monday that he would
push ahead with "land distribution," following the example of the
announcement by its close neighbor, South Africa.
According to Geingob, the practice of expropriating land with "fair
compensation" will be revisited, since it hasn't delivered results,
and that 43% of farmland will be transferred from white farmers to
"disadvantaged blacks" by 2020. In making the announcement, Geingob
said:
<QUOTE>"Many Namibians were driven off their productive
land. The fundamental issue is the inequality. We also share a
burning land issue and a racialized distribution of land resources
with South Africa.
This comes from a common history of colonial dispossession. What
we also agree to is that the status quo will not be allowed to
continue."<END QUOTE>
The phrase "colonial dispossession" refers to genocide and ethnic
cleansing by German colonists of tens of thousands of ethnic Herero
and Nama people from roughly 1895 to 1907. According to published
statistics, white Namibians today own 70% of agricultural land and
blacks 16%. The rest, about 250 farms, are under foreign ownership,
mostly by Germans.
Geingob added that by redistributing land from white farmers to
blacks, it will reduce inequality, and will be "an investment in
peace":
<QUOTE>"We need to revisit constitutional provisions which
allow for the expropriation of land with just compensation, as
opposed to fair compensation, and look at foreign ownership of
land, especially absentee land owners.
It is in all our interest, particularly the 'haves,' to ensure a
drastic reduction in inequality, by supporting the redistributive
model required to alter our skewed economic structure. We should
all be cognizant of the fact that this is ultimately an investment
in peace."<END QUOTE>
According to Geingob, the "willing-buyer, willing-seller" approach has
not worked to redistribute the land, and now a more aggressive
approach must be used. Deutsche Welle and The South African and Al Jazeera
****
**** Namibia government opposition calls the land reform proposal a 'sham'
****
The proposal for land confiscation without compensation is being made
at the Second National Land Conference, held in the capital city
Windhoek. Opposition figures have called for a boycott of the
conference because documents leaked prior to the conference indicated
that the outcomes were predetermined, and because opposition parties,
including representatives of white farmers, were not even invited.
Prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila denied that the outcomes
were predetermined, because all delegates coming to conference will
"share their honest views towards the debate to help our country make
progress towards the land reform program."
None of the news reports that I read about this proposal even mention
the Zimbabwe experience, so apparently that experience has been
forgotten. In the 1990s, Zimbabwe used to be the breadbasket of
southern Africa, growing much more food than the country needed and
exporting the rest. Then in 1999 Robert Mugabe instituted a "land
reform" plan just like the one that South Africa and Namibia are
planneg. Within ten years, Zimbabwe was an economic disaster, with
mass starvation, a worthless currency, and massive million percent
inflation.
The lack of transparency, and shutting out of the opposition are signs
that Zimbabwe's experience will be copied in another way. When Mugabe
confiscated the white farmers' farms, they were supposed to go to poor
blacks, but instead went to Mugabe's wealthy political cronies, people
who didn't even know how to farm. That's why Zimbabwe faced such a
financial disaster.
Namibia's new land reform program is supposed to confiscate white
farmers' farms and give them to "disadvantaged blacks," but the lack
of transparency and shutting out of the opposition indicates that
Geingob will do what Mugabe did -- give the farms to his élite wealthy
political cronies, who know nothing about farming. Why would anyone
expect anything else? Those cronies worked hard to get Geingob
elected, so shouldn't they be rewarded with all the farmland? It's
only fair.
So that's what happened to Zimbabwe when it was a relatively wealthy
country in the 1990s. But Namibia is not a wealthy country. As of
the second quarter of 2018, Namibia's economy had shrunk for nine
consecutive quarters. Earlier this year, the government had to stop
feeding the army, or paying the water and electricity bills for its
military bases.
Namibia is a mineral-rich country, and was considered to be stable and
democratic. But when president Hage Geingob took office in 2015, he
borrowed money and went on a spending spree, greatly expanding the
public sector, with a huge wage bill for 100,000 civil servants.
Geingob has also taken on billions of dollars in debt from China,
where the terms of the deal are being kept secret, raising fears of
yet one more Chinese debt trap.
Namibia has been hit with other problems. A drought across southern
Africa has been disastrous for the Namibian economy. The fishing
industry has suffered due to overfishing and depletion of fish stocks.
The mining industry suffered because of the fall in the prices of
minerals, particular uranium, which Namibia relies on.
So Geingob is going to solve all of Namibia's economic problems by
confiscating the farmland from productive people who produce food for
people to eat, and give the farms to his cronies who don't have a
clue. Sounds like a great plan. Namibian (21-Sep) and The Villager (Namibia, 24-Sep) and Deutsche Welle (1-Feb) and Namibian (14-Sep)
****
**** Brief generational history of Namibia
****
Archeological evidence shows that people inhabited Namibia for at
least 25,000 years. Little was known about life there until the
colonists arrived and started writing things down. The first known
European to visit Namibia was the Portuguese Diogo Cao in 1485.
The most valuable real estate in Namibia to the colonists was Walvis
Bay, a large deep water port on the Atlantic Ocean. The Dutch
Authority took control of Walvis, and Britain took control of it in
1797.
The Europeans in Namibia lived in relative peace with the dominant
tribe, the Herero, until the "Scramble for Africa" among the European
colonists occurred in the late 1800s. In 1886, Germany and Portugal
negotiated the border between Angola and German South West Africa. By
1890, the German colonists had been a military fort in Windhoek, which
became Namibia's capital city.
Things changed in 1897 when the rinderpest, an ancient plague dating
back to at least Roman times, arrived in South West Africa and
devastated the flocks of cattle owned by the Herero, who depended on
cattle for their livelihood. Many Herero sold their land to the
Germans for a very low price. This situation backfired in 1904, when
there was a Herero uprising against the German colonists, killing over
100 Germans. This triggered a generational crisis war, and genocide
and ethnic cleansing of the Herero.
Another tribe, the Nama, rose up in support of the Herero, but the
Germans rounded them up and sent them to labor camps to work on the
railways. All in all, about 80% of the Herero were killed, and 50% of
the Nama. It's sometimes call the first genocide of the 20th century.
Germany only lost control of South West Africa at the end of World War
I, when the Treaty of Versailles gave control to South Africa.
The Herero have filed a lawsuit in the US against Germany over the
genocide and demanded reparations. Germany acknowledges that a
genocide occurred, but the government denies that it is under any
legal obligation to reparations. Deutsche Welle (28-Jul) and RhinoAfrica and
SAHistory and
HistoryWorld
Related Stories:
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Namibia, South Africa, Hage Geingob,
Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe,
Portugal, Diogo Cao, Walvis Bay, Angola, Windhoek,
Germany, German South West Africa, Scramble for Africa,
Herero, Nama, rinderpest
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Namibia may follow South Africa with land confiscation without compensation
- Namibia government opposition calls the land reform proposal a 'sham'
- Brief generational history of Namibia
****
**** Namibia may follow South Africa with land confiscation without compensation
****
Namibia white-owned farm (Pixabay)
Namibia's president Hage Geingob announced on Monday that he would
push ahead with "land distribution," following the example of the
announcement by its close neighbor, South Africa.
According to Geingob, the practice of expropriating land with "fair
compensation" will be revisited, since it hasn't delivered results,
and that 43% of farmland will be transferred from white farmers to
"disadvantaged blacks" by 2020. In making the announcement, Geingob
said:
<QUOTE>"Many Namibians were driven off their productive
land. The fundamental issue is the inequality. We also share a
burning land issue and a racialized distribution of land resources
with South Africa.
This comes from a common history of colonial dispossession. What
we also agree to is that the status quo will not be allowed to
continue."<END QUOTE>
The phrase "colonial dispossession" refers to genocide and ethnic
cleansing by German colonists of tens of thousands of ethnic Herero
and Nama people from roughly 1895 to 1907. According to published
statistics, white Namibians today own 70% of agricultural land and
blacks 16%. The rest, about 250 farms, are under foreign ownership,
mostly by Germans.
Geingob added that by redistributing land from white farmers to
blacks, it will reduce inequality, and will be "an investment in
peace":
<QUOTE>"We need to revisit constitutional provisions which
allow for the expropriation of land with just compensation, as
opposed to fair compensation, and look at foreign ownership of
land, especially absentee land owners.
It is in all our interest, particularly the 'haves,' to ensure a
drastic reduction in inequality, by supporting the redistributive
model required to alter our skewed economic structure. We should
all be cognizant of the fact that this is ultimately an investment
in peace."<END QUOTE>
According to Geingob, the "willing-buyer, willing-seller" approach has
not worked to redistribute the land, and now a more aggressive
approach must be used. Deutsche Welle and The South African and Al Jazeera
****
**** Namibia government opposition calls the land reform proposal a 'sham'
****
The proposal for land confiscation without compensation is being made
at the Second National Land Conference, held in the capital city
Windhoek. Opposition figures have called for a boycott of the
conference because documents leaked prior to the conference indicated
that the outcomes were predetermined, and because opposition parties,
including representatives of white farmers, were not even invited.
Prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila denied that the outcomes
were predetermined, because all delegates coming to conference will
"share their honest views towards the debate to help our country make
progress towards the land reform program."
None of the news reports that I read about this proposal even mention
the Zimbabwe experience, so apparently that experience has been
forgotten. In the 1990s, Zimbabwe used to be the breadbasket of
southern Africa, growing much more food than the country needed and
exporting the rest. Then in 1999 Robert Mugabe instituted a "land
reform" plan just like the one that South Africa and Namibia are
planneg. Within ten years, Zimbabwe was an economic disaster, with
mass starvation, a worthless currency, and massive million percent
inflation.
The lack of transparency, and shutting out of the opposition are signs
that Zimbabwe's experience will be copied in another way. When Mugabe
confiscated the white farmers' farms, they were supposed to go to poor
blacks, but instead went to Mugabe's wealthy political cronies, people
who didn't even know how to farm. That's why Zimbabwe faced such a
financial disaster.
Namibia's new land reform program is supposed to confiscate white
farmers' farms and give them to "disadvantaged blacks," but the lack
of transparency and shutting out of the opposition indicates that
Geingob will do what Mugabe did -- give the farms to his élite wealthy
political cronies, who know nothing about farming. Why would anyone
expect anything else? Those cronies worked hard to get Geingob
elected, so shouldn't they be rewarded with all the farmland? It's
only fair.
So that's what happened to Zimbabwe when it was a relatively wealthy
country in the 1990s. But Namibia is not a wealthy country. As of
the second quarter of 2018, Namibia's economy had shrunk for nine
consecutive quarters. Earlier this year, the government had to stop
feeding the army, or paying the water and electricity bills for its
military bases.
Namibia is a mineral-rich country, and was considered to be stable and
democratic. But when president Hage Geingob took office in 2015, he
borrowed money and went on a spending spree, greatly expanding the
public sector, with a huge wage bill for 100,000 civil servants.
Geingob has also taken on billions of dollars in debt from China,
where the terms of the deal are being kept secret, raising fears of
yet one more Chinese debt trap.
Namibia has been hit with other problems. A drought across southern
Africa has been disastrous for the Namibian economy. The fishing
industry has suffered due to overfishing and depletion of fish stocks.
The mining industry suffered because of the fall in the prices of
minerals, particular uranium, which Namibia relies on.
So Geingob is going to solve all of Namibia's economic problems by
confiscating the farmland from productive people who produce food for
people to eat, and give the farms to his cronies who don't have a
clue. Sounds like a great plan. Namibian (21-Sep) and The Villager (Namibia, 24-Sep) and Deutsche Welle (1-Feb) and Namibian (14-Sep)
****
**** Brief generational history of Namibia
****
Archeological evidence shows that people inhabited Namibia for at
least 25,000 years. Little was known about life there until the
colonists arrived and started writing things down. The first known
European to visit Namibia was the Portuguese Diogo Cao in 1485.
The most valuable real estate in Namibia to the colonists was Walvis
Bay, a large deep water port on the Atlantic Ocean. The Dutch
Authority took control of Walvis, and Britain took control of it in
1797.
The Europeans in Namibia lived in relative peace with the dominant
tribe, the Herero, until the "Scramble for Africa" among the European
colonists occurred in the late 1800s. In 1886, Germany and Portugal
negotiated the border between Angola and German South West Africa. By
1890, the German colonists had been a military fort in Windhoek, which
became Namibia's capital city.
Things changed in 1897 when the rinderpest, an ancient plague dating
back to at least Roman times, arrived in South West Africa and
devastated the flocks of cattle owned by the Herero, who depended on
cattle for their livelihood. Many Herero sold their land to the
Germans for a very low price. This situation backfired in 1904, when
there was a Herero uprising against the German colonists, killing over
100 Germans. This triggered a generational crisis war, and genocide
and ethnic cleansing of the Herero.
Another tribe, the Nama, rose up in support of the Herero, but the
Germans rounded them up and sent them to labor camps to work on the
railways. All in all, about 80% of the Herero were killed, and 50% of
the Nama. It's sometimes call the first genocide of the 20th century.
Germany only lost control of South West Africa at the end of World War
I, when the Treaty of Versailles gave control to South Africa.
The Herero have filed a lawsuit in the US against Germany over the
genocide and demanded reparations. Germany acknowledges that a
genocide occurred, but the government denies that it is under any
legal obligation to reparations. Deutsche Welle (28-Jul) and RhinoAfrica and
SAHistory and
HistoryWorld
Related Stories:
- South Africa politics roiled by Trump tweet on killing white farmers (24-Aug-2018)
- South Africa announces plans for unpaid confiscation of white-owned farms (04-Aug-2018)
- Moving sharply left, South Africa calls for potentially disastrous land reform (01-Mar-2018)
- Xenophobic violence - Generational history of South Africa (31-May-2008)
- South African xenophobic violence echoes 1820s Mfecane Zulu massacre (17-Apr-2015)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Namibia, South Africa, Hage Geingob,
Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe,
Portugal, Diogo Cao, Walvis Bay, Angola, Windhoek,
Germany, German South West Africa, Scramble for Africa,
Herero, Nama, rinderpest
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
