on Namibia's 21st birthday, 21 March 2011
This morning once more my country awakes
This day is no normal day though,
No, today my country has come of age,
It is no longer a child,
But an adult member of the world.
I remember its birth many sunrises ago
When I was chosen to raise our new flag,
Looking out from that first maternity ward
Over the rolling hills of our capital Windhoek
The skyline created by the colonialists.
Today, my country receives its key,
The key to unlock things before hidden,
Things that were forbidden to do,
Now maturity must lend a hand
And help in the choices it makes.
During its teenage years,
I became worried as it flirted,
Its political alliances changing shape
Hard words being exchanged during puberty
Crying tears of unanswered love.
As my country becomes more self-assured
Exerting its own will and wants
It is time to step quietly aside,
Assuring it of my undying, continued love
While letting it achieve its own greatness.
Smile, my beloved land on your crown birthday,
You have overcome many a fall or scrape
Some of the scars will remain as proof
All of it part of growing up and learning
Preparing for your role in life
Do not care about your past
The bitted words of things you cannot change
Mould yourself into a strong unified character
Reconciliation will always be your guide
Making every citizen a part of the motherland
From Today, as always, make us proud.
Monday, 21 March 2011
What happened to multicultural identity?
What happened to multicultural identity?: "A few years ago, the Harvard Committee on African Studies asked me to address them on some of the challenges facing our new democracy."
Political institutions structured around identity is a recipe for disaster.
The current provinces deepen ethnic identities and identity interests around being coloured or Indian or Zulu or Xhosa or Pedi.
They should be abolished.
A common South African identity will remain elusive for as long as we do not have a much more cosmopolitan view of space.
Gauteng is an example of the kind of geographical cosmopolitanism I have in mind.
There is no ethnic group that can claim exclusive ownership of the geographic space given the multiple origins and identities of the people who live there. This principle needs to be elevated to the national level.
Political institutions structured around identity is a recipe for disaster.
The current provinces deepen ethnic identities and identity interests around being coloured or Indian or Zulu or Xhosa or Pedi.
They should be abolished.
A common South African identity will remain elusive for as long as we do not have a much more cosmopolitan view of space.
Gauteng is an example of the kind of geographical cosmopolitanism I have in mind.
There is no ethnic group that can claim exclusive ownership of the geographic space given the multiple origins and identities of the people who live there. This principle needs to be elevated to the national level.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
African People's Organisation / first coloured pressure group in Namibia
The African People's Organisation (APO), originally the African Political Organisation, was formed in Cape Town in 1902 and was initially the most prominent "coloured" pressure group in South Africa. Its interest in SWA/Namibia goes back to at least 1918 when it opposed the transfer of the former German colony to the South Africa Authority. The first SWA branch of the APO was established in Windhoek in February 1923. In informing the colonial authorities of the establishment of the branch, the leaders stated that the aims of the organisation were to defend "the Social Political and Civil Rights of the Cape Coloured Community throughout the SW Protectorate. Another political organisation which devoted itself to representing the Coloured community in SWA, the African National Bond, was also launched in Windhoek in 1925.
The APO, although it recruited its members from the relatively small group of educated and economically comfortably off Coloureds, was to become the most influential political organisation for Coloureds for almost forty years. Although it collapsed as an organisation in the early 1940s, having to give way to more radical organisations, the APO shaped black political thought and culture for decades after its demise.
The APO, although it recruited its members from the relatively small group of educated and economically comfortably off Coloureds, was to become the most influential political organisation for Coloureds for almost forty years. Although it collapsed as an organisation in the early 1940s, having to give way to more radical organisations, the APO shaped black political thought and culture for decades after its demise.
Friday, 11 March 2011
William Jordan (1849-1886), Coloured settler in Namibia
Coloureds in Namibia since 1884:
William Worthington Jordan, was a "coloured" man from the Cape Colony in South Africa. His father was British and his mother cape coloured. He was a hunter and trader in Botswana, Namibia and Angola.
On 21.04.1884 Jordan obtained a land and minerals concession of 50,000 kilometres around Otavi and Grootfontein from Ondonga King Kambonde kaMpingana, king of the Ondongas in the interior of Namibia. Kambonde hoped to strengthen his position against his main rival for control of the Ongonda chiefdom, Nehale Mpingana.
Jordan had traded with the Dorsland Trekkers and a group of trekboers on their way back from Angola were invited to stay on this concession he called the "Republic Upingtonia" - that on 20 Oct 1885 was founded as a settler polity with Grootfontein as its capital. He purchased the area on payment of 300 English pounds, 25 rifles, a slated horse and a barrel of brandy.
Subsequently the name is changed to Lijdensrust(Lydenrust)in 1886 and accepts German protection. The first, and only President, George Diederik P. Prinsloo (b. 1820 - d. 1888), presided from 20 Oct 1885 - June 1887.
Flag of Upingtonia
Jordan's killing on the orders of Ondonga King Nehale lyaMpingana on 30.06.1886 marked the end of the "Republic Upingtonia", and most of the Boers trekked back to Angola. Jordan's concession was auctioned in Cape Town after his death, and formed the basis for the South West Africa Company.
(By August 1892, Cecil Rhodes had come to dominate the SWAC which had the sole rights to operate railway lines between Sandwich Harbour and the Kunene River.The "Otavi Minen- und Eisenbahngesellschaft (OMEG)" was founded in Berlin on 6 April1900. The major shareholders were the German Disconto-Gesellschaft and the South West Africa Company (SWAC). The mining rights of Jordan were now held in this company which was in later years to become Tsumeb Corporation Limited.)
Following this, the German government at Windhoek asserted control over the region and ended Lijdenrust's independence.
It would be a stretch, but in essence the first coloured settler created a settler colony in 1885. He was killed in the fight between two Ondonga brothers to take over as Chief. Upon his death,the Germans took control of this territory. Thus, the first coloured settlement in Namibia had ended.
Sources:
Max Du Preez in his book, Of Tricksters, Tyrants and Turncoats (Zebra Press Cape Town 2008) refers to him in a chapter entitled “The Darkie Boer”.
Chronology Of Namibian History
Author: Klaus Dierks
Published 1999 – Namibia Scientific Society
William Worthington Jordan, was a "coloured" man from the Cape Colony in South Africa. His father was British and his mother cape coloured. He was a hunter and trader in Botswana, Namibia and Angola.
On 21.04.1884 Jordan obtained a land and minerals concession of 50,000 kilometres around Otavi and Grootfontein from Ondonga King Kambonde kaMpingana, king of the Ondongas in the interior of Namibia. Kambonde hoped to strengthen his position against his main rival for control of the Ongonda chiefdom, Nehale Mpingana.
Jordan had traded with the Dorsland Trekkers and a group of trekboers on their way back from Angola were invited to stay on this concession he called the "Republic Upingtonia" - that on 20 Oct 1885 was founded as a settler polity with Grootfontein as its capital. He purchased the area on payment of 300 English pounds, 25 rifles, a slated horse and a barrel of brandy.
Subsequently the name is changed to Lijdensrust(Lydenrust)in 1886 and accepts German protection. The first, and only President, George Diederik P. Prinsloo (b. 1820 - d. 1888), presided from 20 Oct 1885 - June 1887.
Flag of Upingtonia
Jordan's killing on the orders of Ondonga King Nehale lyaMpingana on 30.06.1886 marked the end of the "Republic Upingtonia", and most of the Boers trekked back to Angola. Jordan's concession was auctioned in Cape Town after his death, and formed the basis for the South West Africa Company.
(By August 1892, Cecil Rhodes had come to dominate the SWAC which had the sole rights to operate railway lines between Sandwich Harbour and the Kunene River.The "Otavi Minen- und Eisenbahngesellschaft (OMEG)" was founded in Berlin on 6 April1900. The major shareholders were the German Disconto-Gesellschaft and the South West Africa Company (SWAC). The mining rights of Jordan were now held in this company which was in later years to become Tsumeb Corporation Limited.)
Following this, the German government at Windhoek asserted control over the region and ended Lijdenrust's independence.
It would be a stretch, but in essence the first coloured settler created a settler colony in 1885. He was killed in the fight between two Ondonga brothers to take over as Chief. Upon his death,the Germans took control of this territory. Thus, the first coloured settlement in Namibia had ended.
Sources:
Max Du Preez in his book, Of Tricksters, Tyrants and Turncoats (Zebra Press Cape Town 2008) refers to him in a chapter entitled “The Darkie Boer”.
Chronology Of Namibian History
Author: Klaus Dierks
Published 1999 – Namibia Scientific Society
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)