Independence 1990-2015 On 22 March, I may wake up at 12h00 Africa has produced strong, effective and world-class leaders • 25 young Namibians to take to lunch • What happened to our dreams? • A young man called Untag speaks out • Hits and misses of education • Born on Independence Day • The rise and fall of fishing • Gerhard Mans, an eagle’s eye on rugby • FW de Klerk: I admire Namibia INSIDE CREDITS Physical address: Industria Street - Erf 189 Printing of newspapers, Lafrenz (Ext 1) Windhoek Namibia inserts and special supplements 25th Namibian Independence New, reliable, proven 1990-2015 print (Goss) machines with advanced technology Competitive pricing EDITOR Tangeni Amupadhi WINDHOEK OFFICE Phone: 061 279 600; Fax: 061 279 602 MAGAZINE COMPILED BY Christof Maletsky Address: John Meinert Street Personal client and SUB EDITING Cindy van Wyk & Natasha Uys P.O. 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Box: 81573 • Olympia • Windhoek • Telephone: +264 83 100 1000 25TH NAMIBIAN INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.wordpressnamibia.com contents CONTENTS 1990 - 2015 FEATURE REFLECTIONS REPORT CARD SPORT 8 A young man called Untag 36 Dirk Mudge on Geingob 38 Fisheries: calm and stormy waters 90 Golden moments INTERVIEW REFLECTIONS Nujoma still an active Doëseb talks 20 politician 60 Namibian music INTERVIEW SOCIETY 14 Pohamba reflects on 10 years 46 Young Namibians REFLECTIONS REFLECTIONS 26 What happened to our 66 Front page archives dreams? REFLECTIONS REPORT CARD LIST OF ADVERTISERS Ministry Of Finance 8 | A young man called Untag 28 | Labour: No shortage of challenges Agra Moola Mobile Games Auas Motors Pty Ltd Namfisa 12 | A born-free speaks his mind 38 | Fisheries: 25 years of calm and stormy waters Autohaus Windhoek Namibia Football Association Cenored Namibia Statistics Agency 26 | What happened to our dreams? 70 | Education: The hits and the misses Colas Namibia Namibian Tourism Board Cymot Pty Ltd Namsov Fishing Enterprises 36 | Dirk Mudge on Geingob 76 | Economy: Much achieved, Much more to be done Danric Auto National Petroleum Corporation De Beers National Road Safety Council 62 | Unforgettable Quotes Development Bank Of Namibia One & Only Holiday Resort SOCIETY Elco Investments Saava Family 66 | Cover to Cover: Front pages 46 | 25 Young Namibians to take to lunch Elco Investments Pick ‘n Pay Electoral Commission Of Namibia Standard Bank Namibia 68 | Dudley’s Cartoons 59 | Something old, Something new Ferusa Capital Partners Super Tyres Kalahari Holdings Telecom Namibia Kata Investment Pty Ltd Trustco Administrative Support Services INTERVIEWS SPORT Word Press 14 | Pohamba reflects on 10 years 81 | Athletics: Lack of passion 20 | Nujoma still an active politician 82 | Boxing: Rising above adversity 30 | Ahtisaari: Namibia’s Midwife 86 | Rugby: Gerhard Mans 34 | FW de Klerk: I admire Namibia 90 | Golden Sporting Moments 60 | Axali Doëseb talks Namibian music 4 25TH NAMIBIAN INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 25TH NAMIBIAN INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 5 Forward From the desk of the editor FREE FOREVER! “In appreciation of the progress our country has made since independence ... we look back, take stock and Tangeni Amupadhi look ahead to more years of freedom and to new generations.” Namibia has made great strides by most measures. And what better time to reflect on this than as we mark 25 years of independence on 21 March 2015? In the late 1980s, South West Africa/Namibia was ablaze. Apartheid thousands of Namibians who joined Swapo in exile were rounded up As part of its long history of playing a pivotal role in our country, Also in this magazine, born-free Namibian Jesaya Andreas’s life story, and colonialism reigned supreme. Student uprisings across the country without charge, imprisoned without trial and even made to disappear. The Namibian (“the people’s paper”, as even President Hifikepunye as well as the cover photograph, are reminders of how much still needs drew international attention to the realities that most Namibians The sound of such reports reached a crescendo in the mid to late 1980s, Pohamba acknowledges in this publication) has decided to publish a to be done to reach the ‘Namibian dream’ of economic justice and lived as slaves in their own country. As did the militancy of the trade just as Swapo and its Soviet, as well as Cuban, allies turned up the magazine that has a much longer shelf life than newsprint material. prosperity as a given and not a privilege for a few. unions, and The Namibian newspaper, which fiercely and fearlessly heat on apartheid South Africa, which was backed by western powers. embraced its role of challenging the status quo. In appreciation of the progress our country has made since independence, Namibia remains a highly unequal society and we have arguably gone By late 1989, the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution we believe a ‘bedside’ publication would be the most appropriate format backwards in terms of the equitable sharing of national resources for By then, uprisings against colonialism and apartheid had become 435, the extra-judicial execution of Swapo freedom by apartheid to look back, take stock and look ahead to more years of freedom and all citizens. commonplace as the majority of citizens fought white domination. soldiers on 1 April that year, the assassination of Swapo leader Anton to new generations. Lubowski and many other bloody events all turned out to be a storm It will require will-power across all facets of society, with government Military war raged between freedom fighters and the colonial regime, before the calm. We cannot thank enough the people who took part in making this taking the lead, to ensure that most, if not all, Namibians share in the albeit on the backdrop of the Cold War between the communist East publication a success – the interviewees such as the young Namibian progress that the country has made. and the capitalist West. Even amid the euphoria of the December 1989 election results, few named Untag in honour of the UN peacekeeping force, founding would have predicted that Namibia would turn out so peacefully and President Sam Nujoma and his former arch-enemy Dirk Mudge, and Now, more than ever, Namibia needs to stop using apartheid and Yet, as anything in life, Namibia’s case was not a simple and orderly. But Namibians have collectively, exhibited a high degree several others. Businesses have made it a success with advertisements colonialism as a yardstick for how well we have performed as a nation. straightforward good versus evil divide. of maturity. Peaceful co-existence has prevailed in the quarter of a showing that they too have come a long way in an independent Namibia. Nor should we stoop to the mediocrity of most African countries, or century since the country was formally declared free and independent the so-called ‘Third World’, to claim better ‘achievements’. Civil war raged among Namibians. It was brother against brother. It on 21 March 1990. A glaring absentee from this publication is President-elect Hage was one ethnic group against another. Some on the side of colonialism Geingob. He is credited with masterfully co-ordinating the writing While we should always pause to celebrate achievements, we should and others fighting for total freedom and independence; for democracy Great strides have been made. of our exemplary Constitution. Geingob declined to be interviewed do so with the appreciation that constant introspection, a culture of – one person, one vote in multi-racial elections that would end the for this publication. It is a pity. We kept space available until the last being self-critical, is a prerequisite for advancement. oppression and exploitation of one race by another. The population has grown steadily from about 1,4 million to over 2,1 minute hoping to publish his take on the past and the future direction million.