Namibia

Namibia is a babe among nations: on 21 March 1990 the nation gained independence from South Africa. Its name comes from the Namib Desert, in the western, coastal regions of the country.

Until around 2000 years ago, the only inhabitants of Namibia were the original hunter-gatherer San people. Around this time, the Nama people (also known as Namaqua or Hottentot) settled in the southern region of Namibia. Later, in the 9th century, another group—the Damara—settled in the central region of the country. Later again, in the 17th century a group of the Bantu people, the Herero, moved into Namibia. They are said to have enslaved certain groups of people, and to have displaced traditional Bushmen to areas unsuitable for their lifestyle. It was in the 19th century that white farmers moved north from South Africa into Namibia.

In 1805, the London Missionary Society began working in Namibia—in 1811 they founded the town of Bethanie and built a church which is today the oldest building in the nation. In the 1840s. the German Rhenish Mission Society started working in Namibia. It was later in the 19th century that Europeans became interested in claiming Namibia as colonial territory. Britain made the first claim in 1878, followed by Germany. In 1884 Bismarck established German South West Africa as a colony.

Early in the 20th century, South Africa (itself a member of the British Commonwealth) occupied and then undertook administration of South-West Africa. From 1966 to 1990 Namibia struggled to gain its independence. From the 1970s, there was a great deal of international pressure on South Africa to withdraw and grant Namibia independence. Though South Africa agreed to cooperate at this juncture, is continued to administer Namibia, and when UN Commissioners for Namibia were appointed, South Africa refused to recognise them from 1973 to 1988. Finally, from 1989 to 1990 the transition to Namibia’s independent nationhood was made.

One of the new independent government’s policies was land reform: Namibia’s colonial past and the South African influence of Apartheid meant that ownership of the majority of the land was in the hands of a minority. Under land reform, land is meant to be redistributed to previously landless communities, but this reform has been slow—Namibia’s constitution only allows land to be bought from farmers willing to sell, and land prices are high.

Today’s poem is by Namibian poet Mvula Ya Nangolo, who was born in Oniimwandi Village in the Uukwambi district of northern Namibia in 1943. The poem comes from an anthology of African poets I found in my library searches, When My Brothers Come Home.

A Flower

Ever walked that footpath
     to my village
between that communal well
     and your uncle’s homestead?
If next you come
     not by flying machine

but walking in single file
     with your chum and scum
from the city…
     just don’t walk by
but stop

Put a flower on my grave
     for I died like a brave
for your salary so high
     which you receive with no sigh
I’d freed you
     and lest you forget the brave

there on my grave
    just a flower—child
onto my eternal bed
     where I rest but not yet dead
just a flower lad.

—Mvula Ya Nangolo
from When My Brothers Come Home