Hinda-Mbuende says Amupanda stereotyped her Damara culture

Deputy minister of finance and public enterprises Maureen Hinda-Mbuende yesterday testified in the Windhoek High Court that activist Job Amupanda aligned her with a stereotype that Damara people do not hesitate to stab others.

This stereotyping is untrue, she said.

Hinda-Mbuende is suing Amupanda over statements he made on social media. The issue stems from tweet Amupanda posted in July 2021 in which he said Hinda-Mbuende was ‘WizWiz’ during the liberation struggle and wouldn't think twice about taking out a knife.

She is demanding N$1 million for damage she claims Amupanda has done to her reputation.

What does it mean?

Amupanda's legal representative Kadhila Amoomo questioned Hinda-Mbuende about the meaning of the term ‘WizWiz’, to which she replied that it was a slang term. She said upon asking her daughter, she found out that the term refers to a person with a questionable value system.

Amoomo disputed this, saying there were no records of the word's meaning online after Hinda-Mbuende testified that it did not exist in a dictionary.

According to Amoomo, the term can also be used to refer to a loving or clever person. He stated to Hinda-Mbuende that she is a public figure and may therefore be the subject of public comment.

To this, Hinda-Mbuende replied that comments directed at her should be factual.

Tucked shirt

Hinda-Mbuende further testified that she was offended by the photo that appeared on Amupanda's post. She claimed that the post insinuates that the woman in the photo is her, which is untrue, she said.

"Her T-shirt was tucked in. I was raised a Catholic girl and it's insensitive to me not to wear something that covers you from behind," she testified.

She also claimed that Amupanda's post portrayed her as a cruel person who would take another's life without warning.

'Sugar mommy' rejected

Meanwhile, according to Hinda-Mbuende, Amupanda also insinuated in a subsequent post that she was a ‘cougar’ when he said the lawsuit was a result of him “rejecting sugar from the mommy”.

Here, Amupanda seemingly suggested that Hinda-Mbuende made unwanted advances towards him, which he then rejected.

Amupanda turns 36 later this month, while Hinda-Mbuende will celebrate her 59th birthday in September.

During her testimony, the deputy minister said she would not stab anyone and argued that the same applied to members of the Swapo Party during the liberation struggle.

"No one was stabbed by a Swapo member. The Koevoet people may have done such things, but not our people - it is barbaric," she said.

Hinda-Mbuende will continue her testimony today before Judge Collins Parker.