Selective outrage must fall

The events unfolding in neighbouring South Africa over the last few days have not gone unnoticed in our country and many have attempted to offer some form of perspective on the political situation on the ground. From an economic point of view, South Africa's economic difficulties, compounded by the recent junk status downgrading by the S&P global ratings agency, are placing Namibia's economy at a crossroads. So Namibia is basically catching the flu, because of big brother South Africa's sneeze. The firing of finance minister Pravin Gorhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas following a cabinet reshuffle by South African president Jacob Zuma has had a devastating effect on our neighbour's economy. The South African crisis has placed Zuma at the centre of the storm, with several civil society groupings and opposition parties holding mass protests against the head of state demanding his resignation. As expected, campaigns aimed at getting rid of Zuma appear to be well supported by the mainstream mass media, while there is hectic activity on social media platforms with specific calls for South Africans to take to the streets en masse. Hashtags such as #SouthAfricaMustRise, #ZumaMustFall and #BlackMonday are trending on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. The #BlackMonday campaign, however, backfired, creating more racial division than support. While many have shown their collective anger with the country's political situation, some have boycotted the protests arguing that the minority white have always turned a blind eye to socio-economic protests initiated by the black community. Issues surrounding service delivery, racial injustices and poverty, as well as high levels of inequality have led to fractured societies in Namibia and South Africa.

The time is now to demand equality and justice for all instead of demonstrating only whenever our privileges are threatened. If the white and middle class folks are serious about making the two countries great, they should start by adding their voices to the common struggle for social justice, and not only when it suits them. To this we say selective outrage must fall!