EDITORIAL: Another removal, another reminder the San are marginalised

The removal of Gobabis deputy mayor, Dina Fillemon, a San leader, without clear public explanation has reopened an old wound that Namibia has never properly treated: the systematic exclusion of the San from power, land and voice. When decisions affecting elected leaders are taken without transparency, it reinforces a dangerous message – that some citizens remain dispensable.



This comes when San communities are again raising alarm over their land being allocated to people from other regions, often without regard for historical presence. For a people whose identity is inseparable from land, displacement is not just economic loss; it is cultural erasure.



These developments do not exist in isolation. They sit alongside persistent poverty, limited access to education, chronic food insecurity and political marginalisation that have followed San communities for decades.



What makes the situation more troubling is how normalised this exclusion has become. The San are often spoken about in policy documents and development programmes, yet rarely included meaningfully. They are treated as beneficiaries, not as equal citizens with agency. If Namibia is serious about equality, it must move beyond symbolism.



What happened to marginalised communities' representative in government?