EDITORIAL: Namibia’s roads are not boxing rings

Another day, another viral video of men treating a public road like a private racetrack. This time, social media has been flooded with viral footage allegedly involving some of Namibia’s top boxing promoters, with luxury vehicles seen negligently chasing each other for fun.

The footage has triggered public outrage and renewed questions about whether Namibia is remotely serious about road safety.

One of the contributing factors to this behaviour is that speeding is still treated like a naughty habit instead of the potentially deadly criminal conduct that it is.

If caught, offenders usually pay a fine, laugh about it over whisky later that evening, and get back behind the wheel the next morning. In countries like the United States, excessive speeding can trigger arrests, criminal charges, vehicle impoundment and even jail time. Reckless driving is treated as willful endangerment of human life.

Namibia, by contrast, still behaves as though over-speeding is comparable to parking incorrectly outside a supermarket. This softness is costing lives.

Just last week, a prayer session against road carnage was held. Then, almost immediately, the same law enforcement system returns to handing out modest fines that wealthy offenders barely feel in their pockets.

The real scandal is that our traffic penalties are designed for inconvenience, not prevention.

For ordinary Namibians struggling to survive, a speeding fine may sting. But for affluent businessmen driving high-performance vehicles, it is merely the price of adrenaline.

The law cannot have VIP lanes. If the viral video is authentic, authorities must move beyond the ritualistic “investigations are ongoing” statement. Namibia desperately needs a legal framework where excessive speeding can lead to licence suspensions, criminal prosecution and the impoundment of vehicles involved in extreme cases. Repeat offenders should not be casually recycled back onto public roads