Following in the footsteps of South Africa, Namibia reportedly plans to take back land from white owners and ration it out to its Black population.
In his speech on Monday, Namibia’s President Namibia, Hage Geingob announced his land expropriation plans to an effort to resolve the “historical inequality” just like South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared his country would be, the Daily Mail reports.
“The fundamental issue is the inequality. We also share a burning land issue and a radicalized distribution of land resources with South Africa,” Geingob said.
“This comes from a common history of colonial dispossession. What we also agree to is that the status quo will not be allowed to continue.”
Geinob is asking for a change in the constitution to give the government access to expropriate land from white citizens and redistribute it.
Geinob said that “careful consideration should be given to expropriation.” And he said the process should be a peaceful one.
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South Africa takes a stand
South Africa’s new president, Cyril Ramaphosa, wants to address the legacy of colonization in his country by taking land from white farmers and giving it to the Black citizens.
Ramaphosa said in an address to South Africa’s parliament in Cape Town that the “original sin” of the country was the European colonizers taking land from the tribal people in the 1600s.
The president said that he wanted to see “the return of the land to the people from whom it was taken… to heal the divisions of the past.”
“The expropriation of land without compensation is envisaged as one of the measures that we will use to accelerate redistribution of land to black South Africans,” Ramaphosa said.
He went on to promise, “We will handle it in a way that is not going to damage our economy.”
It’s certainly one way to address the long history of division and hurt that has followed South Africa since its colonization. The racism and division put in place by colonization and perpetuated by apartheid and other racist policies have left the country’s Black citizens playing an extended game of catch up when it comes to wealth.