When pigs fly ..... Part 2

**Oneword** · 12th October 2009, 05:34 PM

The RDP is, of course, riding on the bandwagon of: anything SWAPO can do we can do better! True, who knows. Anything you read in their manifesto will be claiming exactly the opposite to or more than what the ruling party does. If SWAPO promises everyone a farm, the RDP will promise 2... you get my meaning?

Maybe they'll get a chance to prove it before the rapture - definitely not sooner if one looks at the performance of those that have, previously, splintered off SWAPO.

They have to be if they want to woo any of the disenchanted members of the ruling party (those that didn't get jobs yet!) to taste the forbidden honey of the RDP trap.

I know that HH is bargaining on the so-called free-born. I wouldn't - he may be in for a nasty shock. In case of emergencies all people (and not only the voortrekkers!) pull into a laager; return into the folds of that or those they at least know.

And, anyway, the RDP doesn't have a charismatic youth leader like the ANC's Julius "blabbermouth" Malema or even our home-grown Ngurare (his name reminds me of "curare", a plant in the Amazon used with deadly precision!).

DTA (should maybe, by now, change its name to “DOA”) has been with us since the heydays of 1978... and they are showing their age. They have been on the drip for the last few elections and are kept alive by artificial means. Maybe, in March, it will be announced that they have succumbed to a long illness?

To be fair, their manifesto is a solid and practical document. Not much one can say against what they want to do. There is only one problem: In politics, as many other spheres, you do not get a second or even third chance. Either you perform or you end up on the scrapyard of history.

The UDF leads me to misquote a popular saying: ” A follower, not a leader be”. Justus can't expect his 19-voetsek skorro-skorro to compete with the latest on the track. Yes, the party's performance has been fair, if unspectacular. They will probably get their usual two seats because of the Damaras will skarrel behind their king …. but taking over the government? Not on this earth!

Their red herring of a “N$ 350 BIG allowance” doesn't cut it either. For the rest their manifesto makes the usual promises of land, employment, free education and “empowerment” … all laudable, but manifestly an impossible dream … at least within the five years the UDF says they will do it in.

The Quixotic RP! (Sorry, I think there is a letter missing; Shouldn't it be “RIP”?) This Mudge's promises are worse than “the cheque is in the post”, “I am working late” or, “of course you don't look fat in that dress, darling”!

Henkie, who opens all his meetings with a prayer (although his party needs more than that), has already lost his Rocinante, Dulcinea and Sancho Panza (you supply the names applicable), but still has the gall to proclaim that his minnow in the political (cess?) pool of Namibia will turn into a veritable Jaws or Orca and devour the major parties in the coming election. I think the only thing he will have left after the polling days is a massive hangover and an equally massive overdraft …. but no seats …. OK, maybe one.

Nearly done! The third and last installment …... soon

**Uncle Paul** · 12th October 2009, 08:10 PM

Some interesting views, Oneword. I agree with your analysis about the RP for starters. It turns out that many RP members who stuck with Mudge the first time around are now deserting the party because it has simply not performed. Witness the press release of one Daan Holtzhausen, an influential member of his community, in which he says:

I recently resigned as National Chairman of the Republican Party but remained on as a member of the party. However since then I had informal discussions with many of my friends and colleaques about the future of the Republican Party as a viable opposition party. I have now come to the conclusion that the Republican Party is no longer in a position to play any meaningful role in the politics of our country. I have therefore now also resigned as a member of the Republican Party. I am convinced that very small parties like the current crippled Republican Party and some of the other smaller parties cannot effect any change in the future of our people. They only contribute to the fragmentation of the votes of the opposition and voting for them boils down to wasting one's vote. I have therefore decided to rejoin the DTA of Namibia through the Action for Democratic Change a member party of the DTA. Action for Democratic Change is not registered at the Directorate of Elections because it does not participate in elections in its own name but through the DTA of Namibia. I therefore want to call upon all my friends and colleaques to follow my example and to rejoin the DTA of Namibia. Only by participating fully in the politics of our country can we influence our own future..

Whether many former RP and DTA memberrs will return to the fold remains to be seen, but Holtzhausen is right when he says that "some of the smaller parties cannot effect any change in the future of our people." To my mind these include SWANU, MAG, APP, UDF, NUDO, etc.. These parties are either defined by the ethnicity of their members, or they are the political projects of strong personalities, where strong does not necessarily mean wise or successful. I somehow have the feeling the DTA won't die the death many people are predicting. It has a long, proud history and the people who run it are as passionate about it as SWAPO. Organisationally it certainly is not as weak as many of the other smaller parties. As you say: "To be fair, their manifesto is a solid and practical document. Not much one can say against what they want to do". If the party is able to reinvent itself, reach out to the born-free generation and continue to perform well in Parliament then its future is not in doubt. The DTA's Katutire Kaura and Johan de Waal and Ilme Schneider have certainly performed well in their respective positions in Parliament and the Windhoek City Council. I have the feeling they will do well.

As far as RDP goes? Who knows? It is difficult to tell, isn't it? Judging by their raucous rallies they are certainly able to attract people.