Affirmative Repositioning
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Affirmative Repositioning (AR) is a
leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...
political movement in
Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
mainly focused on
land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultura ...
,
youth empowerment Youth empowerment is a process where children and young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives. They do this by addressing their situation and then take action in order to improve their access to resources and transform their consciou ...
and
social reform A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary mov ...
. Founded in 2014 by
Job Amupanda Job Shipululo Amupanda (born 28 August 1987 in Omaalala, Oshana Region) is a Namibian activist and politician who served as Mayor of the City of Windhoek, in office from 2 December 2020 to 1 December 2021. He is an academic at the University of N ...
, Dimbulukeni Nauyoma and
George Kambala George Hidipo Hamba Kambala (born 9 May 1992) is a Namibian youth activist who along with Job Amupanda and Dimbulukeni Nauyoma co-founded a radical youth movement known as the Affirmative Repositioning in 2014 to advocate for land among Namibian y ...
, the AR uses
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...
platforms to mobilise residents to apply for ''erven'' (small residential land titles) from municipalities. Due to thousands of youth submitting their forms on the same day, these activities have the character of mass demonstrations. The movement had, in a first round in November 2014, achieved a wave of individual land applications in
Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...
, Namibia's capital, which had since spread to other Namibian towns. The Affirmative Repositioning movement had threatened to take the land by force had the applications not have been processed and approved by July 2015 in the local municipalities.


Establishment and operations


As a social movement

On 9 November 2014, Amupanda, Kambala and Nauyoma cleared land which they named "Erf 2014" in Windhoek's affluent Kleine Kuppe suburb, stating high rental prices in town and nepotism in the municipality as reasons for their actions. The action was widely seen as illegal
land grabbing Land grabbing is the contentious issue of large-scale land acquisitions: the buying or leasing of large pieces of land by domestic and transnational companies, governments, and individuals. While used broadly throughout history, land grabbing a ...
. Amupanda, who was SWAPO Party Youth League (SPYL) Secretary for Information, Publicity and Mobilisation at that time and also served in the youth wing's executive committee, resigned his positions shortly before all three activists were expelled from
SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...
for their actions. This expulsion was ordered by the 'Top four' of
SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...
party: president
Hifikepunye Pohamba Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (born 18 August 1936) is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO, and was ...
, vice-president
Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. Geingob was the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 201 ...
, secretary-general Nangolo Mbumba, and his deputy Laura McLeod-Katjirua. The trio vacated the illegally occupied plot after a few days. In the meantime, AR activists started mobilising young people to apply for land at the Windhoek municipality. They used social media and existing SWAPO Youth League party structures. On 21 November 2014 the City of Windhoek received 14,000 individual land applications. In a second round of mass action on 27 February 2015, Windhoek received a further 2,500 applications. Land applications were also handed in to the municipalities of
Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The ci ...
(9,500 applications),
Okahandja Okahandja is a city of 24,100 inhabitants in Otjozondjupa Region, central Namibia, and the district capital of the Okahandja electoral constituency. It is known as the ''Garden Town of Namibia''. It is located 70 km north of Windhoek on the ...
(4,000),
Swakopmund Swakopmund (german: Mouth of the Swakop) is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 44,725 inhabitants and covers ...
(3,000),
Ongwediva Ongwediva is a town in the Oshana Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Ongwediva electoral constituency. it had 27,000 inhabitants and covered 4,102 hectares of land. Ongwediva has seven churches, two private sc ...
(2,500),
Oshakati Oshakati is a town in northern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Oshana Region and one of Namibia's largest places. Oshakati was founded in July 1966 and proclaimed a town in 1992. The town was used as a base of operations by the S ...
(2,500),
Keetmanshoop Keetmanshoop is a city in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia, lying on the Trans-Namib Railway from Windhoek to Upington in South Africa. It is named after Johann Keetman, a German industrialist and benefactor of the city. History B ...
(800),
Rundu Rundu is the capital and largest city of the Kavango-East Region in northern Namibia. It lies on the border with Angola on the banks of the Kavango River about above sea level. Rundu's population is growing rapidly. The 2001 census counted 36,9 ...
(400),
Otjiwarongo Otjiwarongo ( hz, beautiful place) is a city of 28,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Otjiwarongo electoral constituency and also the capital of Otjozondjupa. Otjiwarongo is situated in c ...
(200) and
Tsumeb , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German for ''Good luck'') , image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag ...
(200). In April 2015 the municipality of
Henties Bay Henties Bay (English, literally: ''Henty's Bay''. Afrikaans: ''Hentiesbaai'', German: ''Hentiesbucht'') is a coastal town in the Erongo Region of western Namibia. It is located 70 km north of Swakopmund and is an important holiday settleme ...
offered 120 serviced land plots to applicants of the AR movement, among them Amupanda, Nauyoma, and Kambala. This move has been widely criticised, and the AR leaders were accused of misusing their movement's goals by applying for plots in the upmarket holiday town of Henties Bay while being residents of Windhoek. the plots have not been transferred. In May 2016 all three AR leaders were reinstated as SWAPO members after they won their respective court case against the party.


As political party

After political commentators had for some time speculated that the Affirmative Repositioning movement would transform into a political party, the movement was registered for the 2020 local elections as an association in the urban centres of Windhoek, Walvis Bay and Swakopmund.


Reception

In 2015, AR was described as the "biggest peaceful mass action since Namibia’s independence in 1990." The level of organisation within the movement as well as the variety of political promises by its main activist, Amupanda, raised the concern that AR might be a "political party in the making". SWAPO has generally condemned the initial land grab, but regarding the subsequent mobilisation action the party has not taken a uniform position. Former SPYL secretary-general
Elijah Ngurare Tjitunga Elijah Ngurare is a Namibian politician and academic at the University of Namibia who served as the Secretary General of the SWAPO Party Youth League from 2007 to 2015. Early life and education Elijah Ngurare was born on 28 October 1970 ...
has backed the movement but several regional SWAPO politicians do not approve of it.


References

{{Reflist, 30em 2015 establishments in Namibia 21st-century social movements Namibian activists Reform in Namibia Windhoek