Lessons from visiting Namibia – honey motivated better than bile

With hindsight, my real education began at 15 when scouting took me to a small tent in Norway shared with three less melanin disadvantaged South Africans. Living together in such close quarters revealed Apartheid for the lie it was. Forever changing my perception of the world.

The next big "Aha" came four years later during an English tutorial at Maritzburg University. Our lecturer asked who was the real patriot on the border of then South West Africa – the white SA National Serviceman or the Swapo "terrorist"? Such was the propaganda of the time even for my relatively enlightened mind it took reflection to reach the obvious but watershed conclusion.

Visiting Namibia reminded me of that moment. A quarter century after its hard fought independence, people in this sparsely populated nation appear at ease in the company of others from different backgrounds.

Perhaps the critical mass of Namibians have reached their "Aha" moment sooner than South Africans – realising it is senseless to punish an entire population group for sins of their fathers. Or perhaps it was a simple appreciation that a thimble of honey is always more persuasive than a bucket full of bile. Hope Springs.