Shebeens

There is a huge issue on the lips of every Namibian throughout the country: Shebeans. More specifically, the government attempts to close down illegally operating shebeens.  A shebeen (pronounced sha-bean) is a small bar and night club, usually small (about the size of a living room) and about as prevalent in Namibian towns and villages as coffee shops are in the states. 

The commotion started last week as the government sent troops and police to a Walvis Bay settlement to shut down illegally operating shebeens.  They confiscated liquore and in some cases even bulldozed buildings.  This sparked a series of moderately-organized protests, starting in Walvis Bay and spreading all the way to Windhoek.  The protests in and near Walvis Bay clashed with riot police who shot rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowds.  The protester's message was simple: don't take our bars away.

Initially I was very perplexed by this issue.  Massive protests and large-scale civil actions were used to petition the government, but for what issue?  I thought for sure Namibians would want to protest the gaudy N$1 trillion state house being build just outside of Windhoek; perhaps those gold fences could be compromised for some desks and chairs in schools?  Or perhaps, I continued to ponder, Namibians were fed up with the ramped corruption that's reported daily in the newspapers, yet again squandering millions that could be used to fight the massive HIV/AIDS problem.  But no, it was the bars.  In a nation that struggles daily with alcoholism and it's horrific social consequences (rape, car accidents, domestic abuse, etc.) it's the bars the receive the civil backing of the populous. How ironic, I thought.

But then I looked more into the issue.

Shebeens are uncomfortably and intrinsically connected to the history of this land and these people.  During the apartide regime shebeens were the answer to laws that forbade blacks and coloreds entry to certain bars.  They served as gathering places and social hubs during times when racism was violently practiced and even small gatherings of blacks was forbade.  And even today, shebeens generate income for small families which is used to send children to school.   Shebeens also provide a social and recreational outlet that the government has yet to address.  With few youth and community centers, after school programs, adult education or other social services, Namibians who are unemployed (and there are many) in small towns have very little to do with their time.

And now you may start to see why the closing of illegal shebeens has struck a tender cord among Namibians.  Here's a government that has (in the eyes of many residents) failed to stimulate the economic growth it promised 15 years ago, inadequately provided social services, and instituted a liquor licensing policy that favors the middle class; and it's now trying to take away a staple of Namibian village life. Ask any PeaceCorps volunteer and you'll confirm that shebeens are everywhere.  Making them illegal will not make them go away, it will create a huge black market that will cost millions to control. 

What a difficult issue.  What is the solution?  Do you, as a government, put morality aside and allow for the sale of alcohol to everyone from abusive husbands to five year old girls?  Or do you make a moral stand and risk mass riots?  Is it insensitive to think that illegal shebeens should simply go away, forgetting their interesting role in the freedom fight?  Or is it more important to stand by the new government that was fought for with many lives?

I'm glad I don't have to make these decisions.  I just hope whoever does make them sees all sides of this deceptively complicated issue.