Comrade Editor

​Title: Comrade Editor: On life, journalism and the birth of Namibia
Author: Gwen Lister
Publisher: Tafelberg
Reviewer: Hazel Makuzeni
Comrade Editor is the tell-all passionate story of the award winning activist journalist Gwen Lister. Born in December 1953 in East London, Gwen’s childhood was spent in different places in South Africa. Her father (John) worked in the banking sector for all his life and her mother (Joan) became a stay-at-home mom once she was born. Her father’s reckless indulgence in alcohol left a negative 

imprint on her life and that of her family (including siblings John and Gillian). Like many English speakers, her parents were conflicted about South Africa. Critical of apartheid but not vocal in public.  Her political awakening started in her teen years – thanks to the progressive minded nuns that taught her at the convent schools she attended and her interest in the world, including the Civil Rights Movement in the US.
Gwen was liberated at UCT (University of Cape Town) where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Ethics, Political Philosophy and History in 1975. Not an armchair critic, she took part in many anti-apartheid demonstrations on and off campus. It was while she was at UCT that she and fellow students staged a protest at Newlands rugby field – the British Lions were playing the Southern Universities team.
Her first job as a reporter was with the Windhoek Advertiser in Namibia in 1976, working under Hannes ‘Smittie’ Smith. A hell-raiser of a man, a drunk and chronic insomniac, with a contempt for female journalists. When he met her for the first time, he was already drunk at mid-morning and told her “women belong barefoot in the kitchen or naked in bed.” Though an unsavoury character in many ways, Smittie was a dedicated newspaperman through and through.
Gwen’s strong commitment to journalism, human rights and true grit carried her through the Advertiser, the Windhoek Observer and  The Namibian newspapers. Her reporting in Namibia created a greater awareness of South Africa’s illegal occupation of Namibia, the extent of racial segregation, discrimination and the atrocities committed by the South African security forces. She was at the frontlines – covering SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organisation) rallies in townships around the country and interviewing many key players in Namibian politics. Including Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, an icon of the Namibian liberation struggle, with whom she developed a close bond for many years until his death in 2017. And Sam Nujoma – Namibia’s first president and founder of SWAPO.
After she left the Windhoek Observer (a newspaper she started with Smittie) in 1984 under duress,  she started an independent newspaper, The Namibian, in 1985. A paper critical of the oppressive colonial regime under which the majority of Namibians lived. With no money to sustain it and constant harassment from security forces, the paper faced hardship from the outset. A courageous journalist at all times Gwen has been through it all - arrests, death threats and fire bombings. She was there to witness the end of colonialism in Namibia and see the road to freedom and independence. She stepped down as editor in 2011, a position she held for 26 years.
Reading the final pages of the book, I sense her feeling of disillusionment with how things have turned out post-independence. The huge gap between the rich and poor, high unemployment, corruption galore, a bloated civil service, an intolerance of gay rights, rise in rates of gender-based violence and attacks on the media. The government in December 2000 put a ban on all government advertising in The Namibian – the ban stayed for over ten years.     
Comrade Editor is a fascinating look at the life of Gwen Lister - the first woman newspaper editor in Southern Africa. An absolute must on the importance of press freedom. Through turbulent years her convictions she never wavered. She stuck to her guns and stood her ground.
It’s a good read for those starting out in journalism to see how things used to be in the old days of the profession – good and bad. It’s also a goldmine of information on Namibia’s political history from the brutal occupation to democracy. ​