Namibians are born entrepreneurs!

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Namibians are born entrepreneurs! It has either become too easy to be a farmer nowadays or those in Omaheke are the special and chosen ones. Every second person you meet in Omaheke is a farmer; you will find him in Agra, Kaap Agri or some other farmer’s outlet with a pamphlet of the day’s specials in hand.

And here I thought my brothers from the North – or those from Khomasdal - are the worst form of show-offs with their spinning rims on their GTi Golfs!

When you meet an aspiring farmer – who believes he has already arrived, he will take a few minutes of your time complaining about how the absence of the rain has affected farmers. He will tell you the last time Otjombinde received good rains was two years ago, even if you have just come back from there and you struggled to navigate the wet roads.

Mind you, even Tjeripo is now apparently a farmer. He wears those big hats - embroidered with the Big Five - carries a walking stick and just recently acquired a 1997 Model Toyota Hilux 2.4. I tried talking sense into him about buying an old car, but he wouldn’t listen.

“That is the problem with you city guys. I do not see an old car when I look at this Toyota of mine. What I see is every Herero man’s dream”, Tjeripo tried to convince me.

But he was right. He proved it to me. At a recent funeral of someone whose name I can hardly remember, because I was dragged there by Tjeripo to test his new wheels and his bakkie proved a hit.

Tjeripo, playing to the attention of mourners at the funeral, would wait until everyone had bowed their heads in prayer and would then start his Toyota and pull away slowly. Obviously, the diesel bakkie did what it does best – it made sweet noise.

Everyone, including the pastor, opened their eyes and smiled in admiration. One mourner even remarked that the best things in life are money, education and a Toyota 2.4 Diesel with a Gobabis number plate.

In the North for instance, everyone there are businesspeople. Just stop any person on the streets of Oshakati or Outapi and ask him what he does for a living and you will here: “I am a businessman, bra yandje.”

If you ask what business they are into, they will cut the conversation short, give you the look and attempt to sell cheap perfume to you. Seriously, I never understand why they would run to you with these obviously cheap products and try to sell them for an arm and a leg to you.

These dudes are properly dressed in the latest fashion, yet they want you to believe that they are struggling businesspeople.

If I could acquire such designer items, I too would become a ‘businessman’ in the North.

I am told the brothers in the North run into the bank to demand a loan for the latest Corolla, if he sees a friend of his driving the latest model car.

Once the first friend realises that he has been ‘overtaken’ by his friend, who now rolls in a Corolla, he will up the game to a BMW.

This will go on, until they both become proud owners of a Mercedez Benz ML-Class. Mind you, ladies too have their own unique ways of showing off. If they buy a new watch, every conversation will start with “I think it is almost time to…” This is done simply to have an excuse to look at the watch.

Or if it is a new necklace, you will always hear them saying “Og, that guy made me so angry I felt like strangling him…” - at which point they will mimic strangling by touching their neck.

The last platform where the sisters create a ‘whole new world’ - as in the Aladdin theme song - is definitely on Facebook. Eish, women would posted stuff like, “Sipping on expensive wine and watching the sunset…”, while we know darn well the nearest thing to a wine you have tasted is Castello!

They would also pose in front of the one or the other house in Pioniers Park and then write “At home, bored”, while we know the specific house belongs to a white man.

Until then…

tjatindi@gmail.com

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Africa, the cradle of humanity

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Africa, the cradle of humanity BY: Dr Ngarikutuke Tjiriange



The ancient African history is indeed distorted. The way the Africans lived and ruled themselves centuries ago sometimes is just fascinating mystery to many people. Many believe that ancient African history was total savagery and was primitive. However, traditional African societies were well organised and sophisticated. When the other people came, particularly the white people, they misunderstood the lifestyle and traditional governance and power authority of the African people and concluded that Africans were primitive and had no administrative structures. They did not understand that African societies had sophisticated extended family relationships that developed into proper administrative structures and authorities. Of course, there was a lack of sophisticated technology and the remoteness and isolation of Africa from the rest of the world created the perception that Africa was a primitive and a dark continent inhabited by backward people.

However, socially, politically and economically, African societies had their own functional systems. The African lifestyles were not so much centered around material benefits but more so around and on humanism, a communal and caring lifestyle based on Ubuntu. Individual persons were expected to live in close and respectful relationships with and towards each other. The African philosophy of Ubuntu dictates that people can and should live as one unit which is bound together. In other words, people can be people only if their lives are dependent on each other. In that sense the African lifestyles and their political systems dictated that their societies remained inextricably interwoven.

In their relationships and family links, their culture dictated that there should be love among all of them and uncompromising respect for human values, sex and age of the people. Because of these they put human values above materialist interests. The Western people who arrived were more materialistic and misunderstood these lifestyles of the African people. These historical issues are many and need more space to be elaborated on. For this article it should suffice to limit it to a few aspects.

The black people had varied social and political structures as well as varied economic structures, believes and cultures. However, over the hundreds of years African societies built amazing and admirable life systems and relationships of mutual support and dependency. The societies were interwoven and turned to each other for help and support in terms of need and during times of disasters and such help was given freely in the spirit of Ubuntu. Most of the African communities were based on united and loving family units of extended family. Families lived together but as a son reached his manhood and married, he left his family's household and established his own independent household while not breaking the family relationship and communal unity. In that way the united clan was extended but family relationships and bonds remained intact.

In many African societies one tribal group has a number of sub chiefdoms consisting of thousands of extended families with numerous households which are working together in respect and love and also help each other. (For example in the Ovaherero people there are Onguatjindu, Otjikatjamuaha, etc.) All these sub chiefdoms constitute and make up the united tribe. The various black tribal groups varied in their culture, economic and social lives but despite this, there were still and are very many common and striking similarities.

One thing which colonisers did also not understand is that the political and administrative systems of most African people were based on democratic principles. The powers of the chiefs were controlled and the chief could not do things by himself but in concert and consultation with his counselors and grassroots inputs.

The traditional African societies' administrations were complex, sophisticated and based on extended family rules which were the cultural democratic norms. The white explorers did not understand this and concluded that ancient Africa was a backward and primitive place. The truth of the matter is that, socially and politically Africa was more democratic than mediaeval Europe which was ruled and controlled by autocratic and oppressive monarchies. It is also true that Africa technologically lagged behind but surely socially, democratically and politically, Africa was not what white explorers concluded it was. In fact technological backwardness might be explained by the remoteness and isolation of the continent from the rest of the world. However, the early discoveries did disclose that Africa was, indeed, far in front of the world in the Old Stone Age. Africa is the cradle of humanity were people thousands of years ago used various tools in their lives to make their lives easy.

Now we are in a different age and environment altogether. The whole world has become global unit and Africa must move fast to advance its technical and scientific knowledge to catch up with those who in the meantime developed faster. The situation where Africa will now freely exchange sophisticated technology with others will propel the continent into a high level of development. The continent is no longer isolated and it can immensely benefit from scientific knowledge and global cross-cultural experience. However, to achieve these, the culture of self-enrichment and corruption must not be tolerated.

I might end by saying that the best is still to come for Africa as long as we have the right and honest people in power in the continent.

Swapo guilty of selective morality

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Swapo guilty of selective morality The problems haunting the ruling party Swapo continued to show this week following the recall of former deputy minister of land reform Bernadus Swartbooi from the National Assembly.

The decision by the Swapo top brass to “deal” with Swartbooi was widely expected following his wide-ranging comments made recently in Keetmanshoop at an event organised by the Landless People's Movement.

Swartbooi is the patron of this movement and has used public platforms in the past to attack the ruling party, especially on the contentious issue of land reform.

The movement has also been pressurising the authorities to address the issue of ancestral land rights.

Commentators are particularly not happy with the way the party is dealing with certain issues and its leaders have been accused of adopting double standards in its treatment of selected “troublemakers” within the party.

The problem is not only Swartbooi, but the Swapo leadership is also partly paranoid. Its leadership style leaves a lot to be desired. It is a well-known fact that the ongoing wrangling and power struggles are all linked to the elective congress towards the end of the year where a new leadership will be elected.

There is no longer a battle of ideas.

The ruling party's politicians have become the new bourgeoisie, far removed from the daily struggles of those that elected them into power.

The party must focus on leadership and membership challenges which call for the movement to undergo some introspection to ensure its relevance in modern-day Namibia. The Swapo of today allows certain members to abuse their positions, while others are easily disciplined for speaking truth to power.

There are glaring inconsistencies in the way the party is dealing with internal issues.

Yes, it is true that there is no leadership in the world which is infallible or which does not make mistakes.

But the mistakes in Swapo are becoming common and for all to see.

The failure of the party to act against certain members who have equally brought the party into disrepute suggests the leadership is applying selective morality and turning a blind eye to wrongdoing from those who are loyal to the powers that be.

German genocide response good

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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German genocide response good The tone of the German government's response on the 1904-08 Nama and Ovaherero genocide is 'positive', according to the Namibian special envoy on genocide Zed Ngavirue.

Ngavirue, however, noted that a few issues still need to be revisited before Namibia will respond to Germany.

He could also not give an indication when this will be concluded and emphasised that it is difficult to say at what stage it is.

“It is not easy to say. We still have not reached the final stage of negotiations,” he said.

On 27 June 2017, the German ambassador to Namibia, Christian-Matthias Schlaga, presented the 'German Position Paper' to Ngavirue.

The paper contains the detailed German assessment of the Namibian paper presented by Ngavirue to his German counterpart in July 2016.

“This development shows that the negotiations between Namibia and Germany are on track and shall continue with the next meeting of both countries' special envoys in due course,” the German embassy said in a press statement.

The Namibian government is demanding an official apology and reparations.



History

Between 1904 and 1908 about 100 000 Herero and Nama people were killed by German colonial leaders in the then South West Africa when the territory was a German colony.

German settlers, with the explicit consent of German colonial authorities, seized about a quarter of the Ovaherero and Nama lands between 1885 and 1903.

Tensions eventually boiled over and in early 1904, the Ovaherero and Nama rose up - only to have their rebellion crushed by German imperial troops.



JEMIMA BEUKES

Rehoboth residents tired of corruption

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Rehoboth residents tired of corruptionShowdown looms at council meeting The residents of Rehoboth have had enough of corruption at the town council. The Rehoboth community is readying itself to sort out the alleged “maladministration” at the beleaguered town council as it accuses the line minister Sophia Shaningwa of dragging her feet.

In a media statement this week, the United People's Movement (UPM) encouraged residents to join them at the ordinary council meeting scheduled to take place today.

This follows what they term “empty promises” from Shaningwa, who in December, after a forensic investigation issued the council with a list of resolutions, including the removal of its human resources manager Willie 'Mistake' Swartz who was illegally reinstated.

The minister at the time threatened the town council that she would dissolve it should they fail to implement these resolutions.

The minister has, however, not yet delivered on her promise to dissolve the town council, despite its failure to implement the resolutions, as well as adhering to a legal opinion last month.

“It is clear that nothing can be expected from the ministry and the UPM is convinced that it is time for action. The UPM wants the authorities to take note of the fact that government has failed the residents of Rehoboth. The UPM still awaits the follow up meeting from State House as the corrupt practices at town councils, including the Rehoboth Town Council, formed part of the agenda. The residents of Rehoboth are the employers of those who work at the council and therefore, since the responsible authorities are not able to take action, we have no other option than to remove Swartz from the premises,” the statement read.

The UPM's reaction follows a mass meeting held two weeks ago by disgruntled residents to express their dissatisfaction with the service delivery and operations of the council.

The complaints included the council failure to remove Swartz, the skyrocketing water and electricity debts, the state of infrastructure as well as the broken down sewage system.

Rehoboth's CEO Christophe Uirab recently told Namibian Sun that the problems at the council can easily be addressed if only the Swapo councillors understood their role.

According to them, they make the council their personal fiefdom instead of working with him and council employees to deliver on their mandate.

The town currently has an outstanding water bill that stands at N$29 million and needs to cough up about N$2.5 million to supply the town with water for an entire month, 40% of which is unaccounted because of burst pipes and water losses.



JEMIMA BEUKES

Oshikoto regional conference awaits report

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Oshikoto regional conference awaits report The Oshikoto regional conference will only take place once the task team appointed to verify primary election results and procedures finalises the report, the chairperson of the team, Laura McLeod-Katjirua has said.

The conference, which has been postponed four times and initially slotted to take place on 24 June, was cancelled at the 11th hour on July 11.

Yesterday when contacted for an update, McLeod-Katjirua who is also the Swapo deputy secretary-general, told Namibian Sun that the team is back from Oshikoto Region but they are far from completing the report which will determine the next course of action.

McLeod-Katjirua the verifications and group processes that will assist the team to compile the report still need to be done.

“The leaders assigned are not done with the verification. Until we are done with the grouping, only then can we sit down and say now we are compiling the report,” Mcleod-Katjirua said refusing to commit herself on a definite date.

“I cannot promise anything, seriously or otherwise I will be lying to you. We are not yet done.”

Swapo secretary-general, Nangolo Mbumba, also shared the same sentiments with Mcleod-Katjirua.

“As soon as we receive the report and the report is approved, then the conference will take place. We cannot give you the date before the report,” Mbumba said.

On 12 July when Oshikoto Regional Coordinator, Armas Amukwiyu, informed delegates who had come to attend the regional conference in Omuthiya about the cancellation, some delegates accused Mbumba's office of deliberately delaying the process.

They also said the Swapo leadership did not want Amukwiyu as the regional coordinator for Oshikoto.

Attempts to get comment from Amukwiyu proved futile as his phone went unanswered.

The team comprised of Khomas Regional Governor, Laura McLeod-Katjirua as chairperson, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Alpheus !Naruseb and Charles Namoloh.



KENYA KAMBOWE

Trafficking suspects to appear today

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Trafficking suspects to appear today An Angolan national whose child went missing while visiting her Namibian family at the Epupa settlement two months ago is still in the country and is becoming frantic.

Three suspects, Rinovita Kandiinuine 39, Ngombe Tjambiru 35 and Tjikundi Tjiposa, 33, who were arrested two months ago and appeared in the Opuwo Magistrate's Court on a count of human trafficking, remain in custody.

The three were arrested following the disappearance of a six-month-old baby girl who was reportedly stolen from her mother at the Epupa settlement in the Kunene Region and has since not been found.

On 6 May, an Angolan national, Ndjinaveva Kauyekua, 20, was sleeping in an open space while visiting her Namibian family in Epupa. She discovered that her child was missing after she woke in the middle of the night to breastfeed her baby as usual.

The police regional commander for the Kunene Region, Commissioner James Nderura told Namibian Sun this week that the baby that was stolen from her mother on May 6 is still missing.

He said that the three suspects who were arrested on 11 May and appeared in the Opuwo Magistrate's Court are still in custody, while the police investigation continues.

Nderura said that Kandiinuine, Tjambiru and Tjiposa, who are all residents of the Epupa settlement, will make their second appearance in Opuwo today Friday.

“The suspects are still in custody. They are denying all the allegations, but our investigations are still on-going,” Nderura said.

Nderura said Kauyekua had returned to Angola and came back to Namibia with the hope that her baby will be found.



ILENI NANDJATO

Profile takes stake in MTN Namibia

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Profile takes stake in MTN NamibiaMerger subject to NaCC approval Profile Technologies has bought a 30% stake in MTN Namibia, subject to regulatory approval. Profile Investment Holdings and its ICT arm, Profile Technologies, have acquired a 30% stake in MTN Namibia.

The deal, which is still subject to approval by the Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC), was announced by the two companies in Windhoek yesterday.

Profile Investment Holdings is owned by local business magnate Vaino Nghipondoka.

Should MTN get the approval from the competition's watchdog, it will pave the way for MTN's first local empowerment partner.

“The partnership allows us to create efficiencies and converged solutions, while creating service offerings for both fixed and mobile telecommunications services, aimed at corporate and small and medium enterprise customers,” said MTN Business Namibia MD, Elia Tsouros. In a joint statement, the two companies said the deal will result in an increased services basket of information communications technology products and services to the market.

The merger will create one of the largest information communication technology companies locally with significantly enhanced service offerings for enterprises and consumers.

Profile Technologies will cease to operate as an independent entity, and will be merged into the operations of MTN Business Namibia. The new company, which will trade as MTN Namibia, will result in Profile Investment Holdings taking up two board seats, with the remaining three taken up by representatives of the MTN Group. Although the company has been operational since 2010, it has worked on some of the biggest information technology projects, which includes the computerisation of the national registry with the ministry of home affairs, the ministry of safety and security's e-policing system and the installation of security cameras at flash points around the City of Windhoek.

Profile is currently implementing the Integrated Tax Administration System for the ministry of finance, one of the biggest information communication projects undertaken.



OGONE TLHAGE

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NFCPT contributes to anti-poaching

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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NFCPT contributes to anti-poaching ELATED: The environment minister Pohamba Shifeta yesterday expressed gratitude towards the Namibia Fish Consumption Promotion Trust (NFCT) after they donated N$150 000 towards the ministry for its anti-poaching activities. Shifeta said that the tourism ministry was hit hard by unsustainable wildlife utilisation due to extreme levels of poaching experienced in the country. The minister promised that the donated money would be used to fight poaching around the country. In the picture are Moses Maurihungirire, fisheries permanent secretary, Shifeta, fisheries deputy minister Chief Samuel Ankama and the CEO of NFCPT Victor Pea.

PHOTO: SHONA NGAVA

Ex-NSC officials appear on corruption charges

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Ex-NSC officials appear on corruption charges FRED GOEIEMAN

Two former senior officials of the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC), who were arrested this week for alleged corruption, appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Former acting chief administrator Walter Haseb and Ivonne Nande, who was a development officer, were remanded in custody and the case was postponed to 20 October 2017 for further investigation.

The accused indicated that they would lodge a formal bail application on 18 August.

Prosecutor Andreas Joseph objected to the granting of bail because of the seriousness of the offence.

The two were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly misappropriating N$4.9 million at the NSC. They are charged with corruptly using their office for self-gratification.

Kadhila Amoomo, representing Nande, claimed that his client’s procedural rights were violated in that she was never informed of her right to obtain the service of a lawyer before she made a statement.

He requested that the warning statement made to Nande be disclosed in preparation for the bail hearing.

The lawyer also sought the disclosure of the warrant of arrest, warrant of search and summons issued in terms of the Anti-Corruption Act to obtain strategic documents.

“We require these documents to support our position that my client’s procedural rights protected by the Namibian Constitution were breached,” Amoomo argued.

Vito Uanivi, appearing on behalf of Haseb, agreed with his colleague’s submission.

The Prosecution did not have a problem with the request but stated that these matters, particularly the warrant of arrest, would be addressed during the bail application hearing.

US grant boosts anti-poaching muscle

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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US grant boosts anti-poaching muscle Government's efforts to slash poaching rates of rhino by 50% by the end of 2018 and to double the number of arrests during the same time were boosted by a N$23.4 million grant from the United States this week.

Although almost 44% of Namibia is under some sort of conservation management, the infiltration of organised wildlife trafficking syndicates five years ago is threatening to topple its achievements.

“Namibia was initially spared during the first few years of the present wildlife crime crisis, but since 2013 rhino and elephant poaching have increased dramatically,” minister of environment and tourism (MET) Pohamba Shifeta said at the launch of the US's State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) multi-million-dollar grant yesterday.

The INL Project to counter wildlife trafficking in Namibia will help Namibia increase its capacity and the synergy between government law enforcement agencies, civil society and private citizens to help counter rhino-related wildlife crime in Namibia.

Shifeta said that international organised criminal syndicates, and the extremely high prices illegal horn fetches on the international market, have also attracted a number of Namibians into the poaching business.

Following three rhino poaching incidents in 2012, the numbers rose to nine in 2013, 56 in 2014, 95 in 2015 and 60 in 2016.

Nineteen rhinos have been poached to date this year.

The minister said that in 2015 the poaching levels in Namibia “potentially reached the tipping point -where overall rhino numbers in Namibia began to regress”.

The loss of Namibia's rhino population would be a national and international “conservation disaster” and will have a significant impact on the tourism sector and the economy of poor, rural Namibian communities, he said.

Chris Weaver, director of the WWF in Namibia, warned that the syndicates behind poaching operations in Namibia are “highly organised, well-resourced and often aligned with other forms of international crime such as drugs, money laundering and even arms.”

He said that addressing these types of “efficient, adaptive and difficult to address” wildlife crimes requires a “different strategy to counter” that does not merely focus on the poacher, usually poor Namibians who are “just a pawn in the process”.

In line with this, law enforcement strategies require new approaches to investigation and prosecution.

The environment ministry, with its partners the WWF and the US embassy through the INL Project, will use the grant to focus on five objectives, including providing support to MET and NamPol, improve investigative and prosecutorial approaches, and provide support to anti-poaching schools and units and more.

American ambassador Thomas Daughton said that through training of prosecutors and informing judges, the grant will help highlight the “seriousness and complexities of wildlife crime” to ensure that offenders are appropriately punished.

The new Waterberg anti-poaching school will be fully equipped by the end of 2018 and by mid-2018 the ministry commits to linking 50% of communities that live nearby national parks and in conservancies to MET and NamPol.

JANA-MARI SMITH

NEA defends Shoprite

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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NEA defends ShopriteMinister slammed over comments The labour minister's comments about Shoprite/Checkers mean that the supermarket chain will never receive impartial treatment from the ministry, the Namibian Employers Association says. The Namibian Employers Association (NEA) has described as “inappropriate” recent comments made by labour minister Erkki Nghimtina about South African-owned retail group Shoprite/Checkers.

According to NEA president Cor Beuke, Nghimtina's remarks were unfair, made out of context and likely to create further confusion in the continuing saga.

In a statement issued this week Beuke came out in support of Shoprite, which is a NEA member.

“The latest comments by the minister of labour on 20 July necessitate that we break our silence in defence of our member… It must be said that the minister and his officials made these remarks without verifying the facts provided to him,” Beuke said.

“We believe several matters were taken out of context which created further confusion. The result of this is that Shoprite is of the opinion that they will never receive an impartial judgement from the ministry, which is essential in order to promote harmonious labour relations within its operations.”

At a press briefing in Windhoek last week, Nghimtina joined the chorus of those calling on Shoprite to respect local labour laws. The retailer had been accused of flouting labour laws and exploiting its workers, who are said to be earning low wages with no fringe benefits.

“It is my great concern that as of today, the unhappy state of labour relations and instability continues at Shoprite … the low wages and poor conditions of employment persist, including the permanent part-time employment without guaranteed hours of work,” the minister said.

Nghimtina said Shoprite was an “anti-union” organisation whose workers were not represented by a union.

He said efforts made by his ministry to address the issue with the Shoprite management had yielded nothing.

In 2015, Shoprite workers were charged with violating several company regulations, including participating in an illegal strike and gross insubordination.

They were also charged with destruction of private property and interfering with a company investigation.

More than 100 workers at Shoprite in Windhoek were charged for taking part in the 2015 strike.

The disciplinary hearings are still continuing amid calls for the charges to be dropped.

The Economic and Social Justice Trust (ESJT) and trade unions such as Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau), Namibia Wholesale and Retail Workers Union (NWRWU) and Namibia Commercial, Catering, Food and Allied Workers Union (NACCAFWU) have all rallied behind the call to drop the charges.

To date, Shoprite has dismissed 176 workers at Rundu and Gobabis.

According to the labour ministry, Shoprite/Checkers employs more than 4 300 people in Namibia.

Daily fishing permits available

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Daily fishing permits availableMinistry calms turbulent waters The official notice that caused an uproar among recreational anglers neglected to mention that a cheaper option existed, the fisheries ministry admitted yesterday. Recreational anglers can in fact opt to buy a daily N$50 fishing permit instead of a monthly N$1 500 permit, the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources clarified yesterday.

Following widespread confusion and outrage over the announcement that monthly fishing permits would be increased from N$14 to N$1 500, permanent secretary Moses Maurihungirire said yesterday that the new recreational fishing levies did provide an option for day permits.

“The new recreational fees are set at N$1 500 per month per person. This translates to N$50 per day per fisher. Recreational fishers are allowed to pay N$50 per day, or in multiples of any number of days that they may wish to go fishing,” he said.

He said the increase was acceptable considering that the last price increase was 16 years ago.

The ministry also clarified yesterday that recreational anglers do not have to pay additional levies on each landed fish, as was announced in the Government Gazette last month.

“The new recreational permit levy is a one-off payment covering all species contained in the regulations, hence recreational fishers will not be required to pay additional fees per species.”

The ministry explained that recreational anglers are permitted a daily bag limit of 10 fish, “whose value may be N$1 000 or more.”

The ministry said people who have already bought long-term permits at the old price may continue to use them until they expire.

The ministry's clarification squashed fears that the monthly N$1 500 permit would destroy recreational angling and sport-fishing competitions, as well as the coastal tourism sector and small businesses dependent on it.

Maurihungirire admitted that the ministry's initial announcement did not mention the option of a day permit, which would likely have prevented the widespread condemnation and confusion.

“We will not dispute that one,” he said.

He added that the increased levies were solely applicable to coastal fishing, and not inland recreational fishing.

The levy increases were necessary to cover the increased cost of managing recreational coastal angling, which cost the ministry around N$400 000 a month, he said.

Maurihungirire added that the ministry had been in touch with representatives of the mid-water trawler sector to resolve misperceptions about their levy increases.

It had been reported that this sector was facing a bleak future because of the new levies.

The permanent secretary further emphasised that subsistence anglers registered with the Ministry or the Hanganeni Artisanal Fishing Association (HAFA) were exempted from the new fee structure until new regulations applicable to them were gazetted.

JANA-MARI SMITH

Swartbooi lashes 'corrupt' Swapo

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Swartbooi lashes 'corrupt' SwapoRecalled MP quits ruling party The firebrand former MP says he is now on a “historic democratic mission”. Ousted Swapo parliamentarian Bernadus Swartbooi yesterday announced his exit from the ruling party but quelled speculation that he is about to form a new political organisation.

Speaking to a large crowd that gathered at the Red Flag Commando Hall in Katutura for a press briefing yesterday, Swartbooi said his conscience did not allow himself to remain part of Swapo. “It is a good day for me, a day the Lord has made,” a defiant Swartbooi said, adding that he could now sleep peacefully after having been recalled as Swapo MP.

“My life continues on a great highway forward and I thank all those members of Swapo that have been good and cordial to me over the years,” he said.

Swartbooi said his ousting from parliament was “not a surprise”, given the intolerance of people freely expressing divergent views.

“In fact I worked it,” he said of the ousting. He added that questions about how he was going to survive were irrelevant.

“We are servants of the people,” he said.

“I want to thank the dictators of the Swapo Party for granting us the freedom by kicking us out of parliament so that we are able to do the work of agitation even more sharply, even more publicly.

“We can now engage in a robust process through which we will expose their corrupt deeds, expose their networks and say to the Namibian people every day from now on until the next elections and beyond that there is no place for the corrupt nincompoop and incapable leadership that has bankrupted this country.”

He said he considered himself to be on “a journey of a historic democratic mission”, which would allow Namibia to make great strides economically and otherwise instead of sliding into an abyss of bankruptcy and oppression.

“I have remained steadfast in stating my position on various matters and have at all times committed myself to speaking the truth precisely when it was difficult.

“While Namibia is acclaimed with a good constitution, the leaders are often the most intolerant and undemocratic beings, reflecting a total rejection of the values espoused in that document.”

He further said that Swapo, like many other former liberation movements turned governments, was “imploding”.

“The implosion of Swapo is about to happen. It has begun to happen, it is split right down the middle, and the reason why Swapo Party continues to get the kinds of votes it gets is simply because around 40% of the population has seen no reason to vote, and those that go and vote find no alternative to vote for,” he said.



“Corruption is part of the central DNA of the party leadership,” Swartbooi ventured, saying no one was held accountable for the closure of the SME Bank and billions of dollars lost elsewhere.



Swartbooi was swiftly removed as Swapo MP after a decision by the Politburo on Monday, presumably because of controversial statements he had made at a dinner of the Landless People's Movement (LPM) at Keetmanshoop where he denounced his membership of the ruling party.







'Geingob promises'



Swartbooi yesterday claimed that part of his ousting had to do with the fact that he had refused to fight off President Hage Geingob's political rivals at the upcoming Swapo congress.



He claimed that Geingob had been seeking a meeting with him over the past four months, sending messengers who suggested that he would be “rewarded” with a ministerial position if he fought off the likes of Oshikoto regional coordinator Armas Amukwiyu, businessmen Lazarus Jacobs and Desmond Amunyela and Swapo leader Kazenambo Kazenambo.



Swartbooi said he declined the offer and further fell out of favour with the powers that be.



Presidential spokesperson Albertus Aochamub did not respond to a question in this regard sent to him.







Others leaving



Fellow LPM activists like Henny Seibeb said they would also resign from Swapo and continue to “dedicate their lives to the work” of the movement, which includes advocating ancestral land rights.



The LPM said it would also put on its agenda the fight against corruption and tribalism, and would seek to work with other institutions such as churches to create platforms where “national spiritual and psychological renewal” could be brought about.



Seibeb said the LPM would call for a commission of inquiry into the state of the Namibian economy and the billions dubiously unaccounted for.

CATHERINE SASMAN

BIG still on the cards - Kameeta

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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BIG still on the cards - Kameeta Poverty eradication minister Zephania Kameeta insists that a basic-income grant must be paid to “extremely” poor Namibians who do not benefit from existing social grants.

Kameeta is expected to table the national blueprint on wealth redistribution and poverty eradication, which was approved by Cabinet last month, in the National Assembly in September.

“It also looks at the BIG but the issue is explicitly mentioned in our strategic plan.

There are about 150 000 people who are extremely poor and need this kind of assistance,” he said.

Kameeta, who handed over food parcels to soup kitchens yesterday, emphasised that there were very poor people in the country and urged Namibians to help where they can.

“If you cannot help 100 people then start with the one person that you can help. There is deep suffering and levels of poverty in the country,” he said.



Kameeta, who was appointed in 2015 to head the newly established ministry as one of the drivers of President Hage Geingob's poverty eradication agenda, said it was difficult to convince legislators.



He added that the blueprint and its implementation plan were accompanied by a timeline.



“We cannot make plans and craft policies for 100 years, we need to set a date and aim at completing it at specific times,” he said.







BIG impact



Before the introduction of the BIG pilot project in 2008, the villages of Otjivero and Omitara in the Omaheke Region were characterised by unemployment, hunger and poverty. Most residents had settled there because they had nowhere else to go; their lives were shaped by deprivation and they had little hope for the future.



A study on the impact of the BIG at Omitara showed that household poverty had dropped significantly.



According to this study the rate of poverty was reduced from 76% to 37% within one year of the BIG.



The study was done by reverends Claudia and Dirk Haarmann from the Desk for Social Development of the ELCRN, and Herbert Jauch and Hilma Shindondola-Mote from the Labour Resource and Research Institute.



The BIG enabled HIV-positive residents to get antiretroviral treatment and medical attention, as they had money to pay for transport to Gobabis or Windhoek.



It also sharply reduced the number of school dropouts because parents could pay school or hostel fees for secondary school learners.

JEMIMA BEUKES

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Cap on SME Bank withdrawals

July 27, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Cap on SME Bank withdrawals Customers of the bankrupt SME Bank have been advised to continue repaying loans taken out before the bank was placed in liquidation.

SME Bank liquidators Bruni and McLaren instructed borrowers to deposit the required payments into two Standard Bank and FNB Namibia accounts set up for the purpose. “We encourage all SME Bank clients to make payments to meet their monthly instalments on their facilities. We urge all our clients to continue honouring their loan obligations,” the liquidators said. A notice was also issued to SME Bank customers that there would be a cap on the amount of money they could withdraw. “The provisional liquidators of the SME Bank hereby inform depositors that their deposits are protected by law up to N$25 000. The claim process will be communicated in due course,” a text sent out this week read. In terms of the Banking Institutions Act of 1998, a bank must adequately insure itself against any loss it or its customers may suffer as a result of the negligence, dishonesty or fraud of any of its employees. The Act also makes provision for commercial banks to maintain special reserve accounts exclusively for the purposes of negligence, dishonesty or fraud. “If the insurance contemplated is not available or is available, but at a premium which is, in the opinion of the Bank, too high in relation to the cover provided, with the written approval of the Bank and in lieu of the insurance, maintain a special reserve account exclusively for the purpose of compensating any person in respect of any loss suffered by the person as a result of the negligence, dishonesty or fraud referred to in paragraph and which is, in the opinion of the Bank, sufficient for such purpose,” the Act stipulates.

Finance minister Calle Schlettwein recently said that the SME Bank was insolvent and not in a position to service all its clients.

“There were efforts by the South African Reserve Bank to trace the money, those efforts failed. It appears that it may be gone, that is the main cause of its liquidity. That's the first point. The second is that its mandate was to serve small and medium enterprises. If looking at its structure, it did not,” said Schlettwein.

“We will try to close the bank in a manner that all the depositors get their money back, we are curbing the losses. We are aware that others will be affected. A failing bank with a slow economy is a no-go, a failing bank will weaken the economy, we have to close the bank.”

There was an option to recapitalise the SME Bank, Schlettwein said.

“We had a choice to pump another N$500 million into the SME Bank, would the SME Bank have been okay?” Schlettwein said of discussions held to decide the bank's fate.

He pointed out that the SME Bank's loan book would be left untouched and that no loan would be written off.

OGONE TLHAGE

Horror crash kills four

July 28, 2017, 1:30 am

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Horror crash kills four Four people died instantly in the early hours of this morning after a sedan they were travelling in collided head-on with a Scania truck on the Otjiwarongo-Otavi road.
The accident occurred at approximately 01:15, about 60 kilometres north of Otjiwarongo.
It is alleged one of the two vehicles was overtaking, causing the accident.
The sedan was traveling from the direction of Otjiwarongo to Otavi, while the truck with two trailers full of cattle was driving in the opposite direction.
The truck driver survived the accident with a minor injury. Police are still trying to establish the names and ages of the people who died in the accident.
The cattle were scattered all over the accident scene.

President orders Endjala to apologise for tribal comments

July 28, 2017, 5:08 am

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President orders Endjala to apologise for tribal comments The governor of the Omusati Region, Erginus Endjala, has been ordered by President Hage Geingob to prepare an apology that is unreserved, unequivocal and unconditional for widely reported tribal remarks he recently made. This order is contained in a strongly worded letter dated 27 July to Endjala in which Geingob specifically states that the apology he issued earlier falls far short of a comprehensive statement of regret.
The president's letter quotes Endjala as having simply said “I apologise if it offended or inconvenienced anybody”.
Geingob told Endjala that "as my representative in the region I expect you to uphold the highest standards of leadership and constitutional principles, especially with regards to fostering peace and harmonious relations in the region. Your unfortunate tribal utterances therefore are counterproductive and diminishing our concerted effort to build an inclusive Namibian House – where all tribes and races live in unity and harmony."
STAFF REPORTER

Goagoseb happy with NPL progress

July 30, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Goagoseb happy with NPL progress Citizens FC boss, David Goagoseb, believes that many people are now ready to make the Namibia Premier League (NPL) a success.

“I can tell you that there is a new feeling among clubs of the NPL and this can be good news for the football lovers out there.

“The last meeting showed that people are ready to work together and that positive things will happen after these meetings,” Goagoseb said.

The football club owner was referring to a recent NPL meeting which was held in Windhoek.

Thirteen clubs gathered at the University of Namibia to discuss the new constitution of the NPL.

The next session for the NPL will be held on 5 August whereby the clubs will give their final review of the new constitution.

The constitution will be taken back to the Namibia Football Association (NFA) for ratification, before an NPL annual general meeting is arranged in order to endorse the new constitution.

After the endorsement of the constitution, the NPL will hold its first elective annual general meeting in nearly a year to elect the new NPL leadership.

“I was not present at the meeting, but from what I heard, people are ready work together and that is a very good thing.

“At least we can now believe that league football will be played in this country,” he said.

Jesse Jackson Kauraisa

Nakathila moves to Tobias gym

July 30, 2017, 4:00 pm

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Nakathila moves to Tobias gymFaces Tanzanian in next bout Nakathila will be in action for the WBO Africa junior lightweight title In September. Namibian Boxer Jeremiah 'No Respect' Nakathila announced that he has moved to the MTC Nestor 'Sunshine' Tobias Boxing and Fitness Academy training gym.

The boxer has been training with Tobias Nashilongo's boxing club for more than three years.

“I have decided to move to the Tobias gym in order to take my career to the next level.

“I would like to thank Tobias Nashilongo for having given me an opportunity to train under his gym.

“I have now decided to make a move which I believe will enhance my boxing career,” Nakathila said.

The boxer will take on Said Chino of Tanzania in a WBO Africa junior lightweight fight on 9 September at the Windhoek Country Club.

Nakathila has a professional record of 12 wins, one defeat in 13 fights, while his opponent has fought 20 times with 13 wins, five loses and two draws.

The fight will be the third last bout on the card of the academy's next boxing bonanza which features the likes of Paulus 'Hitman' Moses and Sakaria Lukas.

“I am thrilled to be on the cards of the next boxing bonanza because fighting is what I love to do.

“I have been working very hard in order to improve my skills and I will prove that I can be better than I already am in my next fight. I will definitely put up a great show for my fans,” he said.

A sergeant in the Namibian police force and a man with principles, Nakathila has been one of the most impressive fighters of the current generation.

Nakathila began his professional boxing career in 2013 with a fight against fellow Namibian, David Shinuna, in 2013.

After his debut fight, Nakathila went on to win eight of his fights before getting his first crack at an African title.

He defeated Jasper Seroka by a knockout to clinch the interim WBO Africa super featherweight title on 6 August 2016.

Jesse Jackson Kauraisa