Making A Better World - Milton Louw

Who is Milton Louw? Foundational Pillars: 1.        Writer ·          1987                         : Founder Editor of School newspaper- Dawid Bezuidenhout ·          1991                         : Poet – Collection of poems as “ Bubblegum Love ” ·          1991 – 1993           : Editor of Namibia Business Journal, NCCI ·          1994                         : Publisher of Fortune Magazine Namibi...

I must have irritated my Uncle Ron no end. Always questions and more questions. Yesterday, I remembered asking him when I was around 9 how a person could read the whole Bible. His answer, "A chapter at a time". The best part was having him help me work out a schedule to do this by making time every day (@18H15) to spend reading a chapter at a time. By the time I was 13, I finished at Revelations 22. Thats an awesome 1,189 chapters. The point I would like to make though is what I learnt from reading the Bible. It was not just Christian values or morals, but it also improved my vocabulary, my story-telling capability, and my ability to share the value of an internalised belief system. Thats what I want to have Moral Education taught at schools. It is about the wisdoms a child should explore and expand within themselves.

Namibia as a consumer society uses almost all products that are available for consumer in South Africa. Thus it is with great concern we notice that the National Regulation for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) has recalled a popular detergent product because it’s deemed to be harmful for consumers. The NRCS has informed the public that the Dettol disinfectant liquid failed a bacterial efficacy test. The test requires a disinfectant detergent to kill 99.9percent of germs and Dettol failed this test, according to Thomas Madzivhe of NRCS. “It (Dettol) has failed a bacterial efficacy test. Once you have a product that does not kill 99.9 percent it exposes you to whatever various forms of infection you may get,” said Madzivhe. (South African) Consumers have been warned not to purchase the product that has been ordered to be taken off the shelves across the country soon. The product is imported from the United Kingdom and it is not registered with the local regulator. Its manufactures ...

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an independent international organisation committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. The WEF released its “ Global Information Technology Report 2013 ” in April and here are some highlights, as well as specific information regarding the cost of technology in Namibia. Finland has toppled Sweden from the top spot in a ranking of economies that are best placed to benefit from new information and communication technologies (ICTs). Singapore came in second and Sweden third in the 2013 Networked Readiness Index. The Networked Readiness Index, calculated by the WEF, and INSEAD (an acronym for the French "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" or European Institute of Business Administration), ranks 144 economies based on their capacity to exploit the opportunities offered by the digital age. This capacity is...

The past few weeks there have been shock stories in the newspaper and on the airwaves regarding students who have completed their studies (some as far afield as Indonesia), only to find out that their course of study or institution they were studying at are not accredited by the Namibian authorities.  A few of these customers have contacted the Consumer News Namibia Magazine and asked for our assistance in getting their courses accredited, or at the very least, getting their money refunded. Consumer News Namibia Magazine has in previous editions covered the education sector, and more specifically the private tertiary institutions sector, but for the sake of our readers once again we give details in this article. Let us start with educational institutions that are based in Namibia. The Namibian constitution states: (4) All persons shall have the right, at their own expense, to establish and to maintain private schools, or colleges or other institutions of tertiary educat...

Up until the late 1970’s there was no bottled water. Only 1976 did the first bottled water appear when the French bottler Perrier made its debut. These days you can hardly enter a shop or restaurant without finding bottled water on its shelves or menu. The questions we as consumers must ask is: “What is the cost of bottled water?” and “Is it worth the price?” Water is a human right and most of us have access in our homes, businesses, or schools to water supplied by our municipalities. This water is supplied to us at an average cost of N$ 11.45 per kilolitre – or 12c per 10 litre. That’s right, 12 Namibian cents per ten litres of water or less than 2c per litre.  (Source: City of Windhoek Tariff Booklet 2013/14) Now let us compare that to the price of bottled water. A bottle of water can cost on average N$ 10.00 per litre in most retail stores in Namibia. Regular drinking water competes with itself in a bottle, but reviewing the cost difference, you've got to wonder ...

The Consumer News Namibia Magazine prides itself on providing information to the people of Namibia as a free (and freely available) monthly magazine. In our magazine we highlight many issues of interest that affect the daily lives of our readers.  In short, we talk about the needs of the people in the “Land of the Brave”. In the following piece, we explore what are these needs and the rights that go with us being able to fulfil these needs. The Need for Subsistence Need:                 Subsistence Qualities:           physical and mental health Description:       Every person has the right to basic goods and services which guarantee survival. This includes access to food, water, electricity, telephone, Internet and affordable housing. The state has to ensure the relative stable state of balance between all the di...

Due to freedom of testation you can basically say anything you like in your Will.  Your last “Will and Testament” is a contract It is the duty of an executor to make funeral arrangements. Do signing powers and power of attorney lapse at death? Does interest on investments and debt cease at death? Do contracts and lawsuits lapse at death? Does the executor summarily sell all estate assets? Does everyone have a right to inherit? Most of us are afraid of dying. In our society many people still consider it taboo to discuss issues surrounding their death. However, it is an important part of money management (financial literacy) to be aware of the issues of dying, wills and testaments. Some of the most commonly beliefs are: ·          If you die without a valid Will, your assets are automatically forfeited to the State. ·          Everyone has a right to inherit from a parent. ·  ...

Recently the taxi drivers in Namibia have threatened a strike because of the high cost of fines being paid for traffic violation. One of the most common is where the taxi driver stands at an illegal area such as a red or yellow lined street corner or sometime right in the middle of the street. During the interview on television, one of the taxi drivers rightly pointed out that this is often the fault of the passenger who stands at such places. Furthermore, the taxi driver stated that if he does not pick up the passenger (or does not drop them where they say), another taxi will so he is forced to do so if he wants to earn a living. This is unfortunately so. We as the consumers of this public taxi service are often to blame as we do not consider the obligations or rules of the road. Often the passenger in a taxi will comment how badly other taxi drivers are stopping or hindering the flow of traffic, but when it is their turn to disembark, they do exactly what the previous passenger ...