Sunday, 15 September 2013
What reading the Bible taught me
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.
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.
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
Disinfectants fails specifications test
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.
What is the Namibia Standards Institution?
“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 don’t have
permission to sell the product in South Africa or Namibia.
What is even more worrying is that Dettol
is not the only detergent that has been taken off the shelves. Domestos,
produced by Unilever, has also been recalled.
“It (Domestos) does not meet our
administrative regulatory requirements and it cannot be sold, even though
technically it may not pose any safety or health risk to the consumers,"
said Madzivhe.
The South African Regulator (National
Regulation for Compulsory Specifications) has confiscated over 4000 bottles of
Dettol disinfectant liquid and they will be destroyed.
The regulator has urged consumers to alert
the NRCS of shops that are still selling the recalled products.
The question is now to Namibian consumers:
Who is protecting our rights?
The answer would seem to be that this
should be the Namibia Standards Institution.
What is the Namibia Standards Institution?
The Namibian Standards Institution (NSI) is
established in terms of the Standards Act 18, of 2005. The NSI is governed by
the Namibian Standards Council (NSC), which was inaugurated by the Hon.
Minister of Trade Dr. Hage Geingob on the 17th of February, 2011. The NSC
provides strategic leadership to the NSI and consists of eight members, who are
all non-executive, independent Directors, while the CEO serves as an ex officio
member of the NSC.
According to the NSI, the expected results
of the NSI Programme are an established and functional national standards body
in Namibia, capable of:
·
developing, adopting and
applying standards;
·
providing accurate measurement
traceability to the international standards (SI) through the metrology
division;
·
providing reliable testing
especially for food such as fish and fishery products including shellfish, beef
and agro-products and rendering food safety technical support to the
aquaculture, fishing and other industries through regular tests conducted at
the NSI Biotoxins and Microbiology laboratories at Walvis Bay and through NSI
Inspection and Certification.
Regardless of who is OFFICIALLY responsible
for protection the consumer in this regard, you the consumer can be assured
that the Consumer News Magazine Namibia will
keep you informed of the news you need to know.
Namibians do not get value for money when using data
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 determined by the
quality of the regulatory, business and innovation environments, the degree of
preparedness, the actual usage of ICTs, as well as the societal and economic
impacts of ICTs. The assessment is based on a broad range of indicators from
Internet access and adult literacy to mobile phone subscriptions and the
availability of venture capital. In addition, indicators such as patent
applications and e-government services gauge the social and economic impact of
digitization.
Namibia is ranked 111 out of 144 countries
in the survey.
Further interesting facts highlighted in
the WEF report include the following rankings (out of 144 countries)
|
Namibia
Country Ranking
|
Ranking out of 144
|
Score
|
|
Networked Readiness Index 2012 (out of
142)
|
105
|
3.3
|
|
A. Environment subindex
|
58
|
4
|
|
1st pillar: Political and regulatory
environment
|
37
|
4.4
|
|
2nd pillar: Business and innovation
environment
|
112
|
3.7
|
|
B. Readiness subindex
|
115
|
3.3
|
|
3rd pillar: Infrastructure and digital
content
|
102
|
3
|
|
4th pillar: Affordability
|
117
|
3.1
|
|
5th pillar: Skills
|
111
|
3.7
|
|
C. Usage subindex
|
101
|
3.1
|
|
6th pillar: Individual usage
|
99
|
2.5
|
|
7th pillar: Business usage
|
76
|
3.4
|
|
8th pillar: Government usage
|
116
|
3.4
|
|
D. Impact subindex
|
122
|
2.7
|
|
9th pillar: Economic impacts
|
117
|
2.7
|
|
10th pillar: Social impacts
|
121
|
2.8
|
There is a ranking in the report where
Namibia is Number 1 - that is in “Mobile Network Coverage”. Thus we can be
proud in having the highest coverage of our population (as small as it is) with
mobile cellular services.
A new report from Research ICT Africa (RIA)
provides another view of Namibia’s e-readiness.
In a table from the RIA report, a
comparison is made between costs of ADSL (fixed line) and mobile costs to use
the Internet and other data services. Namibia ranks very favourably in the cost
of fixed line data access at USD 40.32 per month but it is shocking to see that
our data access via mobile is over USD 100 or N$ 990 per month.
This cost comparison is very relevant as
most Namibian consumer are using their cellular telephones to use the internet
rather than fixed “home” lines. Thus the poorer sections of the population will
pay up to 2.5 times higher for data access via the most available medium,
namely cellular.
The Communications Regulatory Authority of
Namibia (CRAN) needs to be proactive on engaging the service providers (all of
whom belong to the state-owned Namibia Post and Telecommunications Holdings
company). CRAN is after all responsible
to (among others):
- · Implement a transparent and fair pricing regime
- · Respond to consumer complaints
- · Protect consumers in respect of prices, quality, variety of services and user equipment supplied
- · Promote competition amongst service providers
Buyer beware when enrolling at an education business
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 education: provided that:
(a) such schools, colleges or institutions
of tertiary education are registered with a Government department in accordance
with any law authorising and regulating such registration;
(b) the standards maintained by such
schools, colleges or institutions of tertiary education are not inferior to the
standards
Educational institutions in Namibia (and
their portfolio or courses) are accredited by the Namibia Qualifications
Authority (NQA). This institution evaluates and accredits national institutions
and degrees, as well as foreign qualifications of people who wish to
demonstrate the national equivalence of their degrees earned abroad.
According to their website:
“The
Namibia Qualifications Authority (also referred to as the NQA) is a statutory
body established by the Namibia Qualifications Authority Act No 29 of 1996.
The
NQA is committed to the promotion of quality education and training in Namibia
through the development and management of a comprehensive and flexible National
Qualifications Framework (NQF).
Quality
is also promoted by the NQA through the Accreditation of education and training
providers in Namibia and their courses.
The
NQA wishes to assist the development of Namibia as a proud nation through
putting in place systems and opportunities that allows all people to develop to
their fullest potential without being hindered by unnecessary obstacles and
barriers.
The
NQA believes that all people have a right to having their learning and
abilities validly, fairly, reliably and equitably recognised regardless of when,
how and where learning attainments and competences were attained.”
Unfortunately, this is the only page that
works on the NQA website. All other pages were unavailable for link through
from 20 – 29 July 2013.
In a nutshell, the NQA has the responsibility
of ensuring the quality of education received by Namibians. They do this
through accrediting Namibian institutions and their courses as well as
evaluating of course provided by international organisations.
Thus a Namibian student (or their parents)
should first check with the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) before
commencing their studies at either a local or foreign institution. In addition,
the consumer must take note of what level the course is in the National
Qualifications Framework.
Until Namibia gets a Consumer Protection
Act, the rule is “Caveat emptor” or let the buyer beware. It still is the
responsibility of the buyer to research the goods or services they wish to
purchase and they have no recourse to the law if these do not meet their
expectations.
Bottled water is making huge profits
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 why or
how?
Most consumers will tell you that that
water in a plastic bottle is healthier and tastes better. According to
international reports - with the help of
advertisements, bottled water has gone from "reservoir to faddish luxury
item to mass commodity.” Bottled H2O is being directly or indirectly sold
as: healthy, smart, pure, sexy, clean and simple, it is "the stuff of
life." The question we must ask is now is that a scientific fact or
something we have come to believe because of the marketing by these bottling
companies? Even more worrying is that it
has not been widely reported that in a few countries in the world concerns have
been raised about chemicals leeching into the water from the soft plastic
material of bottles.
And this brings us to the main concern
(besides the high price and thus profit margin for bottling companies) about
the bottled water. There is no government regulation about what constitutes
mineral or “fresh” water and what are the types of inferences bottling
companies can place when advertising or labelling their products. In fact most
bottlers of water will admit they are bottling water from the municipal source
but are “purifying” and adding taste.
Another concern in this day and age of
recycling, is that as consumers we are polluting our environment with these
plastic water bottles that are more expensive that tap water even though it may
or may not be “better for us”. According
to the Sierra Club (One of the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots
environmental organizations in the United States), “Annually the water bottles
themselves take about 1.5 million tons of plastic to manufacture for the global
market.”
Did you know plastics come from oil and
therefore it takes 1.5 million barrels of oil a year? Additionally the
manufacturing process releases toxins into the environment, such as nickel,
ethylbenzene, ethylene oxide and benzene. Even with current plastic recycling
centres, “most used bottles end up in landfills, adding to the landfill
crisis."
As a consumer you must ask yourself before
you buy your next bottle of water: Am I willing to pay more than 50 000% for a
bottle of water that is not regulated and checked for quality while adding to
the pollution of the environment?
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
The Needs of the People
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
The Need for Protection
The Need for Affection
The Need for Understanding
The Need for Participation
The Need for Leisure
The Need for Creation
The Need for Identity
The Need for Freedom
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 different citizens (and their needs) in our population
The Need for Protection
Need: Protection
Qualities: Care, adaptability, autonomy
Description: Every person
has the right to access social security, adequate health facilities and
regulation of a safe working environment. This includes personal security,
financial security, health and well-being and safety net against
accidents/illness and their adverse impacts, as well as the provision of employment
opportunities
The Need for Affection
Need: Affection (meegevoel)
Qualities: respect, sense of humour, generosity, sensuality
Description: Every person
has rights - and the responsibilities that go with these rights. This includes
the ability to share with others, take care of the less fortunate in society
choose who we are intimate with and ensure our privacy is respected. Our
interaction with our natural environment is included in this section
The Need for Understanding
Need: Understanding
Qualities: critical capacity, curiosity, intuition
Description: The right to
education (from the cradle to the grave) allows every citizen to access the
information needed to improve their personal lives. This not only refers to
primary, secondary or tertiary education, but also financial literacy and other
Economic, Social and Cultural (ESC) rights and issues affecting our daily
lives. It also includes the access to Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) and the ability to use these new technologies.
The Need for Participation
Need: Participation
Qualities: receptiveness, dedication, sense of humour
Description: The right to
participate and voluntary association in non-discriminatory organisations.
These refer mostly to civil society and freedom of religion. It also makes
reference to voters’ education and political and cultural tolerance. While
ensuring freedom of speech and association, it insists upon responsibility and
duty of the individual citizen to respect the rights of others
The Need for Leisure
Need: leisure
Qualities: imagination, tranquillity, spontaneity
Description: The right to
relaxation, having fun in places which are intimate or places to be alone. This
also refers to encouraging day-dreams or “future dreaming”.
The Need for Creation
Need: creation
Qualities: boldness, inventiveness, curiosity
Description: Each person has
the need to be creative and be provided with the abilities, skills, work or
techniques needed to invent, build, deign, compose or interpret the world
around us
The Need for Identity
Need: identity
Qualities: sense of belonging, self-esteem, consistency
Description: A person finds
their identity through their language, religion, work, customs, values and
norms. Every person must have the right to interpret their own view of these
and be allowed to practise their identity without harming others.
The Need for Freedom
Need: freedom
Qualities: autonomy, passion, self-esteem, open-mindedness
Description: The need for
freedom allows equality of rights while ensuring differences of opinion allow
us to further develop our personal awareness.
Conclusion
As human beings we have certain needs. In the struggle for
freedom we have won certain political and civil rights. These are not yet
sufficient to give us the dignity we deserve as sons and daughters of the soil.
This is the economic fight we often still hear about. This battle can only be
won if each person as an individual not only insists upon their rights, but
also recognizes their responsibility to give back their community.
“We have fought for our rights. We now affirm our
responsibilities. We acknowledge each of us has a duty to ourselves and our
neighbours.”
MYTHS REGARDING WILLS AND DECEASED ESTATES
- 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.
- · An oral promise of an inheritance is a valid promise.
These are all myths, and here are some
other misunderstood points:
No. You are not allowed to speak from the
grave. For example, in your Will you cannot ask the person appointed as your
executor to carry out your wishes, if to do so would go against any Acts of
Parliament, promulgated regulations or other rules. You may also not make
stipulations which are contra bonos mores
(contrary to public morals), for example by making your son's inheritance
conditional upon his divorcing his wife. You may also not take away the right
of a parent of guardianship of his or her biological child.
No. Strictly speaking, a contract is an
agreement between two or more persons, whereas a Will is a unilateral
(one-sided) declaration of your last wishes. However, the amount you agree to
pay the executor in a Will may be regarded as an enforceable contract.
No. However, if he does so, it is in his
personal capacity. Only funeral costs (burial or cremation) and the cost of a
gravestone (or a niche in a vault, or columbarium) are claims that can be made
against the estate. Other costs, for example telephone and travelling costs and
the cost of funeral refreshments, cannot be claimed unless you specifically
state them in your Will.
Yes. Only the executor may, once he has
been appointed by the Master, withdraw funds and sign documents. (“Signing Powers” and “Power of Attorney” means
is a written authorization to represent or act on another's behalf in private
affairs, business, or some other legal matter.)
No. Interest receivable on your savings
account and investments ceases only upon withdrawal and closure of the account
by the executor. Interest payable on debt, such as mortgage bonds and
hire-purchase agreements, ceases only when the debt has been redeemed.
The executor must honour all contracts
entered into by the deceased prior to death, unless the contract provides for
its lapsing upon death. If the deceased was involved in a civil court case,
then, provided court pleadings have been finalised (the legal term is
‘closed’), the case will usually continue. A criminal case against the deceased
will, however, automatically lapse.
No. His primary task is to follow the
wishes in the Will. He may sell assets only as stipulated in the Will, or at
the request of an heir, or where there is insufficient cash available to settle
claims.
No. However, a child has a right to
maintenance from both parents and, if the surviving parent cannot provide, then
the child’s claim lies against the estate of a deceased parent, and enjoys
preference over the claims of heirs and legatees. A surviving spouse also has a
right to reasonable maintenance. And if you do die without a valid Will, the
provisions of the Intestate Succession Act apply, and an executor appointed by
the Master will distribute your net estate (assets less liabilities) to those
heirs and in the proportions specified in the Act.
If you are older than 18, you have a
responsibility to become financially literate by seeking advice from a
competent advisor on issues of wills and testaments among others.
Zero Tolerance should be Implemented
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 had done. It is thus with this in mind that there have
been calls for traffic fines by given to passengers as well.
While we are
discussing this issue, I would like to enquire why the City of Windhoek does
not increase their writing of fines for jaywalkers. (Jaywalking is a term originating in the United States and widely used
elsewhere that refers to illegal or reckless pedestrian crossing of a roadway.
Examples include a pedestrian crossing between intersections without yielding
to drivers and starting to cross a crosswalk at a signalized intersection (robot)
without waiting for a green indication giving them permission to cross.)
About a year ago I
read in the newspapers about the City of Windhoek Traffic Department writing
out tickets, but have not seen any more news about this continuing, or even
feedback on the numbers of jaywalkers, and how many have paid their sentences.
The main reason
Namibia is becoming a land of accidents, violence against woman, baby dumping
etc. is because we have become a nation of the lawless. In as far as comparing
ourselves with countries throughout the world in terms of crime, we find that
our higher crime rates also include a higher disregard for smaller
transgressions. Thus our politicians and law enforcement agencies should have a
policy of zero tolerance. Think of zero tolerance in the following terms:
Consider a building with a few
broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to
break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building,
and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside. Or
consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates.
Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants.
Thus zero tolerance is
the concept of giving carte blanche to the police for the inflexible repression
of minor offenses.
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