Making A Better World

RACISM, COLOURED PEOPLE AND BLACK NATIONALISM

I WAS shocked by the article ‘Manuel slams ANC spokesman on ‘coloureds’ remarks’ (The Namibian, 3 March) for being such a racist article itself! While addressing a racist incident in South Africa, the journalist made some disturbing racist statements:

1) The article refers to ‘… a mixed-race group of people.’ This is the language of the mentally-challenged apartheid ideologues and the fascists with their delusions about ‘racial purity.’ Some of the recent incidents in Windhoek show how mentally challenged the racists are. The question of racism remains relevant to us in Namibia since we are dealing with the same kinds of issues here.

2) ‘Coloureds – descendants of the British, Portuguese, African tribes and others – were forcibly concentrated in the western region…’ The coloured people were subjected to the Group Areas Act, but were never ‘forcibly concentrated’ as they have always lived in that region. It would seem that this racially-challenged article was written by some journalist who clearly does not understand the history of southern Africa. The historical fact is that most coloured people originate from the Khoi-San, while the descendants of Malay slaves make up the second biggest group in this tribal/ethnic category. The tribal label ‘coloureds’ was invented by British imperialism (to cover up its mineral theft) and perpetuated by apartheid (to continue the looting).

3) ‘…coloureds have helped the opposition Democratic Alliance take control of local government.’ In a democratic society, people can vote for whoever they prefer. Only an autocratic mindset expects coloured people to only vote for one political party. The coloured people in the Western Cape are split right down the centre in that the middle class support the ANC and the working class does not. It is primarily a social class issue in the context of high unemployment in that region.

The ANC’s secret economic negotiations with the apartheid regime agreed on downgrading the secondary industries (especially clothing) and this led to massive job losses in the Western Cape.

The coloured working class has not forgiven the ANC for this betrayal. In any case, the Western Cape has a long history of modern left-wing politics (since 1934) and the people there have never been impressed with black nationalism. So, the insinuation in the article that coloured people in the Western Cape are racist for not voting for the ANC is far-fetched. Since when does black nationalism represent real liberation when it seems to be only interested in going on with the plundering? Perhaps black nationalism is so invested in these tribal categories to cover up its own looting.

For the record, it is mainly due to the voting of ‘white’ South Africans in the Western Cape that the right-wing DA is in power there and it is interesting to speculate about how come the media focus on coloured people. Is it easier to scapegoat a small group perceived to be politically and economically weaker? In the Northern and Eastern Cape, the coloured people vote for the ANC because of different political dynamics. So, maybe one cannot generalize about this issue.

We should also say to Jimmy Manyi and all the black nationalists of southern Africa: there is an ‘over-supply’ (like commodities?) of coloured people in the Western Cape because their ancestors have lived in southern Africa for 15 000 years! We want black nationalists to get rid of their oppressive idea that they are the only true Africans.

Jimmy Manyi, as an example of a black nationalist, does not grapple with the real causes of unemployment and ends up making racist remarks. Besides dehumanizing and degrading coloured people, Manyi promotes a divisive and potentially violent discourse. His statements reveal the disastrous nature of racial affirmative action instead of social-class affirmative action. Black nationalism does not have the answers and represents a danger to progress with its social conservatism.

With regards to the title of this questionable article, it might also be noted that Manyi is not an ANC spokesman, but a South African government spokesperson. ‘Spokesman’ is such a sexist word. Besides being sloppy journalism, this article is factually incorrect and outright racist.
What a pity that the name of the journalist was not printed.

Finally, we should say again that our refusal to accept tribal/ethnic labels is part of the ongoing struggle for social justice in southern Africa. We should build anti-racism. Non-racialism remains our great contribution to humanity.
J B Cloete
Windhoek

Manuel slams ANC spokesman on ‘coloureds’ remarks

JOHANNESBURG – A powerful member of the African National Congress yesterday accused the new government spokesman of making racially insensitive comments that echoed the injustices of the apartheid era.
The fallout could hurt President Jacob Zuma and his African National Congress who are facing local elections in May.
Economic Planning Minister Trevor Manuel, the former finance minister, said spokesman Jimmy Manyi brought shame to the dreams of Nelson Mandela and tarnished the non-racial policies of the ANC by making disparaging remarks in a television interview about a mixed-race group of people classified as ‘coloureds’.
“I know who Nelson Mandela was talking about when he said from the dock that he had fought against white domination and he had fought against black domination,” Manuel, himself coloured, said in an open letter quoted by the Star newspaper.
“Jimmy, he was talking about fighting against people like you,” the letter said.
Manuel was not available for comment and Manyi told the Sapa news agency he would not comment. His remarks were made in 2010 but sparked a national outcry after they were posted on YouTube last week.
The ANC has called Manyi’s comments, made before he was appointed government spokesman last month but while he was a leading official in the Labour Ministry, “unacceptable” but has not asked him to step down.
Manyi, appointed to help Zuma’s government prepare for the polls and push expensive job creation programmes, said in the television interview that there were too many coloureds in the Western Cape - the area that includes Cape Town.
Manyi, speaking in his capacity as a government official and the president of the Black Management Forum, an organisation created to help non-white managers, said coloureds should “spread in the rest of the country ... so they must stop this over-concentration situation because they are in over-supply where they are”.
He then said the concentration in the Western Cape “is not working out for them”.
Coloureds - descendants of the British, Portuguese, African tribes and others - were forcibly concentrated in the western region under apartheid and have mostly remained there 17 years after the end of the racially oppressive system.
The ANC controls all of South Africa’s nine provinces except the Western Cape, where coloureds have helped the opposition Democratic Alliance take control of local government.
Coloured South Africans constitute about three million of the country’s 50 million population made up mostly of blacks. Whites make up around five million.
In his letter Manuel, respected for his role in the fight against apartheid, said Manyi, a black, had “the same mind that operated under apartheid”.– Nampa-Reuters

Press release: Outright discrimination against Coloured community nothing new

The coloured community of South Africa has recently been in the spotlight as a result of some inflammatory and exceptionally offensive statements by prominent ruling party representatives and journalists (Jimmy Many, Kuli Roberts). One can be forgiven for thinking these pejorative and demeaning perceptions of the Coloured community in South Africa could not possibly hold any real currency in the public sector, however, local non-profit organisation SAME (the South African Movement for Equality) says otherwise...and the group says it has conclusive and damning proof. SAME has in its possession conclusive and damning proof which shows that the institutional and disdainful disregard of the coloured community of South Africa is nothing new and is instead an entrenched and systemic malaise that extends deep within South Africa's public institutions, most notably, the SABC (the South African Broadcast Corporation). “Since 2008, SAME has been involved in discussions with the SABC at the highest level over the continued and outright exclusion of coloured South Africans from enjoying equal access to public broadcaster facilities. The coloured community of South Africa, a legal and census defined population group which accounts for 9% of the South African population, is the only census defined group for which the SABC continues to provide absolutely no specific and targeted public broadcaster radio services to, as is the case with every other census defined group. The constitution speaks of equal access to state resources, yet the SABC still does not provide a national radio platform for the coloured group” says SAME chairman, Ronald Dyers. “This media exclusion fuels the feelings of disenfranchisement and gives tangible credence to the coloured community's claims of exclusion and discrimination by the ruling party”.

“In October 2008, SAME entered into discussions with SABC management at the highest level and while a signed undertaking and course of action was agreed upon to remedy the media exclusion of the coloured community from state broadcast facilities, the coloured community still does not have any national radio station and very little in the way of targeted television programming” says Mr Dyers.

“Is it any surprise then that the coloured community in South Africa continues to feel excluded and shut off from the mainstream while even the public broadcaster is guilty of exercising the most pernicious and blatantly visible form of discrimination against a highly vulnerable and irrefutably disadvantaged minority group in South Africa?” says Dyers.

“Government may try to do damage control by distancing itself from the deeply hurtful statements of Jimmy Manyi and the subsequent response by Trevor Manuel, however, it is clear that the anti-Coloured sentiment within government extends to the highest echelons of state apparatus and is a seemingly accepted modus operandi for state bodies, particularly the SABC”.

“SAME would like to call on all progressive and equality loving South Africans who wish to build a more integrated and representative South Africa, to join SAME in its pursuit of equal access to state media for the coloured community and to bring an end to the SABC and the ANC government's hurtful and extremely prejudicial exclusion of the Coloured community from enjoying the edifying fruits of state media facilities. We have a responsibility to uphold our constitution and to empower the youth within our communities to ensure that government does not pay lip service to its espoused ethos of non-racialism on the one hand, while on the other hand, continuing to practise a most vile and regressive form of discrimination against one of South Africa's most vulnerable minority groups. Clearly, it seems that in South Africa, in the ANC government, some groups are more equal than others”

http://www.same.org.za/component/content/article/1-latest-news/49-press-release-outright-discrimination-against-coloured-community-nothing-new

Women in civil society in Africa continue to face major hurdles

Women in civil society in Africa are particularly prone to intimidation and harassment says a new report released today by CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. CIVICUS calls on African governments, regional bodies, the international community and civil society to do much more to protect women human rights defenders on the continent.

Released to coincide with International Women’s Day, the report outlines the major challenges faced by women in civil society in Africa. These include deeply entrenched patriarchal norms and an increased risk of sexual harassment and violence due to the nature of their work.

The report argues that the overall environment for women in civil society in Africa is particularly challenging. “Even in countries with ratified laws and protocols on the protection of women’s rights, there are clear instances where government officials and security forces have shown lack of understanding of these laws, and in some situations, blatant disregard for them,” says Mandeep Tiwana, CIVICUS Policy Manager and one of the co-authors of the report.

Women human rights defenders (WHRD) are more prone to intimidation and harassment due to the nature of their work as compared to their male counterparts, CIVICUS said. Civil society groups working exclusively on women’s rights, have to negotiate around additional sets of challenges and hurdles.

The report, which contains compelling testimonies from activists, points out that rather than engaging with the critical voices from civil society, governments have frequently chosen to silence them, often through harassment, intimidation, threats of closure, arrests and worse.

For African women activists and women’s organisations, these threats are magnified. Defending women’s human rights is often seen by state authorities, and even by communities and family members, as a challenge to their culture, tradition and way of life. On-going armed conflicts on the continent place women activists at even further risk of violence.

“The report is a testament to the courage of hundreds of women civil society activists who carry out their work amid attacks on their reputations, threats to their families and their own personal safety” says Tiwana.

The report found that often WHRDs are viewed with distrust and vilified as women of loose morals, traitors or spies because they do not conform to societal norms.

In Kenya, Tunisia and Egypt, they reported on-going intimidation by dissenters who labelled them “loose women” and their respective organisations “training grounds for lesbians”.

The report cites Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone as countries where WHRDs continually confront sexual harassment and assault with only minimal response from their respective governments.

The report contains this statement from a WHRD in the DRC: “They finally got me when they threatened my children - I couldn’t focus any more. They called and told me, ‘we have your daughter, and we are raping her now’.”

In stamping out the gender abuse of WHRDs in Africa, the report highlights the need for space for the voices of WHRDs to be heard and for civil society to work on strategies to protect women activists. In addition, governments need to be implementing human rights instruments with a gender lens.

“The absence of strong accountability institutions and widespread impunity has left the door open for human rights violations to go unpunished,” Tiwana said. “In many countries independent safe watch dog bodies to protect WHRDs do not exist and in other places they have been co-opted and made redundant by politicians.”

CIVICUS produced the report The challenges faced by women in civil society in Africa with support from the African Women Development Fund and Trust Africa. It is available for downloading from the CIVICUS website: http://www.civicus.org/images/stories/ civicus/Challenges_Faced_by_Women_in_Civil_Society_in_Africa.pdf.

Namibia, Etosha NP

Kuli Riberts article Sunday World - Jou ma se kinders - Eish, I miss daai lippies vannie Kaap

Jou ma se kinders - Eish, I miss daai lippies vannie Kaap - Sunday World (South Africa) 27 February 2011
Bitches Brew Column: Nomakula Roberts

Being from Cape Town, I miss say I miss Cape coloured women.

When I was young, I used to love playing with their silky hair and wished I could get rid of my kinky course variety.
"What’s wrong with you?" asked my friend while applying skin lightener.
"Black is beautiful, why would you wanna be any other race?"
I ignore her and her weave and go back to my dreams of being yellow and speaking like I’m singing.

Coloured girls are the future for various reasons:
They will never leave dark foundation on your shirt after a hug;
You will never run out of cigarettes;
You will always be assured of a large family as many of these girls breed as if Allan Boesak sent them on a mission to increase the coloured race;
They don’t have to fork out thousands on their hair as they mostly have silky hair that doesn’t need relaxers or weaves;
They always know where to get hair curlers and wear them with pride, even in shopping malls;
You don’t have to listen to those clicks most African languages have;
They are the closest thing to being a white woman and we know you black men love them as they look like they’ve popped out of an Usher music video;
Their bruises are more obvious than ours, so if you hit her it will be easier to see;
They don’t have to send their sons to initiation school, where they stand a chance of getting a horrendous infection and even dying.

My friend disagrees with me about coloured women.
She insists that black guys don’t date crazy people.
"What?" she says. "Coloureds are nuts because:

They drink Black Label beer and smoke like chimnys;
They shout and throw plates;
They have no front teeth and eat fish like they are trying to deplete the ocean;
They love to fight in public and most are very violent;
They’re always referring to your mother’s this or that;
They know exactly what Tik is;
They love designer clothes;
They love making love, and leave even the randiest negro exhausted;
They walk around in their gowns and pyjamas during the day.

What is wrong with my friend? I wonder.

So what if folk walk around in their gowns and pyjamas during the day, especially since they will eventually go back to bed?
Why waste washing powder?

Shouting is also sometimes necessary, especially when you speak to folk like Jimmy Manyi, who might not have a clue what he is talking about.

Designer labels are mostly made in the Cape, so why should they not love them?

Referring to one’s mother should also not be an issue, unless a monkey gave birth to you.

Besides, reminding you of your mother shouldn’t be a bad idea. Call her now.

What the hell is wrong with loving sex? Should they hate it?

Just because my friend is a lousy lay doesn’t mean the entire coloured nation should not like protected sex.

Knowing what tik is doesn’t necessarily mean one is using it, I told my daft friend.

Saying they are violent is also a generalisation.

I know plenty of coloured fraudsters and coloured Hari Krishnas.

Of course I miss coloured people. Which other race do you know that is more obsessed with naai masjiene. Oh, and I don’t mean sewing machines.

Besides, only in the Cape would you hear somebody screaming out: Jou ma owe jou hond sex geld!"

(keeping a copy before it gets deleted)

What does Reconciliation mean in Namibia

Why is Reconciliation important to me - My father was in the South African Army that occupied this country. Even when I was arrested in 1988 as part of the uprising, he could not understand my views. With the policy of reconciliation, I was better able to understand and forgive him.

It was disturbing today to look at some of the pictures printed by the Swapo News Editor, Asser Ntinda, today 25 February 2011.

The pictures were truly gruesome - but that was not the most disturbing.The writer seemed to miss completely the spirit of what Reconciliation is.

Identifying ways in which offenders are assisted to redress the material and emotional damage they have inflicted through self-reflection, acknowledgment of responsibility, remorse, and compensation would be an important step towards establishing an environment of reconciliation.

I therefore cut some excerpts from an online paper to once again define what our National Reconciliation should entail in Namibia

What Does Reconciliation Entail?
taken from: http://www.gppac.net/documents/pbp/part1/2_reconc.htm

Reconciliation as a conflict handling mechanism entails the following core elements:
a) Honest acknowledgment of the harm/injury each party has inflicted on the other;
b) Sincere regrets and remorse for the injury done:
c) Readiness to apologize for one’s role in inflicting the injury;
d) Readiness of the conflicting parties to ‘let go’ of the anger and bitterness caused by the conflict and the injury;
e) Commitment by the offender not to repeat the injury;
f) Sincere effort to redress past grievances that caused the conflict and compensate the damage caused to the extent possible;
g) Entering into a new mutually enriching relationship.

Reconciliation then refers to this new relationship that emerges as a consequence of these processes. What most people refer to as ‘healing’ is the mending of deep emotional wounds (generated by the conflict) that follow the reconciliation process.

The essence of reconciliation is the voluntary initiative of the conflict parties to acknowledge their responsibility and guilt. The interactions that transpire between the parties are not only meant to communicate one’s grievances against the actions of the adversary, but also to

...................engage in self-reflection about one’s own role and behaviour in the dynamic of the conflict. In other words, in this kind of dialogue, as much as one attributes guilt and responsibility to the adversary for the damage generated by the conflict, one has to also be self-critical and acknowledge responsibility for his or her own role in the creation or perpetuation of the conflict and hurtful interaction.

The aim of such interaction is that, in the final analysis, each of the parties acknowledges and accepts his or her responsibility and out of such recognition seeks ways to redress the injury that has been inflicted on the adversary, to refrain from further damage, and to construct new positive relationships.

Identifying ways in which offenders are assisted to redress the material and emotional damage they have inflicted through self-reflection, acknowledgment of responsibility, remorse, and compensation would be an important step towards establishing an environment of reconciliation.

What does Reconciliation mean

What Does Reconciliation Entail?
taken from:

Reconciliation as a conflict handling mechanism entails the following core elements:
a) Honest acknowledgment of the harm/injury each party has inflicted on the other;
b) Sincere regrets and remorse for the injury done:
c) Readiness to apologize for one’s role in inflicting the injury;
d) Readiness of the conflicting parties to ‘let go’ of the anger and bitterness caused by the conflict and the injury;
e) Commitment by the offender not to repeat the injury;
f) Sincere effort to redress past grievances that caused the conflict and compensate the damage caused to the extent possible;
g) Entering into a new mutually enriching relationship.

Reconciliation then refers to this new relationship that emerges as a consequence of these processes. What most people refer to as ‘healing’ is the mending of deep emotional wounds (generated by the conflict) that follow the reconciliation process.

The essence of reconciliation is the voluntary initiative of the conflict parties to acknowledge their responsibility and guilt. The interactions that transpire between the parties are not only meant to communicate one’s grievances against the actions of the adversary, but also to

...................engage in self-reflection about one’s own role and behaviour in the dynamic of the conflict. In other words, in this kind of dialogue, as much as one attributes guilt and responsibility to the adversary for the damage generated by the conflict, one has to also be self-critical and acknowledge responsibility for his or her own role in the creation or perpetuation of the conflict and hurtful interaction.

The aim of such interaction is that, in the final analysis, each of the parties acknowledges and accepts his or her responsibility and out of such recognition seeks ways to redress the injury that has been inflicted on the adversary, to refrain from further damage, and to construct new positive relationships.

Identifying ways in which offenders are assisted to redress the material and emotional damage they have inflicted through self-reflection, acknowledgment of responsibility, remorse, and compensation would be an important step towards establishing an environment of reconciliation.

Free business textbook for studying International Business Diploma

Many business owners and managers need to have reference textbooks close at hand when dealing with issues outside their usual focus. To assist, the Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (IMEN)put together this short list of free text books available online to assist you in your business.

The same textbooks are used in the curricula for the International Diploma in Business.

Business Organisation
Management Basics - http://alturl.com/rp6fk
Commercial Awareness for Managers - http://alturl.com/ew5di
Thinking Strategically - http://alturl.com/jj96b

Effective Business Communication
Effective Communication Skills – http://alturl.com/yz2am

Finance
Finance for non-financial managers - http://alturl.com/4dmn7

Human Resources
Managing the Human Resource in the 21st century - http://alturl.com/2f2rm
Generational challenges in the workplace - http://alturl.com/gm2hi

Marketing
Effective Marketing - http://alturl.com/ggeim
Customer Relationship Management - http://alturl.com/58b5s

Who is best on (Namibian) Twitter?

The whole world is becoming focussed on social media and the number of users on Facebook, Twitter, etc. However, very little reliable information or statistics seems to be available about Namibian user and their preferences.

So, while I had very little to do this weekend while sitting in a cold Düsseldorf, I decided to look at what figures I could put together. This first place to start was Twitter. Twitter is the site where I get most of my introductions to a topic after which I may decide to look into it further and click on the link. Because of the limit of only 140 characters, I don’t have to worry much about missing a comment by a friend because some other “friends” has loaded dozens of pictures or played lots of games.

News providers
I started my Twitter search by looking at the Namibian media, that is, the companies or websites who provide information on Namibia. This is what I found in order of the most followers (as at 22.02.11):

#namibia_news - 1,980 followers. Most recent tweet 18 February 2011.
#radiowavefm – 220 followers. Most recent tweet 22 February 2011.
#unam974 – 151 followers. Most recent tweet 26 December 2010
#namibiansun – 136 followers. Most recent tweet 18 February 2011.
#namibiaelection – 125 followers. Most recent tweet 30 March 2010
#freshfm1029 – 129 followers.Most recent tweet 25 October 2010.
#thenamibian – 122 followers. Most recent tweet 11 February 2011.
#exposenewspaper – 113 followers. Most recent tweet 10 February 2011
#mynamibiainfo – 108 followers. Most recent tweet 22 February 2011
#99fmnam – 83 followers. Most recent tweet 22 February 2011. (The DJ’s of this station also have their own tweets and followers)
#namibeconomist - 15 followers. Most recent tweet 13 September 2011.
#republikein_na – 14 followers. Most recent tweet 13 January 2011.

As for my tweets, I have 43 followers and my most recent tweet was 17 February 2011.
Just for fun I also looked up #airnamibia. They have 209 followers and their last tweet was 22 June 2009.

Why give this information?
Perhaps by looking for information about tweets on Namibia will provide more people in Namibia a reason to use this social site. Compared to our uptake of Facebook, the usage on Twitter is way behind.

Is there such a thing as coloured?

I quote from a paper by R van der Ross at the Symposium on Slavery 2008 –
“The question of identity is one which elicits wide, wordy and largely useless response.
In this country there is continuous debate about the matter, and mostly about and from the Coloured people. Who are we? Why? Where from? Where to? Some even ask: Are we? Are there Coloured people? The ridiculousness of these questions is compounded by the attempts at answers: “We are not; we are not Coloured; we are simply human; we are, but we refuse to be called Coloured,” and so into various degrees of assininity. If the matter of mixed descent is raised, it will most likely be met with the response that all the peoples of the earth are mixed.

Of course there is some truth in this, but it evades the other truth namely that which the philosophers call “immediate perception.” We are Coloured because people look at us and regard us as Coloured. Finish en klaar.”
http://alturl.com/f4k9w

Who Am I?

by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhöffer, a young theologian of great promise, was martyred by the Nazis for his participation in a plot against the life of Adolf Hitler. His writings have greatly influenced recent theological thought. This article appeared in the Journal Christianity and Crisis, March 4, 1946.

Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country-house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equally, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were
compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, 0 God, I am Thine!

Predictions for the future of social networking

.... on the future of social networking from the consumer point of view, based on Cheskin Added Value’s research in this area:

Multiple linked social networks: We will be able to customise our social networks for different purposes, and the one-size-fits-all Facebook-type network will decline. We’ll have networks of college friends, real personal friends, personal acquaintances, business contacts, fellow book lovers, Zynga game players, neighbors, foodies, etc. And we won’t have to log into multiple different networks with different rules to make this possible.

Track responses across social networks: We’ll be able to easily track and find posts across different networks and email services. Right now, I communicate with people on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, my Android phone texts, work email, and personal email. It’s hard to remember which service I need to respond to in order to get back to someone.

Reduction of information overload: It will be easier to get relevant articles, blogs, and posts networked to us. It’s more than recommendations from our social graph, because right now that social graph is way too broad. I don’t want to read about desalinization plants, just because a friend is into that topic. Even on Twitter, it’s hard to reduce the amount of input to something I can keep up with. I have to cut off whole people, rather than narrow the topics I want to hear about. Again, this is the holy grail of social networking – to be able to mine our contacts and interests to get the information we want easily. Social networking should reduce information overload, not add to it. The promise of the future is a much improved Stumbleupon.

Ability to have real conversations: We’ll have networks, especially business-related, that have vibrant conversations, the way FriendFeed used to. People commonly have this on Facebook about personal interests, but I haven’t found anything that works well for business, perhaps excepting those uber-connected folks who can get responses quickly. Twitter’s 140 character limit doesn’t work very well for real conversations.

Social networking sites will reshape the future of search: With Facebook potentially rising to challenge the dominance of Google’s users and traffic, and/or integrating to provide greater synergistic value. Social search will become a core part of search, as the social web expands in volume and value.

http://memeburn.com/2011/02/conflicting-ideas-on-the-future-of-social-networking/

How Government should intervene in the financial sector

I have just received a briefing paper from the Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik / German Development Institute concerning "The potential of pro-market activism as a tool for making finance work for Africa: a political economy perspective".

The author argues that:
"This suggests that information on creditworthiness is basically a public good, in the sense that it is non-rival in consumption and it is very costly to exclude anyone from using it. When the market fails to let banks appropriate the returns of information about their costumers, banks will under-invest in the acquisition of such information.
.....
Credit registries give access to clients’ credit history and increase the transparency of borrower quality, which makes it safer for financial institutions to lend to new customers.
.......
The Kenyan Central Bank (CBK) took the initiative and issued a regulation which mandated financial institutions to share information with credit bureaus."

They are funded by Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH. The project this is done under is called "Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A)" copyof the paper can be found oline at http://www.die-gdi.de/CMS-Homepage/openwebcms3.nsf/(ynDK_contentByKey)/ANES-8DNAK4/$FILE/DP%202.2011.pdf

Complaint about Reliance Motors cc

The following was received from a member of the public

I hereby wish to lodge a formal complaint against Reliance Motors cc for poor after sales service delivered to us. I also want to put forward a serious vote of no confidence in this dealer.

Reliance Motors cc is not as trustworthy as their name implies, maybe their cars but definitely not their service. The truth is that they are very reluctant to deliver good after sales service. We had a mechanical breakdown with our car on the 3rd of November 2010 and took it to them on the 4th of November for repairs.

The staff of Reliance Motors is simply not concerned about time, the inconvenience and humiliation we suffered throughout this ordeal. Client service is not a priority for them. They did not even have the decency to inform us once about their progress. We were the ones to phone and enquire on daily basis and even offer our help to speed up things, but to no avail. They simply have no sense of urgency to get the work done or simply do not care.

We are commuting daily to work and need our car desperately and are tired of their excuses, unprofessional and incompetent behaviour. We write this letter out pure frustration, unhappiness and helplessness with our predicament.

Is there any regulation body out there where one can report these arrogant car dealers?

Solving Namibia's economic problems - excerpt from Future Namibia

I read a very interesting piece on “Solving Africa’s Commercial Poaching Pandemic” by Ron Thomson and use his analogy below in relation to our economic problems.

“To begin to solve the problem we have to identify its real causes. This can be likened to the approach to the AIDS pandemic. In AIDS, like in economics, there are two levels that must be looked at. The underlying or “proximate” cause of an AIDS patient’s death – even though he dies of pneumonia or TB – is his primary infection with HIV. Pneumonia and TB – the “ultimate” cause of death – can be treated with modern medicines; but they do not work when the patient’s immune system has been destroyed by HIV. You cannot save an AIDS patient’s life by treating only the ultimate disease unless the proximate cause of the illness is removed.

Namibia’s economic problems have both proximate and ultimate causes, too. The solution must eliminate its proximate causes which are multiple and complex.

They include: a hugely expanding rural population that is moving to the urban areas; illiteracy – especially in regards Information Technology; lack of adequate schooling and medical care facilities; and their constantly escalating states of poverty.

But the principal proximate cause is poverty. Removing poverty from the equation will take lots of money. But where will the money come from if the solution is to be sustainable for Namibia?” [i]

It is time for us to stop the blaming game of “colonial masters” or “the white man”, and tackle our problems with both hands to show that Namibia can solve its own problems.

In this book I have used a wide variety of experiences and quotes from other people around the world that I think can influence and shape our future direction. Not only have I researched the history of countries and economic policies, where possible, I have also consulted with experts in various fields to provide specific solutions which we can use in Namibia. (While doing my research for this section of the book I spent a lot of time on research and quite a bit of time reading through some of the Ancient Greek philosophers. I especially enjoyed reading “A treatise on Government” by Aristotle and would suggest it to any reader. These, and others, I got free of charge from the Project Gutenberg – over 25,000 free books available online.[ii] )

These lessons and advice has been added to my experience and is summarised as policies for a future Namibia at the end of my book.

[i] Paraphrased from - Ron Thomson, Solving Africa’s Commercial Poaching Pandemic – African Sporting Gazette (Volume 11· Issue 3)
[ii] www.gutenberg.org

NTN -National Theatre of Namibia needs help - online Facebook management

Just tried to help the National Theatre of Namibia. Told them not to repost so often (every minute four times come on! All this does is show their own link over and over again on their advert - they of course do not see it, but the rest of us get it posted under each other four times) Guess what they do. Tell me that is marketing. Well they are now officially part of the type of marketing not to do.

They also get the bad customer service award for this week for not appreciating customer feedback. (BTW got a picture of the post for posterity)

If anyone knows the person responsible at NTN - PLEASE help them.

My life is good - living the jet-setting life in Düsseldorf

I am just finishing off this note then I am on my way to my flat here in Düsseldorf, Germany. The past few months have been an uphill battle to get here, but WOW, it was worth it.

This morning I woke up and looked out the window. (First, I must add, that the flat I am in has the most wonderful central heating;-) The view was one of the Rhine river and the skyline of Düssledorf. After a shower, small breakfast with some great coffee - it was off to work. My office is less than 10 minutes walk away and the pathway travels along the river almost the whole way.

At the office most of the collegues greet me and always have time to ask how I am getting along with the German langhuage, and the updating of my knowledge on their new software systems.

At lunch, have to choose from so many various types of bread to go with my chees and salami sandwich (Have decided to take the same filling, just change the bread everyday.)

After lunch, received my laptop (the iPad is not yet ready - damn) and the we finish work at 15:30.
Off for the weekend.

Now why am I telling you?

The past eleven years I have had a dream of creating a centralised computerised economic modelling system for countries in southern Africa. For most of this time, I have struggled and not been financially well off.

BUT, I have enjoyed myself. And when on days like these (85 days in EU), I must remember that all good things come to those who work for them.

SMS Services that hurt

http://www.taramo.me

DO NOT USE THIS. They are a Namibian company that will charge you N$ 8.00 per week though there is no service you receive.

They have this in their fine print and not on their front page.

Hidden in their Terms of Service:
5. PAYMENT
To participate, you must sign-up at www.taramo.me .Part of the mobile services provided by us will include reverse billed premium rate text SMS services.
When you participate, you agree to be bound to the following:

We charge a weekly subscription of N$ 8.00 (excluding VAT). Because it is a weekly subscription, subscription is not automatic, therefore, if you wish to continue to use this services, you must subscribe again.
You receive on the first day a free grab-feed activation;
We charge a daily fee of N$0.99 grab-feed activation;
All transactions and/or payment are final and errors are billed.

Code of conduct for debt in South Africa

A code of conduct released this week between credit providers and debt counsellors is expected to significantly improve the debt counselling process and possibly puts South Africa at the forefront globally in dealing with over-indebtedness.

An estimated 8-million South Africans are indebted with 110 000 people under debt review making debt repayments of R214-million a month with total outstanding debt at R40-billion of which 75% is made up of mortgages.

Every month a further 7 000 people apply for debt counselling. There are 92 000 people whose home loans are now delinquent and face repossession.

The codes of conduct seek to streamline the debt counselling process by standardising the content of debt proposals and payment plans; establishing an ombudsman scheme to resolve disputes; and providing clear guidelines for debt counsellors to determine whether consumers are able to afford to take on more debt.

As part of this code of conduct, realistic timeframes have been set for the repayment of debt and in order to meet those timeframes and ensure that the consumer is able to be fully rehabilitated within a reasonable period, the credit providers have agreed to lower or even cancel their interest on the loan.

Read MORE:

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-12-07-code-of-conduct-on-debt

What your credit listing means

Your bank manager looks at your credit report – Not at You.

This is one list you never want to be on – the Credit Blacklist. A bad credit rating can put your life on hold for many years as it makes getting credit impossible. More and more Namibians are getting caught out, sometime unfairly, and the Namibia Consumer Protection Group felt more information must be circulated to consumers about the issue.

A credit default is a black mark against your name that doesn't wash away and the three Credit Bureaus, (Transunion ITC, Compuscan and Credit Information Bureau Namibia) currently list over 50 000 Namibians that are branded as credit lepers.

I have found that mostly young Namibians are prone to having problems with credit. The advertising makes it sound so easy, “Buy Now, Pay Later”. Unfortunately, when it comes time to pay, these items are not always first on their list. This then causes problems as they start falling in arrears and eventual find themselves blacklisted.

Often, a person does not realise they have a credit black mark on their name till the next time they apply for credit.

Recently, a consumer approached the NCPG about a problem they were facing.

“I have recently had the chance to buy my Uncle’s house. The Government (where I work), has already agreed to give me a housing loan and I qualify for enough from the bank. But now the bank does not want to grant me credit for a black mark from a cash loan company. I spoke to the cash loan company and it turns out they did not cash one of my cheques for the amount owing. I spoke to my bank and explained but they do not accept the explanation.” The consumer, in tears stated, “I cannot believe it. Through no fault of my own, someone is allowed to list me as a bad person!”

There are many other horror stories out there and it would fill an entire magazine to tell them.

What is a credit report?
A credit report is a collection of information about you and how you pay your accounts. It may also include information about how much credit you have available, what your monthly debts are, and other information that can help a lender such as a bank to make a decision about whether you are a good or bad credit risk.

The report itself does not say you are a good or bad credit risk. It is only a tool to assist the lender. Unfortunately, most lenders reject you outright if you are listed at a credit bureau.

Where does all this information come from?
Credit bureaus, (or credit reporting agencies) collect this information from companies, doctors, or any person that you have done a credit business with. These businesses are providing information to the bureau in exchange for information they might require on other customers. The credit bureau sells your data for lenders to make a decision on your creditworthiness.

What is in my report?
Personal identifying information
This includes your name, address (current and previous), ID number, telephone and cellular number, your current and previous employers, and possibly also your marital status.
Credit History
This section includes information on your banking history, stores where you have credit cards, and possibly also business who have granted you credit such as doctors, dentists, and even your pharmacy. It includes information about each account you have, such as when did you open it, what type of account is, how much credit you have been given, what your your monthly payment is and how well you pay your account.
Public records
This includes judgements against you or any other court interventions. This is easily available from the courts.
Inquiries
This section indicates any credit business that has requested to see your information. This section is not always available to you as an individual. It should also include any companies that have bought your information for marketing purposes.

What is not on my report?
• Income
• Bank account balances
• Race (cultural group)
• Religion
• Criminal records
• Driving records (speeding fines, drinking convictions, etc.)
• Maintenance defaults (not yet)

What should you do?
Get a copy of your credit report, have a look at it and make sure you understand it so that before you apply for your credit you know where you stand

Mobile Contacts Databases for sale:

The company Credit Information Bureau Namibia has developed a consumer and business database of Namibia. The complete database comprises of approximately 1 million individuals and 10,000 businesses. CRIB provides mailing and telemarketing lists to clients in the financial and personal services industry.

The company has filtered this database to create a "Professionals Database" made up of over 15,000 mobile numbers of high-net worth professionals throughout Namibia.

HOW LIST RENTAL WORKS
Most of the lists we have available are offered on a list rental basis, ie they are supplied for once off use only at a rate quoted as a cost per 500 individual consumers or company executives. For example - the cost to rent 1,000 professionals from the Namibian Professionals Database will be 1,000 x N$ 3.50 per 1000 for once off telephone, mailing and fax usage = N$ 3,500.00 excluding VAT. A processing charge of N$ 500.00 is also charged for any order. We will supply you with counts and quotes based on your selection criteria at no cost. Once you have decided what you want to rent we will invoice you and ask you to sign a list order confirmation. Once we have received the signed confirmation and proof of payment we will supply a zipped file of the data via e-mail in the file format you require (usually MS Excel).

You can contact Milton Louw at tel +264 61 222 227 for further information.

Namibia: WACS cable will arrive in 2011 but monopoly legacy holds back prices and growth

Namibia’s regulatory position is like stepping back ten years if you’re more used to the competitive rough and tumble in Africa’s more developed markets. The historic incumbent Telecom Namibia still has some monopoly privileges and the new incumbent, Government-owned mobile operator MTC is in danger of behaving in much the same way. Sadly the country has closed its regulator with a view to opening a new one. However, this has meant all things regulatory have gone into a holding pattern. Russell Southwood looks at the key market barriers that are holding things back.

Historic incumbent Telecom Namibia has an infrastructure monopoly and although the power utility NamPower has fibre assets, it has only recently tendered them: MTC (which may build a link to South Africa), Telecom Namibia and some ISPs are all interested in the capacity.
Telecom Namibia invested in what was then Africa’s only real international cable, SAT3 but didn’t invest enough to get a landing station. This is something it has regretted ever since because for many years South Africa’s incumbent Telkom South Africa would over-charge it for transit to the SAT3 landing station in South Africa.

But now if you want to get fibre access to South Africa to Telkom South Africa’s SAT3 landing station, you have no choice but to use Telecom Namibia. According to one of its customers:”The route this side of the border is 45% more expensive than what Telkom South Africa offers (in a competitive environment) on a distance basis on the other side of the border.” Telecom Namibia also has a deal with Neotel (in which it is a shareholder) for Seacom bandwidth, further limiting alternative competitive offers.

The new WACS cable will arrive in Q2, 2011 but there are understandable concerns in the market that Telecom Namibia will be the monopoly owner of the only international landing station with no other independent competitive route to South Africa being available. If MTC opened up a route, it would simply be a second Government company offering an alternative and one run by a management that is probably the least price competitive on the continent. In other African countries joint public-private partnerships are being set up to ensure equitable access to the landing station and fair, cost-oriented pricing but there is not even a discussion about this in Namibia.

Pricing has not been set and Telecom Namibia’s formal response to its customers is “it’s too early to say”. But well-informed industry sources say US$ 1,686 per mbps has been discussed. Currently customers are paying US$2,248, about three-quarters of the current satellite equivalent. Both prices seem very high when compared to the kind of wholesale prices available across the border in the more competitive South Africa.

Inevitably this has a knock-one effect to retail pricing strategy for the Internet. One aggrieved customer told us:“At a retail level, we’re paying US$15-20 per mbps. It’s immoral and they should be sent to hell for it”.

Telecom Namibia is owned by NPTH, a state holding company that also holds the Post Office, the new mobile incumbent MTC and a properties division for all three companies. The CEO of Telecom Namibia is the Chair of MPTH. Whilst most acknowledge that there has yet been no practical example of a conflict of interest, it is undoubtedly as one person told us “a fundamentally incestuous” way of running the different companies. There are no currently plans to privatise Telecom Namibia. It has international shareholdings in Multitel in Angola and Neotel in South Africa but looks likely it might pull out of the former.

Both policy and regulation in the sector seem to be in a holding pattern for as one industry insider told us: “The biggest problem is the Namibia Communications Commission (NCC), which is supposed to be changed to the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN). There’s very few staff left from NCC and not enough are qualified.” There were only 7 staff when NCC ceased to operated. There has been no sign yet of the Gazetted announcement promised in early October to give life to the body.

A good example of the impact of the regulatory holding pattern is number portability. NCC wanted number portability (which might open up competition in the mobile market) but whether this goes ahead, it will now wait for CRAN to “get its feet under the desk”. The new Chair of CRAN is Lazarus Jacobs, a businessman, co-owner of the Windhoek Observer and a pioneering stand-up comedian (No jokes, please.)

In terms of the mobile market, there are three players: Telecom Namibia (with its Switch product); Leo and MTC. Switch (a CDMA 2000 product) was an attempt by Telecom Namibia to act as a spoiler to Leo’s entrance into the market. There was subsequently an argument as to whether the service should be limited to the towns only and in the end there was a trade-off in which it got permission to have national coverage in exchange for there being more than one international gateway. It says it currently has 200,000 subscribers. However, Switch is likely to be closed down and Telecom Namibia will go into GSM.

This makes Leo, which was launched 3.5 years ago, the main challenger. It was set up by local investors including NamPower and Old Mutual with a Norwegian management contractor. Eventually 100% of its shares were bought by what was then Orascom’s Telecel subsidiary. By all accounts, it has the cheapest network to call on but has not made much of dent on MTC, which had many years as sole operator in which to entrench itself. Leo started to offer 3G in Windhoek a couple of months ago and has recently launched Blackberry handsets.

MTC is the largest mobile player and is 66% owned by the Government through NPTH and 34% by Portugal Telecom, which provides strategic management and key personnel. It is offering iPhones (which it did before South Africa) and iPads but does not have a Blackberry offer. It has 85% of voice business and probably 60% of all markets by value, enough for it to be considered as having significant market power. There is an agreement between CRAN and the Competition Commission on addressing issues of this kind either jointly or by CRAN alone but action will depend on CRAN getting its teeth into the barriers that affect the market.

None of the mobile operators operate m-money services like M-Pesa but Mobipay was recently launched. The Bank of Namibia gave Mobicash Payment Solutions authorisation to operate a mobile payment system where clients pay for goods, as well as transfer money, using money that is virtually stored on their cellphones.

The absence of number portability makes it hard for the challenger to peel off new subscribers from the incumbent mobile operator:”People don’t shift their number easily,” was the refrain from all sides. Leo does dual SIM card Samsung handsets (in which unusually, both SIMS are active and you don’t have to switch manually) in an effort to overcome this problem.

In terms of the Internet, there are probably around 120,000 subscribers and MTC has
3G subscribers in the low tens of thousands. By all accounts, it is a relatively slow-moving and conservative market. There are no signs of triple play offers and no e-commerce worth speaking of.

Telecom Namibia’s iWay subsidiary is the largest market player with 60% of the market and it launched ADSL two years ago. The key players are: MTN Business or corporate customers (formerly Verizon/UUNet); ITN (locally owned) and Africa Online (Telkom South Africa) which is completing its merger with MWeb.

Telecom Namibia supplies ADSL wholesale to ISPs but it took one ISP 15 months to get a reseller agreement and obviously it needs to forced to offer wholesale and retail in an equitable way to all players in the market. ITN and Africa Online offer Wi-MAX services.

Although small in population terms, Namibia has a buoyant economy and a great deal more potential than is currently being realised. Perhaps the arrival of CRAN will help take off the artificially imposed brakes but don’t hold your breath.

Proposal for Joint Education Programme for Israeli and Palestinian Administrators

Background
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an on-going dispute between the Jewish and Arab peoples living in Palestine under Ottoman or British rule.

There are numerous issues to resolve before a lasting peace can be reached, including strong emotions relating to the conflict on both sides; Palestinian concerns over Israeli settlements and land; status of Jerusalem; Israeli security concerns over terrorism, safe borders, incitements, violence and Palestinian refugee issues.

These are encapsulated as the six core issues:
• Jerusalem
• Palestinian refugees of the 1948 war
• Israeli settlements in the West Bank
• Israeli security concerns
• International status
• Water resources

Peace proposals
Generally speaking, the peace process is driven by the US and Israel’s Arab neighbours, most prominently Egypt. The proposals are for either:
a. Two-state solution
This would entail the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside an independent Jewish state.
b. One-state or binational state
This would mean all of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and West Bank would become a bi-national state with equal rights for all

In either of these scenarios, it is expected that Israeli and Palestinian administrators will have to work together to manage the day-to-day running of their state(s). These include issues such as border control of goods and people, education systems, water resource management, etc.

Education Proposal
It is proposed that present and future administrative employees (public administration graduates) be identified from both sides and be invited to participate in training programmes in Germany that focus on these specific administrative issues. The curriculum will focus not only on the necessary educational qualification necessary but will also include classes on integration, and the potential solutions for the six core issues.

It is also possible to have some of the classes presented by recognised experts (in administration issues and politics) from both sides of the conflict.

Contribution to the Employment Service Bill By Chief Ankama

PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
September 2010
BY Chief Ankama, SWAPO MP & Deputy Minister: MWT

Comrade Speaker
Fellow MPs

The Bill on the floor of this eminent House in my view is long overdue. Almost two years ago for three consecutive sessions of parliament I tabled here a motion on unemployed Namibians both professional trained and those without. When I motivated the said motion for the first time, the idea was to get a prompt reaction from the floor of this august house across the political spectrum represented here. Sadly the debate was shoddy and it had to tabled for the second time in hope for improved contributions.
Even for the second motivation many of us in this house did not take the motion on unemployed Namibians as serious shown by the poor debate and therefore the motion was re-tabled for the third consecutive time.

Comrade Speaker
Honourable Members

The Employment Service Bill squarely responds to motion on unemployed Namibians with or without professional qualifications as tabled during the last session of our parliament which was aimed to; (quoting myself-open quote)

1. discuss, assess and ascertain the seriousness of unemployed Namibians with professional trainings and qualifications obtained from recognized educational institutions here in Namibia or abroad;
2. which further examine the general unemployment of all able bodied people in Namibia in view of government sponsored initiated projects such as the green schemes, agricultural colleges in the country and vocational training institutions as a matter of example.
3. it challenged the government and private sector partnership to open up in the provision of relevant skills and creation of job opportunities for the unemployed Namibians.
4. and insisted that unemployment be critically investigated in relation to our national investment policies and further discover the unemploy-ability of all those unemployed for recommendation and appropriate action in favour of their predicament. (Close quote)

Comrade Speaker
Honourable Members

Now the Employment Service Bill before us as introduced by the Hon. Minister of Labour and Social welfare, seeks our undivided support for us to meet the unemployment situation in our country head-on and thereby suppress financial dependency, economic trauma and criminal activities just to mention but a few.
My focus is more on the Employment Service bureau –article 13 and my concern is mostly centred on the questions of;
1. how much we know about employees and employers out there including private institutions and individuals who by hooks or crooks hop from one employment opportunity to the other without notice (as employees) or those (employers) who fire and hire job-seekers without registration. In other words, the regulatory mechanism thereof.
2. Reference to the motion on unemployed Namibians with or without professional qualifications tabled earlier here I called for the
“Establishment of a centralized research centre in the country, with decentralized data bank to, readily facilitate access of data for private and collective research and planning. “ This tallies with article 14 sub-articles 1 and 2 under the heading ‘integrated employment information system’ on page 10 of the Employment Service Bill.

Comrade Speaker
Honourable Members
I cannot let go without taking issues with the current system of recruitment and filling of vacancies in our ministries and perhaps state owned enterprises. One can call it a confusing and perhaps discriminatory or some kind of a pathetic recruitment system. Such a questionable system comrade speaker is bamboozled by individuals within our employment, those dishonest people who are entrusted with responsibilities of recruitment and management. It may partly be due to a number of conflicting laws we have which some may need be repealed or those which may need amendment including the public service act and the likes of tender board act and some others.

Comrade Speaker
Honourable Members
Recruitment in our system has become a serious concern. Some departments in our ministries and agencies are turned into mini-empires and are run in a mafia style management where some individual heads of such units freeze vacancies which budgeted for on their establishment for years allegedly waiting for their next of kin to graduate from institutions of learning or to complete the required years needed for consideration of promotion. Instead other Namibians who may be readily qualified for promotion are prevented from applying as a result of frozen vacant posts.
I was also reliably informed that even foreigners are benefitting from these crooking behaviours by being extending their contracts indefinitely.

Comrade Speaker
Honourable Members
It is therefore in my view not just enough to pass the Employment Service Bill alone without identifying those laws that need be repealed, those need amendment and those need harmonised. I further would like stress review of policies and regulation which go along with the laws that we are enacting in order to simplify for example the SWAPO party election manifesto which is the SWAPO party government working document leading this vibrant nation towards vision 2030.

Motion on Unemployed Namibians with or without Professional Qualifications

PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FEBRUARY 2009
BY: Chief Ankama, SWAPO MP

Comrade Speaker, I regard this motion as an extraordinarily important one, not just to me but to other many Namibians if not all. This is the third time that I move this motion in the house. It first lapsed during the first term of 2008 when parliament went into recess and then re-introduced during the last term of last year but ended without reaching its intended goal, the goal of finding a lasting directive to solving unemployment situation in Namibia. Now comrade Speaker, I am here again standing to re-introduce the motion on unemployed Namibians with or without professional qualifications, accompanied by some amendments.

The motion seeks to:
1. discuss, assess and ascertain the seriousness of unemployed Namibians with professional trainings and qualifications obtained from recognized educational institutions here in Namibia or abroad;
2. this motion equally should include in our discussion the general unemployment of all able bodied people in Namibia in view of government sponsored initiated projects such as the green schemes, agricultural colleges in the country and vocational training institutions as a matter of example.
3. This motion should further challenge the government and private sector partnership to open up in the provision of relevant skills and creation of job opportunities for the unemployed Namibians.
Correspondingly this motion urges that unemployment be critically investigated in relation to our national investment policies and further discover the unemploy-ability of all the above mentioned people for recommendation and appropriate action in favour of their predicament.

RATIONALE
We all know or see many Namibian graduates from the University of Namibia, Polytechnic, Vocational training institutions, colleges of education and some with foreign qualifications. Individuals as they are, they talk about their disappointment and frustrations with regard to institutions where they obtained qualifications. They also talk about “a corrupt” recruiting system in both the public and private sector. That people with no professional qualifications, for instance with grade 12 are being preferred for professional job opportunities above trained candidates. This may be the reason why some divisions, departments and offices both in public and private services, do not perform to the expected standard of their clients.
Further, when we come to work every day, we see many able bodied Namibians sitting at traffic lights or along the street pavements in hope for someone to pick them up for a casual one –off job for a day if lucky.
Many of these are very young Namibians whose energy could be maximally utilised for the good of this country.

Comrade Speaker, hon. Members, we are all witnesses to this degrading situation of unemployed Namibians with or without qualifications. Many if not all of these people are very young, energetic, full of zest and thus able to do some good work.
However the questions are;
1. Why and how come that we keep on training people for fun while Namibia is in dire need for skilled people?
2. Why can’t we create incubation centres or units within the sectors of Agriculture, forestry, construction or fishing industry just as an example for us to produce?
These could help equip the unemployed Namibians with practical skills. Such incubation centres can collaborate in terms of academic theory with our national institutions of education and training for a joint certification of the in-service trainees. After graduation, those who wish can then be organised in co-operative companies with start-up facilities and grow themselves both socially and economically into the world of authenticity.

Others may want to go their own way by establishing own companies or sell themselves to work abroad because of their skills, and thereby bringing money into Namibia. The system of incubation centres /units will also help the country in general to unlock competition of productivity and trade, thus stimulating fast economic growth.

APPROACH
Comrade Speaker, hon. Members
I am 1001 % convinced that establishment of a centralized research centre in the country, with decentralized data bank to, readily facilitate access of data for private and collective research and planning, is essential. I know we have a number of research units in various institutions around the country, such as in ministries, institutions of education and those in private, but do you know how difficult it is to access data from many of these institutions? This is one of the many reasons why we fall short in planning to determine e.g., the number of classroom needed for the first graders, space of learners for grade 10, we fail to determine how many math, science teachers we will need in 5 years time or the quota for electrical engineers we shall need in 10 years time.
Having a one-stop research centre in the country does not mean that we should to away with the existing ones. It simply translates in improving our efficiency in planning, budgeting and service delivery. With an ICT act soon in place, ministries, entities and individual citizens may be able to access data on line when they so want for own purposes.
In simple terms, this will help individual students or anybody so wish to do appropriate planning, advising, setting up projects goals, reviewing successes of programs, prioritising students’ careers etc, etc.

Comrade Speaker, hon. Members
To address the situation of unemployment and do better placement of our professional cadres where they can perform with vigour, we need to plan better, and to do so, we need to be guided by empirical data. Data that are correlated, continually updated and data that are ever accessible when needed. This is a necessary foundation for us to meet our national developmental agenda.
Having this in place, we will have low risk of having both semi and professional trained human resource roaming our streets.
In addition, we will be in a better position as a country to tackle the overall unemployment situation countrywide.

CONCLUSION
I appeal that this motion be discussed with the zeal it deserves to lead to a desirable resolution. Further it is my appeal that finally this motion be referred to an appropriate committee for research, public input and proper recommendations.
So I move comrade Speaker!

More Namibians have access to banking – World Bank

By: Milton Louw

The banking population in Namibia has increased substantially in 2009 according to the World Bank’s Financial Access 2010 report released on Thursday, 16 September. The number of deposit account holders in Namibia has grown by 23 percent, with statistics confirming the resilience of the seven commercial banks during a year weighed down by the international financial crises.

According to the report, more than three quarters of the population (752 per 1000 adults) hold deposit accounts and 20 percent have loans with financial institutions. In comparison, the report shows that sub-Saharan Africa had an average of 163 deposit accounts per 1000 adults and only 28 bank loans per 1000 adults.

In addition the report shows that the disbursement of loans shrank across sub-Saharan Africa last year, with Namibian loan accounts declining in volume by 36 percent.

The most remarkable was that Namibia scored the highest with 1185 “Depositors with Other Depository Corporations” per 1000 adults. No other country on the Continent, or in any developing country for that matter, scored as high. In fact, Namibia is placed 16th in the world. To put that in perspective, Austria at number one scored 4785 and Italy, two places above Namibia, scored 1285 per thousand adults.

The Financial Access 2010 Report stresses consumer protection, financial literacy and rural, SMME and savings promotion as critical in the spread of services and products to unbanked populations. The World Bank's researchers note that while consumer protection legislation is in place in most countries, implementation and enforcement is often lacking.

"Legislation is often broad and does not cover issues specific to the financial industry," said a researcher. "Only half of the economies (studied in the Report) have legal provisions restricting unfair and high-pressure selling practices and abusive collection practices.

"Regulators in only about half of the economies are empowered to issue warnings or impose fines on financial institutions violating consumer protection regulations. A public notice of violation - one of the most effective deterrence tools - can be used in only about a third of economies." According to the Report, Namibia scores well across five critical areas, which include consumer protection, financial literacy and rural, SMME, savings and microfinance promotion.

The Financial Access 2010 Report encompasses survey responses from 142 economies, including Namibia, and analyses changes that took place in the banking landscape in 2009. The Financial Access 2009 Report covered 139 economies.

A consumer law in Namibia should protect people who are renting

A Namibian Consumer Protection Act should specifically target unfair discrimination and enforce the right of equality in the consumer market. The Act must put the onus on the landlord to prove that he is not discriminating in any way against a tenant on the basis of things like race, gender, nationality, and even income.

In addition, we believe the new Act should allow for automatic renewal of the rental agreement. This will prevent landlords from using this as an excuse to terminate when the tenant wishes to stay. At present many agents and landlords are using the end of the year contract to get rid of tenants so they can increase the rent amount for the next person. Normally the rent will only go up by around ten percent, and the landlords are pushing up the prices to the new tenants by a lot more.

Lastly, we propose that the Consumer protection Act must include the right to fair and honest dealings. “No physical force, coercion, undue influence, pressure, duress or harassment may be employed to evict a tenant or compel them to sign a lease."

As an example, I quote from personal experience.

Last year, I was a renting near to the Zoo Park in Windhoek. I was on the farm at the time and had made arrangements as to my monthly payment. As agreed, I came from the farm and paid my outstanding rent and prepaid for two months.

The owner in the meantime decided to cancel the lease agreement with all tenants and change the building into office space. They thus gave all tenants two months notice to leave. I had paid a deposit so knew that I still had sufficient funds with the agent till the end of the period.

But the renting company wanted to get rid of all the tenants and make sure they were gone. So the estate agent "forgot" to enter my late payment and had their lawyers prepare a judgement. As you can imagine, I was very shocked to have the Sheriff of the Court appear at my door to throw me out. The worst part is that the Sheriff took my furniture even though the outstanding amount on the account had been paid.

Of course, there was nothing I could do. The lawyer for the company was also a Director of the same company and would not listen to any explanation.

Once the sheriff had sold my furniture, the lawyer had the audacity to let me know there was a shortfall on the outstanding account.

I called the lawyer and estate agent and explained that they were using a wrong account and the estate agent still owed me my deposit - which was more than any outstanding amount.

They promised to come back to me. Yeah right, almost a year later and still no response.

So what can you do before the law is in place?

You should write down the events that took place and make copies of all correspondence between yourself and the landlord. Once you have completed a written explanation, send this to the Estate Agents Board of Namibia. This is a statutory body under the Ministry of Trade and Industry responsible for making sure these landlords and estate agents comply with the law.

Now you might wonder why I did not follow this advice. The Sheriff of the Court under instructions of the agent had taken all my furniture including my computer equipment, thrown all my belongings on to the street. Poof, all my documentation and proofs of payment were gone.

Interview with Milton Louw on the above issues:
1. Does Namibia have a Consumer Protection Act?
No. However, the Namibian consumer is protected by various other laws, mostly industry specific such as in banking, insurance, medical, etc.

2. Is there plans to table such a law in parliament?
The Ministry of Trade and Industry has been talking to various role-players such as business, statutory bodies, consumer groups, etc on what form the law should take. Their "primary considerations were that Namibian consumers were experiencing unscrupulous and unfair trading practices, and that existing avenues to obtain redress are inadequate or completely absent." A workshop on this topic was held in September 2009 and the Ministry of Justice was requested to prepare a draft law. We have not had any more feedback since March this year.

3. What are the issues you would like to be put into the law? You referred in your email newsletter and on the Internet to issues with people hiring house and flats?
A Namibian Consumer Protection Act should specifically target unfair discrimination and enforce the right of equality in the consumer market. The Act must put the onus on the landlord to prove that he is not discriminating in any way against a tenant on the basis of things like race, gender, nationality, and even income.

4. How will this affect the complaints about high rentals in Namibia
We believe amongst others that the new Act should allow for automatic renewal of the rental agreement. This will prevent landlords from using this as an excuse to terminate when the tenant wishes to stay. At present many agents and landlords are using the end of the year contract to get rid of tenants so they can increase the rent amount for the next person. Normally the rent will only go up by around ten percent, and the landlords are pushing up the prices to the new tenants by a lot more.

5. What about landlords or estate agents throwing out people on to the street
we propose that the Consumer protection Act must include the right to fair and honest dealings. “No physical force, coercion, undue influence, pressure, duress or harassment may be employed to evict a tenant or compel them to sign a lease."

6. What can a consumer do if they feel unfairly treated by an estate agent?
The Estate Agents Board is under the Ministry of Trade and Industry with the mandate to regulate and control certain activities of estate agents in the public interest. They can be contacted about any complaint and they have specific procedures to deal with complaints.

Making A Better World - Milton Louw