Making A Better World

Consumer Protection an absolute Necessity in Namibia!

Mihe Gaomab II

Friday 1st April 2011 is the watershed event in the historical development for a broad based consumer movement in South Africa. South Africans have lived in something close to the consumer dark ages for many years that was plagued by historical legacy of disempowerment for consumers. The consumers in South Africa and Namibia alike are suffering enormous weight of “small print” and tedious “terms and conditions” when almost about buying anything under the sun. These were made further difficult by purposefully having unclear hire purchase contractual arrangements to paying the price for a service provider's inability to cancel a contract whether subscribing for a gym facility or paying for a unwanted service on a periodic basis, which is normally a year.
Ever since political liberation and independence for South Africa and Namibia, concentrated economic sectors and lack of strong consumer and political will against the need for effective consumer protection have greatly disenfranchised and disempowered consumers.

This is greatly to change on 1st April 2011, when the new Consumer Protection Act (CPA) comes into effect with strong support from the consumers and politicians alike. Namibian support for the need for consumer protection has also culminated with a strong and effective consumer division at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

There has also been increased awareness created led by the vibrant grassroots consumer organisations such as the Namibia Consumer Trust, Namibia Consumer Protection Group, and the Namibia Consumer Lobby.

All these bodies are increasingly using social media such as “Facebook” to increase awareness on consumer issues and the need to ensure legislation for the consumer. The Law Reform and Development Commission have also been aggressive lately to ensure that Namibia follows suit on the heels of South Africa to develop Consumer Protection Policy and Law in Namibia. Further, Ministry of Justice held in 2009 a ground breaking workshop to sensitise on consumer protection from a legal perspective.

There is also considerable effort in terms of financial literacy to bring consumer rights to the public domain in the country. Ministry of Finance, Bank of Namibia and NAMFISA as well as other cooperating partners such as SME Compete, NCCI and GIZ can indeed be complemented with embarking on a nationwide financial literacy programme to educate the public on consumer financial education.

The Namibian Competition Commission has started to interrogate the link between consumer protection and competition policy and law. In fact, the Commission is busy drafting a historical research study that will as an outcome propose concrete recommendations with regard to the strong relevance between Consumer and Competition Protection in Namibia. As evidence shows, having only one without the other compromises the attainment of the purpose for which the Competition Commission has been established for.

But then, what really does the Consumer Protection do and how is it link to the Competition Policy and Law. In short, what will the Act do the South African consumers now that they have reached his historical milestone.

Undoubtly, the Act will have many implications for businesses, who will be called to account, legally speaking, in instances that traditionally generated only a knee jerk reaction of consumers that they can’t do anything. Businesses have also been apologetic to any credit agreement dispute with consumers and in fact power relations remain highly skewed in favour of businesses when consumers wanted to follow up on contract terms, product safety, fair pricing, or even product defects to mention but a few.

One thing is clear, consumers will be significantly more empowered. In fact, South African consumers can now stand up for ourselves and be counted. The Consumer Movement will be revolutionised and enforcement can assist them to score on big points with businesses.
All does however not look rosy. Consumers need to become educated to know more about the provisions of the Act, and how to approach the consumer in a confident, purposive and responsive manner knowing that the law is on our side. The success of the Act depends on how Consumer Bodies in South Africa get their act together and all effort depends however on their willingness and effort to expose any infringement on consumer rights. Lawyers are told to take a back seat but they are also crucial to bring the consumer complaints to book and to make sure that businesses pay for their alleged malpractices.

The yeast of the truth is that the Consumer Protection Act has real teeth and its National Consumer Commission is given the bark it needs to bring businesses in line. Companies and Businesses that fail to comply with its terms can face penalties as severe as an administrative fine of up to 10% of annual turnover - or a fine of R1 million. Businesses in South Africa has realised this and are proactively changing their operations to conform to the provisions of the Act.

Of course, to be an active consumer, there is need that South Africans need to understand their rights, and the responsibilities of service providers, industry players and government are clearly defined in the Act. Namibians ought to take heed and here are some of the highlights of the Act:

“Oshoto” or Lounge Privacy finally – Most South Africans and Namibians have been bombarded and harassed by businesses of taking unsolicited sales calls, junk emails and SMS’s. The Act takes very necessary privacy action, allowing you to demand that any company that contacts you without you asking them to do so removes you from its database. Even better, when you're filling out a contract or membership form, online of offline, you must be given the choice to specify that you do not want to be bothered by advertising.

At last Swakopmund Coastal Cooling off – Ever regret that buying a Vacuum Cleaner from a Sales guy visiting you at home just to get rid of him or her. Alas, no need to despair. The Act says companies must now offer you a cooling off period to cancel an advance reservation, booking or order. This measure gives consumers the ability to recover from the heat of sales moment and confirm their decision after consideration. The act also makes it illegal for companies to automatically renew contracts as they expire. From now on, they'll need permission in writing from you before they can renew. And, even better, suppliers and service providers you hold contracts with are now obliged to communicate with you when they increase prices.

No more gobbledekook or English jargon- One of the most important changes the Act brings is a legal obligation on companies communicating with consumers to do so in plain, simple language. Companies now have to communicate with consumers in plain language that any reasonable person can understand in their adverts, media statements and terms and conditions. This isn't only a measure to reduce overwhelming consumer annoyance – it also seriously empowers consumers and means companies can no longer dupe you with fine print you haven't read.

Your right to say no to misleading or false marketing and advertising. The Act will make it far easier for consumers to take action when a company provides bad or defective goods or services. According to the Act consumers can stop legally misleading and false and deceptive advertising, marketing, and service. Consumers have also a legal right to cancel any promotional scheme they signed up for within 20 working days' notice. Sounds fair, isn’t it!

Do unto those as they would like to be done unto you; Remember that time you got thrown literally to a different flight because the airline had 'overbooked' or remember when businesses require you to choose their service no matter what by constrained choice? Remember how frustrated you are when deals are offered by discounts and promotions and yet it is so ridiculous? Well, Namibians, times have changed in South Africa. Now, if you miss a flight because the airline sold more tickets than it had seats, the airline must refund your ticket, with interest, and not just hand out vouchers for the missed booking.

This Act also looks to protect consumers against generally fraudulent schemes and offers (remember pyramid related schemes or Ponzi schemes in Namibia, BON take note). To put it simply, companies indulging in overselling (a polite term for commercial lying) and under delivering will be punished.

Once locked in Contract, you are forever doomed is over - Signing your life away by mistake is no longer going to be so easy, thanks to the Act. Even if you have agreed to a contract with your signature, companies creating one-sided contracts that clearly favour themselves will be taking a real chance. The court now has the power to redraft clauses or to order the company to change unfair terms and conditions.

Good Deal, Good Product, Good Life - The Act also includes clauses designed to ensure that consumers receive goods that are of "good quality, free of defects and reasonably suitable for the purpose for which [they were] required". In a nutshell that means when the product is delivered, it must do what they say it will in the advert. If it clearly doesn't, or if it arrives in a terrible condition, you, the consumer, are totally within your rights to take action.

Voetstoots and SMS Competitions - Suppliers, particularly in the car industry, will have to let consumer know of all defects of your purchase and consumer have to agree to buying the product in that condition. When entering competition, consumer will not be allowed to charge an exorbitant R5 or R10 to enter an SMS or MMS competition, but will have to stick to the preapproved rates by regulation.

All this things above seem to be too good to be true. In fact, knowing consumer rights before and treatment mooted to them by businesses in the past, the Act in fact will make it far easier for South Africans to enforce their rights as consumers, and, importantly, to go through the process of claiming damages or compensation when consumers have ended up on the wrong end of a commercial transaction. The Act is also small business friendly in the sense that companies who earn less than N$3 Million are not subjected to the conformity of the Act and Hawkers from the informal sector do not have to comply thus avoiding any cost of regulation associating to full compliance. But they are all protected as a consumer.

This development in South Africa can’t be divorced from Namibia given the closeness and semblance of the two economies. One thing is clear. All involved in consumer issues in Namibia are going to watch developments with keen interest in South Africa and remind themselves continually that they wish they can be there as well on the 1st April 2011.

Hell. No need to despair. It can happen in Namibia as well. Namibia can also develop its Consumer Protection and ensure some level of responsibilities to institutions concerned on consumer matters. In fact, it is encouraging that the Law Reform and Development Committee is taking the judicial lead to develop the Act. With an energetic Chairman and eager Secretary, the Act will find its home in Namibia, I am sure.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Hage Geingob should be commended for its visionary direction of centralising consumer protection on the developmental agenda through creating a necessary institutional capacity at the Ministry as well as pushing the Namibian Competition Commission in defining its competition space from a consumer point of view. One thing is clear increasingly from the Commission’s point of view. Consumer rights are here to stay in Namibia in the near future. The Commission knows that its success lies in the purpose of the Competition Act, 2003 around economic and consumer welfare in terms of the three P’s, (competitive) Pricing, Product (choice) and Promotions (honest ethical advertising)

In conclusion then, going forward there cant be effective competition policy and law in Namibia unless there is response to give greater weight to consumers that should not only benefit from lower prices, better quality and a greater variety of goods and services but such situation can lead to an efficient business transactions, that provides transparent information availability to the consumers.

Mihe Gaomab II is the Secretary and Chief Executive of the Namibian Competition Commission.

Statistics for Namibian websites -1 April 2011

This no April Fool's Joke

What are the most popular sites in Namibia (.na domain)?
What are the values of some of these website?

1. www.bankwindhoek.com.na , Points: 9.04212
2. www.bankwindhoekarts.com.na Points: 8.93036
3. www.grnnet.gov.na Points: 8.34682
4. www.namibiatourism.com.na Points: 5.22759
5. www.met.gov.na , Points: 5.02721
6. www.interact.com.na Points: 3.61174
7. library.unam.na Points: 3.22020
8. www.tasa.na Points: 3.00227
9. www.taleni.com.na Points: 2.96004
10. www.airnamibia.com.na Points: 2.89882
11. www.nied.edu.na Points: 2.60780
12. www.internet.na , Points: 2.58421
13. www.oasys.com.na , Points: 2.51922
14. www.nnf.org.na , Points: 2.20978
15. www.sysex.com.na Points: 2.19372
16. millennium.unam.na Points: 2.12801
17. wwwisis.unam.na Points: 2.12801
18. www.e-tourism.com.na Points: 1.96130
19. www.npc.gov.na Points: 1.85357
20. www.parliament.gov.na Points: 1.64096
21. www.nwr.com.na , Points: 1.61660
22. www.immersion.com.na Points: 1.53357
23. www.namibian.com.na , Points: 1.50227
24. www.span.org.na , Points: 1.49141
25. www.schoemans.com.na Points: 1.44968
26. www.newera.com.na Points: 1.41717
27. www.africaonline.com.na , Points: 1.29728
28. www.nacobta.com.na Points: 1.29211
29. www.schoolnet.na Points: 1.21311
30. www.rcchurch.na , Points: 1.08497
31. www.uunet.com.na , Points: 1.08346
32. www.desertexpress.com.na , Points: 1.08346
33. www.nammic.com.na Points: 1.06024
34. www.un.na , Points: 1.05882
35. www.holidaytravel.com.na , Points: 1.04173
36. www.bon.com.na , Points: 1.03112
37. www.edsnet.na , Points: 1.00446
38. www.hansahotel.com.na , Points: 1.00000
39. www.intenet.na Points: 1.00000
40. www.itd.com.na Points: 1.00000
41. www.verizonbusiness.com.na Points: 1.00000
42. www.discoveryskills.com.na Points: 0.96273
43. www.cecsnamibia.com.na Points: 0.96273
44. www.polytechnic.edu.na , Points: 0.88291
45. www.caa.org.na , Points: 0.85714
46. www.meatco.com.na , Points: 0.81024
47. www.republikein.com.na , Points: 0.79804
48. www.unam.na , Points: 0.73375
49. www.mfmr.gov.na , Points: 0.71637
50. www.az.com.na , Points: 0.66767
51. www.namweb.com.na , Points: 0.66666
52. www.namfisa.com.na Points: 0.55555
53. www.renaissance.com.na Points: 0.54629
54. www.swakopmund-museum.org.na Points: 0.53176
55. www.huntnamibia.com.na Points: 0.50000
56. www.oanob.com.na Points: 0.50000
57. www.vieranasbowhunt.com.na , Points: 0.50000
58. www.benefit.org.na , Points: 0.49003
59. www.economist.com.na Points: 0.45902
60. www.natmus.cul.na , Points: 0.41729
61. www.agra.com.na Points: 0.41679
62. www.proteawalvis.com.na , Points: 0.40657
63. www.seasidegroup.com.na Points: 0.40657
64. www.hans-kriess.com.na Points: 0.40657
65. www.ovisume.com.na Points: 0.40657
66. www.blueskynamibia.com.na , Points: 0.40657
67. www.secretgarden.com.na Points: 0.40657
68. www.swartfontein.com.na Points: 0.40657
69. www.palmwag.com.na Points: 0.40657
70. www.littlesossus.com.na Points: 0.40657
71. www.nsx.com.na Points: 0.39211
72. www.mweb.com.na Points: 0.38074
73. www.agrinamibia.com.na Points: 0.37506
74. www.telepassport.com.na , Points: 0.33384
75. www.library.unam.na Points: 0.33333
76. www.ncc.org.na Points: 0.31976
77. www.fnbnamibia.com.na Points: 0.30865
78. www.radiowave.com.na Points: 0.29211
79. www.lac.org.na Points: 0.29211
80. www.windhoekcc.org.na Points: 0.29211
81. www.nampost.com.na , Points: 0.29211
82. www.nepru.org.na , Points: 0.29173
83. www.sindana.com.na Points: 0.29166
84. www.mme.gov.na Points: 0.27803
85. www.opm.gov.na Points: 0.26065
86. www.iway.com.na Points: 0.25555
87. www.cyberhost.com.na Points: 0.25555
88. www.radiokudu.com.na , Points: 0.25038
89. www.birdwatching.com.na , Points: 0.25038
90. www.campingcarhire.com.na , Points: 0.25038
91. www.scsi.com.na Points: 0.25000
92. www.c-bank.com.na Points: 0.22519
93. www.myproperty.com.na Points: 0.20865
94. www.rfsol.com.na Points: 0.20000
95. www.finland.org.na , Points: 0.19457
96. www.gsn.gov.na , Points: 0.19127
97. www.standardbank.com.na Points: 0.18346
98. www.drfn.org.na Points: 0.16692
99. www.larri.com.na , Points: 0.16679
100. www.stpaulscollege.edu.na Points: 0.14285
101. www.nbc.com.na , Points: 0.12519
102. www.mtc.com.na , Points: 0.12519
103. www.namibsunhotels.com.na , Points: 0.12519
104. www.tourism.com.na Points: 0.12519
105. www.nels-estates.com.na Points: 0.12519
106. www.camelcarhire.com.na , Points: 0.12519
107. www.nse.com.na Points: 0.12519
108. www.discover-africa.com.na Points: 0.12519
109. www.namibiasport.com.na Points: 0.12519
110. www.insight.com.na Points: 0.12519
111. www.mgecw.gov.na Points: 0.11111
112. www.namcol.com.na Points: 0.11111
113. www.nta.com.na Points: 0.11111
114. www.polytecnic.edu.na Points: 0.11111
115. www.nampower.com.na Points: 0.10781
116. www.burmeister.com.na Points: 0.10781
117. www.ecb.org.na , Points: 0.10781
118. www.mfa.gov.na Points: 0.10781
119. www.mod.gov.na , Points: 0.10781
120. www.sanlam.com.na Points: 0.10000
121. www.oldmutual.com.na Points: 0.10000
122. www.ictalliance.org.na Points: 0.08346
123. www.ats.com.na Points: 0.08346
124. www.iwwn.com.na Points: 0.08346
125. www.travelnews.com.na Points: 0.08346
126. www.worldsbiggestbraai.com.na Points: 0.08346
127. www.pembrokefarmstay.co.na Points: 0.08346
128. www.tasa.com.na Points: 0.08346
129. www.archery.com.na Points: 0.08346
130. www.lianshulu.com.na , Points: 0.08346
131. www.gruenental.com.na Points: 0.08346
132. www.safarihotel.com.na , Points: 0.08346
133. www.hampidjan.na Points: 0.08346
134. www.chamberofmines.org.na Points: 0.08346
135. www.ishltd.com.na Points: 0.08346
136. www.tradedirectory.com.na , Points: 0.08346
137. www.transnamib.com.na Points: 0.08346
138. www.cymot.com.na , Points: 0.08346
139. www.iit.com.na Points: 0.08346
140. www.napwu.org.na Points: 0.08333
141. www.renaissancehealth.com.na Points: 0.08333
142. www.legalshield.com.na Points: 0.08333
143. www.mrlgh.gov.na , Points: 0.06608
144. www.mti.gov.na , Points: 0.06608
145. www.namcor.com.na , Points: 0.06608
146. www.ongopolo.com.na Points: 0.06608
147. www.skydiveswakop.com.na Points: 0.04347
148. www.ndc.org.na Points: 0.04173
149. www.namprop.com.na Points: 0.04173
150. www.swasafaris.com.na , Points: 0.04173
151. www.lisse.na Points: 0.04173
152. www.das.com.na , Points: 0.04173
153. www.namibia.com.na Points: 0.04173
154. www.yellowlink.com.na Points: 0.04173
155. www.hsf.org.na Points: 0.04173
156. www.mac.com.na , Points: 0.04173
157. www.kessler.com.na , Points: 0.04173
158. www.ict.com.na Points: 0.04173
159. www.icl.com.na Points: 0.04173
160. www.elwiwa.com.na Points: 0.04173
161. www.conferencelink.com.na Points: 0.04173
162. www.srin.org.na Points: 0.04173
163. www.quantum.com.na Points: 0.04173
164. www.kumkum.com.na Points: 0.04173
165. www.corporatetraining.com.na , Points: 0.04173
166. www.cds-isis.org.na Points: 0.04173
167. www.ombudsman.org.na Points: 0.04173
168. www.usemb.org.na Points: 0.04173
169. www.airports.com.na Points: 0.04173
170. www.pleasureflights.com.na , Points: 0.04173
171. www.tgi.na Points: 0.04173
172. iafrica.com.na Points: 0.04173
173. www.beachlodge.com.na , Points: 0.04173
174. www.arc.org.na Points: 0.04173
175. www.unisob.na Points: 0.04173
176. www.gazza.com.na Points: 0.04173
177. www.southerntimes.com.na Points: 0.04173
178. www.ascend.com.na Points: 0.04173
179. www.safariland.com.na Points: 0.04173
180. www.sps.com.na Points: 0.04173
181. www.travel.com.na , Points: 0.04173
182. www.nampharmfoundation.org.na Points: 0.04173
183. www.tech.na Points: 0.04173
184. www.nangof.org.na Points: 0.04173
185. www.google.com.na , Points: 0.04173
186. www.westwing.com.na Points: 0.04173
187. www.ngkn.com.na Points: 0.04173
188. www.realestates.com.na Points: 0.04173
189. www.dbn.com.na Points: 0.04173
190. www.echo-line.com.na Points: 0.04173
191. www.nab.com.na Points: 0.04173
192. www.nda.org.na Points: 0.04173
193. www.treasuretrail.com.na Points: 0.04173
194. www.pwcglobal.com.na Points: 0.04173
195. www.search.na , Points: 0.04173
196. www.namibiatoday.com.na Points: 0.04173
197. www.apple.com.na Points: 0.04173
198. www.omulunga.com.na Points: 0.04173
199. www.plus.com.na Points: 0.04173
200. www.peace.org.na , Points: 0.04173
201. www.nampharm.com.na Points: 0.04173
202. www.khanrivier.com.na Points: 0.04173
203. www.cybertech.com.na Points: 0.04173
204. burmeister.com.na Points: 0.04173
205. www.iafrica.com.na , Points: 0.04173
206. www.jeeprent.com.na Points: 0.04173
207. www.nca.com.na Points: 0.04173
208. www.nru.com.na Points: 0.04173
209. www.novaship.com.na Points: 0.04173
210. www.namibtimes.com.na Points: 0.04173
211. www.rhino-trust.org.na Points: 0.04173
212. www.royaltours.com.na Points: 0.04173
213. www.golfsafariafrica.com.na Points: 0.04173
214. www.epupa.com.na Points: 0.04173
215. www.namibiaresorts.com.na Points: 0.04173
216. www.otjiruze.com.na Points: 0.04173
217. www.pqnamibia.com.na Points: 0.04173
218. www.walvisbay.com.na Points: 0.04173
219. www.democracy.org.na Points: 0.04173
220. www.ippr.org.na Points: 0.04173
221. www.nid.org.na Points: 0.04173
222. www.usaid.org.na Points: 0.04173
223. www.performateq.com.na Points: 0.04173
224. www.omatieketourism.com.na Points: 0.04173
225. www.biodiversity.org.na Points: 0.04173
226. www.fishermanslodge.com.na , Points: 0.04173
227. www.namibian.co.na Points: 0.04173

Site valuations
Google.com - Estimated Value: $2,498,469,497.85 USD
Google.com.na - Estimated Value: $167,705.03 USD
Republikein.com.na- Estimated Value: $11,665.28 USD
Namibian.org (carboard box namibia) - Estimated Value: $8,763.27 USD
iNamibia.co.na - Estimated Value: $7,082.03 USD
Hellonam.com - Estimated Value: $2,941.90 USD
Namibiansun.com - Estimated Value: $977.40 USD
Interact.com.na - Estimated Value: $291.06 USD

Teach history warts and all

But maybe memory is what young people need to be taught before they can be taught actual history.

Oldest coloured owned business in Namibia

Johannes Wilhelm Krabbenhoeft was the son of Friedrich Wilhelm Krabbenhoeft who established the trading house Krabbenhoeft and Lampe at Lüderitz, and his wife Lucie Krabbenhoeft née Forbes. He was born on 20.09.1882 at Keetmanshoop. Due to the fact that his mother was a "coloured" woman from the Cape Colony in South Africa, he had later difficulties in the Schutztruppe during the German colonial period.

Present Day (2010)

What am I doing by writing about this?
The sociology of race and of ethnic relations is the area of the discipline that studies the social, political, and economic relations between races and ethnicities at all levels of society. This area encompasses the study of racism, residential segregation, and other complex social processes between different racial and ethnic groups. The sociological analysis of race and ethnicity frequently interacts with other areas of sociology such as stratification and social psychology, as well as with postcolonial theory.
At the level of political policy, ethnic relations is discussed in terms of either assimilationism or multiculturalism. Anti-racism forms another style of policy, particularly popular in the 1960s and 70s.
On Wikipedia

‘The overall sense one has regarding Coloured identity in the new South Africa is one of fragmentation, uncertainty and confusion. For the greater part of its existence, Coloured identity was accepted as given by its bearers, and in the latter phases of the apartheid era, the emergence of a rejectionist movement created a schism between those who accepted and those who eschewed it. But the new South Africa has witnessed the emergence of a wide spectrum of positions on the nature of Colourness and a plethora of initiatives to change or influence the ways in which it is expressed. Such attempts have thus far failed to have much of a popular impact because they lack resonance with the Coloured masses and are driven by small groups of intellectuals and community activists with limited influence. The evidence indicates that many people who have gone beyond simply accepting racial categories as given are wrestling with questions about the extent to which they should express their identity as black, as African, as South African, as Khoisan, as descendants of slaves or whether they should take a stand on the principle of nonracism. There is often confusion about whether Colouredness is inherent or imposed from outside, whether it is something negative to be discarded or something positive to be embraced and affirmed. Today, Coloured identity remains in flux and is experiencing a degree of change unparalleled since its emergence in the late nineteenth century'

Aiming morality at the youth

If students are to be encouraged to be active citizens, they have to be engaged as they are, where they are, find out what their aspirations are and make space for their cares within our agendas. Morality is not going to suddenly become appealing through a document that binds you to “obey the laws of our country, ensure that others do so as well, and contribute in every possible way to making South Africa a great country”. Morality is not easily made attractive, but its cause is not helped by a disregard for the voices of young people to whom we’re preaching active citizenship

http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2011-03-27-finding-an-anthem-for-a-doomed-youth

The way things are ... in Africa

http://www.namibiansun.com/story/way-things-are-africa

Pashu Shuudi writes:

ALTHOUGH hard to swallow, us black people despise everything that looks like us. To prove my point, not so long ago fellow blacks who run away from atrocities in their African countries were beaten, burned and some even killed by fellow blacks in South Africa. In Namibia, black supporters of the ruling party SWAPO and the opposition parties clashed in 2009 and we are still hearing of such quarrels or violence just in the name of politics.

Through history, I have come to learn that we actually disliked one another before colonialism, hence fierce tribal fights during those years. Colonialism united us all in the fight against a common enemy. After colonialism, we saw the rebirth of what we thought was buried long time ago, tribalism, regionalism, favouritism, etc. Although we do not like others from other tribes, we all love things that we do not produce. We love fine branded clothes, (Polo, Paris Hilton, Luis Vuiton, Nike, Adidas, Lacoste, Timberland) from Europe, we love American and German-made cars, we love expensive wine, we like Jameson whisky, Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker, Red Label, Bell’s, Scottish brandy, the beer. Yet no African person brews any of them.

All we own, unfortunately, are thousands of shebeens where we drink ourselves to death, stab each other with knives/bottles, infect each other with the HIV virus, make lots of unwanted babies and then blame others for our miseries. We love all sorts of expensive foreign made items and show them off. Yet we look down at our indigenous products that we fail to commercialise.

As blacks, we know very little about investments, whether in stocks, or in properties. All we know is how to invest our money in things that depreciates or evaporate the fastest - like clothes, cars, alcohol, and when we are at it, we want the whole world to see us. I know some brothers driving BMWs, yet they sleep on the floors, no beds because nobody will see them anyway. This is what we love doing and this is the black life, a life of showing off for those who have. A black millionaire ‘tenderpreneur’ living in Ludwig’s Dorf, Kleine Kuppe, Olympias, in Windhoek will drive to the notorious Eveline Street in Katutura for a beer where he will show off his expensive car and look down on others. We sell our natural resources to Europe for processing, and then buy them back in finished products.

What makes us so inferior in our thinking that we only pride ourselves when we have something made by others?

What compels us to show off things that we don’t manufacture?
Is it the poverty that we allow ourselves to be in? Is it our navigated consciousness, our culture or just a low self-esteem possessing us?
For how long are we going to be consumers or users of things we do not produce?
Do we like the easy way out, such that we only use and consume things made by others?
Do designer clothes, expensive wine or changing our names to sound more European make us more confident in ourselves?
Our leaders scream at us how bad the Europeans are, yet they steal our public money and hide it in European banks. We know how Europeans ransacked Africa but we are scandalously quiet when our own leaders loot our countries and run with briefcases under their arms full of our riches to Europe.

The Europeans took our riches to Europe but our African leaders are again taking our riches to Europe. Mubarak of Egypt, Gadaffi of Libya, Mobutu Sese Seko of the then Zaire, all had their assets allegedly frozen in Europe. Why do our African leaders who claim to love us run to invest ‘their’ money in Europe?

Again, when they get sick they are quick to be flown to Europe for treatment yet our relatives die in hospital queues. Don’t our leaders trust the health systems they have created for us all? Why are we so subservient, so obedient to corruption when committed by our very own people?

Nobody can disagree with me in this country that we are like pets trained to obey the instructions of their masters. I am sure we look down when we think of our broken lives, but what do we see when our thoughts are down? I wonder if we realise how we sell our dreams to our leaders for corruption, miseries, poverty, unemployment, underdevelopment and all other social evils affecting us.

How long are we going to let our manipulated minds mislead us, from womb to tomb?

Replays - Social Entrepreneur Empowerment Series

Replays - Social Entrepreneur Empowerment Series

Interviews with some of the best social entrepreneurs around

What is a social entrepreneur

Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change.

Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps.

Visit the Ashoka Website for more information:
What is a social entrepreneur

A Crown For Your Brow, And a Key For Your Hand

on Namibia's 21st birthday, 21 March 2011

This morning once more my country awakes
This day is no normal day though,
No, today my country has come of age,
It is no longer a child,
But an adult member of the world.

I remember its birth many sunrises ago
When I was chosen to raise our new flag,
Looking out from that first maternity ward
Over the rolling hills of our capital Windhoek
The skyline created by the colonialists.

Today, my country receives its key,
The key to unlock things before hidden,
Things that were forbidden to do,
Now maturity must lend a hand
And help in the choices it makes.

During its teenage years,
I became worried as it flirted,
Its political alliances changing shape
Hard words being exchanged during puberty
Crying tears of unanswered love.

As my country becomes more self-assured
Exerting its own will and wants
It is time to step quietly aside,
Assuring it of my undying, continued love
While letting it achieve its own greatness.

Smile, my beloved land on your crown birthday,
You have overcome many a fall or scrape
Some of the scars will remain as proof
All of it part of growing up and learning
Preparing for your role in life

Do not care about your past
The bitted words of things you cannot change
Mould yourself into a strong unified character
Reconciliation will always be your guide
Making every citizen a part of the motherland

From Today, as always, make us proud.

What happened to multicultural identity?

What happened to multicultural identity?: "A few years ago, the Harvard Committee on African Studies asked me to address them on some of the challenges facing our new democracy."

Political institutions structured around identity is a recipe for disaster.

The current provinces deepen ethnic identities and identity interests around being coloured or Indian or Zulu or Xhosa or Pedi.

They should be abolished.

A common South African identity will remain elusive for as long as we do not have a much more cosmopolitan view of space.

Gauteng is an example of the kind of geographical cosmopolitanism I have in mind.

There is no ethnic group that can claim exclusive ownership of the geographic space given the multiple origins and identities of the people who live there. This principle needs to be elevated to the national level.

African People's Organisation / first coloured pressure group in Namibia

The African People's Organisation (APO), originally the African Political Organisation, was formed in Cape Town in 1902 and was initially the most prominent "coloured" pressure group in South Africa. Its interest in SWA/Namibia goes back to at least 1918 when it opposed the transfer of the former German colony to the South Africa Authority. The first SWA branch of the APO was established in Windhoek in February 1923. In informing the colonial authorities of the establishment of the branch, the leaders stated that the aims of the organisation were to defend "the Social Political and Civil Rights of the Cape Coloured Community throughout the SW Protectorate. Another political organisation which devoted itself to representing the Coloured community in SWA, the African National Bond, was also launched in Windhoek in 1925.

The APO, although it recruited its members from the relatively small group of educated and economically comfortably off Coloureds, was to become the most influential political organisation for Coloureds for almost forty years. Although it collapsed as an organisation in the early 1940s, having to give way to more radical organisations, the APO shaped black political thought and culture for decades after its demise.

Consumers International Blog: Financial service providers must go back to their roots

William Jordan (1849-1886), Coloured settler in Namibia

Coloureds in Namibia since 1884:

William Worthington Jordan, was a "coloured" man from the Cape Colony in South Africa. His father was British and his mother cape coloured. He was a hunter and trader in Botswana, Namibia and Angola.

On 21.04.1884 Jordan obtained a land and minerals concession of 50,000 kilometres around Otavi and Grootfontein from Ondonga King Kambonde kaMpingana, king of the Ondongas in the interior of Namibia. Kambonde hoped to strengthen his position against his main rival for control of the Ongonda chiefdom, Nehale Mpingana.

Jordan had traded with the Dorsland Trekkers and a group of trekboers on their way back from Angola were invited to stay on this concession he called the "Republic Upingtonia" - that on 20 Oct 1885 was founded as a settler polity with Grootfontein as its capital. He purchased the area on payment of 300 English pounds, 25 rifles, a slated horse and a barrel of brandy.

Subsequently the name is changed to Lijdensrust(Lydenrust)in 1886 and accepts German protection. The first, and only President, George Diederik P. Prinsloo (b. 1820 - d. 1888), presided from 20 Oct 1885 - June 1887.

Flag of Upingtonia

Jordan's killing on the orders of Ondonga King Nehale lyaMpingana on 30.06.1886 marked the end of the "Republic Upingtonia", and most of the Boers trekked back to Angola. Jordan's concession was auctioned in Cape Town after his death, and formed the basis for the South West Africa Company.

(By August 1892, Cecil Rhodes had come to dominate the SWAC which had the sole rights to operate railway lines between Sandwich Harbour and the Kunene River.The "Otavi Minen- und Eisenbahngesellschaft (OMEG)" was founded in Berlin on 6 April1900. The major shareholders were the German Disconto-Gesellschaft and the South West Africa Company (SWAC). The mining rights of Jordan were now held in this company which was in later years to become Tsumeb Corporation Limited.)

Following this, the German government at Windhoek asserted control over the region and ended Lijdenrust's independence.

It would be a stretch, but in essence the first coloured settler created a settler colony in 1885. He was killed in the fight between two Ondonga brothers to take over as Chief. Upon his death,the Germans took control of this territory. Thus, the first coloured settlement in Namibia had ended.

Sources:
Max Du Preez in his book, Of Tricksters, Tyrants and Turncoats (Zebra Press Cape Town 2008) refers to him in a chapter entitled “The Darkie Boer”.

Chronology Of Namibian History
Author: Klaus Dierks
Published 1999 – Namibia Scientific Society

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.

Making A Better World - Milton Louw