Carpe Diem to City of Windhoek

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 29 October 2014)

There is a Latin saying, Carpe Diem, that means Seize the Day. It can also be translated that you should enjoy the moment. Having been a bachelor for more than a decade, I had never really taken this advice to literally in terms of material possessions. Now that I am married and planning for a family (again), I have had to re-evaluate my future plans and need to start seizing the day. This is important especially in light of me wanting to have a house with a big yard in anticipation of my soon to be born child.

Having been married before, and owning at least three properties during those ten years, I eagerly started the process of looking for a suitable house that I would also be able to afford. And then reality struck. I live in the City of Windhoek which as the second highest increase in house prices in the world. Yes, that’s the second highest INCREASE in property prices in the World.

At first it did not strike me that hard when I heard the prices of erven sold by the Municipality went over a million dollars. After all, the area in which these erven were auctioned in a very luxurious area and has access to most of the important services such as schools, university, gold course, access to the western bypass, etc. Thus I heard about the prices and just shrugged my shoulders.

Last week, I happened to go past a property I had owned near the Polytechnic of Namibia and I saw a person standing in the driveway. Out of curiosity, I approached the person and found he was the “new owner” having just bought the house some three months before. I politely enquired about the price and that’s when the reality of our house price increases hit me. The owner proudly informed me that he had purchased the house at a bargain compared to other houses in the area – a bargain meaning he paid only N$ 1,240,000. He considered over 1,2 million a bargain?

Having been a previous owner of the house, I sat down that night and contemplated what this price increase means for me compared to what it meant for me in 1997 when I had originally purchased the property. In 1997, I was a Managing Director of a multinational company and bought the house for a purchase price of N$ 260,000. At that time my salary was around N4 18,000 a month and I could comfortably afford the monthly payments. Comparing the price increase in the property I tried to calculate what my monthly salary would have to be for me to comfortably afford the house now.

Can you guess how much I would have to earn now in 2014 to afford the property? I figured I would need to earn a salary of just over N$ 83,000 to be able to live in a similar fashion to what I did in 1997. I am sure that you must realise by now my salary has in no way increased by the same amount that the house price did.

I will have to now look for a property more within my budget – and I am not sure I will even find such a property now. But of course, I must cease the day otherwise the house will just become more elusive in the future.

I now took another look at the erven that were auctioned by the City of Windhoek. The prices were originally listed as “upset” prices – meaning that was the minimum that the CoW wanted to get as a return of their investing in the sewerage, roads, and other services. In other words, the CoW wanted to make at least the same amount of money that they had spent on putting the services in with at least a little bit of profit.

Surprise, surprise. The CoW made more than triple the expected price (in other words for every N$ 400,00 they spent, they made a profit over and above the costs of around N$ 800,00). The CoW has responded to the citizens inquiries by saying it is not their fault as the auction caused the prices to reach these levels. No. The prices were driven up by a basic economic principle of supply versus demand. There are very few erven available compared to the number of people that want to purchase the erven, meaning that the supplier of erven can cause the the prices to be pushed up by NOT supplying enough erven to meet demand.

Thus, the CoW as the supplier of erven (or non-supplier if you ask me) has caused the prices to steeply increase because they control the supply side of the equation. In any country, this would be a case of anti-competitive behaviour and the authorities would react to prevent this situation and its negative impact on the consumer. I hope that this will be looked into by the relevant authorities and they do something about the situation before none of us can afford a house in this city.

My compliments to the CoW though, they have seen an opportunity to increase their revenue and they have certainly Seized the Day.

Saving money through recycling

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 22 October 2014)

As a married man, I had my first difference with my wife last week. The argument was over a rather petty issue (taking out the rubbish – is it a man’s job?). This however started me thinking about rubbish and the ways in which we dispose of it. I look around Windhoek and I am always glad to state that I live in the cleanest city in Africa if not the world. However, there are small signs that as humans we are such a consumer throwaway society that we will find ourselves with so much waste we will not be able to dispose of it in the traditional way which is to bury it. I think the efforts being made by the City of Windhoek, together with various service providers, to get residents to separate the various types of rubbish so they can be recycled should be lauded.

As consumers, I believe we must throw our weight behind such efforts and encourage all our fellow housemates, neighbours and work colleagues to become involved in the “recycle culture”.

As I finished taking out the rubbish (Yes, it is the Man’s JOB), I noticed the high number of 2 litre plastic cold drink bottles that were in the garbage. When I was little, these were always a huge source of amusement as we made various objects from them. These included pot plant holders, candle stands and of course my favourite, holders for fireflies. This led me to thinking not only about recycling, but also “reusing”.

Homemade Mosquito Trap

Many of us in Namibia are plagued by mosquitos and flies around our houses. Often we as consumer will go and buy a product such as a zapper, a wall plug that kills them or even spend hours looking to kill that one mosquito in our ears. While search on the Internet, I came across this really easy way to make a Mosquito Trap. All you will need is an old 2 litre cold drink bottle, 1 cup of water, ¼ cup of brown sugar and a little yeast (around 1 gram).

To make you trap start by cutting the bottle in half. Boil the water and mix in the brown sugar while it is still hot. Let it cool for a while until it is about room temperature. Now that’s it cold, pour the sugar water mixture in the bottom half of the bottle. Add the yeast (less than a teaspoonful works). You do not need to mix the yeast in the sugar. Place the top half of the bottle (the funnel) upside down into the bottom half. You can use cellotape to tape them together if you want. Now wrap the bottle with something black and leave the top uncovered. You are ready to place your mosquito trap in an area away from your normal gathering place (for example outside in the garden, behind the kitchen door, etc.)

The yeast will create carbon dioxide that will attract the mosquitos. In addition, mosquitos are also drawn to the colour black – something to think about when going out at night.)

Remember to change the solution every two weeks for continuous control.

This same type of trap can be made for bees and wasps by putting in a more sugary mixture and no yeast. Something that can come in very handy when having childrens’ parties with lots of cold drinks around.

Sexism in advertising should be boycotted

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 15 October 2014)

I have been married (for the second time) now for 2 and a half months and still really enjoy having a better half. It is quite pleasing to note that some of our leaders in the musical and political fields are also following this route and legalising their union.

Since being married I have had the pleasure of having four of my five daughters come over and visit with my wife and I. Obviously, the change in my marital status means the children now come over and we spend quality time. The discussions are now more gender friendly as I now have the better half participating too.

This led me to an interesting observation regarding advertising and the sexist attitude of many advertisers who portray woman as subordinate to men. That’s right: women are still being sexualised to sell products. At this point in the history of Namibia we have come a long way in woman’s rights issues – just look at the zebra style nomination lists – but somehow still ignore the sexist attitudes being portrayed to our consumers. I don’t wish to generalise, but I believe this is also playing a role in the way some men treat women. According to the 2013 Namibia Demographic Health Survey it was found that forty percent (40) of men and 35 percent of women in Namibia believe that it is okay for a wife to be slapped by her partner for reasons such as burning the food, going out ‘without permission’ or refusing to have sex.

Looking at international studies of women’s magazines, it was found that more than 50% of the advertisements portrayed woman as objects. In these adverts, women are portrayed as submissive and the men as strong, dominant and aggressive. Media (especially visual media) plays a very strong role in how we view each other and ourselves. This images that sell a product or service are indirectly influencing what we believe to be the “right way of doing things” without us taking a critical look at whether these images are the best we wish to portray of ourselves.

According to an article in New Era in February 2014, “over 1 200 men and 240 women have been murdered in the last five years in gender-based violence cases recorded with the police. On average 204 men and 48 women were murdered each year as victims of gender-based violence (GBV). Most alarmingly, the actual number of murders in the period under review comes to 1 565 when juveniles are included in GBV cases.”

I am not so naïve that I believe advertising can make a man slap a woman, but I do believe advertising messages can reinforce our incorrect actions towards others by selling us the idea that this is what a “man does”.

Advertising companies worldwide spend over N$ 60 billion a year attempting to tell you how to think or act. You should be critical and not allow yourself (or your children) to become consumed by these media stereotypes. You are not only the consumer of products and services, but also of the advertising messages carried by the various media outlets. If you find anything offensive on television, radio or printed media, contact the Namibian media ombudsman and make your complaint heard. In this way we can ensure that our stereotyping in race, culture or gender does not get carried over into future generations.

“Heavy exposure to media alters the viewers perception of social reality in a way that matches the media world." - Levin & Kilbourne

You must be in it, to win it

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 8 October 2014)

This week I was a delegate at the Namibia National ICT Summit hosted by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies in the capital. On the first day of registration I looked through the programme and noticed a prize-giving that was to take place in the afternoon after the close of all the activities. It also stated that you participate by completing the consumer survey form and handing it at the Telecom stand. Two of my colleagues and I were at such events previously and have always seen someone else walk away with the prizes. Nevertheless, we filled in the survey form and handed it in at the stand. We had left it a bit late and were not expecting much. Imagine our surprise when then they called my first colleague, then the second colleague to come fetch their prizes. Even more astounding was when they read my own name out as a prize winner.

What is the probability of three colleagues handing in their forms and all three those forms are drawn as prize winners? It turned out not to be anything about probability but rather certainty. You probably guessed by now that out of all the professionals attending the event, only three people read the programme and handed in their evaluation forms. So thank you organisers for my new dual SIM telephone.

This reminds me of a saying from a friend that goes, “You must be in it, to win it.”

While at the ICT Summit, I also had the opportunity to question the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) about an issues that has been a pressing concern of mine since 2009. Back then, I approached the then Namibia Communications Commission (NCC) about the idea that number portability be implemented. Number portability would mean that your telephone number would belong to you and you would keep this number even if you switch from one telecoms service provider to another. In 2012, the CEO of CRAN, stated “The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN)) is mandated to establishing a numbering plan and to require mobile number portability by 2013.”

My question this week was thus, “When is CRAN implementing number portability?” The officials from CRAN answered me by explaining the process and what they are presently doing, but did not answer the crucial question of WHEN.

For the past fifteen years most countries around the world have opened their telecommunications markets to competition (which also means implementing a national numbering plan). This proactive move by regulators has accelerated the deployment of telecommunications services more quickly and cost-effectively than the state owned monopolies were able to achieve.. For example, the European Union (EU) Universal Service and Users' Rights Directive (2002/22/EC), Article 30 - effective since July 2003 - imposes on all EU member states the following obligations:

“Member states shall ensure that all subscribers of publicly available telephone services, including mobile services, who so request can retain their number(s) independently of the undertaking providing the service:

·         In the case of geographic numbers, at a specific location; and

·         In the case of non-geographic numbers, at any location.”

Obviously consumers understand that CRAN should look at the costs/sustainability or other issues that may affect the service providers as it is most likely that these service providers will pass these costs on to us as end-users. 

However, I would like to point out that the power granted to the consumer that allows them to change providers (without changing their number) will force cheaper prices and better service which is the primary reason for the establishment of regulatory authorities that need to “take into account consumer needs.”

A rose by any other name would not smell as sweet

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 1 October 2014)

I am a very recently married man and am still living the honeymoon. However, the other day I had to stop and think about something that I have only noticed since I got married. I remember when I was growing up, my grandmother had a fridge that seemed to be there from the time I was in primary school till I left for university. That fridge played a part of my life (and those of my siblings and cousins) for at least fifteen years. Recently I was buying furniture for our home and noticed that the life span of the appliances seemed very short compared to what I remember.

This complaint is quite common especially about fridges, washing machines and even the smaller appliances like kettles and toasters. Thus, my grandmother’s fridge which was bought more than 30 years ago is still in working condition, while the average life of modern fridges is not more than 5 years.

Many times consumers blame manufacturers because they believe the manufacturer will make faulty products, product with short life spans, etc. so that the consumer will buy another product thus making them more money.

Recently I read an argument that gave me a completely different perspective. In the article the writer argues that this statement by consumers would mean that “manufacturers intentionally work against the interest of the consumer. While the observations of consumers correspond with reality, their explanation of this phenomenon is wrong. I want to stress that the producers of consumer appliances are unjustly blamed.”

After reading the article, and doing some more market research, I have to agree with the writer. Many consumers are of the opinion that the manufacturers of goods will make the product that is “best for us”. This thinking means we believe as consumers that the goods we buy will last longer, be of higher quality and possibly be of lower price.

Obviously this cannot be the truth. After all, the many Chinese products are aimed at the low quality market and many customers buy these products even though there is often no “money-back” or other guarantees. So we must understand that the market (manufacturers, retailers, etc.) produce and sell products that consumer are willing to pay for, and try to do this as efficiently as possible to allow them to make the maximum return.

In plain English, manufacturers are asking themselves two main questions, namely, “What exactly do consumers want?” and “What do they pay for?” before they make the products.

What most manufacturers will tell you is that they will do market surveys / research and from this decide what it is consumers want. From personal experience as an enumerator (collector of information for surveys), I know that most people lie about what they want and what they actually buy. For example, we all want a car that is low on fuel and easy to maintain. However, when we buy, we will probably buy the car that we find good-looking on the inside and gives us the “wooma” when we drive.

Thus we must conclude that producers are trying to understand how we make our decisions about what we buy – in other words what values we as customers give to particular qualities such as price, functions available, durability, etc.

This means that as consumers we are more likely to buy a cheap, good-looking fridge that might not have the long-life we pretend to want. So whose fault will it be that the fridge I buy now does not last as long as the fridge my grandmother bought?

So next time you buy an appliance, consider your purchase as an important choice that needs due diligence. Compare the price, the functions you want it to perform, and for how long you want the product to last. It will be worth your time and effort in the long run.

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 24 September 2014)

The past few weeks I have been reminded about an old English proverb/nursery rhyme that goes: “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride; If turnips were watches, I'd wear one by my side; If, If's and And's were pots and pans, there would be no need for tinkers.”

My grandfather often told me this while growing up and he meant for me to understand that it is useless to wish on something as better results will only be achieved through actions. Of course, I always had a dream in my head and believed that one day my wish would turn into horse (and I also thought the rhyme said thinkers rather than tinkers). The past few weeks one of my wishes did become a horse: A small lump sum of money came to my wife and she was able to invite me on a shopping spree. We started by purchasing all the main furniture such as fridge, microwave, deep freezer, bed and matrass, as well as completely new pots, pans, cutlery and the Russell Hobbs toaster and kettle. We even had enough left over to buy that big screen television, television decoder and the George Foreman grill. I have never understood “retail therapy” but am now convinced this is an exercise that can really bring pleasure as long as you do it with cash and not a credit purchase which creates a monthly payment.

Yep you read it right, I suggest retail therapy or shop till you drop – IF you can do it with cash in hand and not on credit.

After our purchases, it did a precursory look at the furniture we bought and the monthly payments that we would have to pay if it was bought on credit. If we had purchased for an amount of N$ 28 999, our deposit would have been in the region of N$ 2,900 and our monthly payments would have amounted to N$ 2,184 per month for 24 months. If you add this up, our purchase would have cost us a total of N$ 55, 316. You should read that again. We would be paying interest and other charges to the value of N$ 26,317. That means if we had paid this over the normal 24 months we would be paying almost double the value of the furniture. Phew. Finance charges are expensive.

When we as consumers wish to purchase goods or products, we often do not have the money readily available to pay for our goods in one go. Therefore, retailers have come up with the concept of consumer credit which means the creditor or seller trusts the consumer enough to provide us with the goods and services we desire and expect us to pay off this amount at some time in the future. In exchange for this service (which is in fact lending the consumer money to buy from them), the supplier of credit is allowed to charge a certain amount of interest on the amount they have lent to you as the consumer.

Governments (as well as religions) have recognised that the consumer is at a distinct disadvantage as they are in the position of wanting, and would probably do almost anything to get the product or service. The credit supplier can in this case charge a very high rate that would in fact be unethical or even be considered immoral. In cases like this, the term we use for such practices is called USURY. The government, through the Namibian Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) is the organisation responsible for regulating these types of transactions. If you have purchased any goods or services through a credit agreement and you feel that you might have been overcharged when the interest and other charges are added, you should contact the regulator and make your complaint heard.

Consumer Protection Act of Namibia

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 16 September 2014)
 

This week I was really struggling to get a topic to write about for Consumer Court. It felt to me that everything I have written till thus far about consumer issues was falling on deaf ears. That was until I was stopped on the street by a person I have never met before. The man was driving past me and waved to me, then pulled over, reversed and rolled down his window to talk with me. The first thing he said was, “Thank you for the great job you are doing”. I immediately thought he was referring to the organisation where I work as I was wearing a corporate branded golf shirt. “No”, he continued, “I mean the work you are doing with your weekly consumer column in the newspaper.”

It turns out he has been an avid follower of my articles since I started writing in 2011 and had even used some of the advice to his own monetary advantage. My day was made. I once again felt that through this opportunity of the consumer court column, a difference was being made. So, please next time you get good or excellent service please tell the person or organisation that you appreciate their effort to make you a happy customer.

During my conversation with this stranger, we also touched upon the Consumer Protection Act and what the Ministry of Trade and Industry hopes to achieve with this legislation.

What is consumer protection?

Consumer protection refers to all the laws (and the organisations tasked with consumer issues) that are made to ensure that the rights of consumers as well as fair trade, competition and accurate information about products and services is made available to consumers. The main purpose of such laws is to prevent business that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from getting an advantage over their competitors. They often also include additional protection measures for the most vulnerable members of society. The laws also spell out the consumer complaint procedures that business must follow as well as the punishment they can expect if they do not adhere to these laws. Consumer protection covers a wide range of topics, including but not necessarily limited to product liability, privacy rights, unfair business practices, fraud, misrepresentation, and other consumer/business interactions.

The Consumer Protection Act (which is the current process that the Ministry is involved in), will probably include the following provisions:

·         It will promote a fair, accessible and sustainable market place for consumer products and services;

·         Establish national norms and standards to ensure adequate consumer protection;

·         Give guidelines for improved standards of consumer information that will prohibit unfair marketing or other unfair business practices;

·         Encourage responsible consumer behaviour; and

·         Establish the National Consumer Commission

The law will also define which other bodies (such as the Competition Commission, NAMFISA, Bank of Namibia) are tasked with specific areas that will not be covered by consumer issues in this law.

It is hoped that the Competition Act will also look at how consumer are represented and how the government will assist these consumer representative bodies (financially, technically, etc.).

I would also like to see that the Namibian law includes a provision for a small claims court that will allow consumers and business with civil issues (differences on who owes whom money), to be able to have legal rulings without the present prohibitive cost that involves legal professionals.

As a consumer activist I must add that I hope the Ministry follows through with this important process and we see this act before the end of 2015.