Making A Better World - Milton Louw

“Love does not understand the concept of time.” said Simon as he took the drink I offered to him. The sun was gliding behind the mountains to the west while we looked northwards over the golf course. I had purchased a piece of land on a golf estate some thirty kilometres south of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. After many years of saving I had just finished building the house of my dreams. This was the first time I had the time to have a drink and appreciate the sacrifices I had made in my life to get here. Tomorrow, my wife and daughter would move in, today was for me. Simon was an old friend of mine, and he often spent time telling me stories about the lives of the people around us. He is one of those people who often spends his time alone, but as he insists, he is never lonely.  Perhaps, because he was often alone, his conversation normally started with a startling thought or quotation before telling his story. “Do you know the one bullet theory?” he enquired from me. Th...

The past week we celebrated the “Old Location Uprising” which coincides with Human Rights on 10 December. On Monday evening there was a discussion on NBC television that was discussing the topic and specifically what was referred to as second and third generation rights. It is important for people to understand these rights and the institutions that are responsible for protection their rights. Human rights are traditionally divided into two main groups, namely – • civil and political rights, and • economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights (also referred to as second and third generation rights). In Namibia, since Independence, most people can freely exercise and enjoy the fundamental rights and freedoms recognised and protected in the Bill of Rights entrenched in the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia (Chapter3), most of which are civil and political rights. But how many people enjoy or even are aware of their Economic, Social and Consumer rights? ESC rights play an impor...

(Consumer Column - Namibian Newspaper - 6 December 2012) I would love to win a car for Xmas, or even just a shopping hamper. It’s that time of the year when each of us hopes and desires are higher than normal. We not only want more money for ourselves, but also that we can buy things for people we care about. Companies understand this of course and are busy doing everything to tempt us to think only of today, not the January we all know is around the corner. As a consumer we understand that our relationship with business is one of mutual benefit. Nevertheless, we also expect our government to create laws that will not leave us powerless when we want compensation when things go wrong, or at least laws that will prevent outright abuse of us as the people of the country. As a consumer advocate, and someone who cannot see injustice without at least writing about it, I am worried when the government does not do its job. Before Independence there were laws governing lotteries, raffl...

During the Xmas period it is considered part of the festive season to give and receive presents. I remember as a young boy writing a letter to Father Xmas and asking for the gifts(s) I hoped to find under the tree. Many times I was disappointed and had to do with small gift and more often than not, practical things like socks or other clothing articles were part of my “presents”. For this Xmas season I have made a wish list of things I would like to see for the Namibian consumer. Friendly Customer Service Many employees in government and private business are not aware of the saying, (or simply ignore it), “The customer is king”. While it is understandable that the salaries are never enough and personal problems are worrying you, please make an effort to greet your customer and provide the most helpful service you can. Not only will you make me happier, but it will also lead to me doing more business with your company – which will lead to more profit and hopefully better salaries...

Before you take a loan (or other financial product) you have the right to receive all the necessary information that will allow you to make an informed financial decision. If you are taking a loan, you should know the answers to the following questions before agreeing to the loan. What is the size of the loan amount you are borrowing? What is the loan term? This is how long it is going to take to repay the loan. What is the interest rate? This is the percentage of the total loan amount charged for using the loan amount. It is normally charged on a monthly basis. What are the fees on this loan? These are normally once-off payments or administrative costs such as a loan processing fee. Do I have to take out insurance with this loan? If you take out loan insurance it will pay back your loan if something bad happens to you. This will protect your family and guarantee the bank gets its money back. How much is the loan payment? This is the amount of money you have to pay at regular...

Credit is a word with various meanings. These include praise, recognition or acknowledgement and that is why the list of names at the end of a movie is called credits. It can also refer to reputation or character, but most often we use it to refer to a product or service that is provided now and paid for in the future. Most of us use credit to purchase a house, a car, clothes and sometimes even groceries. If we take on too much credit, we find it difficult to get out of the cycle of indebtedness. In Namibia, indebtedness has become one of our biggest problems and needs to be tackled sooner rather than later. In this week’s column, I investigate the history of credit in Namibia under German colonial rule and see if we can learn any lessons from the past. The credit system evolved in the early 1840s and started to destroy the economic structures of many Namibian communities. It is recorded in the history books that around this time Jonker Afrikaner incurred heavy debts with the...

A consumer recently sent a copy of an SMS that offered the consumer a chance to make money from filling in forms and directed them to a website. The email reads: “Earn Extra income. Get paid up to N$3 750 per form. No computer needed. Very profitable. Visit www.mynamcash.com to get started.”  The short message was sent from the short service number 5001. Once a consumer uses the website link, (which sounded Namibian) they were redirected to a website in South Africa. In addition, the page created a pop-up window which offered a free computer programme download. This is a typical example of spam being used to get more of your personal details which the website owners can sell to other spammers and they use your network of contacts to further spread their message. Unfortunately there is no easy way to make money. These types of messages are mobile phone messaging spam that is aimed at getting you interested in something for nothing before making your money disappear. What is ...