Making A Better World - Milton Louw

(Taken from: http://blkrootsworker.blogspot.com/2012/03/seven-steps.html ) The SEVEN STEPS of District Six as a symbolic tool for understanding Cape identity To anyone who has had an association with old District Six, the very mention of the ‘Seven Steps’ immortalised in Taliep Petersen’s musical ‘District Six’, stirs up deep emotions. The Seven Steps of stone worn by the thousands who climbed these to work, to home, to school, to play, to bok, to church, to mosque, to shop, to celebrate and to mourn, were part of the great big soul of the district. Today, so many years after its destruction, the Seven Steps stands out as the premier symbol of District Six. The District Six museum has it as an integral part of its brand and logo. There is a reverence at its mention – seven after all is God’s number. Seven is the dobbelaars ‘Lucky Number’. The Seven Steps of stone worn by the thousands who climbed these to work, to home, to school, to play, to ‘bok’, to church, to mosque, to ...

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 17 December 2014) The past two weeks have been extremely hectic at the Shaanika-Louw household. First it was counting the elections results that kept me from home, now baby has decided we must get ready for our new addition. We arrived at the maternity ward quite prepared as we both have children from previous relationships. However, baby has had other ideas. Since morning Monday, till now just after lunch on Tuesday, baby has decided to take a break. It seems it will take longer to have our baby than counting the elections results. As part of my baby preparedness, I took my wife to the new mall that recently opened in the south east of Windhoek. It was a pleasant surprise to see so many brand name stores and one look at the prices of these items made me appreciate the value of competition. In one of the toy stores I was able to buy a present for our elder son of 11 for less than N$ 200.00. The exact same toy is available from local toys sto...

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 19 November 2014) The past two weeks I have been facing a personal crisis at home. The water connection was cut off on 6 November and still has not been reconnected. At first, I felt like a politician slumming it out and showing I can manage for a day without clean, running water but was very soon brought back to reality. Without water you cannot flush your toilets, drink from a tap, shower or wash your hands. Everything is returned to a basic water access through a bucket or a drum. This made me think of the quote by Marcus Samuelsson, “ Clean water and access to food are some of the simplest things that we can take for granted each and every day. In places like Africa, these can be some of the hardest resources to attain if you live in a rural area .” I was upset with my water being off and contacted the City of Windhoek to give them a piece of my mind. They in turn pointed out that I have a rental contract with the price of water included...

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 12 November 2014) In everyone’s life there comes a time when you need “someone in your corner”. Being married has reminded me of how important it is to have support structures in place through friends and family – especially when you and the better half have different views or opinions on an issue. For me, after only a few months of marriage, it has been difficult lately because my work is very demanding on my time, as well as being a job in which I get to travel very frequently. This means that I have to make that extra effort to convince my wife that she is still the most important person in my life. Last week I was fortunate enough to be a panellist at the Namibia Customer Service Awards and Conference hosted at the Polytechnic of Namibia. The topic for which I was invited to do a short presentation was “Customer Advocacy”. This term is used to refer to companies that focus on what is best for a customer. This might sound like just anot...

(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 h...

(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 “r...

(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...