Flipping house owners in Namibia

The “sub-prime mortgage crisis” in America in the period 2007 – 2010 was felt all around the world. Common wisdom tells us this was caused by banks and other financial institutions giving loans to high risk borrowers who could not repay the money. This message has been shared around the world and all of us agree that people with poor credit records should not be given loans as they cause a danger to all of us when they cannot repay. The proverb seems to be “Poor people were reckless and stupid, and banks got greedy.”

This is also the case in Namibia where the poor (read previously disadvantaged), have found it harder to borrow and thus end up renting property rather than getting an approved loan to purchase their property.

But what if this “common wisdom” is wrong?

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (USA) the 2007 crash did not occur because people with low credit borrowed to buy houses they could not afford. Rather it occurred because the wealthy and middle-class were purchasing property and “flipping” them. (The term flipping refers to buying a house or property with the intent to sell it for a profit at later time, normally no more than two years. The most important part of house-flipping is that your rental income will be enough to cover your bond. So in effect the person renting is paying for the purchase price until you sell the profit when you make a profit because house prices are going up.)

If this has been happening in Namibia, especially Windhoek, I contend that with the reduction in inflation and interest rate fluctuations (possible upwards next time round), combined with a reduction in rental incomes, we will soon see defaulting in the home owners’ market.

So if you own a second home and use that rental income to repay some of your loans, BE AWARE the market is experiencing difficulties and it will impact on you when you no longer are getting the expected rental income and its (previously) usual increase of 10%

Tikking in Windhoek

Windhoek has recently had an explosion of drug abuse of crystal methamphetamine which is known on the street as "tik" or "eat-some-more". The drug can be bought in almost any neighbourhood in Windhoek and it is found at any time of the day or night. It is normally sold in the form of a rock at a cost of N$ 100.00 each. This rock is broken into smaller pieces and then smoked from a "gun" which is made from a small metal pipe with a copper filter inside on which the tik is placed and has sellotape wrapped around the stem.

Over the past twelve years I have been living and working with people who use this drug on a regular basis. My first experience of the drug was while staying in Ausspannplatz in what is ironically now part of the National Police Headquarters. The drug was readily available and most of the prostitution happening was for the express purpose of buying tik and alcohol.

What is most striking is that before the first hit the user acts reasonably normal. However, after their first hit they become erratic after about 15 minutes and then the addiction can be seen as they want to have the next hit as soon as possible. It is this craving that is leading to an increase in the number of users being willing to do anything for the next high. These activities include stealing from their own homes, robbing people for cash and phones and offering sexual favours to any person willing to assist in the next high.

Earlier this year I spent a weekend with a tik user and was able to see a little bit more of the underbelly of this activity. (It is perhaps important to add at this point that I have tried tik while out with users but am fortunately one of those people who do not get cravings to eat-some-more and more importantly the cost at N$ 100 a hit is just not value for money for me. My personal drug of choice still remains alcohol and I still hope for the day when we will legalise marijuana for personal usage. LOL)

Over an extended period I have met with users, sellers and recovering addicts. The most common user group in Windhoek are young men and women between the ages of 16 to 30 who are un- or under-employed. The money from the drug is procured through visiting gambling and drinking holes and offering anything the other person might want. The most “successful” user is mostly pretty young women who would in normal circumstances not be found prostituting themselves but once under the spell of tik would literally do anything to get their next hit.

These are the Tik Symptoms (according to the Bethesda Recovery Treatment Centre):

• Loss of appetite, weight loss
• Loss of personal hygiene standards
• Increase in irritability and a short-temper
• Unnecessary aggressive attitudes and behaviours
• Dilated pupils
• Rapid speech
• High anxiety
• Psychotic symptoms (hallucinations, delusions, aggressive itching of specific areas of the body)
• Constant headaches
• An overly friendly manner with a false confidence
• Insomnia
• Changes in dress, friends and slang
• Drug paraphernalia: light bulbs, glass straws, metal tubes
• Regular visits to the doctors due to contraction of sexually transmittable diseases

If you know of any family member, friend or colleague that may be using tik, speak to a professional to seek their assistance in addressing the reasons behind the usage. More often than not, a tik user is easily able to identify the usage as a problem due the high frequency of psychotic episodes.

The biggest loss to us all from the use of these (and other drugs) is the potential that has been taken away that they can never get back.

Staying off social media - a liberating experience

The past few months I have been very quiet on the social media front. Besides my regular twitter shares or an occasional photo of Captain Adorable, I have restricted myself from posting (and checking the "likes") as it was becoming part of my real life and I wanted some space.

The first few days were the hardest - but then I started using the Internet the way I always have - for getting reading material, searching key words or concepts and sending emails.

This process has led me to create a "pocket" (an offline article reader) as well as participate in free online courses.

It has been LIBERATING.

Of course I still peek at what my friends are doing - but it is not an addiction anymore.

Now I need to get back to blogging and writing my next book!

Media abuse and the citizen

The past few weeks (and years) there has been a debate in Namibia about the freedom of the press and more specifically the government's stated intention to regulate the media. The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has also circulated a broadcasting policy which indicates certain regulations which will be imposed by government.

I wish to dissect this matter for those of us who are not in the media business who would like to have our media free from suppression, BUT, would also like to ensure that the media are held accountable for what they publish. In addition, most citizens are aware that we need to evolve new methods of management of social media posts.

What is Freedom of the Press?

Freedom of the press refers to the right circulating opinion in the media without censorship from the government. What is critical is that freedom of the press allows opinions (normally about leaders) to be circulated for comment among the general public. The Namibian Constitution in Article 21 on Fundamental Freedoms states "All persons shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, which shall include freedom of the press and other media".
THUS, freedom of the press and the right to express an opinion (freedom of speech) is guaranteed in our supreme law.

What happens if Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press is abused?

Abuse of freedom of speech refers to a a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual person, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation. This abuse is referred to as "libel" which is a malicious, false statement in written media, a broadcast, or otherwise published words.

Note: Under common law the word "defamation" is used to indicate a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual person, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation. If defamation takes place in published works it is called libel; and when it is spoken it is called slander.

If you wish to take the process to court when libel occurs you must prove a civil wrong that has caused you to suffer loss or harm for which the person who printed the statement should be held liable.

How do I prove libel?

In general (please consult a lawyer) you must prove that the statement was false, that it has caused harm, and was made without adequate research into the truthfulness of the statement. In the first part of the statement I already had to state that a lawyer had to be consulted. AND that is the crux of the matter why citizens need some regulatory authority with teeth or a small claims court where they can makes such claims without the expense of a legal professional.

Proposals

If we wish to establish mechanisms that will allow citizens an easy way to make the media pay for libel there are three options open to us:
1. The present self-regulating Media Ombudsman be empowered to give binding decisions when libel is found. (Also expand the system to allow for inputs by consumer groups)
2. Include measure in the Consumer Protection Act that will allow compensation if libel is found. This can be addressed through a Small Claims Court.
3. “Regulated Self-regulation” – where government regulators create the conditions in which media can demonstrate they are acting responsibly.

The need to hold the media and journalists for what they write or broadcast is clear. However, the government should not be allowed to use this sentiment to take away any of our hard won rights in our constitution.

Gift Economy - Rethinking GDP and productivity

Reading a very enlightening article about the "gift economy". The most common example is the donating of blood for free. That is not part of the "market economy".

In African terms this also refers to our caring for our relatives by paying for their studies, giving them room and board, etc. We have a more neighbourly approach to our community in which we share or give to others when they do not have.

It does not mean giving when I do not have, but rather haring when I have surplus.

"When a parent cooks for their family that is just as productive as a chef cooking for customers in a restaurant, but no cash changes hands in payment."

 In economic terms, when we give to our friends and neighbours it reduces GDP (Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all final goods and services produced in a period)

In today's world we need to rethink the measurement of our nationals wealth by only using GDP.

"We should think of the economy as an interacting mix of market and non-market practices"

See: https://goo.gl/0VYDfP

Community is woven from gifts. Unlike today's market system, whose built-in scarcity compels competition in which more for me is less for you, in a gift economy the opposite holds. Because people in gift culture pass on their surplus rather than accumulating it, your good fortune is my good fortune: more for you is more for me. Wealth circulates, gravitating toward the greatest need. In a gift community, people know that their gifts will eventually come back to them, albeit often in a new form. Such a community might be called a "circle of the gift."