SMSes of Friday 13 August 2010
* PRESS freedom and freedom in general should be guarded jealously – even from those we credit for that freedom. – Reino Kambango, Unam * IN my opinion, contributors to The Namibian newspaper’s SMS page should not be afraid to reveal their names. After all, we are a free people in a free country, I hope you will express yourself freely without fear under your own name. – Dr Elijah Ngurare * THE problem with Namibia starts with its attitude.
Food for Thought
* HOW heavy must the burden be to make a young girl dump her baby? I ask you to look at that before judging her. Is it not our attitude and judgments that lead to these actions? Jail will not serve anybody. It will only destroy an already broken life.
– Gunta
* WHY is the unemployment rate so high in Namibia?
Bouquets and Brickbats
* WHERE are our custodians of the Namib when it comes to large-scale destruction of a sensitive area with prospecting by the many exploration companies? The Namib Naukluft area including the Khan river is being churned up by 4 x 4s, trucks and bulldozers. Yet there never is an outcry from Nacoma as there is during the holidays when our visitors drive in the Namib. Is that not a double standard?
* DR Becky Ndjoze-Ojo, thanks for the work of genius epitomised by your contribution on Education and Training to the Observer of last week and to education as a young compatriot and in your capacity as a mature, proficient politician. It is unfortunate that Namibia doesn’t seem to value skills and quality and honesty. You must be corrupt and dim-witted to survive here. It is regrettable but that’s systemic.
* A BIG thumbs up to the Ministry of Home Affairs for letting newborns be registered at the Katutura Hospital. It is very fast and efficient.
* THUMBS up for Dr A Iyambo, Dr R Kamwi and Dr D Namwandi for taking a stand to warn and remind latecomers and loafers in the public service to pull up socks. Please other Ministers do the same – it will make a difference and help!
* I FEEL lucky to have leaders like Dr Abraham Iyambo and Dr Richard Kamwi. They are known for acting instead of just giving good speeches!
– TI Amupolo, Windhoek
* THANK you Minister (Richard) Kamwi for visiting Outapi hospital. The hospital is really dirty, nurses have attitude, there is poor management and no patient care at all.
* THANK you so much for respecting the cheetah’s life this time round! May unnecessary killing come to a speedy end.
* I AM happy with what the Minister of Health and Social Services is doing by surprise visits to state hospitals. Please also look at personnel departments too. They are not doing their job. How can new employees go 3 – 4 months without receiving their salaries. Where’s the decentralisation that Government is telling us about?
– Nduuvu Jason, Omusati Region.
* THE name is BEE indeed. I agree that there is a chronic tendency amongst blacks to be apologetic for being black. Our Constitution is not discriminatory, and BEE is (will be) within the confines of our Constitution. J S Amupanda I encourage you to keep writing.
* I FOUND the BEE article inflammatory to say the least. Now to hear that PW Botha never uttered those alleged words makes it even worse. I think the Amupanda guy owes us all an apology and needs an urgent change of perspective! Creating myths about the past is equally irresponsible as the alleged atrocity may have been!
– Edwin
* MR BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) stop with your divide and rule style. We need no tribalism in Namibia.We want genuine economic empowerment. Say no to black or white economic empowerment. We must never be apologetic for being a rainbow nation. Viva Vision 2030 (empower all Namibians).
– Rasta
* WONDER if the supermarket donated or sold those trollies to Sakeus Alushu. Or were they simply taken by him illegally?
Politics
* SOME people are really narrow minded! A ratepayers’ association is not a political party! How can it be a rival to Swapo? An RA must check that the money for rates and taxes is used wisely!
* NAMIBIANS wake up! Let’s not vote for a party; vote for the people whom you think can make a difference. We are waiting for council elections before the end of the year. For how long must we wait for sustainability, we have been patient enough.
– Ndapewa, Windhoek
Running the Show
* NESER House Flats Ausspansplatz. The people who stay there are responsible for the care of the place! When you dirty, you must clean! When you break, you must repair! Minister (of Works) Erkki (Nghimtina) please send housing inspectors there to evict those who don’t take care of Government property.
* MINISTER of Home Affairs please pay a visit to your office in the Northen Industrial Area in Windhoek to see how some of your officers are behaving toward clients. Example: 03/08/2010 A woman was very rude to me and telling me that although my child needs a full birth certificate very urgently for education purpose, I should wait six months because he was registered in the North (Oshakati). Can this be the truth Mrs (Rosalia) Nghidinwa? I was really shocked by the way that woman acted towards me.
* PLEASE mark all Government cars as well as Police and City Police cars with big numbers, eg G10 for a Government car. Sometimes it is diffcult to identify number plates in case of abuse.
Politics
* IT will be an act of selective morality and ethnicity to act against governor Dawid Boois for wrong-doing while at the same time congratulating and promoting Paulus Kapia for being involved in Avid.
* (PAULUS) Kapia could be guilty or not, that’s for the court of law to decide. But until such time he mustn’t serve in any public office much less in the Cabinet, for that’s the only moral thing to do.
* HOW could President Hifikepunye Pohamba appoint Paulus Kapia as an MP while he has a pending corruption case in the court of law. Surely if Kapia was the ‘ideal’ candidate, Pohamba could have appointed him after his acquittal. Is this now payback time? Pohamba should learn from the Jackie Selebi saga. Are we expecting Namibians to respect the laws that are passed from that House?
– Kgalemang Morone, – Katutura
Health Matters
* PLEASE parliamentarians! The nation is crying for their daughters being deliberately infected with HIV-AIDS by high profile men. My cousin just got married and is now pregnant, only to be diagnosed HIV positive. Through her own investigation it came out that her hubby has been on ARVs prior to getting married. It also came out that the hubby presented fake blood results before they got married. Please change the law to criminalise this type of conduct!
GIPF Saga
* THE Windhoek Country Club was built with a GIPF loan. That money has also not been paid back. Then instead of Government holding functions there (to support it), the Government prefers Safari Motel!
* ARE Pension Funds also used for loans in other countries? I am really questioning the credibility of the judiciary, the Swapo leadership style and the ‘see no evil; hear no evil’ pretext.
In and From the Regions
* THE article in the Government newspaper of Monday on August 9 regarding the plan or decision to commercialise millet or mahangu as a controlled crop has reference. The government representative indicated that silos have been built at various places in the north including Tsandi. I wish to share with him that no such much-needed facilities exist at Tsandi. If this is what they plan to do in future, we will be happy to have those silos.
– AT
* OSHAKATI Municipality can you please relocate your rubbish dump site. You are killing us despite several pleas to you to relocate the dump site at Othingo village.
– Dhiladhileni Lungameni.
* PLEASE verify with the Namibian police and NaTIS about the fake licences found in Rundu. Mine starts with 01 before the ID number and I got it at NaTiS.
* THERE are some cuca shops and shebeens in front of secondary or high schools in the North. In my view these contribute to substance abuse and indiscipline among learners. Are there no policies or laws which can be used to remove those shebeens from schools’ surroundings?
– Concerned parent
* OUR health is in danger. People pump sewerage water behind rooms at night. The connections for toilets and showers has not been done properly at Sportsman’s Flats. Health inspector for Oshakati Town Council we would like you to come inspect the place. We are just waiting to get cholera.
* PLEASE Councillor of Oshikango in Ohangwena Region when are we getting water at Enghandja village? We are getting sick from the water from the omifima. We need clean water.
– David .
* NAMPOWER is always late and people are losing meat and other stuff because of them. This is always happening at Ariamsvlei and the school kids and officials working at the border are suffering because this has been happening for the past five years. Prime Minister (Nahas Angula) please put up one big Lister generator which can provide the six ministries with electricity when power is off.
* I AM very disappointed in Arandis Town Council to learn that investors are forced to make use of Council’s employment committee and that the local consulting firm, who were supposed to do recruitment for the investors, has been rejected. Is that the way to encourage youth to be innovative?
* ON the recent arrest of Zambian drivers by Katima Mulilo traffic officers. What does SADC mean? We have many buses around the country transporting people to and from and the Cape, on InterCape. The Botswana bus working in Gobabis goes to Botswana. Why were those not arrested? Secondly since those buses started working in that region we have never had a death on the road.
Education and Training
* ENGINEERING Council of Namibia (ECN) – why is the ECN only being managed by some citizens and at the same time only some young engineers are being registered more easily than others? Is this a strategy not to register some as professional engineers and technologists? Please we want both President Hifikepunye Pohamba and the former President (Sam) Nujoma to look into the matter.
– Concerned Engineer.
* I THINK most of the newly promoted school principals do not really have their schools at heart. They are only there because of a good salary and status. Where have you seen a principal who comes to school without a lesson plan and expects the teachers to do theirs, no staff meeting, teachers borrow money from the School Development Fund without paying back and much more. It happens here at (name supplied) SSS in Omusati region.
– Concerned parent.
Be Careful
* LATEST SMS scam. Beware: ‘Greetings; I am Barrister M Victor. I seek your help in the urgent return of funds to Namibia. Please e-mail me asap on vcmoke.
Note: Best ignore all SMSes and emails from people claiming they want help with transferring large amounts of money using your banking details.
– News Desk
NBC
* NBC please make ‘Beats Per Minute” two hours because Namibian artists are increasing and you are the only big promoter in this country.
– Jester Breeze Ben Ndumba.
* NBC is kindly requested, as a national broadcaster, to spare this nation from the usual speakers when it comes to the commemoration of Heroes Day and other days of national and continental importance. We also want to hear our history from true living heroes such as Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, Helao Shituywete, Hidipo Hamutenya, Kandy Nehova and others who should not be overshadowed by the super-inflated egos of those who pretend to be the alphas and omegas of Namibia’s heroic deeds in the past.
General
* CAN anybody with a legal mind please inform me if it is lawful or legal to exclude my own biological children from my will if I wish so. Can that will stand the test of a legal challenge in the court of law if I leave all my estate to someone else, other than my own minor children?
Taxi Talk
* ONE of the reasons why people perish in our public transportation is the non-enforcement of buses being fitted with seatbelts. The driver of the combi near Kalkfeld was probably wearing his belt and the passengers not. That’s why he survived! I’m in a combi to Walvis now with no seat belts at all!
* WE must also give taxi drivers credit where it is due. On Sunday the taxi B19 saved the lives of passengers by avoiding a head-on with a white Corolla driving in daylight in the wrong lane in Begonia Street.
Service Please
* MTC why is the iPhone for businesses N$1 999 cheaper than for private customers? Is a business’s money better than ours?
Lost and Found
* MAGRIETHA van der Westhuizen please call 081-122-8981 to collect your ID, Social Security and medical aid cards.
* I DUSNELDA Kahure lost my important documents in Windhoek. If found please call 081-485-8373.
Responses to recent SMSes
From NBC
* CAN’T NBC remove some boring documentaries and talk shows and slot in Big Brother Africa? We pay our TV licenses and we are missing the best reality show in Africa?
Note: We understand that the NBC has been advertising that they will be running a weekly highlights show on Sundays, but that this has not materialized yet.
Here is our response to the SMS complaint:
NBC has been airing the weekly Big Brother All Stars highlights since the start of the new season. You can watch the show every Sunday at 18h30 – 19h30 on NBC TV. Feel free to download our TV schedule from our website at www.nbc.com.na or alternatively read it in The Namibian daily.
* ESTER Paulus, PRO of Ministry of Education, thanks for your reply re teachers who must go in maternity leave. The management said the school alone must pay the relief teacher. Now the HOD said: “School doesn’t have money so the learners will be without a teacher.”
* WITH reference to Amupanda’s opinion piece: BEE will have its proponents and it’s opponents; each for their own selfish reasons – and then you’ll get those that simply don’t give a damn.
* IF you are living in a glass house don’t throw stones. Just look at what women are doing to their own children and they want the death penalty for men. Get real please we all need moral healing!
* KUDUS are not the cause of road accidents! It’s people who drive too fast and into a kudu which was crossing the road! Kudus don’t drive cars!
* DEAR Rafik. Did you know that civil servants perform official duties during weekends like overtime work, standby duties or travelling in and out of town on official missions thus driving GRN cars on weekends. And provision is made for that eg trip authorities authorising one to drive during weekends, after hours etc. Please let us not divert focus on petty issues instead of relevant issues.
– AC Diergaardt, public servant.
* TO the person who sent a SMS about the Government buying expensive cars and not caring. As long as you keep voting for them they will keep on doing it.
* STREETS should be named in memory of Magdalena Stoffels and all others who died at the hands of similar violence in every town of the country. This should serve as a grim reminder to offenders that the Namibian nation will no longer tolerate such brutality against innocent people. To date the perpertrators responsible for the brutal slaying of those two young women whose bodies were decapitated during 2005 and 2007 are not brought to book yet. Why? Justice delayed is justice denied.