SMSes for Friday 21 December 2012
SMS Of The Day *To all Namibians: It costs nothing to let the spirit of compassion and kindness be among us all this festive season towards people and animals and ‘all creatures great and small’. To put aside cruelty of any kind will be the greatest gift of all.
Pay Hikes
*I AM furious! How can I get N$1 214.72 for nine months in back pay. My basic salary is N$2 559. The Ministry of Finance staff can not calculate correctly. I should have gotten N$1 842.48. They have robbed me of N$627.76.
*THE government surely does not have 40 percent increase for civil servants but it has 31 percent increase for fat cats. I call that injustice and corruption as leaders are only serving their own interests.
*ONE earning N$790 575 per annum is ‘underpaid’ and that salary “deserves to be increased” by N$50 827,58 per month or N$609 931 pa? GRN Officials, receiving N$3 000 pm, got an increase of N$240 pm to ‘curb inflation’.
*AND the gap gets wider. Surely we do not want our leaders to live in discomfort? They do such a great job in leading us to better days, isn’t it?
*THANKS to the commission who studied salaries of political office bearers. Thanks for an open, honest report. Did you also study these matters? 1. Teachers with the same qualification are on different salary scales. 2. New teachers start with higher salaries than those who are already teaching.
*UNDERPAID for years? How amusing an expression! My dear fellow-citizens, look at those obscene packages and the associated lifestyles of our public office bearers! Why are we not surprised by the announcement of a planned hefty salary increase for POBs? Because those are the 31 percent the GRN has been saving all these years by underpaying us teachers, the official underdogs of the nation, who have been put off with a pathetic eight percent increase. It’s appalling!
*FAT cats stealing legally! Market related increase, my foot! Why not compare the civil servants’ salaries with those European civil servants’ salaries as well? Public servants, we are being taken for granted. These sharks will eat us up for breakfast.
*ACCORDING to Judge President Petrus Damaseb, the salaries of POBs should be in line with inflation and market trends, therefore they will receive a very hefty raise of 31 percent! Is the eight percent salary increment of the ordinary civil servants also in line with inflation and market trends?
*NAMIBIA! Frans Kapofi’s suggested salary hike is 42 percent! Is it really fair? He was the one who could not understand the 40 percent request by Khomas teachers. Are you feeling happy now that it is your turn to benefit? Kapofi, if you don’t have a child to feed adopt one! That money is too much.
– Kunene teacher.
*FUNNY how POBSs have been underpaid for so long and now major increases are proposed while civil servants wallow in abject poverty and cannot get promised increases. Don’t you just love this 20 year old democracy. Viva comrades, viva!
*PETRUS Damaseb and Monica Kalondo, stop comparing Namibia to South Africa. SA has a population of over 40 million people and a GDP of trillions of Rand. This gives South African political office bearers more responsibilities and eventually higher pay than their Namibian counterparts. Maybe you can compare South African teachers with Namibian teachers because they have the same teacher-learner ratio.
Food for Thought
*POLITICIANS underpaid for years? You underperformed for years!
*AS a tik addict, I am absolutely shocked to read that crystal meth made it onto Namibian streets. Its potential for destruction is enormous. Please, please, I implore you to never even try it. It will bring you down and destroy your future. I know this because I am there. Over 80 percent of first time users get hooked.
*IT’S really disappointing to see a country with only two million, I repeat, two million people living in extreme poverty and shacks after 22 years of independence with so many resources. I just can’t get it.
*WE thought the Ohorongo plant was a solution to higher prices of cement in Caprivi but it just made things even worse. We buy cement at a very high cost compared to the rest of Namibia! What is the meaning of that? Please don’t blame distance because cement was cheap when it was still imported a few years ago!
Bouquets and Brickbats
*RUN Shaduka run!
*SWAKOPMUND traffic unit, thanks for hunting down a drunk driver on December 14. Your prompt response should be emulated by other traffic departments. Keep it up guys!
*K-BOZ and Sally you are not only great artists, but also great neighbours! Thank you for your alertness on Monday. It saved our home. May God bless you!
– Kamungu family
*HOW can the police put their source of information at risk by revealing that the information about drug smugglers came from the guest house staff where the suspects lodged. The police spokesperson was immature and destructive.
*WE salute you honourable Abraham Iyambo for holding tight to your position, let the words of evil not make you wicked. Education is the key to success.
*I AM so happy and excited to hear from the horse’s mouth that Home Affairs needs to be spring cleaned mentally and physically. Thanks Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana. Well done, you need to terminate all employees’ contracts and start afresh. There are many Namibians out there who need jobs. Staff spend most of their time in Shoprite or elsewhere doing shopping. They have no respect for taxpayers at all. Good luck and tell me if you need a bulldozer for the spring cleaning.
*OH really, Elijah Ngurare to be standing there and telling kids to respect their parents, the president etc, is such a shame – as if you do the same. We must practice what we preach.
*MINISTER Abraham Iyambo, must all schools be equally pathetic? How can schools maintain high standards without a school development fund? Make primary education fees compulsory to uplift education.
*SWAPO government, your taxes are too high. The eight percent back pay we got is not enough. The Swapo government took half of that amount as tax. Is this fair? There is no difference on eight percent back pay, I think the teachers should continue the strike. The Swapo government is not serious.
– Unhappy teacher
Education
*PERMANENT Secretary of Ministry Of Health and Social Services Andrew Ndishishi, we students at all health training centres countrywide feel that we are not treated fairly according to the new policy saying that pregnant students should be given one year maternity leave. If your aim is for us to bond with our babies why are staff members not given one year maternity leave to also bond with their children?
– Concerned student
*MINISTRY of Education to develop a plan to build two more universities and several more colleges, but renaming the Polytechnic to become a university is not building, is that not replacing? You are now making a mistake like you did to our colleges but we won’t let you do that again. Promoting math and science won’t contribute anything to the achievement of Vision 2030, where are the history, business and development people in this country?
*IF ever there was a time that the Polytechnic of Namibia disappointed its students, it would be during this December. They only pay their students half of their Government loan money and sometimes even less than half, they don’t care about how we counted on that money, and the fact remains that it’s the students money, they have to repay the Government after they graduate but Polytechnic of Namibia decides on how they handle that money. How is that fair?
Suggestion Box
*WILL the Bank of Namibia investigate all the Namibian banks for interest rate fixing back dating from independence and bring these managers to book?
*IT is time for the police to patrol the streets of Katutura to curb the young girls from drinking in the streets and walking with beer bottles.
*CAN the City Police and Nampol do a joint patrol to root out these botsotos who are shooting people for nothing? Please shoot back at the robbers, we are tired!
Service Please
*STANDARD Bank, your cellphone service is very slow. FNB In-contact cellphone immediately reports but Standard Bank is too slow. Pull up your socks.
*WE need help! We the people with disabilities and chronic pain in Namibia are suffering especially the ones with catheters. If you ask MVA, they tell you that your medical financial assistance is exhausted. Leaders please help us by re-looking into this matter. The fact that we are disabled is not due to our will or own making. That we are neglected and not considered as full human beings does not mean we were not once useful in society. I am really one of those people suffering terribly. President Hifikepunye Pohamba and your advisors, pay attention to the disabled, we are still useful.
Labour
*MINISTRY of Defence, we want to know whether you also stopped S&T as you did with overtime money. Cleaners at the Otjiwarongo base are tired of working for free on weekends and public holidays. We want to go and enjoy Christmas with our families. If there is money, pay us. Please rescue us from this condition.
*NAMIBIAN nurses should wake up. In 2013 we have to stand up and fight for our rights. Abner Shopati, be ready to answer all our queries. Anyway you are out, we want our money back.
Response to Previous SMSes
*THE author of the SMS regarding SPYL and the Founding Father’s statue. You have a point regarding the SPYL’s priorities but to say African youth are so narrow minded raises questions about your reasoning.
Lost and Found
*I, FR Daries lost my wallet with ID. If found, call 081-649 4377 or 081-644 4307.
*OLGA Peliwe Pomwene Hamata, I found your lost ID. Call me at 081-293 3144.