SMSes for Monday 11 March 2013
SMS Of The Day *TEACHERS in Namibia must stand together and object to the so-called regrading system that only benefits people in management positions. The gap between heads of departments and school principals and that of teachers is so big that it boils down to unfair treatment. Does Nantu represent the teachers’ interests? Teachers were not taking part in last year’s illegal strike for fun. We took part in the strike because of poor working conditions. Nantu must be realistic when they negotiate on behalf of the teachers. We need to withdraw our membership and form a loyal teachers union that would never deceive its members. Nantu secretary general, please reply.
Food For Thought
*I WAS reminded this week of something many of us forget and may not know. Success is a choice. Make sure it is your choice.
*THANK you, Gwen Lister. You have said it in Friday’s Political Perspective. The same could be argued irrespective of the many congratulatory messages on appointments anda birthdays of political office bearers. Surely, one message on behalf of the President, government and the nation would suffice. Ministries, companies and individuals who would like to do that can rather donate that money to a worthy cause.
*CAN The Namibian please run articles to explain why alternative airlines cannot be used to support the tourism sector. Alternative airline, could be a solution to the problem, instead of bailing out Air Namibia every year.What is the justification for wasting so much money?
Bouquets and Brickbats
*I BELIEVE that many police officers are ex-combatants. Did they forget that they were also demonstrating and demanded jobs from Swapo? Swapo offered them jobs in the public sector. They got what they wanted and soon they forgot how they got jobs? They must think before taking action against the ‘struggle children’.
*I WANTED to see whether the public undertaking by the Minister of Home Affairs to shape up the service delivery within the ministry resulted in any action last Friday. I phoned the ‘information desk’ on Friday morning at 08h40. Guess what? Was the phone answered? No. It rang for at least 10 minutes and I gave up. Pendukani Iivula-Ithana, it seems the staff in the ministry did not take you seriously.
*VIVA to Petrus Leo on his letter in Friday’s The Namibian on page 15, about ‘Who speaks for you when your parents are dead’. I agree with the argument that ‘struggle children’ will always be ‘struggle children’, no matter what the people say. The Namibian government should continue with what they started. Why stop now? If the government had started to recruit some of them why all of a sudden don’t they want to recruit the remaining ones. To the ‘struggle children’; United we stand divided we fall. Let the legacy of our fathers and mothers continue in a free and independent Namibia. Treat all the ‘struggle children’ in the same fashion.
*CIVIL servant’s bill up - civil servant’s production level down. Corruption up - integrity down. Crime rates up - mini skirts down. Personal greed up - national pride gone. Why have we become a spineless nation?
*WE don’t make cars in Namibia. The ban on the so-called imports only benefits South Africa and the dealers. The Namibian market is over protected and the consumers pay the price.
*THE Windhoek Municipality said on TV that the usage of water in Windhoek should be used sparingly due to the water shortage caused by climatic conditions. I am curious to see what action the Windhoek Municipality is going to take on the mushrooming carwash businesses throughout the city.
*WHAT on earth is going on in Windhoek? All the houses in the city of Windhoek are above the one million dollar mark. The government is just mum.
*CAN the City Police please advise what they mean when they issue a ticket without an amount on it and say “upon admission of guilt”. Do I have to appear in court before I know what amount to pay for the ticket?
*VIRGIN Active gym, why are you wasting customers’ hard-earned money on your machinery that are forever broken? If the sauna is half-working, then the steamer is out of order. Is this the way of saving at customers’ expense or just poor management system? Improve your service delivery, we are tired.
n SILOZI service of the NBC, why don’t you repeat announcements on the show from 09h00 to 10h30. You always repeat announcements on other shows, like the Sound Show. The Manager must do something or else we must get a new manager for NBC Silozi service.
– Concerned listener
*OUR leaders allocated bursaries to their children and relatives and they are now studying in China at the expense of the poor. Yet, they cannot assist the so-called ‘struggle children’.
*CITY POLICE, we can’t sleep at Hans Dietrich Gencher Street. Our children are exposed to all sorts of immoral behaviour of drunk and fighting people from Thursdays to Sundays. Shacks are everywhere in the backyards of houses. The value of our houses have dropped because of those shacks. I appeal to the health inspectors to visit properties on this street and acquaint themselves with the bad smell hanging in the air. We even called the City Police to come and investigate what’s going on at a certain erf, but they don’t come.
*THANK you Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana for noticing the inhuman service we have to endure at the Ministry of Home Affairs. The offices of the Ministry of Home Affairs in Northern Industrial Area need to be visited because the staff are totally unprofessional towards the citizens.
*I AM very concerned about the reception of NBC signal at the settlement of Uis in the Erongo Region. We have been experiencing this problem as from January this year. We have no access to NBC TV but we have to pay TV licenses every year.
*HARRY Simon must just go back to the drawing board if he wants to be taken seriously. He had all the opportunities and privileges the world of boxing could provide but he did not make good use of it. Please stop proportioning blame on others. Nestor Tobias as a promoter and coach worked hard to be where he is today. The nation respects him for that.
*WHEREAS our own ‘struggle children’ are still struggling in pathetic conditions in front of the noses of our leaders at Ndilimani farm, billions of dollars are budgeted for Air Namibia with the possibility of a bail-out in the next financial year. The government is persistently doing that, instead of investing money in projects that would benefit future generations. No wonder Namibia has earned a high misery rating.
*THANKS to the person who warned Namibians about the SMS that says “you won N$2,5 million”. It was sent to me and I ignored it.
*THE Resettlement programme will take millions of years and still fail. People without skills and interest in farming are resettled just because they are Namibians. Many resettlement farm units are without people because they were allocated to wrong people. It is well known that Aminuis and Otjimbingwe are prone to drought, so they should enjoy preferential treatment in the resettlement programme.
*WIMPY in Wernhill Park, your service is really poor. On Saturday I was sitting at table number 17 and it was only after seven minutes that one of your waitresses attempted to take my order. The place was not even busy. And please train your chefs to know how to fry a soft egg.
*THANK you NBC TV for being considerate about the gay/lesbian communities..We loved the Saturday movie. That was screened right after ‘Sunshine’.
Labour
*TO say teachers do a more important job than the prosecutors is someone’s opinion. Be it as it may, when teachers were underpaid they did not resign but expressed their unhappiness. So, allow prosecutors to express theirs as well. It is the taxpayers’ money we are talking about. It does not belong to an individual.
Suggestion Box
*THE Namibian should really investigate the criteria applied to allocated scholarships and bursaries. Out of 11 students nine are from the same tribe. This practice should stop. How do they select? Is the government trying to educate one tribe only?
*SOCIAL Security is hereby advised to speed up their system of paying people on maternity leave, People are suffering because they have accounts and many other commitments. Please improve the service.
*NAMIBIA must be pro-active. We have the chance and opportunity to prevent water shortages by building a desalination plant at the coast. The mines can also contribute, as they use a lot of the water. Yes, it is expensive but it’s better than having a country suffering from water shortages. In the long term it will be beneficial. Investigation should be done and steps taken to solve the problem. Namibia is a wonderful country with intelligent people. We are surely blessed.
Education
*CREDIT should be given to the Namibian teachers, especially the suspended Khomas Nantu regional executive committee. We salute them all because they touched the hearts of our leaders, especially the Minister of Finance for regrading the civil servants’ salaries and granting a mere eight percent. But the regrading shows huge gaps between teachers’ salaries and that of heads of departments and school principals. Some heads of departments and principals are not even qualified for those positions. If the government is serious with the management of schools, all HOD’s and principals with BETD qualifications should be demoted and all teachers with Bachelors and Masters degrees in education be promoted to management positions.
*HOW come that the teachers in Oshana are only remembered when it is time for compiling regional examination papers, but they are forgotten when there is a duty to be performed where money is involved? The first term is very important as the minds of learners are still fresh and teachers are well focused. So let the teachers be at schools to finish their syllabuses on time and release them at the end of the year to go for marking. The advisory teachers must revisit their job descriptions.
Response to Previous SMSes
*TO praise the Office of the Prime Minister for cutting the salaries of civil servants is primitive. We all deserve an upgrade. Do you know what will happen if all the prosecutors resign? Please, do research before talking.
Complaint
*STANDARD Bank branch at Walvis Bay, your customer service is not up to standard. One has to wait a long time for service. Employ more people so you can render service efficiently. Cellphone banking also needs to be upgraded because it is too slow. Walvis Bay is a big town and we need to have two branches in town.
Response
The Walvis Bay Management of Standard Bank Namibia has taken the customer’s complaint into consideration. For our customer’s convenience, we have opened a new Business Centre at the harbor town on Friday, March 8. Besides our Walvis Bay branch at the harbor town, the new centre located on 11th Road will conveniently offer banking products and services to our customers. As a customer centric bank it is very important for us to deliver good customer service. For any queries, customers can also contact the branch management and as an alternative there is another platform for customers to speak to us directly through our Facebook (Standard Bank Namibia) and Twitter (@standardbankna) pages.
Complaint
*MINISTER of Labour, look into the disciplinary procedures taken against the employees by the private companies who used to pay some of the labour consulting companies to handle their disciplinary hearings, while our rights to representation are limited. Meaning, we can only be represented by a fellow employee or a colleague. This is unfair. We want that the issue of paid consultants to be addressed, urgently.
Response
It is true that some employers use labour consultants at their internal disciplinary hearings. However as the terms indicate these are internal fora and as such the minister cannot, by law, dictate who should represent who at internal proceedings. Employees can also insist to be represented by an outsider at such hearings if employers are allowed to bring in an outside consultant. Should the employee not be allowed the outside representation as he or she demands while the employer is having outside representation, then that amounts to unfair procedure and may lead to an appeal.
Complaint
*I asked a bricklayer, working on Sundays on the renovations done to Baines Shopping Centre in Pionnierspark, if they get double pay as the law requires and he answered: “The Chinese don’t pay Sunday double pay.” Ministry of Labour, please send your Labour inspectors there and see that justice is done to our Namibian workers. Or are some construction companies above the law?
Response
Nobody is above the law of this country. The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has dispatched an inspector to the said premises on March 8 to ensure that the labour laws are adhered to.
Paulus N Ashipala
Liaison Officer
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
Lost and Found
*I, NGHISHINDISHILI Ndahafa Sheehama lost my bag at Unam main compus with the following documents: Grade 12 certificate, passport and a book. If found please contact me at 0814022237 or 0812803373.
*I, NZUNDAMO Kabala, lost my laptop bag, with an HP laptop inside and all my qualifications obtained from Polytechnic and Grade 12, as well as my passport. If found please contact me at 0812925075 or 0814424180.
*I, MMWANYEKANGE Emmanuel lost my wallet in Windhoek with my ID and gun license. If found contact me at 0818586873.