NWR deals raise more questions

MORE questions have emerged from the deal to privatise the management of some of Namibia’s State-owned recreational resorts, including why the Daan Viljoen resort was privatised without it ever having been advertised.

A check on advertisements run by Namibia Wildlife Resorts in the last week of July 2007 in The Namibian showed that the Daan Viljoen Game Resort, a popular small game park 15 km west of Windhoek, was not included in the terms of reference.Running of Daan Viljoen’s 22 chalets, one large guesthouse, campsites and restaurant was however also privatised, in this case to Prosperity Africa, a subsidiary of the Prosperity Health Group.Although the concessions were awarded in August last year, Ministry of Environment and Tourism officials however still collect visitor fees at both Von Bach and Daan Viljoen. The concessionaries get to keep 90 per cent of this income, but are supposed to pay hefty rental fees of N$10 000 per month.NWR MD Tobie Aupindi has continued to stonewall direct queries in this regard, including why no one else was apparently allowed to make an offer for Daan Viljoen. Questions about his decision to lease the Von Bach resort – and several hundred hectares of state land with it – for 100 years to Tungeni Africa similarly remained unanswered.His office said he was out of the country.A sign posted at the Daan Viljoen entrance states that the camping area and picnic places are closed due to renovation by San Karros Lifestyle Safaris. Collecting of fees is still done by Ministry of Environment and Tourism officials.Two workers working on a single bungalow – the only visible work that was going on – confirmed that this was part of the Prosperity group. All the bungalows are being rebuilt as en-suite units, they said, but little evidence of this could be seen.The recreational area, which offers spectacular views of Windhoek from its now-shuttered restaurant (closed like the rest since late last year), has become notably dilapidated, as has the (empty) swimming pool area.The full implication of the NWR deal to privatise the management of some of its resorts only emerged after the Namibia and Von Bach Water Ski Clubs found themselves locked out by game warden Penda Shimali in April. The clubs, who have been leasing five hectares each at the dam from the Department of Works at nominal rents since the mid-1970s, were forced to bring an urgent interdict against the Ministries of Works and Transport, Environment and Tourism and Shimali. Although the recreational area at Von Bach falls outside his (and NWR’s) area of jurisdiction, Shimali seemingly took it upon himself to defend Tungeni’s commercial interests by initially refusing to obey the court order obtained by the ski clubs.Shimali, who is also the game warden at Daan Viljoen, refused to discuss why a game warden appeared to be acting on behalf of Tungeni’s commercial interests when he refused to open the gates. ‘You must speak to the PS [Kalumbi] Shangula, he has been properly briefed on the matter,’ Shimali said.The showdown at Von Bach’s gates came after the ski clubs earlier rejected an offer from Tungeni’s principals of paying about N$7 million in return for a 50-year leasehold right, The Namibian established. In an interview, Tungeni’s Stephanus Oosthuyzen claimed the clubs were each only paying N$200 per year to the Ministry of Works but rejected summarily Tungeni’s ‘extremely reasonable offer’. Since 1994 the Von Bach Water Ski Club and the Namibia Water Ski Club have been paying a nominal fee of N$8 000 per year per club. Their leases expire in 2012 but offers since 1997 to increase the fee were ignored, Martin Schmidt of the Namibia Water Ski Club said.Tungeni, in terms of their 50-year lease (renewable by another 50 years) claim their lease entitles them to about half the Von Bach reserve, including the two areas occupied by the clubs. But the land was never transferred to the NWR from the Ministry of Works by way of title deed or proclamation, official records show, raising questions about the legality of the transactions.’We were not sure if this offer was valid, as our contract has always been with the Ministry of Works,’ Schmidt said.While Tungeni MD Iyaloo Nangolo and Oosthuyzen insisted that public access to the dam would not be restricted, they became vague about what public facilities they would construct. When this reporter visited the resort on Monday, a receptionist (who answered the telephone as ‘Tungeni Africa Resorts’) said the resort was closed to the public.Although Tungeni contractually took over Von Bach in August last year, this staff member was still working for the Ministry (and had never been employed by NWR) but was collecting an extra N$10 per visitor on behalf of Tungeni, she confirmed.Inspection of the 22 bungalows showed that a Chinese sub-contractor overseeing about 10 workers was tearing them down and rebuilding them as slightly larger, en-suite units. Tungeni had promised to create 3 000 jobs for locals during the construction phase.The picnic site, on the opposite side of the dam, appeared neglected, not having been maintained for some time. It was also closed to the public and it was not clear when it would be opened again, the Environment Ministry staff member at the gate said. * John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587

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