SMSes for Thu 23 Apr 09

* GREAT! A new Parliament building to be built for who knows how many zillions. I am sure the jobless and the shack-dwellers are jumping with joy over that news!
 * I AM praying that my South African countrymen and women going to the polls on April 22 will be blessed and vote in the spirit of peace and dignity.

* GREAT! A new Parliament building to be built for who knows how many zillions. I am sure the jobless and the shack-dwellers are jumping with joy over that news!
* I AM praying that my South African countrymen and women going to the polls on April 22 will be blessed and vote in the spirit of peace and dignity. – KG

Food For Thought
* IT would be interesting to know how the Government can justify raising the cost of a basic service like electricity with a recession looming. Should they not rather tighten their belts and stop wasting our hard-earned tax money on luxuriant state houses, the NDF, Air Namibia, etc?
* WHY don’t politicians have to retire at 60 as public servants do? What makes them think they are different or better than us? Alas, it is proven they are not. – Tim, Eros
* COMPLAINING about deteriorating roads, however the total collapse of ‘new’ roads Okahandja-Otjiwarongo-Otavi is a disgrace to everyone involved in these projects. I think all the supervising ‘professionals’ involved should be blacklisted.

Bouquets And Brickbats
* I JUST want to take my time out to thank a certain Mr Hafeni working for Cell One at Eenhana. He is working totally alone and really has the best interests of the customers at heart. Mr Hafeni, may God bless you.
* I COMMEND the staff of the Ministry of Finance for putting up pictures of known ATM fraudsters. We know these individuals who are driving around in their BMW.
* SPECIAL thanks to the Police in Okahandja for a job well done over Easter. It must go that way to close shebeens at twelve.
* PARDON me for ignorance but can someone advise me, I want take legal action against the Ugly Creatures for depriving Namibians of good music for so long!! Guys keep it up. I like your music, therefore I won’t take you to court. You rock. – AHT
* ‘NEVER too late to learn!’ The great man and son of the soil has done it! Congratulations on your graduation Cde Father of the Namibian Nation, Dr Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma. You are a role model to all of us. Long live Cde Nujoma, I salute you and have a blessed graduation day! – U2, Ongwediva.
* SHAME on those who were against Cde Shafiishuna Nujoma’s enrolment with Unam for a geology course. For your information, Cde Nujoma has completed his Geology course. Enjoy your day Cde Nujoma.
* I WOULD like to thank the GRN for the tax relief! When I saw my payslip today I was really overjoyed with the extra N$500 in my pocket! Thanks again!
* THANKS! To our Government for the increment in salaries. It is such a great achievement, we hope the next will be rural electrification, NamPol accommodation expansion and the renovation of the most dilapidated State facilities! We seldom thank leaders, but let’s all unite, rise, work, maintain and develop individually to make Namibia a haven to all its inhabitants, rather than being critics of our own! – Phil-K, Ohangwena
* THANKS to Rössing/Rio Tinto mine for investing in our health and safety in collaboration with OCSA/OCNAM. Now I know my HIV status and how to keep fit and practise a healthy lifestyle, a priority every company should follow. – R Seibeb

City Fathers, Please
* THE City of Windhoek is rezoning every second house into an office while no house under the new regime has ever been built. Of course no one is accountable!
* CITY of Windhoek should start sending monthly statements via e-mail to clients who have an e-mail address, instead of mailing it when it takes twice as long to receive. They must become technologically advanced by cutting queues short for those that don’t have technology facilities. – Concerned client

General
* I HAVE always admired the intelligence of Dr Condoleezza Rice. What’s she up to? The Namibian please bring story or two on her whereabouts. – We’ll do our best to find out the latest news on Dr Rice. – News Editor
* I’M also calling for a review and a referendum on the winter time-change issue. We don’t need two time zones in Namibia! I just don’t understand the logic. Can someone please explain with reference to SADC and Africa.
* I WAS caught by a recent SMS about women loving their men. My advice to men is: Love people and use things, not love things and use people. Treat women as you would like to be treated. – Concerned woman
* I AM looking for places that sell second-hand clothes. Vintage & modern. Anyone who knows of a place(s) please let me know through this page. Thanks.

Running The Show
* HON (Ngarikutuke) Tjiriange, war veterans never accepted or agreed with projects, we want cash please.

Taxing Times
* WHAT a joke from our GRN. They give me an increase of N$400 and tax that amount back. Where is the increase they talk about, as well as the tax relief? Don’t fool us please, that money means a lot to us as civil servants!
* PLEASE HELP! I’m a civil servant under the Ministry of Education. First, let me thank for the Government for the 12% increment, however there’s a trick or I failed to understand how tax calculations are done. The fact is – on top of my tax, which is N$2 719,49 that I usually pay monthly, another N$556,99 has again been deducted from my pay to make it N$3 276,48 tax I have to pay for the financial year 2009-2010. The question now comes however as to whether this is the 32% we were promised to be charged in taxes instead of 34% for the previous budget, or is it perhaps a misscalculation from the side of the Ministry of Finance? I’m really puzzled and absolutely disappointed and need more clarity in this regard. I therefore challenge particularly Hon (Finance) Minister Kuugongelwa-Amadhila to come out frankly and sort out the confusion as to exactly how much tax I’m actually entitled to pay for the T4A L1 band. I’m truly disappointed if this is the case. – Government employee, Ohangwena

Election Fever
* I SUPPORT the plight and concerns of the voter education officers. The Electoral Commission of Namibia is unprofessional. How will they organise the elections if they are still using the outdated list of the 2004 elections?
* ELECTORAL Commission of Namibia must start advertising their posts at least one month in advance, in order for the people to prepare their required documents. Never repeat again what you did last time please, thanks. – IRK, Ondangwa

Children Of The Struggle
* I DO agree with Dudley’s cartoon on March 27, these Swapo children are like Oliver Twist. Please GRN stop spoon-feeding them. Nothing comes for free. – Edson
* SHAME on Government for the unexpected recruitment of the ex-combatants’ kids. What does this mean? Why should these so-called ex-combatants’ kids be treated specially? Is Namibia the ex-combatants’ and their kids’ country only? Let them get jobs at the Swapo offices if it is like that. We also have kids with Grade 10 and 12 certificates but they do not have jobs while the jobs are given to those who can’t read and write because they don’t want to go to school. What did they do for this country? Stop fooling the nation please!

Enviro Action
* OIL spills? What about Shelve Explorer, Big Red and other ships that discharge marine slops in our ocean? Maritime Affairs should investigate. We will assist.

Politics
* WHOM do politicians in Botswana blame for their failures after all there was no colonialism, apartheid, imperialists or the Boers taking their land? Just want to know because here in Namibia it has been 20 years of commemorating our protracted history. – N Nakandunga

Education
* POLYTECHNIC Library is not a community library, but an academic library with the core function to serve its students (about 10 000) and its staff. The public may use the library’s facilities by paying a nominal annual fee to become a member. Contact the User Services Department for more information.
* PEOPLE cannot use opportunity unless they are educated, healthy and safe. At the moment our schools are poorly resourced. Often the Swapo Government cannot even deliver textbooks on time and thousands of learners leave school illiterate and innumerate because of poorly managed and sub-standard teaching, the worst in SADC. – Kamati

In And From The Regions
* ONDANGWA Town Council, why do you let Oluno residents live with terrible unhealthy sewerage water for four months? Please help these people.
* OTJIWARONGO is one of the fastest developing towns in the country, and due to that more criminals are attracted to it. Now we are facing an increase in the crime rate. This is now a thorn in the flesh. Incidents of housebreaking, robbery and rape can be heard almost daily. I think the town council must really take this seriously and address the matter before people who contributed to uplifting the town’s economy are affected and the crime tarnishes the image of our beautiful town. The only solution is to recruit a town police. – Tjarireove Tjavanga
* EENHANA Town Council please clean up the town.
* I HAVE realised that heavy vehicles passing through the Oshakati airstrip often have loads surpassing the load-bearing capacity of the airstrip, leading to damage witnessed of late. Who is the custodian of that national asset, and where is he while all this damage leading to unwarranted deferred heavy rebuilding costs takes place? – Concerned, Oshakati
* PLEASE, Councillor of Okahandja, the place is looking like a farm. The one-way town also smells.
* I JUST want to say something to certain HIV counsellors, you are there to support these people, not to tell your friends and family about their status. How will these people trust you? You must focus on helping them, not destroy them, they are just human. – Concerned Church Leader
* THE closure of the Meatco abattoir at Katima Mulilo has a serious economic impact on the well-being of cattle farmers, ordinary citizens, Katima as town and the region in general. Farmers were informed on April 20 that Caprivi is high-risk area for FMD (foot-and-mouth disease), thus no one wants to buy meat from them. The time is now for the central Government leadership to address the issue of free movement of wild animals (buffaloes, elephants etc) in the region. Do the ‘conservancies’ benefit the community at large? – Rukoro, Katima Mulilo

Labour Issues
* PLEASE investigate the Police because our transport allowance has been taken away from us as from April 1 2009 because we can’t strike. Please. – Concerned policeman

The SCC Responds
* WE appreciate SMSes of this nature alerting the SSC about possible non-compliance on the part of some employers (earlier SMS from Kamanjab area). I therefore urged the writer of this SMS in particular, and the public in general, to contact any SSC offices countrywide to report non-compliance issues. You may also contact my office directly at 061 – 2807104 so that we can investigate the matter further. – Rino Muranda, Corporate Affairs, Social Security Commission