SMSes For Tue 28 July 09

* THANK you so much to Sr Alleta and Sr Wilson from Robert Mugabe Clinic for your excellent support and service in assisting my family after we’d possibly been exposed to the H1N1 virus on a recent flight. Hats off to Dr Vries and his Emergency Health team.
– Sharon Gorelick

Shalli* THE story of Martin Shalli is very simple. Who is going to be the next president of this country after the Nujomas, Pohambas and Hamutenyas? It will be Martin Shalli, as you can see with the reaction to his suspension, he is the man of the whole nation. So the others, should stop fooling themselves! – JD Hatutale* VIVA General Martin Shalli, viva. You are such a hero, where this nation should know exactly that you are the root of the Namibian Defence Force. Suspending you is easy but comrades let us pray hard for Shalli to be back in the office because we now look like a house without a shelter.- BK MayumbeloHail The ‘Hitman’!* CONGRATULATIONS to Mr Paulus ‘ The Hitman’ Moses. A lot of fighters can throw good punches but a champion has got to be able to take a good punch and then another good punch and still keep on going. That’s what makes you a champion. May God bless you ‘The Hitman’.* ALTHOUGH Hitman made Namibia proud, I think there is still a lot he has to learn before we can say that he is a true champion. He needs to improve technically.* CONGRATS to my hero ‘The Hitman’. You make us proud papa, the Namibian nation is behind you every step of the way. – Terrie* CAN someone please tell me if ‘The Hitman’ was from one of the opposition parties, would the Founding Father of Namibia have entered the ring raising a Swapo clenched fist? Nobody in the whole of Namibia doesn’t know which party the Founding President belongs to. That title is a world title and The Hitman is not trained by Swapo apart from him being a government employee. Bouquets And Brickbats* NBC TV, you bring re-runs every day! What happened to the Sunday movies?* THERE is surely something wrong at NBC hosting an election workshop facilitated by Swapo only!Some jobs cost more than others* EXPLOITATION of the worst kind. I recently repaired my car in Katutura for a mere N$1 500, after I was quoted N$42 000 in town. Some panel beaters in town do not even allow their clients in their workshops. One can only guess why? Thank you Katutura for being the poor man’s refuge.* I AM not an anti-foreign journalists, but I should emphasise that foreign journalists must respect the laws of Namibia before they can claim damage to their equipment. I salute NamPol, fisheries inspectors and the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court for a job well done in regard two foreign journalists caught doing illegal filming at Cape Cross. – Mayor Masa* THANKS to the Road Fund Administration for the gender responsive advert on NBC TV. Please keep up the good work. You are showing a great example.- LeonardPolitics* IT is intolerable that Swapo should allow (Paulus) Kapia to return to politics. It shows that in Namibian politics – and particularly in the Swapo Party – ethics and integrity are clearly not the standard on which the suitability for public office is measured. How dare they ‘endorse’ him, pending the outcome of the most serious charges he is facing. What a bad omen for our future.* I SALUTE and welcome Comrade Kapia back to active Swapo politics after a protracted dormancy. I believe that you can’t keep a good man down. Aluta Continua. – SRC for Finance (Ongwediva College)* LETTER from NN headlined ‘Gwen not wrong about Nujoma speech’ (24 July 09) you have a point. We forget in our rush to protect that nobody is perfect. We must try and face our mistakes, we Namibia are going down the drain for one wrong speech. It’s better we the nation call our father to order, fathers sometimes have to listen.- Oom ERunning The Show* HON Prime Minister, it’s time you make changes and uniformity in the Public Service Act, relating to qualifications. If a person obtains a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD degree, he should move to the next salary grade. Giving a N$6 000 cash value implies that these qualifications have a one-off value of N$6 000. Mind you, it takes far more than N$6 000 to obtain these degrees. Those with diplomas, Grade 12 and Grade 10 with experience, can be at the entry grade since these are minimum requirements.* OUR Government must ban all civil servants from contacting private businesses, including all SOE employees, at least for a year to work on framework. There is big looting going on in land of the brave. God save us from this evil.- Arrested Development* LAWMAKERS must shoulder the blame for the current land imbalance in Namibia. They often complain that land is owned by a few individuals but forget that they have the power to change laws to reverse the situation. The Executive and Judiciary are unable to perform their tasks because they are ‘disabled’ by lack of laws in executing their tasks. – Munihango wa MukendwaIn And From The RegionsFalling tin walls can cause injury* DAILY in the media I read how people lose lives and property, especially in informal settlements, where people use zinc to build houses, both roofs and sides. In the Caprivi we have neat and safe informal settlements, with houses with zinc roofs and the rest is mud soil. It’s very cheap and very safe, we don’t have cases of fire. Or maybe town councils in towns like Swakopmund should try to find safer and cheaper materials for their people to use.* WE are confused here. Poor people are being chased away from the Etunda Irrigation Project at Ruacana. Please help!* MUNICIPALITY of Outjo, please tell us how come you have a Chinese worker in your department? Is there no Namibian who can be at that post? * MINISTER of Lands is the warning you issued to the //Nausan /Aes and /Khomani people a GRN warning? If so, then you are just reinforcing the perception that GRN chooses to be on the side of the economically mighty (farmers) at the expense of the people. It is well known that colonisers preferred central and southern regions due to the lack of tsetse fly and malaria in these areas, thus their demand is factually correct. If GRN keeps warning people like that, while the San people have also been given back their ancestral land, can it be concluded that GRN has double standards and that the suspicion that Namibia became independent on the condition, from the West, that they won’t lose ‘their land’. We may not agree with him fully, but a Hugo Chavez is needed! General* A TAXI is a taxi and not a bus nor a private car … you either run a business or not.* WHAT a disgrace to see Namibian women walking the streets of Windhoek dressed in tight clothes looking like mince meat as if they have been poured in those filthy looking trousers. Namibian women, where are your morals to stoop so low and expose your bodies like that? Especially your breasts, as if they are on auction? You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Those breasts are given to breastfeed. Not to stoop so low until your morals are worse than a dog. A woman is the backbone of a nation, but what Namibia seems to have is pure prostitution. The Bible says its an abomination to the Lord your God for a woman to put on a garment that pertains to that of a man. And you Namibian men and pastors, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves to let your wives and women present themselves like that. – MG* THE Namibian, why do you not provide us with a daily 10 minute crossword and/or Soduku? This will enhance your newspaper and our enjoyment.- We’re planning on doing so! Please bear with us. Thanks. – News Editor* IS Michelle McLean former Miss Namibia or former Miss SA? I’m asking because I saw a You magazine where she was labelled as Miss SA, but as far as I know she was Miss Namibia and Miss Universe 1992. – Kathryn.- Michelle was Miss Namibia and Miss Universe in 1992. It must be an error. – Newsdesk* I URGE all late Michael Jackson fans and the general public to avoid buying magazines gossiping about our late beloved legend. They too contributed to his death, and still continuing to make fortune via a dead legend.* NBC-TV please repeat the movie ‘ Tate Penda’ which you broadcast on Sunday July 26 at 22h00 because our elders were already asleep that timeResponse from the Legal Assistance Centre regarding the case of workers who were tested for HIV without their permissionThe SMS published in The Namibian of Friday 24 July 2009 with the title ‘Justice for All’ has reference. Firstly, whilst the LAC takes on cases in the public interest, with the view of challenging discriminatory laws, policies and or practices, our primary professional responsibility lies towards our client or clients. In the recent HIV testing case, our clients were offered, and counter-offered, an out-of-court settlement, which was ultimately agreed to by the litigating parties, and we have no option but to adhere to the clients’ instructions. Whilst the case did not go on trial, the LAC and its clients believe that he issue which would have been contested in the trial – that of the testing for HIV without the appropriate consent – has publicly been raised to the extent that many people are now aware of their rights and duties, particularly employers, employees and medical practitioners by the publicity that the case was subjected to. Obviously, the LAC and its partners will remain vigilant to prevent further violations of the rights of people, and take it up in appropriate forums, whether it be through litigation, research, advocacy and or education.We nonetheless thank the reader’s interest in the work of the LAC. – Norman Tjombe, Director, Legal Assistance Centre