Walvis Bay is Namibia’s ‘Town of the Year’ choice

WALVIS BAY beat Omaruru and Henties Bay in the race to become Namibia’s winning candidate for the Rapport and DSTV’s KykNet ‘Kwêla’ programme’s ‘Town of the Year 2012’.

This past Sunday (July 29) Rapport gave a review of all nine towns (eight in South Africa), which will be followed by a similiar review on Kwela tomorrow (August 1).According to the competition’s Facebook page, the eight other finalists are: Schweizer Reneke (Gauteng/Noord West); St Lucia (Kwazulu Natal); Sabie (Mpumalanga); Hoedspruit (Limpopo); Kathu (Northern Cape); Lady Grey (Eastern Cape); Clarens (Free State); and Prince Albert (Western Cape)The voting lines were also opened on Sunday for people to vote for their ‘Town of the Year’ until August 7 at 12h00. SMS (at N$1,50 per SMS) the town’s name to 33157. Voters are limited to 30 text messages.The winning town will be announced on August 12 in the Rapport, after which a big party will be thrown for the town on August 25, with star performances.The winning town will also get N$2 million worth of marketing exposure from Rapport and Kwela, with two signboards announcing the town’s award as ‘Town of the Year’ placed at the town’s entrances.According to Hetta Saunderson, who is involved with the promotion of the competition, voters can also win ‘huge lovely prizes’, which include a holiday for two to Mauritius, a Kia car, and an 18 litre bottle of wine from Leopard’s Leap.’Anyone who votes stands a chance to win. Last year a couple from Walvis Bay won a holiday to Robertson (SA),’ Saunderson told The Namibian.Swakopmund was Namibia’s final candidate in 2011, but had to bow the knee to De Rust in die Western Cape which became last year’s winner.Saunderson said that the regional finalists, such as Swakopmund in 2011 and Walvis Bay this year, will be ‘left out for a while’ in future competitions to allow for other towns to stand a chance to enjoy the exposure. Last year and this year, Omaruru and Henties Bay competed with Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, but Omaruru and Henties Bay will still be allowed to participate in future ‘Town of the Year’ competitions.