Month: August 2023

President Cyril Ramaphosa will this evening, 20 August 2023 address the nation on South Africa’s Foreign Policy and the upcoming BRICS Summit.

The SABC will provide feed to all media and PresidencyZA will also live stream the proceedings.

The address is scheduled to take place at 20:00.

Media enquiries:

Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President

Cell: 082 835 6315

Source: Government of South Africa

The Windhoek High Court on Friday dismissed with costs an application by an energy and mineral exploration company, Red Soil, which sought an order to have Mines and Energy minister’s refusal to grant them a mining license in January 2021, declared unlawful.

Judge Esi Schimming-Chase also declared the matter final and removed it from the court roll. The company wanted the court to also review and set aside Minister Tom Alweendo’s decision.

Alweendo reportedly declined Red Soil Energy and Mineral Exploration’s application for a petroleum exploration license over Blocks 2512A and a portion of Block 2612A due to the company not meeting the requirements and its failure to demonstrate technical and financial capability to carry out exploration operations.

Red Soil Managing Director, Kaura Kaura in his argument also made damning allegations against the ministry’s Petrol Commissioner Maggy Shino, who he says informed him that his company was compliant with all the requirements of the ministry, but that the blocks are reserved for ‘politically connected people’.

Kaura, represented by Patrick Kauta also claims that Shino instructed him to withdraw his company’s application and apply for ‘any of the blocks west to those Red Soil applied for,’ which he refused.

Kaura, a geologist, has since attached alleged screenshots of missed WhatsApp calls from Shino, who he claims called him numerous times.

“I started receiving emissaries purportedly sent by the minister and Shino not to approach the court for review but rather attend to their office to settle the matter. The WhatsApp calls from Shino continued. The company’s legal practitioner on record then advised that I call back Shino and record our telephone conversation. I was able to do this and had the conversation transcribed,” Kaura claims in his affidavit.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Erongo Governor, Neville Andre Itope has requested the assistance of the church leaders, police and community groups in finding ways to assist the neglected boy child in the region.

Itope during a recent meeting with the three groups said the boy child has been disregarded in society, especially without the guidance of father figures, therefore pushing them into the hands of drug use and other social ills.

“We are leaving the boy child alone and they are taken up by the issues of the world, hence there is an urgent need to address issues faced by the boy child in our communities and this issue requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders.

The boys are not inspired and they tend to become unsuccessful and also personalities that are disturbing our community and societies,” the governor highlighted.

The meeting was held to deliberate on how they can all collaborate to support boys and young men and provide them with the necessary tools and skills to enable them to become valuable members of society.

The governor proposed a regular, structured engagement between community organisations, churches and the police, where he envisions leaders coming to church services to have conversations for about an hour with congregations, to address and discuss these pressing issues.

“It is also vital that we, as parents, support our children to make sure they have the necessary education and support to deal with the challenges they face in life,” the governor added.

Founder of The Blue Project Tangeni Mujoro, who is also a concerned mother of a son, expressed that women face difficult struggles when raising boys in the absence of sufficient male role models.

The project is a platform that invites men to engage, mentor and shape boys into responsible men.

Mujoro noted that as a woman and mother, she is unable to raise her son without adequate male figures in his life.

“We are also struggling to find men to come and mentor our young men and would therefore appreciate it if more take up the responsibility of mentoring our young men,” she said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

A murder-suicide incident involving a mother and her five-year-old daughter at Otjiwarongo on Saturday, sent shockwaves at the town’s Ombili informal settlement.

Namibian Police Force (NamPol) head of community affairs in the Otjozondjupa Region, Inspector Maureen Mbeha on Sunday said the deceased persons were identified by their close relatives on Saturday as Hileni Vemujendavi Virere, 21, and her daughter Winny Virere.

“It is alleged the deceased mother might have first strangled her daughter to death, and thereafter took a white electrical cable to hang herself around her neck from the corrugated iron roof of her sleeping room,” said Mbeha.

The incident is suspected to have taken place between 16h50 and 17h00 on Saturday at the old Ombili informal area, she said.

Her daughter was found first laying on the floor with injuries on the face, and also bleeding from the nose, while her body was hanging from the roof inside her house, added the police officer.

Mbeha further said the motive behind the incident is still unknown as there was no suicide note left behind.

No foul play is suspected in the matter and police investigations into the matter continue.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Mines and Energy Minister Tom Alweendo has rubbished allegations that the envisioned green hydrogen project is being developed in secrecy, saying the government continues to consult and inform the public widely about the project.

Speaking at a media briefing here on Friday during a visit by South Africa’s Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Alweendo said the public is demanding the commercial details of the investments, however, there are certain agreements that have to be commercially confidential.

“Nobody is going to invest in your country if everybody knows investment details. Here I am, signing an agreement with you and clearly telling everyone this is what I have agreed. The other person who is coming to negotiate with the Government now knows exactly what I have negotiated. How does that make us look like a country?” he stressed.

Alweendo noted that what the project means to society and Namibia, the government needs to share with the public, noting that there have been various widely public regional and national consultations on green hydrogen to which everyone was invited.

“Because of the importance of the project and what it means to our economy I understand we have to have continued discussions to make the people understand what it is all about but to claim that it is being developed in secrecy is really not the case,” he said.

He further noted that Namibia and South Africa have agreed upon a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) geared towards the energy sector, including areas of interest in green hydrogen.

Namibia is setting up a large green hydrogen production project in the southern part of the country and has been described by experts as one of the top five locations in the world for the production of low-carbon hydrogen

Source: The Namibian Press Agency