Day: January 17, 2024

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to launch a housing project in the Northern Cape on Thursday which, when complete, is expected to deliver more than 4 000 housing units.

According to the Presidency, the project is expected to deliver some 4 168 houses, with at least 2 500 of those homes to be completed within the next year.

‘Working with National Treasury, the Northern Cape Provincial Government has sought a R600 million loan from the Development Bank of South Africa to supplement its baseline grant allocation for housing.

‘The housing units established in this project will address the pressing need for housing opportunities in the province, where approximately 162 informal settlements and nearly 80 000 households lack adequate housing.

‘Presently, 18 000 serviced stands across the province are prepared for the construction of housing structures,’ the Presidency said.

President Ramaphosa is expected to perform a sod-turning ceremony at a site.

‘This location will host fully subsidised houses and d
iverse housing opportunities, including First Home Finance and social housing,’ the Presidency said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

RUNDU: A 20-year-old man died instantly in a hit-and-run accident at Kanyumara village in the Kavango East Region on Monday.

The Namibian Police Force’s Acting Regional Commander in the region, Deputy Commissioner Eino Nambahu, told Nampa on Wednesday the deceased has been identified as Muduva Sebedeus Kudumo.

The accident occurred around 06h00 on the Trans-Zambezi Highway, when an unknown driver allegedly ran Kudumo over and fled the scene.

‘The driver failed to stop the vehicle to render assistance to the victim and did not report the incident at the nearest police station,’ Nambahu said.

Kudumo’s next of kin have been informed.

The regional commander urged anyone with information on the accident to report it at the nearest police station.

He also urged drivers to not leave the scene of an accident as it is a punishable offence.

Nambahu further cautioned pedestrians to be careful when crossing the road and to not underestimate the speed of an oncoming vehicle.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

KEETMANSHOOP: The Keetmanshoop Municipality says it is in the process of acquiring a loan of N.dollars 11.9 million from the Development Bank of Namibia to replace its aging electricity network.

This was revealed by the head of information and communication technology in the municipality’s Electricity Business Unit, Lee Mwemba on Tuesday while presenting the municipality’s budget for the 2023/24 financial year.

He said the loan has been approved by the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development and is awaiting final approval from the Ministry of Finance.

Mwemba said the funds will be used to upgrade the town’s aging electricity system, which means the quality of electricity for residents.

‘Just like water, electricity has to have a certain quality for all the appliances to work, because if that electricity is not up to a certain standard it is likely that some appliances will not work. These are regulations put in place by those that provide electricity to us and we need to adhere to that and in the end, it
benefits our residents,’ he stressed.

He also said the municipality will use the funds to replace old streetlights, install smart substations and install high mast lights between the Noordhoek and Krönlein residential areas to reduce crime.

The municipality will also set up smart kiosks or mobile municipalities in the Krönlein and Westdene residential areas for resident to buy pre-paid electricity from.

‘Currently we use a lot of third parties, these third parties bill the municipality, and that cost is passed on to the residents, so with our smart kiosk we are trying to eliminate those parties and cut costs. That might decrease the electricity tariff with a small margin,’ he added.

Mwemba went on to say that there are also plans to start using automatic meter reading that will detect water and electricity meters that are being bypassed.

‘Those that are bypassing electricity and water networks are actually robbing their fellow residents because whatever we lose from our side, we bill on every resident, s
o other residents are paying. With this reading we detect where the bypass is and just deal with that person individually,’ said Mwemba.

He also revealed that the municipality has managed to decrease its debt to NamWater from N.dollars 34 million to N.dollars 26 million since October last year.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

ONDERA: The Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare’s deputy director of marginalised communities, Rebekka Namwandi, has encouraged learners from marginalised communities to improve their marks through the Namibia College of Open Learning (Namcol).

Namwandi made the remarks in an interview with Nampa on Tuesday, saying only three of the 51 learners who form part of the directorate’s programme for marginalised learners qualified for further studies at a tertiary institution when the 2023 examination results were released.

The ministry’s educational support programme provides financial, moral, and psychosocial support to learners and students from the San, Ovatue, and Ovatjimba communities at all education levels.

‘Only one learner from the Omusati Region and two from the Omaheke Region managed to pass out of more than 51 marginalised learners,’ Namwandi said.

She said regardless of the negative results, the ministry wants to encourage the learners to not give up and to improve t
heir grades through Namcol so they can progress to tertiary education.

‘I encourage all the learners to apply for Namcol through their constituency offices and regional planners. They should not give up, failure is not the end of the road,’ Namwandi said.

Namwandi also encouraged those who qualify for vocational training, to apply for their preferred courses.

‘We have learned that some of our learners would love to go for vocational classes because they have technical skills, so they should pursue them,’ she said.

She further encouraged those who are at tertiary institutions to study hard and obtain their degrees so they can find employment.

‘The situation is harder now so I want to encourage those who are at higher institutions to get their qualification so they can get jobs,’ said Namwandi.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

KEETMANSHOOP: The Chief of the /Hai-/Khaua Traditional Authority, Johannes Isaack, has called for unity amongst all Nama traditional authorities, and urged them to focus on the plight of their people.

Isaack during the first meeting of the/Hai-/Khaua Traditional Authority at Berseba recently said many traditional authorities in the region are embroiled in leadership fights, which further divides the community and has further negative consequences.

‘I am of the opinion that the small differences amongst us are insignificant in comparison to the challenges of poverty, hunger and unemployment our people are facing. It is time for us as leaders to prioritise the interests of our people, put our differences aside and work towards the betterment of the livelihoods of our people,’ he added.

The chief further said the /Hai-/Khaua Traditional Authority in conjunction with other traditional authorities need to engage the government on the benefits of inhabitants of the region from economic activities.

Isaack said d
espite the economic challenges of poverty, hunger, and unemployment within the community, the Neckartal Dam has been laying idle for the past three years. He called on the government to prioritise the construction of the irrigation scheme at the dam.

He was however quick to say the clan is endowed with land and water that can be used to benefit the community by embarking on gardening projects within their respective wards.

‘We can put an end to the socioeconomic plight of our community by unleashing the energy trapped in our sons and daughters, our clan is endowed with resources and capacity to provide for the needs of our people,’ he said.

Isaack said communities are plagued by incidents of alcohol and drug abuse, theft, gender-based violence and other social ills adding that such acts are perpetrated by people close or known by the community however such incidents are kept under wraps.

‘Community courts are envisaged to start operating soon and will hopefully assist in dealing with these ills. Be that a
s it may, we need to work closely with the law enforcement agencies to reduce the occurrence and the associated negative impact on our communities,’ he urged.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: The Namibian Society of Composers and Authors of Music (Nascam) has been labelled toothless in the protection and promotion of artists’ copyright, following its delayed distribution of N.dollars 1.8 million royalties fees for 2022.

Nascam collects royalties fees on behalf of its member artists as per the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act 6 of 1994 aimed at protecting and promoting copyright and ensuring fair numeration.

Speaking to Nampa here on Wednesday, renowned musician Lazarus Shiimi, popularly known as Gazza, said in terms of copyright, Namibian artists have been on their own for the longest time, following Nascam’s failure to carry out its mandate.

‘We have taken the matter into our hands…We are pushing and we do it because it’s a passion for us. We have been investing in the industry even though we are being robbed everyday. When your song plays everyday in Pep store, Studio 88, or a club, we were supposed to be paid but we look at it knowing we are being robbed everyday
because there is no infrastructure in place,’ he stressed.

Another musician, Angombe Fillemon, known by stage name as Filly-zo NamWater, stressed that Nascam is not serious in carrying out its mandate, noting that the majority of artists are not receiving any royalties for their songs and those receiving are paid peanuts.

‘I think they are not serious with their work…I only got something from them four-years-ago, however, my songs are playing on radio and all other platforms, all those years and (I get) nothing,’ he noted.

Echoing the same sentiments was seasoned musician, Venaune Ben Kandukira, known professionally as Big Ben, who said as a collective, Nascam has failed to protect artists through commercial broadcasters playing their music without accountability of compensation.

‘Nascam has been toothless for as long as I remember to enforce broadcasters bridging composensation to task. So, now we have many private radio stations playing songs without paying for them, the royalties collected now are most
ly just from the national broadcasters.

Nascam Chief Executive Officer, Albert Nicanor, said Nascam has no internal policy that stipulates a specific time for royalties to be paid out, however it has been distributing customarily in December of each year.

‘I am currently preparing a policy that will mark the way forward on how and when we are going to pay the royalties… It is important that they will start to know exactly when to expect, the perception was always that royalties are due in December,’ he noted.

He further indicated that currently Nascam is busy rectifying its operations and engaging all those broadcasters infringing the Act.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency