Day: July 10, 2024

Posted on

Shivute urges ministries, agencies to engage regional councillors


Chairperson of the Oshikoto Regional Council, Samuel Shivute has urged ministries and agencies to engage regional councillors when engaging in activities in the regions.

Shivute made the statement during a meeting held at Omuthiya on Wednesday after the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare failed to identify beneficiaries in the region for its income-generating activities programme, which aims to empower individuals and communities by providing them with the resources to start or expand small businesses.

The programme for the Oshikoto Region ended on 30 May 2024 without beneficiaries having been identified, hence Shivute’s call for cooperation.

He said regional councillors are in the constituency areas and know what is happening on the ground.

Shivute further added that if they work hand in hand, they can easily solve the socio-economic challenges faced by communities as constituency offices are approached by people seeking funds, thus they know who needs help.

‘We know the
projects that are functioning and those that are not functioning because some people only want to grasp free opportunities,’ he stated.

Ministry of Gender Equality representative, Elizabeth Nakanyala said the income-generating activities programme is meant to help people from poor backgrounds to generate income through their businesses.

‘The ministry wants to elevate them to small and medium enterprises,’ said Nakanyala.

The ministry, through the programme, allocates amounts ranging between N.dollars 5 000 and N.dollars 30 000 and encourages women and people living with disabilities to apply.

‘The ministry does not fund people who get an income from the government or pensioners. It primarily targets unemployed men and women from 18 to 59 years old,’ Nakanyala said.

The Central Development Committee of the Oshikoto Region during Wednesday’s meeting shortlisted small businesses that qualify for the income-generating activities programme, specifically looking at businesses in arts and crafts and embroidery,
poultry rearing, tailoring, livestock sales and butchery and laundry.

Once the beneficiaries are selected, they also receive five days of training in how they can improve their businesses.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Posted on

Mariental Municipality constructing public toilets in Aimablaagte


The Mariental Municipality is preparing to construct public toilets and water facilities in Aimablaagte, with construction expected to begin this month.

This was confirmed by Local Economic Development Officer, Linus Sinvula, who is spearheading the initiative to ultimately construct an open market for local vendors in the same area.

In an interview with Nampa on Tuesday, Sinvula said the procurement process is complete, but the commencement of construction is being hindered by budgetary constraints.

‘Based on the quotations provided for materials and labour for this project, our budget is N.dollars 130 000,’ he said.

The current plan includes four public toilets and one water standpipe.

The municipality relies on a zero-based budget system, primarily funded by revenue collected from services such as electricity and water, which often results in project delays.

Underscoring the urgency of completing the planned facilities, local vendor Bilha Meyer said she eagerly anticipates these improvements.

‘We ha
ve to use open fields whenever we need to use the toilet, which is unhygienic and uncomfortable,’ Meyer said.

Sinvula said once the toilets are complete, vendors can set up gazebos to conduct business from. He further said plans are also underway for the second phase, which involves the construction of an open market for vendors.

He said land has already been allocated for these developments, and they envision the market as a central hub for diverse business activities accessible to all.

‘We anticipate a nominal fee for usage, providing a formal space where vendors can comfortably operate from,’ he said.

Looking ahead, Sinvula expressed optimism about the project’s potential to transform Mariental’s economic landscape.

‘With community support and potential partnerships, we aim to boost local commerce and enhance living conditions,’ he concluded.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Posted on

Omaheke Top 8 tournament to conclude this weekend


WINDHOEK: The 12th edition of the Omaheke Top 8 netball and football tournament, which began last weekend, will conclude at the Legare Stadium in Gobabis on Sunday.

The tournament, which is hosted annually by the Epukiro Sports Council (ESC), featured around 37 football and 22 netball teams from the Omaheke district.

Kuveri Tjonga, one of the competition’s organisers, told Nampa on Wednesday that the tournament did not conclude last week due to a lack of facilities, but everything is in order this time around and they expect to finish this weekend.

‘The tournament started well, we registered many teams, making it difficult to complete the tournament in a single weekend. This time, I can assure you that everything is in place to wrap up the tournament unless it is hampered by circumstances beyond our control,’ he added.

According to Tjonga, the netball category played 80 per cent of their fixtures, with the semi-finals and final set to conclude on Sunday, whilst the football category had yet to complete ro
und two.

The four surviving netball teams will continue the finals on Sunday at the Legare netball court, with Epukiro’s Eastern Swallows facing Aminuis’ Kajalami in the first semi-final. The other semi-final pits the defending champion, Otjinene’s Fine Young Stars, against Epukiro-based Otjimanagombe.

The winning netball team will receive N.dollars 5 000 and a trophy, while the runners-up will receive N.dollars 2 500. Each semi-final loser will receive N.dollars 1 250.

The football category winner will receive N.dollars 12 000 and a trophy, the runner-up will receive N.dollars 8 000, and the semi-final losers will each receive N.dollars 3 000.

The football group A round two will continue on Saturday with Super Fox facing Kajalami, Okaumbangere against Eiseb, Four Stars versus Erindi United, and Ovinjuru against Pamue Eleven in an all-Epukiro encounter. Easter Swallows have already qualified for the quarterfinals, thus they will await the winner between Super Fox and Kajalami.

Running Stars will face Ore
via in Group B, with Real Madrid to meet Otjimati, and Fine Young Stars will battle Otjozondjima, the defending champions. El Classico is the lone team from Group B to advance to the quarterfinals, where they will face either Running Stars or Orevia.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Posted on

Contractor for Independence Stadium renovations to be announced in August


WINDHOEK: Government will announce who the successful bidder for the renovation of the Independence Stadium is by 28 August 2024, Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has said.

She made the statement during a dinner hosted by the vice president’s office to welcome the senior national men’s football team, the Brave Warriors, back home after they finished as runners-up at the recently concluded Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) Cup held in South Africa.

The vice president’s comments came after Namibia Football Association (NFA) Executive Council member Michael Situde pleaded with the government to renovate the Independence Stadium in Windhoek, a process which is being hampered by the procurement process.

‘Can we assist the Ministry of Youth and Sports to fast-track these provisions? We are pleading with the Namibians involved in this process to fast-track this process so that when we play our next matches in March, we play at home. We as the NFA are also communicating with FIFA to h
elp our government in this process,’ he said.

Situde also called on the various regional councils with which they have been engaging to provide land to the NFA for it to construct offices in different regions.

Nandi-Ndaitwah said it is unfortunate that the Brave Warriors are at a point where their fans cannot see them play, but this will soon be something of the past.

‘I don’t like this word ‘work in progress.’ I have been following the renovation of the stadium and the law put in place is working against us. Money is not a problem, the problem is people who complain when the tender is given to someone,’ she said.

Nandi-Ndaitwah further expressed the hope that legalities will not hamper the appointment of a contractor.

’28 August or before that is the date that has been set to announce the successful bidder for the renovation of the stadium,’ Nandi-Ndaitwah said while stating that the Brave Warriors will be competing at home by March 2025.

The vice president was referring to the Public Procurement Act 1
5 of 2015, which regulates the procurement of goods, works and services, the letting or hiring of anything, or the acquisition or granting of rights for or on behalf of, and the disposal of assets of public entities.

In the procurement process, parts four, five, and six involve accounting officers, internal structures, and bid evaluation, as well as all the methods of procurement and the bidding process that need to be followed before awarding a tender to successful bidders.

The Central Procurement Board of Namibia must follow all these processes in the awarding of a tender.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Posted on

Tau to focus on accelerating the implementation of policy


Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau says the new leadership of the department under his stewardship has no intention of reinventing the wheel but will be focusing on accelerating the implementation of industry policy and economic transformation.

Minister Tau was speaking during an interview with SABC News on Monday night.

‘The Government of National Unity [GNU] is guided by the Statement of Intent and there is a clear commitment on the underlying principles that inform the economic agenda of this 7th Administration,’ Tau said.

‘Some of the underlying principles of the GNU include the need for social equity, redress and social justice. Part of the minimum programme that has been adopted in the Statement of Intent has a direct focus on industrialisation and job creation.

‘It has direct focus on transformation and on ensuring that trade happens in a manner that addresses the interests of the country, as well as our ability to grow the economy and create jobs,’ he said.

He said the mandate of
the GNU in regard to the department was ‘quite clear’.

‘All we have to do is to focus our energy on implementation. We have gone through various phases of industrial policy in a democratic South Africa. And all that we will be doing is to look at where our industrial policy is, starting with the sector master plans as mechanisms for the implementation of the policy.’

He committed to engaging with the private sector to identify priority areas that will enable the implementation of the industrial policy and economic transformation to be accelerated.

‘We do not have to start from scratch. There are nine industry-based sector master plans that have already been adopted.

Coordination

‘All that we need to do is to bring all the critical stakeholders together and focus on ensuring that these are transformed into implementation to produce the intended results in order to accelerate industrialisation, economic growth, job creation and transformation.’

He undertook to work with all the 18 entities of the departme
nt to ensure proper coordination in order to achieve maximum impact in the implementation of the mandate of the department.

‘It is important that we work collectively with all the agencies and pull in the same direction. We will be articulating to them what the key priorities of this government are and how we can work together to achieve them,’ he explained.

Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment

The Minister will host a dedicated session that focuses on how Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment will be accelerated.

‘We need to address what business has identified as gaps in the implementation of the policy because we certainly believe that transformation should underpin the work that we do as a department,’ he said.

Stability

Tau also emphasised that he did not foresee any challenges working with the new Deputy Minister, Andrew Whitfield, who is from the Democratic Alliance. Zuko Godlimpi is the other new Deputy Minister of the department.

‘I will be working in collaboration with the two deputy Minis
ters. I do not anticipate that there will be any challenges.

‘We have already started discussing and have identified specific areas around which we would want to work closely together. Our working relationship has started off quite well.’

Minister Tau also said the trio’s immediate task was to ensure that there is stability in the department and across its entities by filling vacant positions that are critical to the maximum and efficient functioning of the institutions.

‘First on our agenda is the stability of the institution. We have a number of vacancies ranging from the Director-General of the department to CEOs of major entities including the National Empowerment Fund and the Industrial Development Corporation.

‘Therefore, stabilisation is important. Our second major task is focusing on industrialisation, re-industrialisation and economic transformation. We will be doing all of these in partnership with the private sector which we think has a critical role to play in what we do,’ Tau said.

Source:
South African Government News Agency

Posted on

Alleged illegal miners to appear in court


Thirty-five alleged illegal miners are expected to appear in court soon after they were arrested in the Northern Cape, said the South African Police Service (SAPS).

This follows Operation Vala Umgodi operations that got underway on Saturday.

‘The team in the Namakwa District pounced on the Bontekoe informal settlement mining area and arrested 27 Lesotho and Zimbabwean nationals, aged between 20 and 49 years old, for illegal mining and contravention of the immigration statutes.’

The team was also alerted by mine security of intruders inside the Koingnaas mine premises where a 24-year-old Zimbabwean male who was found with unpolished diamonds in his possession, was arrested.

‘In the Frances Baard District in Kimberley, the team arrested seven Malawian, Lesotho and Zimbabwean nationals aged between 24 and 54 years old for contravention of the illicit mining and immigration statute. Several illegal mining implements were confiscated,’ said the SAPS.

Three wanted suspects were also arrested.

Source: South A
frican Government News Agency