ROSH PINAH: Two men aged 39 and 49 years are expected to appear in the Karasburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday after they were allegedly found in possession of Cannabis worth over N.dollars 300 000.

According to a crime report issued on Sunday by the Namibian Police Force (NamPol)’s, crime investigations coordinator for ||Kharas region, Deputy Commissioner, Nikodemus Mbango on Sunday, the suspects were arrested on Friday around 02h00 at the southern town.

‘An intelligence led operation pertaining to drugs was conducted by Ariamsvlei and Karasburg police officers and about 1km outside Karasburg, the vehicle in which the suspects were travelling was stopped. However, the driver tried to drive off, but police managed to stop them from fleeing,’ he said.

One of the suspects allegedly jumped out of the vehicle in attempt to flee, throwing a big parcel out of the vehicle in the process. The parcel was found to contain 7 815 grams of cannabis, with an estimated street value of N.dollars 309 750.

The men each face
one count of dealing in illicit drugs.

In a separate incident, a 23-year-old man is expected to appear in the same court on Monday after he was allegedly found in possession of 1990 grams of Cannabis worth N.dollars 99 500.

The deputy commissioner said the man was arrested on Friday morning around 10h00 at his residence at Ariamslvei.

In another incident, NamPol at Karasburg are investigating a case of culpable homicide after a 25-year-old man was hit and killed by a vehicle some nine kilometers outside the southern town.

The deceased has been identified as Roberto Petrus Kooper, who’s next of kin have been informed of his death.

Kooper was allegedly struck by the vehicle at around 03h30 on the Karasburg/Grnau road. The driver of the vehicle, who faces a charge of culpable homicide once located, allegedly fled the scene after the incident.

Meanwhile, a 90-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself at Noordoewer on Saturday, after his body was found hanging from the roof of his room with
a black belt around his neck at around 09h00 on Saturday.

The incident happened at the Paaiekamp residential area at the border town and no foul play is suspected.

In a separate incident at Lderitz a teenage boy who was being held in custody allegedly attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself in a cell. According to Mbango, the incident occurred at around 17h00 on Saturday, however, police officers on duty discovered him hanging from a blanket strap and cut him down while still conscious.

Mbango further said the boy was taken to the Lderitz hospital for observation, while a social worker has referred his case to a to a psychologist.

Last week the teenager escaped from custody and was rearrested on Friday.

Police investigations in all matters continue.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Twenty-nine institutions that have submitted registration data for catch up payment for the 2024 academic year allowances, will be paid by Friday, says the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

The acting Chairperson of the NSFAS, Professor Lourens Van Staden, said following delays in the 2024 academic year, mainly due to registration, the NSFAS board took a decision to request institutions in the interim to operate as a channel to pay the February and March allowances.

‘Communication was therefore sent to all universities notifying them of this decision. We also sent another communication to indicate the 2024 academic year allowances type distribution channel.

‘Financial aid managers were asked to confirm the universities allowances payment commitment dates. For Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, we will be paying through the direct payment channel,’ Van Staden said on Monday.

To support institutions and students, Van Staden said the scheme made two upfront payments
to all institutions, including the first upfront payment, which was disbursed on 31 January with the second upfront payment disbursed on 29 February 2024.

‘These upfront payments were made to institutions for them to use the funds to distribute students’ allowances. The majority of institutions committed to paying students from the last week of February 2024,’ Van Staden said at a media briefing held in Pretoria.

The first upfront payment was administered to cover the book allowance which was calculated at half of the 2023 academic year cost.

The payment included funds to cover one month of accommodation costs. For medical students, provision was made for two months’ worth of allowances, to assist select institutions that registered medical students whose academic year starts in January.

The second upfront payment includes book allowances, which is calculated for the second half of the 2024 academic year based on the 2023 payments made; accommodation allowances to cover the accommodation allowances for th
e second month (March) of the 2024 academic year; transport allowances, which is calculated to cover February 2024 allowance.

The NSFAS advanced an upfront payment to both universities and TVET colleges.

For universities, Van Staden said the NSFAS disbursed R2.8 billion in January 2024.

The chairperson noted that this disbursement does not include the calculation of the tranche payments, which ‘NSFAS will disburse at the beginning of April 2024.’

‘This upfront payment covers one month of student accommodation and the book allowance. The book allowance is calculated at half of the total cost, whilst the accommodation is calculated as one month of the accommodation cost.

‘For TVET colleges, a total of R580150 950.00 was paid to colleges as tuition upfront in January 2024. An additional R1 billion is earmarked for three months’ worth of allowances to be paid based on registration from the January-March period,’ he explained.

He emphasised that all the upfront payments are meant to enable institutions to re
gister all NSFAS-approved students for the 2024 academic year.

‘We all know that in February, the university sector commences with its registration. This means that by the time the first payment is made (usually at the beginning of February), the majority of the students have already registered and are already attending classes.

‘This is the reason why the board ensured that the upfront payments are inclusive of the registration period commencing in January for medical students in the university sector.’

He further explained that NSFAS requested institutions to pay allowances for both February and March due to challenges experienced at the beginning of the 2024 academic year, which led to delays in receiving registration data from institutions.

He said institutions were also requested to allow direct payment service providers to conduct the process of onboarding students, whilst they continue with payments.

‘The direct payments of allowance for the 2024 academic year will commence in April 2024 and insti
tutions will administer the payment of allowances for only two months (February and March) because the third allowance will be made on the direct payment platform. No exceptions or deviations will be allowed.’

Van Staden has encouraged all other institutions to submit registration data, to enable NSFAS to make a catch-up payment.

Source: South African Government News Agency