An investigation exposed how Afrox charges N$510 to refill a cylinder containing 1 400 litres of oxygen, enough to help a severely ill Covid-19 patient breathe for about two hours
The corrupt enrichment of the political elite and worsening socioeconomic conditions may mean the working class is ready to rise up
The elections come during a three-year recession, high unemployment, inequality and a fishing scandal
The Northern Works sewage plant could generate 4.2MW of power but is operating at 20% capacity
The capital of Namibia, is running out of water. It’s a crisis that this city is uniquely equipped to solve – and one South Africa should learn from.
Eight Southern African coastal states have agreed to set up a regional task force to deal with illegal fishing in their waters and save fish stocks.
From men inching along on their bellies in hot sand and grit whipped up by 90kph winds to satellite-guided ships manipulating 250-ton remote-controlled crawlers hovering around the ocean floor, Namibia’s diamond-mining industry has come a long way since 1908.
The final resting place of Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias, who in 1488 was the first European to discover the Cape of Good Hope and open up the East Indian trade route, may have been found 500 years after his caravel disappeared in a storm off the south-west African coast in 1500.
A hunt for diamonds along the coast of Namibia has led to the discovery of a shipwreck dating back about five centuries, with its booty of gold coins and bronze cannons still intact. A spokesperson for Namdeb, the company whose miners made the discovery last month, said the ship was believed to have been the oldest wreck to be discovered in sub-Saharan Africa.
Namibia’s electricity supplier asked consumers whether they wanted higher rates or less power — and the result, based on responses sent by SMS: rates will rise by 18,3%. The country has been grappling with shortfalls from South Africa, from which it imports the bulk of its supplies.
Five years after opening its arms to globalisation, Namibia is left nursing a R200-million hangover, polluted groundwater and thousands of angry workers after the showcase Malaysian textile plant Ramatex Berhad suddenly closed last month. Namibia rolled out the red carpet for Ramatex in 2002.
Namibia and North Korea said on Thursday they hoped to strengthen their economic ties, as North Korea’s head of state warned against countries plundering resources from poor African countries.
A Namibian court on Thursday halted the seizure of four farms owned by German citizens, saying the government had acted unconstitutionally. German land owners Guenther Kessl and Martin Riedmaier last year took the Lands Ministry to court, arguing that expropriation orders discriminated against foreign investors.
Floods in Namibia have killed 42 people and displaced thousands since early February and officials said on Tuesday more flooding can be expected. Gabriel Kangowa, head of the Emergency Management Unit of Namibia, said 4 500 people have been displaced from their homes in central and northern Namibia.
Political violence has reared its head in northern Namibia’s political heartland of Owambo, where a new Namibian political party, the Rally for Democracy and Progress, is contesting a local election against the ruling party, Swapo. The election outcome is widely seen as an indication of the future of Namibian politics.
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/ 16 February 2008
Namibia hopes to construct a nuclear power station within ten years to ensure independent power supply in the face of a regional electricity crisis, a government official said Friday. ”We are thinking of nuclear-generated energy,” said Joseph Iita, permanent secretary of the ministry of Mines and Energy.
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/ 3 February 2008
In a rugby match riddled with mistakes and plenty of kicking, the Bulls, in their second friendly match preparing for the Super 14 season, beat the Lions in their first outing of the season 28-14 in Windhoek on Saturday. The Lions, with a little more practice, are going to be a team to watch.
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/ 25 January 2008
Namibia held out longer than the majority of its counterparts in Southern Africa before signing the interim economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union, managing in the process to squeeze some concessions from Brussels after intense diplomatic efforts.
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/ 13 January 2008
Five tourists and their pilot have been killed in Namibia after their light aircraft crashed into a house on take-off, officials said on Saturday. The five dead tourists were identified as Israeli diamond-cutters, according to the Israeli-founded humanitarian organisation Zaka, responsible for the recovery and identification of body parts.
Namibia had already been dismissed as the no-hopers of the 2008 African Nations Cup. Just qualifying stunned African football followers who confidently predicted that traditionally strong Democratic Republic of Congo and emerging force Libya would slug it out for Group 10 honours.
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/ 14 December 2007
A court ruled on Thursday in favour of a white Zimbabwean farmer fighting a last-ditch bid against seizure of his land by his government. The case, which was the first to be tried by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) tribunal, was considered a test of the bloc’s commitment to justice and democracy.
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/ 11 December 2007
A Southern African regional tribunal based in Namibia said on Tuesday that it would rule this week on an appeal filed by a white Zimbabwean farmer who was evicted from his land. ”We will deliver a ruling before the end of the week,” Judge Onkemetse Tshosa, president of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) tribunal, said.
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/ 28 November 2007
Namibia’s ruling Swapo party started its fourth annual congress in Windhoek on Tuesday, an event dominated by former president Sam Nujoma’s retirement from active politics and the formation of a new political rival. About 580 official delegates and many more invited guests will over the next three days affirm Swapo’s future leadership.
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/ 18 November 2007
A former Cabinet minister and senior stalwart of Nambia’s ruling party, Hidipo Hamutenya, launched a new movement in Namibia on Saturday, promising a different political vision and accelerated economic growth once in power. Hamutenya resigned from the ruling South West Africa Peoples’ Organisation (Swapo) and as a member of Parliament last week.
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/ 15 November 2007
A white Zimbabwean farmer is set to go to court in Namibia next week over attempts by the Zimbabwean government to seize his land, the first case to be heard by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) tribunal. William Michael Campbell (75) faces criminal charges in Zimbabwe for failing to vacate his farm.
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/ 31 October 2007
President Thabo Mbeki told lawmakers in Namibia on Tuesday that the two neighbours’ destinies were inextricably linked as he oversaw a new push to boost cross-border trade. After talks with host President Hifikepunye Pohamba, Mbeki was accorded the honour of addressing Parliament in Windhoek.
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/ 30 October 2007
South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki held talks with his Namibian counterpart, Hifikepunye Pohamba, in Windhoek on Tuesday on a visit designed to boost cross-border trade and cooperation in the energy sector. The proposed development of Namibia’s offshore Kudu gas-field project was among the topics in the initial round of discussions.
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/ 24 October 2007
Sixty-eight villagers in northern Namibia were hospitalised last week after eating a dog that had been killed by disease, the local daily the Namibian reported on Wednesday. The paper said the dog’s owner had killed it after it contracted an unknown skin disease and ordered it to be burned.
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/ 15 October 2007
Authorities have ordered the deportation of two Americans working for a security firm that was trying to recruit Namibians to work as guards at United States facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Namibian Cabinet also recommended the closure of the local branch of the Las Vegas-based security firm, Special Operations Consulting-Security Management Group.
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/ 12 October 2007
New limits on catches of the endangered Patagonian toothfish, regarded as a culinary delicacy in Japan, have been imposed by a Namibia-based regional fishing organisation. Hashali Hamukuaya, executive of the South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation, said its scientific committee had recommended the limit on the fish.
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/ 12 September 2007
Southern Africa urgently needs to invest in its energy sector to be able to provide its growing populations with electricity and the means for economic development, a senior Namibian energy official said on Wednesday. ”Southern Africa is running dry,” Siseho Simasiku, the head of Namibia’s Electricity Control Board, said.
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/ 11 September 2007
Namibia’s Environment and Tourism Minister, Willem Konjore, called on Tuesday on Namibians to exercise greater care in regions where elephants abound following the death of four people in the past six weeks in run-ins with the giant animals. Both locals and tourists should also avoid disturbing elephants in any way, the minister said.