News

Namibia’s cities and towns are supplied with water from dams, boreholes and rivers. In total the country’s dams contain about 705,855 million cubic metres of water. In addition to the sewage treatment plant, Windhoek’s water supply includes a large number of boreholes, which tap into groundwater reserves, as well as three dams. For months, Windhoekers have not managed to save the required amount of water given by NamWater and the city administration. 

November was a particularly busy month in Namibia’s economic sector with the two-day international investment conference, a lively debate on planned phosphate mining, and new developments with regard to the land reform. 

This monthly update touches on important political developments in Namibia: Early in November the ruling Swapo Party ended its second national policy conference; Namibia’s Ministry of Defence and the German Federal Ministry of Defence signed a new extension agreement in Windhoek on German equipment aid to Namibia; the largest opposition party in Parliament, the DTA of Namibia became the first political party to present audited financial statements to the National Assembly Secretariat.

The passenger ship Dunedin Star, on her way from Liverpool to Cape Town, is sailing off the coast of South West Africa. The captain is steering a course about 16 km off the coast when the ship is suddenly rocked by a violent jolt. The keel with the passageway under the engine room is ripped off. The Dunedin Star probably hit the Clan Alpine Shoal, a rock which is marked on the charts but whose exact position is uncertain.

A difficult year for the Namibian economy has come to an end with low commodity prices worldwide and close to no-growth for Namibia’s important trading partners South Africa and Angola. Local economists and Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein are however optimistic that the worst is over.

The Hoodia, a true desert bloom crowned in the springtime by large disc-shaped crimson flowers, has been the focus of much attention over the years, not for its ability to store moisture and thrive in arid areas or for its exquisite blooms but rather for its properties as an appetite suppressant. During the last decade it has been universally acknowledged that the San/Bushmen, the oldest inhabitants of southern Africa, own the rights to the indigenous knowledge of the plant, but that has not always been the case.

Eco-friendliness comes naturally at Gondwana’s lodges. Their efforts to save water and electricity and their responsible waste disposal have once again been acknowledged with the highest seal of approval in the Eco Awards and was accepted with joy. The Eco Awards 2016 were handed out at the Gala evening of the Hospitality Association of Namibia HAN on 18 November. All the Gondwana lodges which were reassessed scored the highest number of points and were awarded five desert flowers each.

War halts lives, draws people to new continents and changes destinies. All would be true for Albert Lemcke from Mecklenburg, Germany. But, from once being a protagonist in a war he believed in, the tables turned when he later became a victim of the mechanisms of war, losing everything he had worked for his whole life. The heart-wrenching story took an interesting twist, however, when kindness was repaid in the arid wilderness of the Omaheke, bordering the Kalahari Desert.

If you come across a vintage car on the streets of Namibia, with an elderly lady at the wheel, you can expect a special rendezvous. In her Hudson Model Great Eight Coach (built in 1930), the Berlin-based Heidi Hetzer is following the tracks of the early world traveller Clärenore Stinnes. In 1927, a male-dominated era, this strong woman travelled to a vast 23 countries. Over the past two years, Heidi has driven through Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the USA and South America, in her “Hudo”. And now she is travelling through Namibia. 

Amongst the animals that have developed ingenious adaptations for survival and defence, the porcupine stands out for its spiny quills, which make it challenging prey, even for its known enemies, lion and leopard. With hair and spines erect, and rattling the hollow quills at the end of its tail, the porcupine definitely is a contender for the ultimate – and most fearsome - hairdo in Africa. Porcupines are seldom seen, except by night-revellers.