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Southern Times
23 - 29 NOVEMBER 2018 | US$0.50, R7, P3, ZMW3, N$3-00 | TEL: +264 61 415 800 | FAX: +264 61 301095 | Schonlein & Jenner Streets | WINDHOEK - NAMIBIA
INSIDE
PAGE 4 PAGE 15
NEWS:
Lesotho
lowers
SADC flag
BUSINESS:
Strong capital
markets
fundamental
PAGE 23 PAGE 32
ARTS:
Salif Keita
highlights plight
of albinos
SPORTS:
Afcon
qualification
a colossal task
STINA WU
Entrepreneur or Rent-seeker?
> The story of a Chinese kindergarten
teacher who became a billion Rand
property mogul in Namibia.
■ TILENI MONGUDHI, SHINOVENE IMMANUEL and
TUTALENI PINEHAS
Stina Wu arrived in Namibia from China with
little more than a suitcase 22 years ago. She was
19 years old and had previously only worked as
a kindergarten teacher.
STINA WU: turn to P. 2
SADC obsessed with military spending
> SPLASHES R253 MILLION ON MILITARY MISSIONS
> R11.3 MILLION SPENT ON DEFENCE BOOK
■ Timo Shihepo
Windhoek - The Southern African Development
Community (SADC) continues
to spend billions of dollars on military activities
at a time when the member countries’ economies
are struggling to grow.
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2 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ NEWS
STUNA WU
> From P. 1
Now, aged 41, she owns land and
buildings in the heart of Namibia’s
major urban centres, like Windhoek,
Rundu, Oshakati, Karibib
and Okahandja.
She is considered among Namibia's
prime property owners.
Wu and her husband came to
Namibia under a government policy
designed to attract investment
from China.
The Namibian’s investigative
unit investigated some of Wu's
businesses for the past four years
through speaking to people who
worked with her, visiting some of
her businesses, and going through
publicly available company and
deeds documents.
Her empire, which some estimate
to be over R1 billion, was
built from scratch. Her close ties
to politicians and top government
officials is credited to be her recipe
for success.
Land reform minister Utoni
Nujoma, police inspector general
Sebastian Ndeitunga, former Okahandja
mayor Valerie Aron and
councillors in several towns rank
among her friends, or so she says.
Her property holdings include
four shopping centres in four
towns, a hotel in Windhoek and
two housing developments at
Rundu.
THE EARLY YEARS
Wu – real name Qiaoxia Wu –
started small. Government sources
said she started making money as
an agent facilitating permits and
residency papers for Chinese businesspeople.
She also set up a 'China
Shop' in Windhoek.
People familiar with her businesses
said Wu then started setting
up companies for businesspeople
based in China so that by the
time they arrived in Namibia the
groundwork had been laid. Having
a business in Namibia makes it
easier to get permanent residence
status.
Wu obtained Namibian permanent
residency on 27 April 2004,
documents show.
She said she chose Namibia
because she heard a lot of good
things about it from her husband.
“I was doing mainly import
and export business,” she told The
Namibian in an interview this
week.
Wu got her start in the property
market in December 2007, when
she bought 1.5 hectares of land
from the Oshakati Town Council
in northern Namibia, where she
built the Etango Shopping Complex.
Municipal sources said the
property is now estimated to be
worth more than R41 million.
RUNDU
She then set her sights on the
northeastern town of Rundu. In
May 2008, she bought a one-hectare
plot to build the Galaxy Shopping
Mall.
Now Rundu’s largest shopping
complex, it houses more than 50
shops.
Wu saw other opportunities to
acquire property at Rundu. She saw
a gap in the housing market at the
town and took advantage of it.
Acting Rundu council chief
executive Sikongo Haihambo
confirmed to The Namibian this
month that Wu owns or is represented
in at least four projects,
including the Galaxy Shopping
Mall valued at R38 million.
The others are Rainbow Housing
Development, comprising
251 houses; a hotel development
through Cross Century Properties;
and a 550-house project at Kaisosi
on the outskirts of Rundu, which
falls under the Helmsman Group.
The land deals in Rundu made
headlines after she sent then mayor
Gosbert Mandema and his former
deputy, Hilka Leevi, went on an
all-expenses-paid trip to China in
2010.
A title deed search shows that
Wu bought a 3 500 square metre
plot from the council in 2011 for
R17 000 – or R5 a square metre.
Other developers at Rundu said
at the time the market price was
R20 a square metre, meaning ordinarily
the land would cost R70,000.
In 2012, according to media
reports, Wu paid for another trip
to China for top Rundu officials,
including the then-new chairperson
of the management committee
Johannes Murenga.
Leevi, who was also part of the
second group, told The Namibian
in 2012 that the officials visited the
port city of Xiamen and Sanming
City in Fujian province, where Wu
was born.
She denied there was anything
improper about the trips, saying
they were aimed at attracting
investment from China.
In July 2012, a few months before
the second China trip, Wu bought
a 17-hectare plot at Rundu for
R870,000. The aim was a housing
development named the Rundu
Rainbow Village.
Property deeds seen by The
Namibian show that Wu divided
the land into more than 200 plots
for housing. She then sold readybuilt
houses for R350,000, raking
in more than R70 million.
OKAHANDJA
Wu's other major property
investment has been at Okahandja,
70km north of Windhoek.
The Ever-Lasting Iron Sheet
Investment Close Corporation,
which she owns, bought 5,100
square metres of municipal land
for R200,000 in June 2011 with
the intention of setting up a roof
sheeting factory and brickmaking
factory.
An urban ministry investigation,
conducted in 2014 and seen
by The Namibian, alleged that Wu
bought several municipal plots in
Okahandja for R4 a square metre.
Residents pay R15 a square metre.
The ministry also alleged that
she was awarded two plots without
applying for them.
“There is no explanation in the
council resolution why the additional
plots were given. We could
also not find any payment for the
three erven,” investigators said.
"The company still owes the
council R1.6 million,” the report
said.
Deeds documents show that the
five erven include a 5,100 square
metre plot sold to Wu for R200,000.
The probe also suggested that
there should be an investigation
to determine whether Wu financed
former Okahandja mayor Valerie
Aron's lavish new home. That
investigation was never carried out.
Aron, who was mayor until 2015,
is now a spokesperson for Wu’s
Helmsman Group.
Aron is not the only former
high-ranking official in her company.
Former Helao Nafidi town chief
executive, Chris Shivolo, is a shareholder
and managing partner of
Helmsman Group with Wu.
Shivolo was fired in 2008 for
finalising the sale of land at Oshikango
to Chinese businesspeople
such as Jack Huang. Shivolo claims
that he found the agreements to sell
land to Huang already there when
he started work at the council.
In recent months, Wu has been
on a public relations drive. She has
arranged meetings with selected
reporters to tell her story and to
promote her latest business: The
59-room Marigold Hotel located
close to the Game shopping centre
in Windhoek.
Wu held a media event at which
she unveiled a sponsorship of more
than 200 desks and 200 chairs for
the Etunda Farm Primary School
situated on former president Sam
Nujoma’s farm. The donation was
made via the Helmsman Group of
Companies.
FURTHER EXPANSION
Wu said her father had helped
her fund the construction of the
hotel, which cost R120 million.
She said she plans to add 100
more rooms to the Windhoek
hotel and satellite operations in
smaller towns such as Walvis Bay
and Rundu.
She said her group of companies
also plans to build a low-cost Marigold
Express Hotel opposite the
Game shopping centre.
In addition, Wu also owns a
new shopping centre – Kingsway
Plaza – across from the Wernhil
Park Shopping Centre – next to
Cymot, in Windhoek’s CBD. She
owns 35% of Kingsway Plaza.
“It is currently worth around
R48 million, but our intention is to
demolish the existing building and
build an entirely new and modern
building with offices, apartments
and shopping spaces, which will
consist of about 21 floors,” she said.
Wu owned two houses in Windhoek
– one in Ludwigsdorf valued
at R7 million, while another house
in Eros is said to be valued at R9
million.
“I had to sell these houses to have
additional funds for the completion
of my 5-star Marigold Hotel
in Windhoek,” she said.
Wu said she now resides at her
Windhoek hotel and also owns
Fujian City Mall, opposite China
Town in Windhoek valued at more
than R27 million.
She is also involved in the development
of more than 250 houses
at Ehenye and Ekuku at Oshakati.
CONNECTED
Wu is regarded as politically
connected and feared within the
Namibian Chinese community.
Ndeitunga told The Namibian last
year that he is close to her, adding
that Wu asked the police to
buy houses from her company at
Rundu for its members.
It is also understood that she
has made generous donations to
Namibia’s governing party, Swapo.
“I don’t mix business with politics.
I have also never contributed
to Swapo fundraising activities,”
she insisted, despite evidence of her
contributions to the party.
She said land reform minister
Nujoma is “a very good friend of
mine and that is it. He is not connected
to my business nor does he
have any interest in my business”.
Nujoma did not respond to a query
about his relationship with Wu.
There was also no evidence linking
Nujoma to Wu’s business deals.
Wu said claims that she is protected
politically are not new.
“These comments are not new,
but no, I don’t use political connections
because I don’t have any.
My friendship with some politicians
is pure friendship and doesn’t
mix with my business, and nor do
I participate in politics,” she said.
She added that “my empire is not
yet worth a billion dollar, although
I am working towards it. Also, with
greater heights in society comes
greater responsibility, and critics
also increase; some good and
encouraging while others want to
bring you down. In business, however,
one needs to have a chest for
these, because it is not a bed of
roses.”
Wu said she contributed to charitable
causes in Namibia including
the Namibia Networks of
AIDS Service Organisations, the
First Ladies Trust Fund, a women’s
gardening project at Okatana,
Oshakati and classrooms for a
kindergarten at Okaku. She said
she donated a kindergarten to the
Rundu Town Council.
* This article was produced
by The Namibian's investigative
unit. Tileni Mongudhi started this
investigation in 2014. He is now
the acting editor at The Southern
Times.

The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
3
■ NEWS
SADC OBSESSED
> From P. 1
Ramaphosa
urges Europe to
lift Zimbabwe
sanctions
› The late Lieutenant General Khoantlhe Motšomotšo
Apart from the large chunks of
money included in SADC countries’
national budgets, the region
is further spending money on military
activities, which will amount
to R253 million just for the 2017/18
financial year.
It is a region obsessed with
spending money on military-related
activities despite its ranking
as one of the most peaceful regions
in Africa.
Most of the R253 million is set to
be gulped by exercises in Lesotho
as the kingdom continues to struggle
to restore peace and stability in
the country.
Of the total amount, R133 million
was for the Lesotho Contingent
Mission. Over 300 personnel,
including soldiers, police and civilian
components were part of this
mission that was deployed in the
country in December 2017 to stabilise
matters following the assassination
of the Commander of the
Lesotho Defence Force, Lieutenant
General Khoantlhe Motšomotšo, in
September 2017.
Another R107 million was also
used for the SADC Organ Mission
in Lesotho.
Likewise, this assignment is earmarked
to restore peace and order
in the Kingdom.
In a meeting held in Pretoria,
South Africa, SADC also approved
R11.4 million towards conducting
the Standby Force Command Post
Exercise.
The Southern Times understands
that this exercise was conducted
in Malawi last month. It involved
about 500 military, police, and
civilian personnel as pledged by
member states from the standby
roster.
Its overall objective is to practice
and exercise SADC Standby Force’s
Multidimensional Headquarters on
the planning and conduct of Peace
Support Operations in preparation
for assuming the African Standby
Force Roster from January to June
2019.
It also aims to create a robust
and credible SADC Standby Force
that can withstand the test of time,
available and ready to respond to
any compelling situation anywhere
in Africa.
Furthermore, SADC Secretariat
has spent R11.3 million on publishing
a book, called ‘Hashim Mbita’,
of this amount R2.1 million was
used to publish the book while
R9.2 million is being used towards
translating ‘Hashim Mbita’ into
three SADC working languages
(English, French and Portuguese.)
The publication composes of 10
volumes, which documents the history
of the liberation struggles in
southern African that sought to
end colonial and apartheid rule in
the region.
The publication presents events
and stories of Angola, Botswana,
Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique,
Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
In addition to these countries,
the research covers the contributions
of countries and organisations
outside of the SADC region
that played a key role in aiding the
liberation movements in southern
Africa.
Obsessed with military spending
Information shows that five of
SADC’s biggest members have a
combined defence budget of R67
billion for the 2018/19 financial
year.
South Africa has the largest
chunk of R47.9 billion, followed
by Namibia with a budget of R6
billion.
Zimbabwe is third with a budget
of R5.8 billion, while Zambia has
allocated R4 billion to its defence
ministry with Botswana also budgeting
R3.6 billion for this current
financial year.
The Botswana government is also
looking for funds to buy fighter jets
worth R23.8 billion.
Similarly, other SADC countries
have also been buying military
equipment.
In his budget speech, Namibia’s
minister of finance, Calle
Schlettwein defended the issue of
spending on military activities.
Schlettwein said building reliable
security networks, it allows
for secure growth for not only the
country but also the region.
Despite spending billions of
dollars on military activities to
preserve peace in the region,
the SADC region experienced
some major challenges that led to
losses of lives. Political instability
in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC), Kingdom of Lesotho,
Madagascar, and fresh elections
violence in Zimbabwe were
just some of the talking points in
recent years.
Meanwhile, SADC Executive
Secretary, Dr Stergomena Lawrence
Tax, said despite some challenges,
“the region remain relatively
peaceful over the past year.”
The SADC Secretariat said it
will continue to coordinate mediation
support to the DRC, Lesotho
and Madagascar as part of efforts
to enhance conflict prevention in
the region.
Nico Horn, a Namibian Professor
of human rights and constitutional
law, said it is sad when
the region continues to spend a
lot of money on military activities
while there are pressing human
rights needs that citizens are still
deprived of.
“Who is the enemy? Who is
going to attack who? SADC is a
relatively peaceful region yet we
continue spending so much on military
activities.
Think of what kind of development
the R67 billion can do for
our region if we use that for other
developmental activities,” he said.
Horn said it has been a long time
since the war ended yet the region
still has the cold war mentality.
He added that the opposition
parties in SADC are also not vocal
when the defence budgets are being
presented.
“They do not strongly oppose
these kinds of things in parliament.
What we need is a Green Peace type
of organisation that has a strong
influence on government decisions
and advocates for gun control. In
Namibia and SADC, we don’t have
much influence.
I can speak about it now but
who will listen to Nico (Horn) to
change government decisions,” said
Horn, who has been nominated by
the Namibian government to be
a member of the United Nations
Human Rights Committee.
› Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
Johannesburg - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
has urged European countries to support reforms
embarked on by Zimbabwe to resolve the political and economic
crisis.
Speaking in Belgium where he led the South African delegation
at the seventh European Union (EU) – South Africa
Summit, Ramaphosa advocated for the removal and of sanctions
imposed on Zimbabwe by the continental bloc following
years of violations by the former president, Robert Mugabe.
“Zimbabwe is on a path of great reforms,” Ramaphosa said.
“This needs to be supported as Zimbabwe has turned a
corner,” the South African leader said.
Zimbabwe’s government of Emmerson Mnangagwa has
expressed determination
to revive the
“
country’s fortunes but
restrictive measures by
Zimbabwe is on
a path of great
reforms”
the West are largely an
impediment, resulting
in recurring economic
problems.
Me a nw h i le , t he
administration’s plans
to resolve the challenges
received a major boost
this week after a South
African-based company
owned by a Zimbabwean
entrepreneur, Frank Buyanga, availed US$35 million
to procure and deliver fuel, pharmaceuticals and other
products that are in short supply.
The government granted African Medallion Group (AMG)
approval following its recent request to assist.
The offer by AMG to Zimbabwe comes as the two-year-old
start-up attains massive financial growth.
AMG’s gold reserves have spiked to R6 billion (US$428
million) in 2018.
Dr John Mangudya, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor,
this week appreciated AMG’s desire to contribute to the
solution to the challenges facing the country.
“(RBZ) wishes to advise that you directly approach the
importers of the proposed commodities. This is due to the
fact that the buyers will be using their free funds to pay for
the imports,” the letter read. – CAJ News

4 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ NEWS
Lesotho lowers SADC
flag as SAPMIL ends
intervention mission
■ Colleta Dewa
Johannesburg - The Southern
African Development Community
(SADC) has withdrawn
its troops from Lesotho, as
the intervention mission ended its
operations in that country.
The troops, which were mobilised
from SADC countries,
including Angola, Namibia,
Zambia and Zimbabwe, had been
operating in the politically unstable
mountainous Lesotho since 2
December 2017.
The SADC flag was lowered during
an exit parade at the Setsoto
Stadium in Maseru on Tuesday,
20 November.
The Standby Force, also known
as the SADC Preventive Mission in
Lesotho (SAPMIL), comprised of
207 soldiers, 15 intelligence personnel,
24 police officers and 12 civilian
experts.
SADC Executive Secretary, Dr
Stergomena Lawrence Tax, com-
mended the force for the role they
played in ensuring that peace was
maintained in the country.
She also sent a message of condolence
for the SADC soldiers who
lost their lives in the Democratic
Republic of Congo’s North Kivu
Province last week.
“On a sad note, allow me on
behalf of SADC to pass my condolences
to the people of the DRC,
Malawi and Tanzania for the loss of
our soldiers who were killed in the
North Kivu province on the 14th of
November 2018,” she said.
Speaking during the exit parade,
Lesotho Prime Thomas Motsoahae
Thabane said he was grateful
for the assistance that his country
received from SADC adding that
he is confident the SADC mission
was leaving at a time when stability
had been restored in the country’s
security apparatus.
“I am hopeful that the security
will now be able to respect civilian
authority and conduct their ser-
› Lesotho Prime Thomas Motsoahae Thabane
vices as mandated by the constitution
of Lesotho of Lesotho,” he said.
The Lesotho Defence Force
(LDF) also expressed their determination
in dealing with malcontents
who may want to take
advantage of the void created by
the departure of the SADC troops
to create mayhem in the country.
“We are ready to thwart any
elements who may want to see the
departure of the SADC troops as
a license to renew their past anarchy….That
will not be tolerated…
We will deal with any such elements
mercilessly,” said a LDF
official.
The SADC force was essentially
deployed to prevent rogue LDF
soldiers from destabilising Prime
Minister Thabane’s coalition as it
went about implementing SADC
recommended reforms to curb perennial
instability in the Kingdom.
SAPMIL was initially deployed
for a period of six months until
May 2018 after which the mission
was extended by a further six
months to November 2018 to foster
a conducive environment to
help the country in implementing
SADC’s recommended multi-sectoral
reforms while pushing for the
restoration of the rule of law.
The reforms were recommended
by SADC in 2016 as part of measures
to bring lasting peace and stability
to the country.
The regional body’s recommendations
were made in the aftermath
of the Justice Mpaphi Phumaphi-led
SADC Commission of
Inquiry into the circumstances
surrounding the fatal shooting
of former army commander,
Maaparankoe Mahao, by his army
colleagues in 2015.
The regional body gave Lesotho
until May 2019 to have fully implemented
constitutional and security
sector reforms but the process has
been stalled by bickering between
the government and the opposition
with the later making a plethora
of demands before it participates.
However, the impasse between
the two sides seems to have finally
been resolved after they signed a
pledge committing to participating
in the reform process.
PORTFOLIO
Did
YOU
Know
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www.agribank.com.na
Windhoek Head Office
Katima Mulilo
Mariental
Midland (Windhoek)
Otjiwarongo
Oshakati
Rundu
Gobabis

The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
5
■ NEWS
Get into the festive
mood with MTC
Visit MTC.com.na

6 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ NEWS
170,000 Zimbabweans
granted SA permits
■ Colleta Dewa
Johannesburg - South Africa’s
department of home affairs
has announced that it has
processed more than of the 180,000
permits applied for by Zimbabweans.
Over 180,000 Zimbabwean
nationals living in South Africa
applied for official documentation
to allow them to stay, work, study
and conduct businesses legally in
the country. Addressing journalists
in Pretoria, home affairs spokesperson
Thabo Makgola said most of the
permits had already been processed.
“The Department of Home Affairs
is pleased to announce that it has
completed the adjudication and
printing of 178,172 applications for
the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit
(ZEP),” said Makgola.
The ZEP permit applications were
REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR, INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND EMPLOYMENT CREATION
PUBLIC NOTICE
EMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR SECTOR MEETING OF SADC MINISTRIES OF LABOUR, FINANCE,
TRADE AND INDUSTRY AS WELL AS EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES’ ORGANIZATION
The SADC Senior Officials which include the Permanent Secretaries of different Ministries such as those responsible for
Labour, Finance, Trade and Industry as well as employers and employees’ organizations will have a meeting from the
26th-28th November 2018 in Windhoek.
The Meeting aims to come up with coordinated efforts to maximize employment creation and productivity in SADC.
Further, it is also expected to serve as a platform for discussing employment and economic development dimensions
related to the following themes:
i) Promotion of a pro-employment macroeconomic, sectoral and business environment for optimal jobs growth,
especially for youth and women, as an explicit target;
ii) Investment and infrastructure development that targets maximization of employment outcomes in combination
with other economic targets;
iii) Labour market policies that promote stable industrial relations, productivity and adequately respond to ease of
business and competitiveness requirements;
iv) Promotion of employment-sensitive national plans and budgets, using empirical tools such as Employment
Impact Assessment; and
v) Promoting broad-based tripartite consultation and social dialogue for effective responses to challenges related
to achieving job-rich growth in times of tight fiscal spaces, the future of work (fourth industrial revolution), as well
as shifting economic flows of trade and investment.
Within the shifting context full of challenges and opportunities for SADC enterprises and workers, it is vital that existing
strategies designed to combat un(der)employment, poverty and inequality are revisited. The development of new momentum
with a particular focus on youth, to create jobs and address socio-economic problems must be placed at the center of
the agenda of policymakers and social partners and thus this Meeting.
Issued by:
introduced in September last year
after the Zimbabwe Special Permit
(ZSP) expired.
“The ZEP is meant to regularise
the stay of Zimbabwean nationals
in South Africa for work, study and
legal business,” added Makgola.
Meanwhile, 39,089 permits are
said to be in the process of being
collected or sent to the various collection
offices.
The department also said about
2,000 applications had not been completed
because of expired passports
and those affected have been given
until the 15 December to submit new
travel documents.
Home affairs said it is still struggling
to get hold of 84 people to have
their fingerprints retaken.
While this may be a relief for
many, it still denies Zimbabweans
permanent residency in South
Africa.
The department said it had met the
Zimbabwean Consulate, which had
undertaken to expedite the passport
applications of those who did apply.
ZEP came into effect in January
2018 and expires in December 2021.
The development was met with
relief by most Zimbabweans who
had been affected by the slow pace
of processing, resulting in their bank
accounts being frozen, difficulties
registering their children at educational
institutions and losing their
jobs.
Although the Department of
Home Affairs had issued a circular
to banks, employers and learning
institutions in December last year
advising them that as long as people
could show proof of application
for the ZEP they were supposed to
continue receiving services while
their application is being adjudicated,
most people fell victim to the
process.
In January, home affairs
announced that the ZEP process,
including finalising adjudications
and issuing all new permits, would
be completed by the end of September
2018 but it did not happen till
last week.

The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
7
■ NEWS
Ex-liberation
movements plot
2019 elections
■ Magreth Nunuhe & Annines
AngulaWindhoek – Six
secretary generals
(SGs) of former
liberation
movements and governing parties
in the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) have
vowed to vigorously counteract the
propaganda and onslaughts made
against their parties and leaders
ahead of elections in 2019.
The six parties are Namibia’s
Swapo, South Africa’s ANC, Angola’s
MPLA, Zimbabwe’s ZANU-PF,
Mozambique’s FRELIMO and
Tanzania’s CCM.
While the MPLA and ZANU-PF
have successfully won elections
and already inaugurated new
governments in 2017 and 2018, the
other four ruling parties (Swapo,
ANC, FRELIMO and CCM) will
be going to the polls in national
and presidential elections in 2019.
The six SGs, who paid a courtesy
call on Namibian President Hage
Geingob at State House in Windhoek
yesterday, also met during the
week to reignite their mission and
vision as former liberation movements
and “to make sure that the
history of the liberation struggle
does not go in vain”.
Addressing Geingob and speaking
on behalf of fellow SGs, Swapo
SG, Sophia Shaningwa, said that
they were going to vigorously campaign
“to touch the hearts of our
masses in rural areas to understand
the visions and missions of
our revolution of the blood that
was shed”.
Shaningwa said that during
their meeting, they looked at the
› Swapo SG, Sophia Shaningwa
successes of their parties as far as
elections were concerned.
“We have realised that we are
commonly challenged – at times
socially, economically and we have
decided together as organisations,
we are going as engines of our parties,”
she pointed out.
She said they also looked at the
issues of the political landscape
of the period under review, especially
within former liberation
movements and political parties
which have led to protracted processes
and the resulting restoration
of confidence in governing party
leadership and in the economy of
countries.
In particular, the Swapo SG
pointed out that serious issues of
concern that are divisive, such as
factionalism, tribalism, racism
and sexism, which she said must
be rejected.
Among other issues, Shaningwa
said that the SGs were concerned
about the negative use of social
media and vowed to start counteracting
the onslaught being made on
the parties and its leaders.
The SGs also condemned the
“unwarranted and unfair attacks
on the good fraternal relationships
which exist between African
nations and China as underscored
by the Beijing FOCAC Summit”.
Shaningwa said that those
negative sentiments were being
engineered by forces in the West
responsible for colonialism of
Africa who now saw the relationship
between Africa and China as a
threat to their strategic interests in.
FRELIMO’s SG, Roque Silva
Samuel said that they were always
attacked by their enemies, which
means that “our struggle makes
sense”.
“We started facing rallies in the
streets. Our enemies expected us
to lose by more than 50 percent
(of the vote), but they were disappointed
by the results we got,” he
said, alleging that some ambassadors
from Western countries were
also involved in funding election
campaigns.
The MPLA’s SG, Alvaro Manuel
Boavida Neto said that the reason
for the victory was “vitality of our
Presidents”.
“We must not lose direction of
our struggle. Presidents are frontlines
of our struggle. We, secretaries-general,
must ensure our victories,”
he noted.
“Neto, it looked as if they were
divided, but the division between
their former President Jose Eduardo
Dos Santos and our President
João Lourenço was created externally.
“We are convinced that we are
all united. We will face these challenges,”
he maintained.
For his part, President Hage
Hopes of free and
fair DRC poll fading
Kinshasa – The United
Nations (UN) is
doubtful the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC)
will defy an Ebola outbreak and
rebellion by armed groups to hold
credible elections next month.
Polls are planned for December
23 amid fading hope of a peaceful
handover of power to bring
elusive stability to the 85 million
people central African nation.
Over 35,000 candidates are to
contest for three combined elections.
Some 40,000 voters have
been certified.
However, disease and a reign of
terror by rebel groups, threaten
the credibility of the exercise.
Addressing the Security Council,
UN’s supreme body Leila
Zerrougui, Special Representative
and Head of the UN Nations
Stabilisation Mission in DRC
(MONUSCO), said upcoming
elections would mark a turning
point.
She said in addition to Ebola,
the militant Allied Democratic
Forces (ADF) was targeting
MONUSCO staff and national
security forces in some parts of
the country.
The envoy added the opposition
remained concerned about dwindling
political space and unequal
access to public media, which is
largely controlled by the government
of President Joseph Kabila,
who is not seeking re-election.
Geingob said that in any democracy
there is free and fair elections
and “we are winning”.
He said that even when the governing
party wins elections democratically,
they are then asked to
have a strong opposition.
“In Namibia’s case, the opposition
is weak because we work very
hard. Then they says you need
strong press – the press kind of
also becomes an opposition,” he
noted, saying that he did not mean
to condemn the press though.
Geingob said that at times the
› Leila Zerrougui
“It is in this dynamic context
that we move towards long-awaited
elections in just over one month’s
time,” Zerrougui said.
Ignace Mavita, Congolese envoy
to the UN, expressed hope of credible
polls.
Mavita argued all activists classified
as political prisoners had been
released but those still detained did
not fit that category.
He said citizens, journalists and
activists were now enjoying freedoms.
Mavita defended the use of voting
machines and assured public
voter education had been carried
out and deployment of electoral
material and staff were on course.
– CAJ News
opposition and the press work in
collusion attacking government.
He also recognised civil society
as a very important element of
democracy.
In hindsight, the President
said that some people were campaigning
to get them out of office,
because they have been too long
in the offices.
“But nobody says you were fighting
for too long, why don’t you
give up? They did not tell us to get
out when we were fighting for too
long,” he said.
Six Malawian, one Tanzanian UN soldiers killed in DRC
■ Penelope Paliani-Kamanga
Lilongwe - Seven United
Nations peacekeepers
comprising six Malawian
and one Tanzanian soldier
were killed in an operation
against a rebel militia in eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), the UN Security Council
confirmed this week.
The death of the soldiers who
have been described as the most
courageous peacekeepers marked
the biggest loss by the large UN
force in DRC since the rebels killed
15 troops nearly a year ago.
Earlier on Thursday last week,
General Bernard Commins, deputy
head of the Monusco peacekeeping
force, said a joint operation had
been launched with DRC troops on
Tuesday against the Allied Democratic
Forces (ADF), a jihadi group
blamed for bloody attacks on civilians.
The offensive aimed at Kididiwe,
about 20km from Beni, a city
of between 200,000 and 300,000
inhabitants.
We are holding Kididiwe at present,
after violent fighting with an
armed group.
At present, we are evacuating
wounded Congolese troops and
Blue Helmets," said Commins.
On Wednesday, Commins said
Monusco had deployed attack helicopters
against ADF forces threatening
UN troops in the Mayangose
area, northeast of Beni.
The region is also battling an
Ebola outbreak that has left more
than 200 dead. Insecurity is hampering
efforts to contain the disease,
the UN spokesman said.
In its statement the Security
Council "underlined that deliberate
attacks targeting peacekeepers
may constitute war crimes under
international law".
Malawi’s President Peter
Mutharika, while receiving the bodies
of the six Malawians soldiers,
said he was saddened to have lost
courageous, hardworking and disciplined
soldiers who were always
ready to serve to ensure that peace
prevails. MDF spokesman Major
Paul Chiphwanya said the remains
of the soldiers that arrived in
Malawi through Kamuzu International
Airport (KIA) in Lilongwe
were part of a United Nations Force
Intervention Brigade (FIB) peacekeeping
mission in the DRC.
Before the bodies of the soldiers
left DRC, Malawian Battalion
Peacekeepers paid tribute to
their comrades-in-arms during
a ceremony held at the Boikene
MONUSC0 Base.
The Council called for a swift
investigation from Congolese
authorities and warned that attacks
against UN personnel constitute a
basis for sanctions.
The ADF is an Islamist-rooted
group that rose in western Uganda
in 1995, led by Jamil Mukulu, a
Christian turned Muslim.
Forced out of Uganda, it operates
in the border area in the DRC's
North Kivu province.
It has been blamed for recruiting
and using child soldiers, killing
hundreds of civilians since 2014, as
well as 15 Tanzanian peacekeepers,
who died in an attack in December
2017.
Those fatalities were the biggest
loss of life in a UN peacekeeping
force since 1993 when 24 Pakistani
soldiers were killed in Somalia during
clashes with a local warlord.
On Monday, Monusco's head,
Leila Zerrougui, sounded the alarm
over violence in the eastern DRC,
saying it cast a shadow over the
country's elections on December 23.
“There is a potential for armed
group interference in elections in
specific areas throughout eastern
DRC,” she said.
Monusco has around 17,000
members, making it one of the UN's
biggest peacekeeping operations.
Created in 1999 during the Second
Congo War, it has an annual
budget of US$1.153 billion.

8 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ LEADER
Cancer
is real
■ Staff Writer
EDITOR’S COMMENT
Show me your friends,
my African leader
We all know of
the saying,
“s h ow m e
your friends and I will tell
you who you are”.
Or “You’re only as good
as the company you keep”.
The Bible captures this in
Proverbs 13:20, where Solomon,
the wise guy, wrote:
“He that walketh with wise
men shall be wise: but a
companion of fools shall
be destroyed.”
“The Arabs say: tell me
who your friends are and
I will tell you who you are.
Manners are contagious.
If you mix with righteous
people, you will find that
you have picked up a lot
of their good manners.
It is rare that you would
find someone who doesn’t
smoke hanging out with
smokers.
When you are around
positive and successful
people, you can’t help but
be positive and successful.
If you are feeling down or
low, those next to you can
be the reason.
Try to get better people
to be with and avoid bad
friends because misery
loves company!”
Now, I want to talk to
our wise men and women
who are in charge of running
African nations.
Recent history in Africa
has shown that many
African leaders who happen
to be caught with their
hands in the ‘cookie jar’ as
the Westerners would call
it, there is always a third
party involved in the
alleged malfeasance.
In many cases, this third
party comes in a form of
a ‘friend’ in many usually
someone who is not a
native of that country.
These ‘friends’ in some
cases are on the run from
the law and justice in their
country of origin, while in
some cases just come to
Africa in search of Eldorado.
These ‘friends’ often
have deep pockets or so
they let us believe and are
always very and extremely
generous.
Interestingly though,
their generosity is hardly
extended to those Africans
in actual need of their philanthropy.
This often happens only
after these friends made
millions from the African
country’s government and
economy. The generosity I
am talking about is often
extended to the African
leaders and strategically
so. I say strategic because
only those who can unlock
Africa’s untapped riches to
these ‘friends’ are the beneficiaries
of this so-called
kindness. Our friend also
target a specific type of
African leader, the type
who is unable to fend for
themselves, despite occupying
public office which
comes with perks that
majority of their countrymen
only dream off.
Within a few years, our
‘friends’ become so powerful
and wealthy and claim
that they are hardworking
and that they made every
penny from their blood,
sweat and tears.
And this success is in
most cases built at the
expense of that country’s
natives. The natives are also
labelled lazy and lacking
innovation.
The truth, however, is
that these questionable
characters know too well
how greedy African leaders
are and that by ingratiating
themselves with these
leaders and creating an
environment where these
characters are able to gain
an unfair advantage over
ordinary citizens. These
characters generally cut
corners and don’t follow
the law.
When ordinary citizens
complain, their elected representatives
label them xenophobic.
Examples, especially in
South Africa and Namibia,
are rife about how these
questionable characters go
around dropping names of
those in power and using
such ‘friendships’ as means
of intimidating ordinary
citizens trying to comply
with the law.
At times, the sovereignty
of our countries and government
are compromised
by these relationships.
It’s time our leaders think
twice about making themselves
available to obscure
characters while they are
not accessible to those who
elected them.
So my wise African
leader, show me your
friends…
October has always been observed as Breast
Cancer Awareness Month and I must confess
I have never celebrated it until this
year. A women’s meeting held on one October Saturday,
whose proceedings had nothing to do with
raising awareness of the said disease, changed my
perspective.
Our dress code was pink, a colour used to mark the
month, and this was in solidarity with survivors and
those afflicted by the disease. At the event, nothing
was said about the disease but the flood of colours
and décor spoke volumes.
I was intrigued and began reading up on other
people’s experiences. I have lost many people close to
me to various cancers, breast cancer included. I have
people close to me still dazed by the discovery of the
life-threatening disease and some are in remission
but it is not breast cancer.
So why breast cancer, why October, why pink?
One person diagnosed with cancer says she is
divided between loving and hating Breast Cancer
Awareness Month.
She points out how she hated the sexualisation of
the breast cancer and says “It’s not just about breasts.”
She also hates being reminded of the disease. “I’m
already aware and dislike the visual reminders of my
own disease!” she says.
However, she says the month is a reminder for
women (and men) to self-examine, get a mammogram
or see the doctor about that “lump”.
And this she says is the good that comes out of the
month: “awareness that it can be happening in your
own body, not that it happens only to other people!”
That made a lot of sense.
Another person also diagnosed with breast cancer
indicated: “If I could just be on a deserted island
September through October, I would be happy. I am
tired of people calling me a warrior or a survivor.
It’s exhausting having to constantly explain I am
terminal. The colour pink has become a colour I
hate. I am tired of being made aware of something
that 113 people die of daily. I know. I live it, and it
doesn’t have a colour.”
On reading this I cringed. I cringed when yet
another one said: “…there is nothing wrong with
Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but the ‘awareness’
piece has gotten washed out and it doesn’t go deep
enough into the disease. It barely skims the surface”.
According to the 2018 report of the World Cancer
Research Fund, breast cancer is the most common
cancer among women with over 2 million cases
recorded already this year worldwide.
Ann Johnson, writing for Huffington Post, once
said: “Breast cancer awareness should be prominent
each and every day... I cannot wait for the day that a
breast cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence but
rather seen as a battle that will without a doubt end
in remission”.
Cancer is indeed a reality and can affect any part
of the body and we will never know the thoughts and
minds of those who have suffered or are suffering or
have been affected until they share their experiences.
I do believe October or no October, pink or no pink,
every new day is cause to celebrate life.
The
Southern Times
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Copyright © 2018 , Namzim Newspapers (Proprietary) Limited

Insight
The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
■ Features
■ Opinions
■ Analysis
■ Comment
■ Interviews
9
> ■ NEWS
How alike is land reform in
Namibia and South Africa?
■ Ronak Gopaldas &
Menzi Ndhlovu*
While land reform
has dominated
South Africa’s
headlines, it has also
emerged as a major polarising
issue in Namibia ahead
of next year’s national election.
Populist pressure fears
around the trajectory of the
economy and uncertainty
about how the process will
be administered in Namibia
have raised alarm, particularly
among investors.
With last year’s rating
downgrade to sub-investment
level and growth outlook
depressed, the Namibian
economy remains
vulnerable. Jittery investors
are now zooming in on two
questions in particular –
whether Namibia’s handling
of the land issue bears any
similarity to South Africa’s,
and whether it merits the
same level of concern.
First, it is important to
understand the similarities
between the two countries.
Both have segregationist
history and inequality is
still dominated across racial
lines. Both countries have
key elections in 2019 with
incumbent governments
facing dissatisfaction around
the slow pace of transformation
(much of which can be
attributed to their own inefficiency
rather than legislative
prohibitions.)
It is in this context that
the current clamour around
the respective land debates
needs to be understood. Current
land policies have failed
to launch in both countries
– evidenced by land ownership
statistics, which remain
racially skewed.
In South Africa, according
to the government’s 2018
Land Audit Report, whites
own 72% of farms and agricultural
holdings, coloured
people 15%, Indians 5% and
blacks 4% (all individual
ownership). These figures –
and indeed the report – have
been questioned. Commentators
say the baseline measurements
have been manipulated
for political profit.
However, this doesn’t change
the underlying notion that
the distribution of individual
ownership is misaligned
with the country’s demographics.
Namibia is no different.
According to the 2018
Namibia Land Statistics
report, domestic and foreign
white citizens own about
70% of commercial or freehold
agricultural farmland.
In both countries, whites
account for less than 10% of
the total population. Statistics
also show that despite
commitments to transforming
the nature of land
ownership in both countries
to better reflect population
demographics, not enough
has changed.
Land reform is not the
only initiative that has failed
to launch, but land dispossession
was central to the
segregationist policies that
dominated both countries’
pasts. Many of their ongoing
socio-economic challenges
can be traced to this.
In both countries, the issue
is less about the land itself,
and more about inclusion,
dignity and the need for general
redress.
Land is the lightning rod
representing dissatisfaction
with the status quo, and
unhappiness with a lack
of economic opportunities
and the racialised economic
structure of both economies.
The issue also carries political
currency in each context,
particularly as elections
approach.
However, there are crucial
differences in how land
reform historically fits into
the ruling parties’ discourse
and the type of land that
people want. In Namibia
– much like Zimbabwe – a
largely ethnically denominated
liberation movement
and now ruling SWAPO
Party fought a ‘people’s war’
over land.
In contrast, given the
multi-ethnic urban elitist
composition of South Africa’s
ruling African National
Congress (ANC), there was
little mobilisation for a landbased
people’s war but rather
for broader political and economic
inclusivity, of which
land was part.
In South Africa, according
to the government’s 2018
Land Audit Report, whites
own 72% of farms and agricultural
holdings, coloured
people 15%, Indians 5% and
blacks 4% (all individual
ownership). These figures –
and indeed the report – have
been questioned. Commentators
say the baseline measurements
have been manipulated
for political profit.
However, this doesn’t change
the underlying notion that
the distribution of individual
ownership is misaligned
with the country’s demographics.
Namibia is no different.
According to the 2018
Namibia Land Statistics
report, domestic and foreign
white citizens own about
70% of commercial or freehold
agricultural farmland.
In both countries, whites
account for less than 10% of
the total population. Statistics
also show that despite
commitments to transforming
the nature of land
ownership in both countries
to better reflect population
demographics, not enough
has changed.
Land reform is not the
only initiative that has failed
to launch, but land dispossession
was central to the
segregationist policies that
dominated both countries’
pasts. Many of their ongoing
socio-economic challenges
can be traced to this. In both
countries, the issue is less
about land itself, and more
about inclusion, dignity and
the need for general redress.
Land is the lightning rod
representing dissatisfaction
with the status quo, and
unhappiness with a lack
of economic opportunities
and the racialised economic
structure of both economies.
The issue also carries political
currency in each context,
particularly as elections
approach.
However, there are crucial
differences in how land
reform historically fits in
to the ruling parties’ discourse
and the type of land
that people want. In Namibia
– much like Zimbabwe – a
largely ethnically denominated
liberation movement
and now ruling SWAPO
party fought a ‘people’s war’
over land.
In contrast, given the
multi-ethnic urban elitist
composition of South Africa’s
ruling African National
Congress (ANC), there was
little mobilisation for a landbased
people’s war but rather
for broader political and economic
inclusivity, of which
land was part.
HOW ALIKE IS LAND
REFORM: turn to P.10

10 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ FEATURE
> From Page 9
HOW ALIKE IS
LAND REFORM
This absence of political pressure
has allowed Geingob to
skirt around contentious measures
like expropriation without
compensation. As resolved during
the 1 October land conference,
Namibia will discontinue
the willing-buyer-willing-seller
principle in favour of an expropriative
policy that is enabled by
the existing constitution.
The government may also seek
to redefine ‘just compensation’,
but so far this will not necessarily
include a denial of compensation.
Although broached during
the conference, Namibia – unlike
South Africa – has made no firm
commitment towards a constitutional
amendment.
While there might be differences
in the push for extreme
measures, any such possibility is
constrained in both countries by
market-related considerations. In
South Africa, a predominantly
agriculture-driven technical
recession renders any radical
expropriative policy unviable
and would send negative messages
to weary markets.
This is possibly why Ramaphosa
has spoken against arbitrary
land grabs and the nationalisation
of land. Instead, he has
maintained that his administration
would undertake a considered
approach that prioritises
state-owned land for redistribution.
Facing similar economic
stagnation and an exacerbated
climate-related threat to agriculture,
Namibia has followed
suit with its own ‘considered’
approach that seeks to minimise
disruptions to the vital sector,
albeit with some key differences.
For one, the government has
pledged to pursue a ‘one Namibian,
one farm’ policy that discourages
the ownership of multiple
farms by individuals. Also,
foreigners will be prohibited
from purchasing underdeveloped
residential land. This won’t
include purchases for commercial
and industrial use – a testament
to Geingob’s cognisance
of the potential backlash to an
outright ban.
In both South Africa and
Namibia, land reform is critical
for socio-economic and political
stability, but investors are anxious
about how it will change the
countries’ landscapes. How both
governments straddle appeasing
investor concerns and rectifying
historic injustices through
equitable land redistribution will
be key to the region’s economic
well-being and political stability.
For investors, an appropriate
diagnosis of the issue is important
to ensure that they don’t
panic or overreact. Central to
this is an understanding of the
drivers behind each country’s
land debate, the political considerations
at play, and the significance
of historical context. - ISS
*Ronak Gopaldas, ISS Consultant
and Director, Signal
Risk and Menzi Ndhlovu, Signal
Risk
Africa doesn't
need lessons in
democracy
If what's happening in Florida's mid-term elections had happened in Africa, the condemnation
would have been swift. It's time to reverse this, says CHRISPIN MWAKIDEU*.
It is inconceivable that more
than a week after American
voters cast their ballots in
the mid-term elections, several
states still don't know who their
representatives are. After all, this
is a nation that prides itself on its
vibrant democracy and the rule
of law, where freedom is the foundation
that binds together the 50
states that make up the world's oldest
constitutional republic.
On November 6, Americans
went to the polls to elect representatives
in both the House and Senate.
That the Democrats would win
the House was widely expected.
Republicans retained and even
strengthened their majority in
the Senate. US President Donald
Trump was quick to downplay the
Republican losses. To his credit, he
congratulated Nancy Pelosi, who is
likely to be the next speaker of the
House, but in his customary way
used his Twitter handle to threaten
the Democrats who are expected to
frustrate his agenda come January.
Nothing so surprising there — but
then came the bombshell.
On Saturday, Florida announced
a full recount of all votes in the
Senate race as well as the gubernatorial
race. This came after the
Democratic candidate in the governor's
race, Andrew Gillum, had
publicly conceded defeat to his
Republican rival Ron Desantis.
Results in Georgia, where the
first African American woman Stacey
Abrams is running for governor,
are so tight that a federal judge
has stopped the announcement of
results before Friday and ordered a
review of thousands of provisional
ballots. President Trump has been
crying foul, alleging voter fraud
and calling for the recounts to be
stopped. He has provided no evidence
for his accusations.
Now just pause for a moment
and imagine the reactions if the
same electoral drama in the US had
taken place in an African country.
The US would have been the first to
issue a scathing rebuke and lecture
the Africans on how important it is
to conduct elections that are free,
fair and credible. Well, this time
the US has failed that test.
Africa must now step up and
categorically criticise the way the
US elections have been conducted.
This is not about revenge, (remember
Trump reportedly referred
to African countries as sh**hole
countries?) but it's about reminding
the US of the proverbial saying:
you should first remove the plank
from your own eye before removing
the speck from your brother's
eye. Africa should expose the US
for its hypocrisy!
The US, with all its military
might, pride and branding as the
most advanced nation on earth is
far from perfect. Its electoral process
is flawed and its democracy
— though an inspiration to many
countries — has its weaknesses.
Firstly, in an ideal democracy,
the candidate who wins the most
votes in an election should be
declared the winner. Trump lost
the popular vote to Hillary Clinton
by more than 3 million votes
but still won the presidency after
clinching enough Electoral College
votes. The Electoral College is a
constitutional body made up of 538
representatives who decide the next
US president and vice president. In
other words, a majority of ordinary
US voters could vote for one candidate
and still end up with another.
What's the difference between such
an outcome and a dictator in Africa
who bends the will of the people in
order to stay in power indefinitely?
Secondly, compared to electoral
systems in Africa, the US has a
decentralised electoral structure.
Many key decisions such as voter
registration and how the voting
will be conducted are made at
state and local levels. In Florida, the
Democratic candidate for the Senate
is now calling on his Republican
rival to recuse himself from the
vote recount. He claims the governor
will use his power to under-
mine the voting process.
Don't get me wrong, there is
nothing wrong with recounting
votes or mounting legal challenges
over election results. We
saw in Kenya the Supreme Court
nullifying the presidential election
results and ordering a fresh one. In
Ghana, the opposition challenged
the results in 2012 but lost. What
is strange about the US is that the
candidates in power do have considerable
say over how the electoral
process runs. In Africa, we
have independent electoral commissions.
And if they truly stay
independent, then we can trust
the results.
One more thing, whenever an
election takes place in Africa, like
the one coming up in the Democratic
Republic of Congo on
December 23, the US and other
Western countries are quick to
deploy election observer missions.
The observers' thumbs up or down
on an election could determine not
only how the voters but also how
the international community perceive
the outcome. Maybe, just
maybe, the African Union and its
regional bodies could deploy election
observers in the US 2020 election.
– DW
*Chrispin Mwakideu is an editor
and host at DW's English for
Africa service

The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
11
■ FEATURE
ROAD DEATHS: why matters have only
got worse over the past 100 years
■ Lisa Kane*
In the early days of motoring
in the US, transport historian
Peter Norton tells us,
people were angry. In the four
years following the end of the First
World War, more Americans were
killed on roads than had died on
the battlefields in France. Monuments
were erected to crash victims
in Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
Detroit tolled bells of mourning
and remembrance. In New York,
a safety march on thousands
included bereaved mothers who
dedicated a monument there.
Such widespread public anger is
unlikely 100 years on even though
the world’s roads are still deadly.
Globally, more lives are lost to
road deaths than to malaria or
HIV/AIDS. Each year, more than
1.2 million people die in road
crashes. In reality, the figure could
be larger: road crash data is known
to be regularly under-reported.
It’s not just about lives lost. People
who don’t die in crashes may
still be badly injured or permanently
maimed. Globally, road
traffic crashes cost most countries
3% of their gross domestic product.
The World Day of Remembrance
for Road Traffic Victims on Sunday
18 November is a reminder of the
human tragedies behind the data.
The risk of a road traffic death
are highest in the African region,
at 26.6 deaths per 100,000 people.
The lowest risk is found in Europe,
with 9.3 deaths per 100,000.
Why is road death and injury
still so prolific? Enough research
has been done, verified and compiled
to show which policies, regulations
and technologies can
radically reduce road deaths
and injuries. The World Health
Organisation has produced multiple
guidelines that set out how
nations can make their roads safer.
Some identify a lack of “political
will as a key factor in road safety
failures. But generalising about
"political will”, while understandable,
also reinforces an unhelpful
categorisation. It contains an
assumption that politics is separate
from technical road safety and road
engineering work. That somehow
professionals, governments, businesses
and civil society working
on road safety operate in a depoliticised,
“technical” realm.
Transport scholars have shown,
in various cases studies and analyses,
how the political and technical
work hand in hand. Biases
favouring one group are inherent in
transport planning and engineering.
Early funding allocations in
the US were skewed towards highways
prompted in part by the less
than robust use of statistics. And
seemingly independent road professional
bodies have been influenced
by corporate interests.
In short, road engineering, planning
and use is not divorced from
broader politics.
Lobbies and interests
Historical work like Norton’s
about the dawn of motoring in the
US reveals some of the contours
of power at play. It shows who or
what was able to influence roads
policy and engineering norms at
the beginning of motoring. Trevor
Barnes points out that such norms
put in place at the beginning of a
discipline’s development have a
particularly strong influence and
are difficult to displace.
In the case of public road development,
businesses lobbied to
protect and promote their interests.
In particular, Norton exposes
the role that oil and motor industries
played in propagating a very
particular style of managing and
engineering roads. Regarding road
safety, the powerful “motordom”
lobby worked to quieten concerns
about the relationship between
vehicle speeds and road injuries.
The link between vehicle speeds
and road death and injury is now
widely accepted and corroborated
by research) but speed remains a
poorly understood public health
risk, despite strong warnings.
Now, 100 years on from the
first days of motoring, can we still
attribute the generally parlous state
of road safety in many countries to
such “motordom” interests wedded
to high vehicle speeds and increasing
motorisation in business interests?
To some extent, we can.
The politics of roads
Present day engineering practices
can be traced back to road
engineering norms established in
the early part of the last century.
The attribution of responsibility
to the “reckless” pedestrian rather
than to the motorist who is driving
the vehicle that’s capable of causing
harm can also be traced back
to these earliest days of motoring.
Historical and sociological
research work on planning and
engineering thus queries the idea
of roads and traffic as objective,
de-politicised realms of practice.
Yet, the work of road safety continues,
for the most part, to be
divorced from thinking about the
broader political interests that are
at play in the business of roads and
traffic.
Political analyses of road safety
are in their infancy. Much work
is still required to understand the
politics of roads and road-making.
But deeper interrogations of
the forces holding the status quo
in place are also needed.
Development scholar and author
Wolfgang Sachs, as an example,
writes eloquently of the car as an
object of desire; the love for speed is
central to its popularity. The car, he
argues, promises humans a means
to overcome their existential angst
at the slowness of life.
Peter Sloterdijk, a philosopher
and cultural theorist, points to our
collective “sacrifice” of 3600 children
killed in road crashes each
year in the name of modernity. He
suggests that people’s yearning for
relief from the discomforts of being
human goes some way to explaining
the thirst for automobility.
To accelerate change we need
more broad conceptions like these.
They offer tantalising possibilities
for improved thinking – and acting
– for road safety. – The Conversation
*Lisa Kane is Honorary
Research Associate, University of
Cape Town

12 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ FEATURE
Africa set for a massive free trade area
› President Kagame
addresses the AfCFTA
Business Forum
■ Kingsley Ighobor
Following the unveiling of
the African Continental
Free Trade Agreement in
Kigali, Rwanda, in March 2018,
Africa is about to become the
world’s largest free trade area: 55
countries merging into a single
market of 1.2 billion people with a
combined GDP of US$2.5 trillion.
In this edition, we examine the benefits
and challenges of a free trade
area for countries and individual
traders.
The shelves of Choithrams Supermarket
in Freetown, Sierra Leone,
boast a plethora of imported products,
including toothpicks from
China, toilet paper and milk from
Holland, sugar from France, chocolates
from Switzerland and matchboxes
from Sweden.
Yet many of these products are
produced much closer—in Ghana,
Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa,
and other African countries with
an industrial base.
So why do retailers source
them halfway around the world?
The answer: a patchwork of trade
regulations and tariffs that make
intra-African commerce costly,
time wasting and cumbersome.
The African Continental Free
Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), signed
by 44 African countries in Kigali,
Rwanda, in March 2018, is meant
to create a tariff-free continent that
can grow local businesses, boost
intra-African trade, rev up industrialization
and create jobs.
The agreement creates a single
continental market for goods
and services as well as a customs
union with free movement of capital
and business travellers. Countries
joining AfCFTA must commit
to removing tariffs on at least 90%
of the goods they produce.
If all 55 African countries join a
free trade area, it will be the world’s
largest by a number of countries,
covering more than 1.2 billion people
and a combined GDP of US$2.5
trillion, according to the UN Economic
Commission for Africa
(ECA).
The ECA adds that intra-African
trade is likely to increase by 52.3%
by 2020 under the AfCFTA.
Five more countries signed the
AfCFTA at the African Union
(AU) summit in Mauritania in
June, bringing the total number of
countries committing to the agreement
to 49 by July’s end. But a free
trade area has to wait until at least
22 countries submit instruments of
ratification.
By July 2018, only six countries—Chad,
Eswatini (formerly
Swaziland), Ghana, Kenya, Niger
and Rwanda—had submitted ratification
instruments, although many
more countries are expected to do
so before the end of the year.
Economists believe that tariff-free
access to a huge and unified market
will encourage manufacturers
and service providers to leverage
economies of scale; an increase in
demand will instigate an increase
in production, which in turn will
lower unit costs. Consumers will
pay less for products and services as
businesses expand operations and
hire additional employees.
“We look to gain more industrial
and value-added jobs in Africa
because of intra-African trade,” said
Mukhisa Kituyi, secretary-general
of the UN Conference on Trade and
Development, a body that deals with
trade, investment and development,
in an interview with Africa Renewal
(see page 6).
“The types of exports that would
gain most are those that are labour
intensive, like manufacturing and
agro-processing, rather than the
capital-intensive fuels and minerals,
which Africa tends to export,”
concurred Vera Songwe, executive
secretary of the ECA, in an interview
with Africa Renewal, emphasizing
that the youth will benefit
most from such job creation.
In addition, African women,
who account for 70% of informal
cross-border trading, will benefit
from simplified trading regimes and
reduced import duties, which will
provide much-needed help to smallscale
traders.
If the agreement is successfully
implemented, a free trade area could
inch Africa toward its age-long economic
integration ambition, possibly
leading to the establishment
of pan-African institutions such as
the African Economic Community,
African Monetary Union, African
Customs Union and so on.
A piece of good news
We look to gain more
industrial and valueadded
jobs in Africa
because of intra-
African trade"
Many traders and service providers
are cautiously optimistic about
AfCFTA’s potential benefits. “I am
dreaming of the day I can travel
across borders, from Accra to Lomé
[in Togo] or Abidjan [in Côte d’Ivoire]
and buy locally manufactured
goods and bring them into Accra
without all the hassles at the borders,”
Iso Paelay, who manages The
Place Entertainment Complex in
Community 18 in Accra, Ghana,
told Africa Renewal.
“Right now, I find it easier to
import the materials we use in
our business—toiletries, cooking
utensils, food items—from China
or somewhere in Europe than from
South Africa, Nigeria or Morocco,”
Paelay added.
African leaders and other development
experts received a piece of
good news at the AU summit in
Mauritania in June when South
Africa, Africa’s most industrial-
“
ised economy, along with four other
countries, became the latest to sign
the AfCFTA.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous
country and another huge economy,
has been one of the holdouts, with
the government saying it needs to
have further consultations with
indigenous manufacturers and
trade unions. Nigerian unions have
warned that free trade may open a
floodgate for cheap imported goods
that could atrophy Nigeria’s nascent
industrial base.
The Nigeria Labour Congress, an
umbrella workers’ union, described
AfCFTA as a “radioactive neoliberal
policy initiative” that could lead
to “unbridled foreign interference
never before witnessed in the history
of the country.”
However, former Nigerian president
Olusegun Obasanjo expressed
the view that the agreement is
“where our [economic] salvation
lies.” At a July symposium in Lagos
organised in honour of the late
Adebayo Adedeji, a onetime executive
secretary of the ECA, Yakubu
Gowon, another former Nigerian
leader, also weighed in, saying, “I
hope Nigeria joins.”
Speaking at the same event,
Songwe urged Nigeria to get on
board after consultations and
offered her organisation’s support.
Last April, Nigerian president
Muhammadu Buhari signalled a
protectionist stance on trade matters
while defending his country’s
refusal to sign the Economic Community
of West African States-EU
Economic Partnership Agreement.
He said then, “Our industries cannot
compete with the more efficient
and highly technologically driven
industries in Europe.”
In some countries, including
Nigeria and South Africa, the government
would like to have control
over industrial policy, reports the
Economist, a UK-based publication,
adding, “They also worry about losing
tariff revenues, because they
find other taxes hard to collect.”
While experts believe that Africa’s
big and industrialising economies
will reap the most from a free
trade area, the ECA counters that
smaller countries also have a lot
to gain because factories in the big
countries will source inputs from
smaller countries to add value to
products.
The AfCFTA has also been
designed to address many countries’
multiple and overlapping
memberships in Regional Economic
Communities (RECs), which complicate
integration efforts. Kenya,
for example, belongs to five RECs.
The RECs will now help achieve the
continental goal of a free trade area.
Many traders complain about
RECs’ inability to execute infrastructure
projects that would support
trading across borders. Ibrahim
Mayaki, head of the New
Partnership for Africa’s Development
(NEPAD), the project-implementing
wing of the AU, says that
many RECs do not have the capacity
to implement big projects.
For Mayaki, infrastructure development
is crucial to intra-African
trade. NEPAD’s Programme for
Infrastructure Development in
Africa (PIDA) is an ambitious list
of regional projects. Its 20 priority
projects have been completed or
are under construction, including
the Algiers-Lagos trans-Saharan
highway, the Lagos-Abidjan transport
corridor, the Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya
power transmission
line and the Brazzaville-Kinshasa
bridge. The AfCFTA could change
Africa’s economic fortunes, but concerns
remain that implementation
could be the agreement’s weakest
link. Meanwhile, African leaders
and development experts see a free
trade area as an inevitable reality.
“We need to summon the required
political will for the African Continental
Free Trade Area to finally
become a reality,” said AU Commission
chairperson Moussa Faki
Mahamat, at the launch in Kigali.
– Africa Renewal

The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
13
■ FEATURE
Should Israel be
given an observer
member status in
the African Union?
Ghana is the latest African
country to support
Israel's push to rejoin
the African Union as an observer
member. Palestine is currently
an observer member, and Israel's
questionable history with the continent,
including installing Idi Amin
as president, and other historical
legacies could be major obstacles.
On 20 March 2018, Israel’s Prime
Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu was
quoted by Times of Israel saying,
“we would be faced with… severe
attacks by Sinai terrorists, and
something much worse, a flood
of illegal migrants from Africa.”
Netanyahu’s comments came after
Israel decided to deport 40,000
African migrants from the country.
In 2014, Israel raised a 242-kilometre
electronic fence to keep away
illegal migration. In April, Netanyahu
cancelled a deal between Israel
and the United Nations to resettle
16,250 African migrants in various
European countries. The deal stated
that for every asylum seeker the UN
took to a European country, Israel
would keep one migrant.
Israel’s involvement in Africa has
been nothing but disastrous. During
the Apartheid regime in South
Africa, the country was accused
of denouncing Apartheid, but it
privately cultivated relations with
Apartheid South Africa in secret.
There are numerous allegations of
Israeli cooperation with the South
African apartheid regime which
have been documented. According
to The Guardian, “Israel was
South Africa’s principal and most
dependable arms dealer.
It even offered to sell the South
African regime nuclear weapons.”
Sasha Polakow-Suransky,
author of The Unspoken Alliance:
Israel’s Secret Relationship
With Apartheid South
Africa said, “Israel’s arms
supplies helped to prolong
the apartheid regime’s rule
and to survive international
sanctions.”
In his address to the
leaders of the member
states of the Economic
West African States
(ECOWAS) on June
4, last year, Netanyahu
said, “I come
here as an expression
of a simple
truth: Israel is coming
back to Africa,
and Africa is coming
back to Israel.”
While Israel is coming to Africa,
the larger question is what is Israel’s
attitude towards Africans within
its country?
Unfortunately, African leaders
are likely not to ask questions that
would push for the interest of their
people. The treatment and discrimination
of Africans in Israel contradicts
Netanyahu’s statement: “Africa
and Israel share a natural affinity...
Our people too suffered the indignity
of bondage and slavery. . .”
Israel push for African Union
observer status
Israel is currently seeking to be
an African Union observer, getting
support from Ghana and Kenya
among other countries. In a UN
General Assembly vote on December
22, 2017, on the status of Jerusalem,
Kenya supported Israel while
countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia,
Tanzania, and South Africa supported
the Palestinians.
As an AU observer, Israel will
have the privilege of addressing
the AU, thus pushing its agenda,
expand its diplomatic involvement
in Africa. The support from Ghana
has come as a shock to many Africans,
including prominent South
African writer Zukiswa Wanner.
On her Facebook page, Zukiswa
wrote: “Can we just shut down as a
continent for a while please?
Let’s discuss as an
African family
the idea of
Ghana
supporting Israel’s AU bid. . . as
though the fact that our stupid governments
couldn’t even fund the
building of their own headquarters
in Addis isn’t problematic enough.”
While Israel’s history on the ontinent
is muddied, including installing
Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in
power, Israel has always sought
ways to neutralise Arab influence
on the continent. Israel was an
observer member until 2002 when
the Organization of African Unity
(OAU) was dissolved. With pressure
from Libya’s former president
Muammar Gaddafi, Israel lost its
status as an observer member.
Palestine was given observer
member status in 2013, which complicates
Israel push to also become
a member.
In 2016, Ethiopia expressed its
support for Israel to re-join the AU
as an observer.
In 2017, Netanyahu visited Africa
in a number of occasions pushing
for support for Israel to become an
observer member. With Ghana’s
support for Israel, Zukiswa rightly
asked, “seriously who bewitched
African leaders?” – This Is Africa
› Israel’s Prime Minister,
Benjamin Netanyahu

14 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
There’s never been a better
time to invest in malaria
RBM Partnership Statement on the World malaria report
2018 and “High burden to high impact” response
Maputo, 19 November 2018 – The RBM Partnership to End Malaria
today calls on countries to step up their efforts and investment to end
one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases.
Catalyzed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the RBM
Partnership, and supported by global partners, the “High burden to high
impact: A targeted malaria response”, launched today alongside WHO’s
World malaria report 2018, outlines new actions to reignite progress in
the malaria fight.
The latest WHO report confirms that after a decade of unprecedented
progress against malaria, the declining trend in cases has levelled off.
In 2017, the 10 highest burden countries in Africa reported a combined
increase of over 3.5 million cases. At the same time, countries are
quickening the pace toward elimination, with more than half of all malariaaffected
countries reporting less than 10,000 cases. In addition, several
countries recorded strong declines in cases this year, with India leading
the way, along with Rwanda, Ethiopia and Pakistan.
Led by the countries hardest hit by malaria, which account for over 70%
of the global disease, the “High Burden Response” is based on the four
key elements:
Strengthening country leadership and stepping up
domestic financing;
Relying on the best and shared data that move efforts from a
‘one-size-fits-all’ approach;
Empowering countries with better guidance, policies and
strategies; and,
Improving effectiveness of partner support via a coordinated
country response
The 500-plus members of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria stand with
the WHO and high-burden countries in supporting this response plan to
turn the tide back towards our global goal to end malaria.
Dr Winnie Mpanju-Shumbusho, Board Chair of the RBM Partnership
to End Malaria says:
“It is unacceptable that people in half the world’s countries are nearing
a life free of malaria while the other half still fear death by mosquito bite.
The World malaria report calls for a decisive response; one that is owned
and led by the countries most affected by the disease and support by
global partners. Success in high burden countries will translate to success
globally. The actions we take now are essential to increasing funding,
identifying greater efficiencies and tailoring the optimal mix of tools to
get malaria efforts back on track.”
Dr Kesete Admasu, CEO of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria says:
“The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has played a
crucial role in securing the unprecedented progress in the global malaria
efforts since its establishment in 2002. Next year’s replenishment of
the Global Fund is a critical opportunity for renewing global investment
in the malaria fight. Fortunately, there has never been a better time to
invest in malaria: thanks to improvements in how we deliver life-saving
commodities and reduction in costs for medicines and diagnostics mean
every dollar invested in malaria goes further than ever before.”
Mr Simon Bland, Vice Board Chair, RBM Partnership to End Malaria
and Director, New York Liaison Office, UNAIDS says:
“This year’s World malaria report shows that progress is uneven and
the only way we can make progress is through working together to get
back on track to driving down malaria cases and deaths. In countries
where the malaria burden is highest, the disease continues to present an
obstacle to growth and development. Malaria efforts are part and parcel
of our collective ambition to reach the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Dr Maha Taysir Barakat, Director General of the Health Authority
Abu Dhabi and Board Member, RBM Partnership to End Malaria
(Abu Dhabi, UAE) says:
“The UAE became malaria-free just over a decade ago and now we want
to help other regions do the same thing. The region has provided substantial
funding over recent years and I would urge other donor countries to do
the same and help us reach the goal of malaria elimination even more
quickly. I’m pleased that the World Malaria Report has shown that, thanks
to global partnership efforts, in many areas great progress is being made,
with 46 countries reporting fewer than 10,000 cases, up from 44 in 2016.”
Mr Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General, IFRC and Board Member, RBM
Partnership to End Malaria (Senegal) says:
“It is clear that the prevalence of malaria is closely related to many other
challenges and crises faced by some countries, such as conflict and
other health issues. It is these countries that need the most support in
eliminating malaria, which is why I welcome the new country-led strategy
outlined in the response plan, which will see the highest burdened countries
strengthen leadership, provide cross-border support by sharing data and
better implementing the tools at their disposal to saves the lives of more
citizens from this deadly disease.
Dr Richard Nchabi Kamwi, Elimination 8 Ambassador, Former Minister
of Health for Namibia and Board Member, RBM Partnership to End
Malaria (Namibia) says:
“I am concerned by the increasing cases of malaria across the Southern
Africa region reported in this year’s data. In South Africa particularly,
cases have risen by over 400%, wiping out much of the progress made
over the last few years. These trends cannot continue, and I welcome the
new response plan which has been developed to combat malaria in high
burden countries. I am therefore pleased to see the launch of this year’s
World Malaria Report and the response plan taking place in Mozambique,
one of the 11 highest burdened countries, which has committed to reducing
the burden of malaria and taking action to get the fight back on track.”
Dr Mirta Roses Periago, Director Emeritus of the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) and Board Member, RBM Partnership to End
Malaria (Argentina) says:
“The latest World malaria report shows that globally more countries are
moving towards zero malaria cases – in 2017 46 countries reported fewer
than 10,000 such cases, up from 27 in 2010. We are hugely proud that
Paraguay was certified malaria-free this summer. Furthermore, Argentina
has made a formal request to WHO for certification and, for the first time,
El Salvador has registered zero indigenous malaria cases in 2017. Whilst
progress has slowed in some areas we must still celebrate the gains
that have been made and I’m delighted that we are on track globally in
eliminating malaria in at least 10 countries that were endemic in 2015.”
Dr David Reddy, Chief Executive Officer at Medicines for Malaria
Venture and Board Member, RBM Partnership to End Malaria says:
“The latest World malaria report highlights what can be achieved, as
an increasing number of countries head towards elimination, while
underscoring the challenges that remain in countries where malaria has its
strongest foothold. With our partners, we have brought forward nine new
medicines estimated to have saved 1.5 million lives to date. One of our
roles is to continue the effort to further increase access to those treatments.
In parallel, we are developing more effective and simpler medicines, to
deepen impact, particularly in high-burden areas where the fight against
malaria is most complex and challenging.”
Dr Altaf Lal, Senior Advisor on Global Health and Innovation, Sun
Pharmaceuticals and Board Member, RBM Partnership to End Malaria
says:
“Although India is still one of the highest burdened countries with 4% of
global malaria cases in 2017, I’m delighted to see it is making significant
progress in bringing down its malaria burden. As reflected in this year’s
World malaria report, the country reduced malaria cases by 24% since
2016, largely due to substantial declines of the disease in the state of
Odisha, home to nearly half of all malaria cases in the country. In addition
to political commitment and the right mix of tools, a key
ingredient of Odisha’s success lies in its network of
Accredited Social Health Activists, or ASHAs, who
serve as frontline workers to deliver essential
malaria services across the state.”

Business
The Southern Times
■
Economy
■ Finance
■ Commodities
■ Agribusiness
■ Tourism
15
Southern
Africa
external
debt rises
■ Magreth Nunuhe
Strong capital markets
fundamental in domestic
resources mobilisation
■ Timo Shihepo
Windhoek ‐ The
African Union
(AU) has urged
African countries
to strengthen their capital markets
as a catalyst for mobilising domestic
resources in Africa.
The AU made this call ahead of
the capacity-building workshop
on the role of Capital Markets in
Mobilising Domestic Resources in
Africa to be held in Botswana from
5 to 7 December.
The capital market is the part of
a financial system concerned with
raising funds by dealing in shares,
bonds, and other long-term investments.
According to the AU, the total
capitalisation of African securities
markets is currently estimated
at around US$2 trillion, up from
US$113 billion in the 1990s.
However, 65% of the total market
capitalisation and 25% of the
total listings are in South Africa.
The AU’s report shows that African
equity markets have seen some
improvements in the volume of initial
public offerings (IPOs) during
the year 2017, driven mostly by
South Africa, Egypt and Tunisia.
However, Africa’s stock markets
are still illiquid, turnover ratios are
very thin, at less than 1% in many
markets.
Africa’s share of the global equity
turnover is less than 0.05%.
AU’s Kokobe George said low
Most markets are
capitalised below
US$50 billion, some
with fewer than 10
listings
”
liquidity implies more difficulty in
supporting a local market’s own
trading systems, market analysis,
and brokers as the volume is too
low. She said most markets are capitalised
below US$50 billion, some
with fewer than 10 listings.
“Overall, the prospects for
growth in the African equity markets,
including cross-border IPOs
of African companies, are good,
with South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria
expected to lead the growth,”
she said.
Further information shows that
the bond markets have steadily
increased over the years but nonetheless
remain undeveloped. The
bond market was about 140% of
global Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) as of 2013. In most African
countries, however, the size of the
bond market is less than 10% of the
countries’ GDP.
Factors such as economic size,
the openness of the countries’ cap‐
CAPITAL MARKETS: turn to P.16
Windhoek –
Southern
Africa is the
most heavily
indebted region in Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA), owing to a
combined external debt stock
of over US$304 billion as per
the World Bank’s International
Debt Statistics 2019.
The World Bank’s statistics
cover external debt and
financial flows of 121 low-and
middle-income countries for
2017 with information drawn
from the World Bank’s Debtor
Reporting System (DRS).
Out of SADC’s 16 member
states, South Africa, Angola,
Mauritius, Tanzania and Zambia
are the five most indebted
countries with external debt
stock ranging from US$16.3
billion (Zambia) to South Africa’s
highest of US$176.3 billion,
which is also the highest in
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Namibia and Seychelles,
which are upper-middle to
high-income countries were
not part of the assessment that
only covered countries in the
low to middle income.
The rest of SSA countries
accumulated combined external
debt of US$231 billion, with
Nigeria having accrued the
most debt at US$40.2 billion,
followed by Ethiopia (US$26.5
billion), Kenya (US$26.4 billion),
Ghana (US$22 billion)
and Papa New Guinea (US$17.3
billion).
Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest
economies, Nigeria and South
Africa drove the sharp rise in
external debt stock, with their
external debt stock rising to 29
and 21%, respectively.
South Africa also recorded
the highest Bond issuance of
US$19 billion out of US$27
billion offered to Sub-Saharan
Africa by sovereign governments
and public-sector
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16 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ BUSINESS
CAPITAL MARKETS
> From Page 15
ital account, size and concentration
of the banking sector,
bureaucratic practices, interest
rates spread, exchange rates volatility,
fiscal balance challenges,
corruption, quality of accounting
standards, and size of domestic
credit all impact the development
of local bond markets.
The report also shows that
non-local currency corporate
debt activity continues to
increase, indicating the increasing
appetite for debt financing by
African governments.
Most of the non-local currency
debt transactions are denominated
in US dollars, with, sovereign,
supranational and non-US
agencies accounting for over
75% of the total value of debt
between 2013 and 2017. This debt
was mainly raised by the financial
sector, mostly Nigerian and
South African banks.
The report also highlighted
the challenges faced by capital
markets in Africa. Some of
these include trading, clearing,
and settlement systems are slow,
and some exchanges still operate
using manual systems.
In addition, private firms seem
to lack confidence in the stock
markets, electing not to use them
as a means of raising capital.
The concern is that the risks
associated with the required
disclosure for IPOs are not adequately
compensated by additional
returns. Another challenge
is that the costs that are
required for companies to trade
on the capital markets are high
and cumbersome which discourages
most companies from
going public. “African countries
should work to overcome these
challenges, partly by boosting
the investor base by attracting
foreign institutional and private
investors. Increasing the investor
base will work to improve
competition and liquidity in the
local market, which is necessary
for the growth and development
of African capital markets,” said
George.
Meanwhile, the Capacity
Building Workshop on the role
of Capital Markets in Mobilising
Domestic Resources in
Africa slated for Botswana next
month aims to bring together
capital market practitioners
with a view to building consensus
on the role of capital markets
in mobilising resources for
Africa’s development, in particular
funding Agenda 2063
and the Sustainable Development
Goals.
According to George, best
practices will be shared from
across the continent on what
measures have been taken to
build the capacity of capital
markets to fund infrastructure
projects in particular and
to finance long-term projects
in general. “The workshop
will provide a opportunity to
frame concrete policy options
and actions for capital markets
to be further developed and
integrated in order to facilitate
integration and harmonisation
of economic and financial policies,”
she said
DEBT RISES
> From Page 15
entities in 2017, while US$8 billion in Bond
issuance was shared by the rest of the countries
with Nigeria taking up US$4.8 billion,
Cote d’Ivoire (US$2 billion), Senegal (US$1.1
billion) and Gabon (US$0.2 billion).
Total external debt shown in the International
Debt Statistics is the sum of long-term
external debt, short-term debt and IMF credit
and represents the total debt owed to non-resident
creditors, repayable in both foreign and
domestic currency.
Long-term debt has an original maturity
of more than one year, while short-term debt
is defined as external debt with an original
maturity of one year or less.
International Debt Statistics 2019 presents
comprehensive stock and flow data include
public and publicly guaranteed debt owed by,
or guaranteed by, the government; private
non-guaranteed debt owed by private sector
borrowers; official bilateral and multilateral
creditors; private creditors, including banks,
bondholders, suppliers’ credits, and other private
entities.
According to the report, countries in Sub-Saharan
Africa accumulated external debt at a
faster pace than low-and-middle-income countries
in other regions in 2017 with a combined
external debt stock totalling US$535 billion.
While there has been growing concern over
debt sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa that
did not slow debt accumulation in many of the
poorer countries in the region, as external debt
stocks between 2010 and 2017 rose by more
than 200% in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Rwanda,
Uganda and Zambia and by more than 140%
in Ghana, Kenya and Liberia.
Some notable changes in rising external debt
The revival of Angola’s
economy with a
new political mandate
and investment
priorities will be the
focus of the 2019 Oil and Gas
Conference and Exhibition to
be held in Luanda from 3-7
June 2019.
The conference will support
the government’s goal to bring
greater investments to Angolan
oil fields and highlight the
recent reforms made by President
João Lourenço that will
significantly boost Angola's
competitiveness.
The conference and exhibition
will provide the government
with a platform to
reveal new opportunities for
the Angolan oil industry.
New opportunities include
the licensing of new petroleum
blocks, new legislation
for gas exploration and investment,
exploration of marginal
oil fields, onshore exploration
and investments in all areas of
the petroleum supply chain.
Minister of mineral resources
and petroleum of the country,
Diamantino Pedro Azevedo,
said, "We intend with this conference
to maximise the value
created for the Angolan economy
by bringing investors who
can increase the competitiveness
in the oil market and use
in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years has been
a marked increase in financing from non-traditional
bilateral creditors and from private
creditors, including bond issuance and syndicated
commercial bank loans.
China has accounted for over 60% of the
region’s long-term debt owed to bilateral creditors
in 2017 has accumulated through the
financing of large-scale infrastructure projects
in many countries in the region, the World
Bank reported.
the Angolan oil industry as the
main catalyst for boosting the
economy in general.”
“The sector has seen several
In the meantime, the total share of official
bilateral and multilateral creditors declined to
34% at end 2017, from 44% in 2010.
The principal sources of information for the
International Debt Statistics 2017 are reports
to the World Bank through the World Bank’s
Debtor Reporting System from member countries
that have received either International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development
loans or International Development Association
credits.
Angola Oil and Gas 2019 expo to
promote new petroleum investment
› Angola Oil & Gas 2019 Conference & Exhibition promotes new
petroleum investment, signals resurgence of Angolan economy
changes, including a sustained
drop in oil prices. Thanks to
the reforms, Angola is stronger
and better positioned in the
current investment climate. We
look forward to using Angola
Oil and Gas 2019 as a platform
to capitalise on new business
and spark new interest in the
industry as projects move forward,”
the minister added.
The event will bring together
important government officials
and C-level executives
covering the energy industry
for an extensive agenda with
keynote presentations, moderated
panel discussions, an
exhibition and networking
gatherings.
Africa Oil and Power CEO
Guillaume Doane, noted, “This
is the time for global oil and
gas investors, and Africa-focused
companies, to take a
fresh look at Angola.”
“The petroleum industry is
set to benefit from the impetus
provided by a new political
administration and favourable
oil prices, as well as the
increasing influence of local
companies,” he further added.
The conference is officially
endorsed by the Angolan Ministry
of Mineral Resources and
Petroleum and organised by
Africa Oil and Power. – Oil
Review Africa

The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
17
■ BUSINESS
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18 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ BUSINESS
New Bill proposes to overhaul
of public enterprise boards
› Namibia's Public Enterprise
Minister, Leon Jooste
Windhoek – A new
system to select
and appoint
board members
of Namibian public enterprises
(PEs) will soon be introduced
to make sure such institutions
attract the right people.
The new provisions will, among
others, require PEs seeking new
board members to advertise such
positions in the media and invite
members of the public to apply.
These are part of review mechanisms
the line ministry will
implement to boost the performance
of PEs.
Similar strategies are also contained
in the Public Enterprises
Governance Bill currently under
review in Parliament, which,
among others, proposes that if
a board fails to achieve the corporate
governance targets, such
board may be dismissed.
The Bill makes provision for an
elevated level of accountability
and there is legal provision for
board members to be held personally
liable for any form of reckless
trading or maladministration.
Public Enterprise Minister,
Leon Jooste made these revelations
during an address in the
National Assembly on the new
Bill. He said due process will
be followed after the advertisements,
where after a nomination
committee will shortlist candidates
and an interview panel that
includes expert members of the
private sector will conduct the
interviews.
The new system will be operational
in 2019, while both Air
Namibia and TransNamib have
already followed these guidelines
in filling vacancies in their
respective boards of directors.
Jooste said his ministry has also
established an in-house database
of potential board members, and
this database will soon be transformed
into an electronic e-recruitment
system to further
enhance effectiveness.
“The size, composition and
skills required for each board will
always be approached on a caseby-case
manner as each PE and
the situation it finds itself in will
always be different at any given
time,” he said.
The minister said board members
will be strictly required to
declare their interests, and in
cases where a potential conflict
of interest cannot be managed,
the person will be instructed to
vacate the seat.
The Bill further seeks to incentivise
the remuneration of board
members and managers of public
enterprises and to make them
performance-based, while an
active performance management
process will be introduced
to evaluate board and executive
performance.
All public enterprises will be
compelled to implement performance
management systems and
the ministry will monitor performance
through its own performance
management system.
Jooste said new performance
agreements will be aligned to
the measurable key performance
indicators of the approved integrated
strategic business plans
and will also include corporate
governance targets.
“We foresee a significant
improvement in compliance as
a result of this provision and I
look forward to the day where
long overdue audited financial
statements and annual reports
become a thing of the past,” he
said. - Nampa
Total inaugurates Kaombo
project offshore Angola
Total, a France-based oil operator,
has officially inaugurated the
Kaombo project in Angola. The
Kaombo project, which started
operation in July, is located deep offshore
on Block 32, 260 km off the coast of Luanda.
The first floating production, storage and
offloading (FPSO) vessel, Kaombo Norte,
went into operation in July 2018, with a production
capacity of 115,000 bopd.
The second FPSO of similar capacity,
Kaombo Sul, is expected to start next year
bringing the total production to 230,000
bopd. The associated gas from the project will
be transported to the LNG plant in Angola.
A total of 59 wells will be connected to the
two FPSOs. The two vessels, which are converted
very large crude carriers, will develop
the resources of six different fields (Gengibre,
Gindungo, Caril, Canela, Mostarda and
Louro) over an area of 800 square kilometre
in the central and southern part of the block.
Total operates Block 32 with a 30% stake,
along with Sonangol P&P (30%), Sonangol
Sinopec International 32 Limited (20%), Esso
Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas)
Limited (15%) and Galp Energia Overseas
Block 32 BV (5%).
“As Angola’s principal oil partner, Total is
proud to inaugurate such a major deep offshore
project as Kaombo, which started up
production in July and marked a new milestone
of our history in the country,” stated
Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of
Total.
At the opening of the Kaombo project,
Total also announced two new projects in
Angola, the CLOV Phase 2 project and the
Dalia Phase 3 project. In May, the company
launched the project off the coast of Angola
in Block 17.
“I would like to recognise the leadership
shown by the Angolan President, João
Lourenço, and the joint efforts of the authorities,
Sonangol and the industry to enhance
contractual framework, which is an essential
step towards developing new projects. The
sanction of these new projects demonstrates
Total’s ongoing commitment to Angola and
to the continued development of oil and gas
resources in the country,” Pouyanné concluded.
– Oil Review Africa

The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
Johannesburg - The achievements
of women entrepreneurs
and innovators across the
African continent have been celebrated.
Held under the aegis of the
Africa Women Innovation and
Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF),
finalists from Angola, Ethiopia,
Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco,
Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania,
Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe
were honoured.
The awards have grown exponentially
from entries of just under 300
last year (2017) when the AWIEF
Awards were launched, to 1,200
this year.
“AWIEF remains Africa’s number
one voice in driving the agenda
for women’s leadership in business,”
said Irene Ochem, Founder
and Chief Executive Officer of
AWIEF.
“The AWIEF brand has grown
tremendously over these few
years through the sustained support
of our trusted partners, local
and international, underscoring
the great values of AWIEF programmes
and projects in accelerating
women entrepreneurship
as a catalyst of inclusive economic
growth.”
She said finalists were rigorously
assessed in terms of the sustainability
of their businesses, as well
as the documented or prospective
impact on community development
and the economy.
“Thereafter, our judges decided
on five finalists in each category
and one winner,” explained Ochem.
Nomso Faith Kana, winner of
the Young Entrepreneur Award,
said Africa was enabling the Fourth
Industrial Revolution.
“With its very young population,
this is how the continent would
thrive,” she said.
Her start-up, Sun n Shield 84
Technologies, is a fibre optic cable
manufacturing company.
Jane Maigua, Managing Director
of Exotic EPZ Ltd in Kenya, and
the winner of the Agri Entrepreneur
Award, said her award was
a symbol of “bravery and unity of
purpose” in working in a challenging
field.
Created last year, the company
has already created 152 jobs, 90%
of whom are young women.
All the winners
YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
Winner: Nomso Faith Kana: Sun
n Shield 84 Tech, South Africa
Runners-up: Jane Kagiri: CreativeEdge
Solutions, Kenya; Juliet
Namujju: Kimuli Fashionability,
Uganda
TECH ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
Winner: Beth Koigi - Majik
Water, Kenya
Runners-up: Juliana Rotich -
Brck.Org, Kenya; Benji Coetzee -
Empty Trips, South Africa
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
Winner: Lorna Rutto - EcoPost,
Kenya
Runners-up: Essma Ben Hamida
- Enda Inter-Arabe, Tunisia; Amina
Slaoui – Groupe AMH, Morocco
19
■ BUSINESS
Africa women entrepreneurs honoured for innovation
GLOBAL BRAND AWARD
Winner: Bethlehem Tilahun-Alemu
– SoleRebels, Ethiopia
Runners-up: Sarah Collins –
Wonderbag, South Africa; Renchia
Droganis – Africology, South
Africa
AGRI ENTREPRENEUR AWARD
Winner: Jane Maigua – Exotic
EPZ Ltd, Kenya
Runners-up: Jeanne Groenewald
– Elgin Free Range Chickens,
South Africa; Elorm Goh – Agrisolve,
Ghana
EMPOWERMENT AWARD
Winner: Kate Ekanem – Kate
Tales Foundation, Nigeria
Runners-up: Emma Dicks –
CodeSpace, South Africa; Chiedza
Daneek Nobuhle Kambasha –
Hemmingworth Cartwright, Zimbabwe
CREATIVE INDUSTRY AWARD
Winner: Nana Akua
Oppong-Birmeh – Archxenus,
Ghana
Runners-up: Soraya Piedade –
Soraya da Piedade Ltd, Angola;
Winnifred Selby – Ghana Bamboo
Bikes Initiative, Ghana
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Winner: Wendy Luhabe –
Women Private Equity Fund,
South Africa
Runners-up: Margaret Hirsch
– Hirsch’s Homestores, South
Africa; Jennifer Riria – Echo Network
Africa/Kenya Women Holding,
Kenya
AWIEF Awards’ sponsors
included: The Technical Centre
for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
ACP-EU (CTA); Nedbank;
British American Tobacco; and the
Embassy of Switzerland in South
Africa. - CAJ News

20 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ BUSINESS
AfDB backs Zimbabwe’s
economic revival
Harare - The African
Development Bank
(AfDB) is upbeat
about Zimbabwe’s
economic turnaround.
This follows the launch of a
flagship economic report on the
country, titled: “Building a new
Zimbabwe: Targeted Policies
for Growth and Job Creation”,
which aims to support renewal
and transformation of Zimbabwe.
Ferdinand Bakoup, AfDB
Bank’s lead economist, said Zimbabwe
was generously endowment
with natural resources, a
stock of public infrastructure, as
well as a comparatively skilled
labor force.
“This (report) is an unprecedented
asset for the country to
join existing supply chains in
Africa via the African Continental
Free Trade Area,” Bakoup said.
However, he said measures
were needed to increase the productivity
of public investment,
strengthen investor confidence,
attract patient capital and develop
special economic zones towards
further improving the business
climate, while continuing to safeguard
macroeconomic stability.
“I have no doubt that the report
can contribute to the overall efficiency
of the development process
in Zimbabwe. It will be useful
in informing and supporting
the government’s dialogue with
donors and the business community
about further development of
economic sectors,” Bakoup added.
Government officials, representatives
of public and private sectors
as well as other development partners
based in the country attended
the launch in Harare.
Made of eleven chapters, the
report results from a one-year
extensive research work of country,
sector and thematic studies
to offer economic analyses and
policy recommendations to help
spark Zimbabwe’s transformation.
The government of President
Emmerson Mnangagwa
applauded the launch of the
report that is anticipated to
aid the implementation of the
Transitional Stabilization Programme
and the preparation of
the Medium Term Plan for 2021-
2025. – CAJ News
Gold worth US$37 billion
traded in London each day
■ Peter Hobson
London - Members of the
London Bullion Market
Association (LBMA)
traded at least 30.2 million
ounces of gold worth US$36.9
billion each day last week, the
LBMA said on Tuesday, presenting
new data that gives the most
accurate picture yet of the London
market.
London is a global gold trading
hub but most transactions are
made in over-the-counter trades
between banks, brokers and dealers
who have been reluctant to
reveal their activity.
With regulators pushing for
greater transparency, LBMA members
have begun reporting trades
that settle in London and Zurich,
another trading centre closely connected
to London.
"For the first time in the long
history of the London gold market
its size is not guesswork but a
reliable measurement," Macquarie
analyst Matthew Turner said in
a note accompanying the LBMA
figures.
According to the LBMA, its
members last week traded 95 million
ounces of gold in spot contracts,
46.5 million ounces in swaps
and forward contracts, 4.1 million
ounces in options and 5.4 million
ounces in leases, loans and deposits.
That gives a daily average total
of 30.2 million ounces – or 939
tonnes, the equivalent of 74 London
double-decker busses.
In silver, LBMA members traded
1.1 billion ounces in spot, 651.2 million
ounces in swaps and forwards,
36.7 million ounces in options and
43.7 million ounces in leases, loans
and deposits, giving a daily average
total of 359.3 million ounces worth
around US$5.2 billion.
The volumes are slightly higher
than the previous best estimate
for the size of the London market,
clearing statistics which suggested
gold worth around US$25 billion
changed hands in the city each day.
They are also lower than futures
volumes on US exchange CME
Group, which last week were
around 34 million ounces a day
for gold and 552 million ounces a
day for silver, according to Turner.
But the LBMA data is not a complete
view of London trading.
LBMA members account for
most but not all activity in London,
and some members have yet
to begin reporting their volumes.
The LBMA said it would publish
the data once a week for around
three months before moving to
daily reporting. It also said it
planned to begin publishing data
for platinum and palladium.
The initiative is part of a wider
move by the LBMA to make the
gold market more transparent
after pressure from regulators
and accusations - some of which
resulted in settlement payouts -
that a number of banks and traders
had manipulated prices.
Last year the LBMA began publishing
monthly data showing how
much gold and silver is stored in
London's precious metals vaults -
7,684 tonnes of gold worth US$309
billion and 34,901 tonnes of silver
worth US$18 billion, as of the end
of June. - Nampa/Reuters
University experts
from Jiangzhou
provide
agriculture
training in Angola
Forty technicians from
the Angolan Agrarian
Development Institute
on Monday started a
training course given by experts
from the Agricultural and Livestock
Faculty of Jiangzhou, in
the People’s Republic of China,
Angolan news agency Angop
reported.
The training course, which also
includes agricultural producers
from Huambo province, will
last 12 days, and is an initiative
of Jiangzhou Agricultural Science
& Technology Development Co.
At the reception ceremony,
the chairman of the company’s
board of directors, Zhu Jinlin,
said that this initiative, the first
of its kind in Angola, is part of
bilateral cooperation agreements
and will allow for the development
of the region.
Zhu also said that the company
he runs is developing an
agri-livestock project valued at
US$15 million in the Sambo commune
of Chicala-Cholohanga
county, in Huambo province.
This project, which is currently
in its initial phase, planted 800
hectares of corn, 200 of soybeans,
25 of rice and two of sisal, and
the livestock component will be
set aside for the next phase, for
which a date has yet to be set. -
Macauhub

The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
21
■ BUSINESS
Tower Resources
inks new petroleum
agreement in Namibia
› A section of the participants
at the launch
R1.2 bln ‘Jewel City’
redevelopment starts
in Johannesburg CBD
Johannesburg - The City of
Johannesburg has kicked off
the R1.2 billion redevelopment
of a 40,000 square metre area
in the central business district,
which will see the construction
of a new precinct boasting
a school, clinic, gym, parking
space, shops, fast food outlets
and restaurants.
Jewel City has been closed to
the public for decades and spans
six blocks that were previously
the heart of the diamond and
precious metals trade in Johannesburg.
In the first phase of redevelopment
by urban property
fund Divercity, the new modern
inner-city neighbourhood
will include 1,200 new residential
apartments, with another
1,000 added in the second phase.
The development is expected
to create an estimated 1,279 temporary
jobs and 1,384 permanent
jobs, contributing to the municipal
and national tax base.
On Monday, Divercity’s major
shareholders and stakeholders,
Atterbury Property, Ithemba
Property and Talis Property
Fund as well as its cornerstone
investors RMH Property and
Nedbank Property Partners,
attended a ceremony where
Johannesburg mayor Herman
Mashaba turned the first sod.
“This is a catalyst for igniting
the city of Johannesburg. We are
a city with a housing backlog of
300,000 and 160,000 of our people
are looking for accommodation,”
Mashaba said.
“One in three people in Johannesburg
is unemployed and if
Johannesburg isn’t working,
South Africa has no chance of
succeeding. This project is very
important, not just for Johannesburg
but also for South Africa,
it’s important for Africa.”
The first tranche of retail,
commercial and residential
space is expected to be ready by
next October next year, while
completion of the precinct is targetted
for 2020. - Nampa/ANA
› This is what the R2 billion Jewel City development on the seedier
side of Joburg’s CBD will look like
London-based oil and
gas company Tower
Resources has signed
a new petroleum
agreement with the Government
of Namibia covering an
80% operated interest in blocks
1910A, 1911 and 1912B, offshore
Namibia.
The agreement was signed
by Tower Resources’ subsidiary,
Tower Resources (Namibia)
Limited, together with the
National Petroleum Corporation
of Namibia (Namcor) (10%)
and ZM Fourteen Investment
CC (10%).
Tower said on Wednesday
that these three blocks – 1910A,
1911 and 1912B – cover 23,297
km2 in the Walvis Basin and
Dolphin Graben.
Tower has had a long-standing
application with the Namibian
Ministry of Mines and
Energy (MME) and has been
working to conclude the petroleum
agreement.
The terms of the agreement
have now been agreed with the
MME and signed by all parties.
Tower noted that issuance of the
license remains dependent on
the finalization of a Joint Operating
Agreement (JOA) among
Tower Resources (Namibia)
Limited (80%, Operator), its
carried interest partner Namcor
(10%) and its local partner
ZM Fourteen Investment CC
(10%), and completion of other
ancillary documentation.
Tower said that this is an
under-explored region in
which recent drilling results
have proven the presence of a
working oil-prone petroleum
system and good quality turbidite
and carbonate reservoirs.
This is also an area that Tower
knows well since blocks 1910A
and 1911 formed part of Tower’s
original license PEL0010, which
Tower and its partners, Repsol
and Arcadia Expro Namibia,
relinquished in 2015.
Four-year initial exploration
period
According to Tower,
the petroleum agreement is
structured to comprise an initial
exploration period of four
years, which may be extended
to five in appropriate circumstances,
followed by options for
Tower and its partners to enter a
first and second renewal period
of two years each.
The work program for the
initial exploration period
comprises regional play fairway
evaluation and acreage
high-grading activities including
CRS mapping, sequence
stratigraphy, sedimentology
and basin modelling, geochemical,
gravity and magnetics
analysis, 2D/3D seismic interpretation
and mapping, and
petrophysics and well failure
analysis, based on a data base
build comprising acquisition of
5,000km of existing 2D seismic
and relevant well data; analysis
and, if necessary, reprocessing
of existing 2D data; acquisition
of at least 1,000 km2 of 3D
seismic data; and acquisition of
oil seep satellite data and piston-coring
reports.
Minimum expenditure of
US$5 million
The minimum exploration
expenditure for the initial
exploration period is US$5 million,
which is to be supported
by a bank guarantee of US$0.5
million. If the company elects
to enter the subsequent exploration
periods, these would each
comprise a single exploration
well commitment and a minimum
financial commitment of
US$20 million.
Tower said that geological
evaluation has identified the
presence of Albian carbonate
and Upper Cretaceous and
Palaeocene turbidite reservoir
intervals, which has also been
proven in offset wells, including
Norsk Hydro’s 1911/15-1 well
which encountered oil shows
in the 1911 block in the 1990s.
These intervals may be found in
multiple structural traps across
the new license area.
These include giant (1,000
km2+) 4-way dip closured
structures in the west of the
license and 4-way and 3-way
fault dependent structural closures
within the Dolphin Graben,
which well results such as
Wingat-1 indicate is likely to
contain mature source rocks.
Potential stratigraphic traps
(associated with Cretaceous and
Palaeogene basin floor turbidite
systems) have also been identified
within the new licenses.
The giant structures in the
west of the license include two
(Alpha and Gamma) which
were similar in size and potential
to the Delta structure to the
south of block 1911, where Repsol,
Tower and Arcadia drilled
the unsuccessful Welwitschia
well in 2014.
Added potential
The company added that significant
potential has also been
identified within structural closures
(50 km² to 125 km²) identified
and mapped across the
Dolphin Graben, all of which
are located directly adjacent
to source kitchens. More than
eight 3-way fault dependent
and 4-way dip closed structural
traps have been identified
so far, all of which compromise
of multiple stacked
targets which include Palaeogene
and Cretaceous turbidites
(being explored for in the
southern part of the basin) as
well as Albian carbonates and
deeper syn-rift clastics.
In addition to the structural
plays, Tower anticipates that
stratigraphic plays exist within
Cretaceous and Palaeogene
intervals in the new license,
with potential for deep-water
turbidite reservoir interbedded
with mature source rocks (analogous
to plays being explored
for by Tullow and other in the
southern part of the basin).
These stratigraphic plays will be
worked up as part of the initial
exploration period work program.
Jeremy Asher, Tower Chairman
and CEO, commented:
“We are very excited about our
new petroleum agreement in
Namibia. As a company, we
know Namibia very well, and
the wells drilled in the Walvis
Basin during the past few years
have provided a much greater
level of understanding of the
regional geology. As a result,
Namibia and the Walvis Basin
and Dolphin Graben, in particular,
are now attracting great
attention from well-respected
explorers, both large and small,
and are also once more attracting
considerable farm-in interest
and investment.” – Offshore
Energy Today

22 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ TOURISM
African tourism has potential
to grow if well managed: WTTC
Johannesburg - The World
Travel and Tourism Council
(WTTC) on Monday said African
countries have the potential
to grow tourism if they improve
the visa regime and integrate technology
into the sector.
The sector is growing and has a
potential to be the major contributor
to the gross domestic product
(GDP) in the continent if well managed,
the WTTC Research Director
Rochelle Turner told Xinhua in an
interview.
According to studies, travel and
tourism's contribution to GDP in
Sub-Saharan Africa is forecast to
rise by 4.4% per year to 2028.
"We encourage the continent
to diversify national economies,
improve regional integration and
ultimately, to grow travel and tourism,
by continuing to liberalize visa
regimes, improve connectivity and
embrace technological change,"
said Turner.
"While visitors from countries
requiring visas represent less than
10% of all visitors to South Africa,
there is an opportunity to consider
improving travel facilitation
to support further sector growth
in the country," she said.
Turner pointed out that one in
five jobs around the world were
created by travel and tourism in
2017. She said the sector is the best
partner for governments to generate
employment and provide livelihoods,
particularly for women
and youth.
Turner said freeing the airspace
will improve the sector and benefit
South Africa immensely and also
other countries.
"Research from IATA and
Intervistas have found that further
air liberalization across Africa
would benefit South Africa and 11
other countries on the continent.
South Africa would increase passenger
movements by 800,000 per
year - a 52% increase in traffic to/
from the 11 other countries. Due
to the size of its aviation market,
South Africa would stand to benefit
more than all other countries
in the study," she said.
WTTC also said digital technology
is the greatest enabler to the
sector's growth in various ways.
Many countries in Africa continue
to embrace digital technology from
destination marketing to managing
tourist flows at popular sites in
real time via apps.
Turner said, "We encourage the
utilization of digital technology to
ensure efficiency and ease of travel
with respect to visa applications
and processes."
WTTC president and CEO, Gloria
Guevara is scheduled to speak
at the African leaders' forum on
Thursday in Stellenbosch. The
forum is expected to be attended by
over 100 tourism role players from
Africa and outside. Some of those
who will attend include South African
Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom
and Botswana Environment
Minister Tshekedi Khama II.
The tourism leaders will discuss
travel facilitation and connectivity,
human capital and development.
They will also discuss community
empowerment and sustainability,
and the use of digital technology
to enhance growth. - Nampa/
Xinhua
Botswana to offer
tourist visas on arrival
■ Mpho Tebele
Gaborone- Botswana
has become
the latest country
in the continent to
announce plans to start offering
tourist visas on arrival.
The announcement was made
by President Mokgweetsi Masisi
when addressing the 45th meeting
of the High-Level Consultative
Council (HLCC) in Gaborone
recently.
According to Masisi, this is
part of the Botswana Government’s
efforts to improve the
ease of doing business in the
country. He added that Botswana
will offer tourist visa at
the point of entry effective 24
November 2018.
Botswana joins Ethiopia,
which has since announced its
intention to implement visaon-arrival
service for African
travellers.
Reports indicate that while
the African Union (AU) set a
2018 deadline for the removal of
visa requirements for all African
citizens in all African countries,
a recent AU report found
that Africans can travel without
a visa to just 22% of other African
countries.
Rwanda, Benin and recently
Ethiopia, are some of the African
nations that relaxed visa
requirements for all African
citizens this year.
The voice of the private sector,
Business Botswana commended
Masisi’s administration,
saying this will improve
the ease of doing business in
Botswana.
On its Twitter page, Business
Botswana said tourists who
have been reluctant to visit the
southern African country due
to stringent immigration laws.
Deputy Permanent Secretary
in the Ministry responsible for
Tourism Thabang Botshoma
confirmed that Masisi has
given the Ministry of Nationality,
Immigration and Gender
Affairs a grace period until
November 24, 2018, to amend
the immigration rules and procedures
to accommodate the
visa-on-arrival process.
Botshoma also expressed
excitement, saying the development
will result in Botswana
becoming the latest African
nation to relax visa requirements
in a bid to improve tourism
and the ease of doing business
in the country.
Botswana’s Nationality,
Immigration and Gender
Affairs Minister, Dorcus Makgatho,
was also quoted as saying
that her ministry has indeed
been instructed to amend the
immigration regulation.
She was further quoted as
saying that her ministry is busy
amending some rules and procedures
regarding the inflow of
visitors into the country.
Makgato reportedly said it
has been strenuous for tourists,
wishing to visit the southern
African nation which is
endowed with flora and fauna
as well as an avalanche of business
opportunities, from the
countries required to apply for
a visa first.
She also told Xinhua news
agency that tourists were
expected to apply for a visa at
Botswana’s embassy in their
native countries or a country
closer to them. And the process
would take not less than 14 days
to be approved or disapproved,
said Makgato.
Chinese Ambassador to
Botswana, Dr Zhao Yambo,
recently expressed concern that
while Botswana has been named
as one of the most attractive
tourism destinations it has
exploited this opportunity to
its full potential.
Giving a public lecture at
the University of Botswana,
Yambo said there is a need for
tour operators in Botswana to
venture into tourism activities
that would attract more than
100 million Chinese tourists
that travel across the world.

Arts
The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
■ Entertainment
■ Music
■ Theatre
■ Movies
■ Books
23
When ladies
slay in
head-wraps
P24
Salif Keita
highlights plight of
African albinos
■ Fadima Kontao & Tim Cocks
Bamako/Dakar - Like many people,
Malian musician Salif Keita first
became aware he was different when
he started school. His skin was white;
all the other kids were black.
“I was the sole albino,” he told Reuters in an
interview. “I knew immediately that I was different
from the other children.”
Across Africa, the skin condition - where
people are born with no pigment in their
skin, eyes and hair - is often seen as an
omen of misfortune. Albinos have been
shunned, ostracised, beaten, killed,
and in some places dismembered
so their body parts can be used
for magic potions.
But when 5-year-old albino
girl Ramata Diarra was ritually
killed and beheaded in the
Malian town of Fana, 130 km
west of the capital Bamako, in
May this year, Keita decided
to act.
“I was truly shocked,” he
told Reuters before throwing
a concert in Fana on Saturday
as a tribute to Ramata.
“Albinos have problems
integrating into society,
which is something we wanted to expose,” he
said. “We are saying that beauty lies in difference.
We must be proud of what we are.”
His new album “Un Autre Blanc”, or Another
White - the last before the 69-year-old retires - is
dedicated to underscoring this message.
For decades, Keita’s sound - a hip-shaking yet
curiously haunting blend of Mandinka folk music
with a percussive jazz-funk - has delighted West
African and Western audiences alike.
The new album is more eclectic than past ones,
featuring collaborations with guests as diverse as
French rapper MHD, Nigerian Afropop singer
Yemi Alade and South African choral group
Ladysmith Black Mambazo. “It was my way of
saying goodbye, doing this with my friends,” he
told Reuters.
At Saturday’s concert, Fana’s football stadium
was crammed with revellers carrying slogans
like “never again,” and “I am Ramata”. Albinos
danced alongside everyone else.
“She wasn’t even old enough for school yet,”
Ramata’s mother Hawa Toure told Reuters, choking
back tears. “I will always have this pain in me.”
But she hoped the concert would help tackle
ignorance.
“If everyone agrees to see albinos as human
beings, it becomes a fact,” Toure said. “Salif’s concert
is a cry of the heart to make reason heard.”
- Nampa/Reuters

24 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ ARTS
Botswana rapper Kast, arts
minister in ugly spat
France urged to
restitute looted
African art
A
new 108-page report commissioned by
French President Emmanuel Macron recommends
the permanent restitution of
African art and artifacts acquired by the
state through “theft, looting, despoilment, trickery,
and forced consent”.
During a three-day trip to Africa last year Macron
declared the return of colonial-era art a “top priority”
for the government. He then appointed Senegalese
economist Felwine Sarr and French art historian
Bénédicte Savoy to advise on the process.
According to a preview obtained by Le Point, the
report, which will be released in full on Friday, calls
for France to create an inventory of all works originating
from colonialism in Africa, bringing about
two thirds of the ninety thousand pieces of African
art acquired before 1960 currently in French museums
under scrutiny. African governments would
then select which items they wish to have returned;
if France were to object, they would have to first prove
that the pieces had been acquired legitimately.
The report advises the president to put aside “political
prudence and museum anxiety” and immediately
return spoils of war and colonial theft and violence
to Mali, Benin, Nigeria, Senegal, Ethiopia, and Cameroon.
The first phase of the restitution will be completed
in 2019 if Macron moves forward with the plan. Sarr
and Savoy consulted around 150 specialists throughout
France and the continent for their report, which
could have far-reaching implications for French and
international museums regarding the restitution of
looted African art.
Sarr and Savoy’s assessment stands in stark contrast
to the moderate recommendations offered by
London’s British Museum and the Benin Dialogue
Group, which propose long-term loans—as opposed
to the permanent return—of objects back to Africa.
Savoy and Sarr view such “temporary restitutions”
as “transitory solutions” that should be in place only
“until legal mechanisms are found to allow the final
and unconditional return of heritage objects to the
African continent,” reports the Art Newspaper.
“Behind the mask of beauty, the question of restitution
invites us to go right to the heart of a system
of appropriation and alienation, the colonial system,
of which some European museums are today, in their
own right, public archives,” Sarr and Savoy write. -
Artforum
■ Bakang Mhaladi
Gaborone - Botswana rapper, Kast who
gained fame last year after walking
1,000 km and organising a show
which attracted a record crowd, is
involved in a bitter spat with the country’s Minister
of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Culture
Development, Thapelo Olopeng.
Kast is accusing the minister of sabotaging
his ‘Tlatsa Lebala’ (Fill up the stadium) concept,
after the government refused to avail the 25,000
seater National Stadium free of charge, for this
year’s show.
Last year, after walking 1,000km, ‘to drum up
support’ for the local arts industry, Kast organised
a successful show which attracted an estimated
crowd of 20,000.
This year he walked 2,000km, arguing he was
advocating for the formation of National Arts
Council.
But after announcing a long, 42 artist line-up
for his show, which was scheduled for October
18, Kast was forced to postpone at the 11th hour,
citing logistical reasons.
At a press conference in Gaborone on Friday,
Kast did not hide his disappointment, calling the
minister a “powerful bully”.
Kast said Olopeng had refused to meet him over
his ‘Tlatsa Lebala’ show, despite repeated efforts.
“Since 2016, when I started this arts campaign,
there has been a central figure who has
been working overtime to make sure that Tlatsa
Lebala doesn’t happen. There is nothing more
dangerous than a powerful bully,” Kast said.
But the minister responded as the feud quickly
escalated.
“For this year, I never received any request
for a meeting from him. I have
hundreds of requests from serious
young people across the country
who want to meet me. What’s special
about Kast?” Olopeng questioned.
He claimed Kast had made over
P2million from last year’s show
and should utilise it, instead of
‘crying’ for a free venue.
“What did he do with the
P2million he got from his first
show? This young man has lost
his mission. He should grow up,
I don’t have time for crybabies,”
the minister said in a response
that was largely criticised for failing
to carry the civility expected
from a minister.
Kast did not take the matter
lying down, instead accusing Olopeng
of lying, in a back-and-forth
exchange.
“The reason I have no respect
for you is because you don’t hesitate
to lie to the public. Between
2015 and 2016 I spent close to nine
months trying to meet you,” Kast
said.
The artist has been left frustrated
after failing to get crucial
government backing and has
WHEN LADIES SLAY
IN HEAD-WRAPS
■ Sharon Kavhu
Windhoek - The most
fascinating thing
about fashion is that
it does not die permanently.
Of course, it can be buried
for a while but definitely resurrect
with a modern feel. The dynamics of
fashion have a basic foundation characterised
by ‘olden goldies’ or traditional
outfits. While many people
may think ‘wearing a head-wrap’ is
old school or is for the ‘olden goldies’,
the head-wrap style has become an
accessory of modern outfits just like
earrings, headbands, hair clips and
bracelets among several others.
Women in the Southern African
Development Community (SADC)
region are ‘slaying’ in head-wraps
with their trendy or modern outfits.
The culture has also spilt to the ladies
outside Africa.
The concept of wearing head-wraps
is believed to have been derived from
the traditional outfits from West
Africa particularly Nigeria, where
head-wraps makes African attire outstanding
mostly for elderly mothers.
However, today the head-wraps are
cutting across all ages and are being
styled differently depending on one’s
preference.
Head-wraps can be in all sorts of
materials, ranging from Ankara (the
African traditional colourful materials),
to headscarves (chiffon materials).
When one is wearing a casual outfit
characterised, for example, by a
pair of jeans or denim shorts and a
body top, she can accessorise with a
head-wrap.
“The most important thing to note
when wearing head-wrap on casual
outfits is to make sure it has a contrasting
design with the outfit. For
instance, a floral dress or a pair of
jeans or shorts with too many details
should be accessorised with a headwrap
of a plan colour and preferably
from a chiffon material or any other
light material,” said Keriba Farawo,
a fashion advisor from Zimbabwe.
“For those who may like using
Ankara materials for their head-wrap,
there is a need to accompany the wrap
with an outfit which also has a heavy
material. This means Ankara headwarps
go well with outfits made from
Ankara, Java and Italian wax among
other similarly heavy materials.”
There are many different styles that
could make one ‘slay’ in a head-wrap,
some of them include: colour blending
bulky wrap, top bun, side bun,
middle flair and round twist, among
several others.
The colour blending bulky wrap is

The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
25
■ ARTS
announced that the second installation
of ‘Tlatsa Lebala’ will now
take place on December 1, after
the initial postponement.
He, however, has not confirmed
the full line-up after earlier targeting
42 performers in a show
that was expected to go on for 18
hours, from midday Saturday.
The venue has not been
announced as the National Stadium,
which Kast prefers, does
not come cheap, at P200, 000 per
night.
Last year, the government had
given Kast, free use of the facility.
when two head-wraps of different
colours are tied to create a bulky
style on the back heard or side.
The style goes well with heavily
built women and, in some cases,
the medium built.
Farawo said the colour blending
bulky wrap needs a tone down
the outfit with one colour or plain
design so that the appearance does
not look ridiculous.
Top bun and side buns are
sometimes referred to as top or
side knot where the bulkiness is
either at the top of the head of
at the side of the head. The style
can be blended with one’s natural
hair preferably afro, braids or
hair extensions. The top bun and
side bun are neatly tied when one
uses chiffon of a wrap made from
a light material.
“Top and side knots look more
‘slaying’ on ladies with oval faces
and even more stunning when
they wore big and round earrings.
This style, however, does not look
nice on ladies with chubby faces,
for chubby ladies, they will never
go wrong on middle flair and
bulky round twist. The idea is to
compliment the facial features
with the bulkiness or style of the
head-wrap,” said Farawo.
Stan Lee imagined an
Africa way ahead of his
time with Black Panther
■ Lynsey Chutel
The commercial success of Marvel’s ‘Black
Panther’ film in 2018 belies just what a risk
it was for Stan Lee to create the revolutionary
African character. Lee*, who died this
week at the age of 95, created the Black Panther in 1966
with writer and artist Jack Kirby.
A highly powerful and extremely intelligent black character
from Africa and fighting in the United States was
groundbreaking for its time, not only politically but artistically.
From their inception, cartoon images, and later
comic culture, echoed the beliefs of the society that drew
and read them. In the early twentieth century, racism was
not only policy, it was also pop culture.
From 1918’s ‘Tarzan of the Apes’ where Africa is as
a land that could only be tamed by a white man to the
unfortunate Congolese who encountered the Belgian
comic character, Tin-Tin. The comic series portrayed
Africans as lazy, stupid or in awe of Tin-Tin.
T’Challa is already one of the African elite, an educated
prince who lives between Africa and the west. His
The other animated Africans who would have been
the Black Panther’s predecessor were usually nothing but scientifically advanced kingdom outpaces the space race
a backward stereotype—witless cannibals with a bone underway at the time, specifically because it is able to control
its own natural resources. It is no coincidence that
through the nose, helpless background figures that echoed
the wretched Africans of Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’,
or dim singing and dancing minstrels in blackface. colonised like the rest of the continent.
Wakanda thrives specifically because it has never been
That these stereotypes of black people are still trotted Of course, Black Panther did not escape the politics
out today shows just how visionary Lee was for his time. of the time, and Lee was not as outspoken about race
Of course, there were black artists who held their own and diversity then as he was before his death. Early on,
progressive ideas on the portrayal of black people, but Lee distanced the character from the Black Panther party
Lee is an example of a white man using his privilege long and the civil rights organizations with similar monikers
before being woke became a hashtag.
that preceded the party.
The portrayal of Africa has also remained stubbornly Still, Lee later said that the real-life heroes of the civil
one-dimensional. Africa in the late sixties and early seventies
was filled with post-independence optimism, but role as the star of a box-office film, the Black Panther has
rights movement had in fact inspired him. In his current
the international image of the continent was one of a openly carried the hopes of Africa and the black diaspora.
– Quartz Africa
continent that still needed paternalistic guidance, in the
form of neocolonialist policies. It was hardly a place of *Stan Lee, the American comic book writer, editor
innovation and technology, and yet Lee saw this potential. and publisher died on November 12, 2018.
Ngugi Thiong’o’s seminal novel,
‘Matigari’, to be adapted into a film
Celebrated Kenyan
writer Ngugi Thiong’o's
remarkable novel, ‘Matigari’,
is being adapted to
film by Nollywood Director Kunle
Afolayan. The revelation comes at an
opportune time when African storytelling
in film and dance has gained
global prominence in recent years.
Year 2018 has been an exciting
time for African storytelling in film
production, and in various other art
forms. The global success of the Black
Panther movie put into focus the
urgency for Africans to take pride,
and seize the leading role in telling
their own realities rather than waiting
for foreigners to create and curate
such important conversations. African
narratives, and experiences are
in abundance and these realities have
always been valid, but there has been
a void in telling these stories, for both
African and global audiences.
Thankfully there is a shift. There
has been a number of adaptation
projects announced this year, which
include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s
novel ‘Americanah’ and The
Daily Show host Trevor Noah’s bestselling
autobiography ‘Born a Crime:
Stories from a Southern African
Childhood’.
The latest revelation of an adaptation
is Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s 1987 novel
‘Matigari’, which is being made into
film by Nollywood director Kunle
Afolayan in a co-production with
Kenyan, and South African filmmakers.
The co-producers are yet to
be disclosed. Afolayan revealed the
news on the sidelines of the African
Movie Academy Awards (AMAA)
that took place in Kigali, Rwanda.
Commenting on the project,
Afolayan reportedly said:
“Ngugi is like the Wole Soyinka
of Nigeria in Kenya and one of his
books is going to be adapted into a
film”. “It’s going to be South Africa-Kenya-Nigeria
co-production and
I’m representing Nigeria,” Afolayan
added. The novel is moral and political
tale in which Matigari, the protagonist,
a freedom fighter, emerges
from the bush in the political dawn
of post-independence Kenya. He
searches for his family and a new
future, but finds that not much
has since changed. The book deals
with various themes, which include
oppression, and exploitation, inequality,
and betrayal.
What is commendable and
encouraging is that Africans are
continuing to take a keen interest
in telling their stories using film
and cinema but more still needs to
change. There is a lack of domestic
investment in the film industry and
the infantilism of it elsewhere on the
continent is evident.
Domestic investment in African
film Recently, global streaming giant
Netflix revealed that it is injecting
an US$8 billion original production
budget into Nollywood the world’s
second largest film industry. While
this is an immense win for Nollywood,
the investment points to the
lack of domestic investment in the
film industry and the infantilism of
it elsewhere on the continent.
Although Africa has shown the
biggest progression of internet users
in recent years, suggestively increasing
access to local content, many
African countries do not have a
booming film industry like Nollywood.
Funding, distribution and profitability
are still sore points, the
persisting 30-year old colonial heritages
of filmmaking, distribution
and exhibition, western preferences
by viewers and lack of domestic
investment are the main causes of
an infantile film industry in most
African countries. Censorship has
also played a key role in undermining
films even after the bypass all other
production obstacles. – This Is Africa

26
REVIEW
Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ BOOKS
BOOK
The Lazy Makoti
author to tour SADC
■ Colleta Dewa
Johannesburg – The author
of the book ‘The Lazy
Makoti’, Mogau Seshoene,
says she is planning to tour
most SADC countries early
next year to share her dexterous
cooking skills and explore
the enticing African dishes.
Seshoene, a chef by profession
offers a series of cooking
classes targeted at young,
modern Afropolitans who have
a keen interest in learning to
navigate the kitchen with ease
and flair.
In addition to being in
demand for her real-life lessons,
Seshoene has become
Instagram-famous, with thousands
of foodie followers.
She launched her cookbook
“The Lazy Makoti’ last
month and it has become one
of the best-selling recipe books
already.
Our correspondent in South
Africa COLLETA DEWA (CD)
spoke to the mistress in the
kitchen MOGAU SESHOENE
(MS) who believes that her recipes
are noble in preserving the
African heritage.
CD: What stimulated you
to come up with the title ‘The
Lazy Makoti’?
MS: Makoti means daughter-in-law
in Zulu. The name
was inspired by the cooking
lessons I first gave a friend who
was due to get married and
was nervous that the in-laws
would call her ‘lazy makoti’
simply because she could not
cook. That is how the business
started and I began to give lessons
on traditional South African
cuisine.
CD: Can you take us
through the book in summary?
MS: Mastering the kitchen
can seem quite intimidating
in the day of Instagram
and TV chefs that seem to do
everything with flair while
telling a cute anecdote on
camera. However, most people
are always pleasantly surprised
at how easy and enjoyable
cooking can be. After
almost four years of hosting
cooking classes, I've found that
most people want to be able to
prepare delicious and visually
appealing food (the kind that
can get likes on social media),
which is what inspired this
cookbook.
This book was written and
compiled with you in mind
with simple ingredients that
are probably already in your
pantry and fridge, and easy to
find, readily available in all
our favourite grocery stores
while taking into consideration
all the different occasions
for a South African kitchen.
Cooking with ‘The Lazy
Makoti’ is just that; a trusted
guide to easy unpretentious
and delicious cooking, just
as the cookbook was meant
to be. A comprehensive compilation
of recipes that are a
favourite in many South African
homes.
The cookbook features quick
and easy recipes; ingredients
from your pantry; South
African favourites; leads you
through kitchen basics; teaches
you to become a domestic goddess;
tips, tricks and fresh
ideas; repurpose leftovers:
cost-effective and no waste;
and proudly South African.
CD: How has the book been
received?
MS: The response has been
AMAZING! It’s hardly been
a month and it has become
the best-selling cookbook in
SA and we have already gone
into reprint! I am humbled and
blown away at that! And best of
all, the comments from everyone
who is pleasantly surprised
to experience a cookbook that
features their own heritage as
opposed to an “African take on
something European”. I am so
proud to have celebrated and
preserved our heritage through
this book.
CD: I understand you were
in a different field before
you ventured into the food
industry, what challenges did
you face or do you face as an
author and chef?
MS: It was quite a challenge
going into new territory but
also very thrilling. Some challenges
include trying to build
a name and, therefore, reputation,
which is why the first
thing I did was to empower
myself with education at a
culinary school. And also running
a business requires a lot
and work-life balance can be
non-existent.
CD: Where do you see yourself
in the next three to four
years as a young chef promoting
African dishes?
MS: I have my eyes set on
Africa, particularly our neighbouring
countries. I believe
that we are more similar than
we are different and I think
food will be a great enabler to
begin to create and strengthen
our relations.
Early next year I will do
Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe
and Botswana and I am deliriously
excited! Still in the planning
phase to make this happen,
but it is an ultimate goal! I
will be starting with Namibia,
am sure it could be even before
the end of the year.

The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
Southern Sport
By Andrew Bonani K amanga
UNLOCKING Southern Africa’s Potential
27
Going back to the Basics –
School Sport
Southern Africa is endowed with many
secondary or high schools. Compared
to other parts of the African continent,
this makes school sport a very attractive
proposition.
This is because the majority of young people
between the ages of 12 and 18 years can be found
in high school.
The national structures in the various schools,
districts, provincial and then national structures
or governing boards, which make up
the Confederation of Southern Africa Schools
Sports Associations (COSASSA).
COSASSA, is, therefore, a very strategic
player on the regional sport development
agenda in Southern Africa.
However, since its inception,
the organisation has been
focusing largely on running
regional schools sport competitions
for the region. Of
late, there are reports that
fewer and fewer countries
are participating in the
regional schools' sport
competitions.
This is something that
needs to be addressed by
the leadership of the organisation.
Regular participants in
these competitions are Botswana,
Lesotho, Namibia, eSwatini, South
Africa and Zimbabwe.
Malawi and Zambia usually
struggle to send teams to the competitions.
Furthermore, the engagement
of the Portuguese-speaking
countries of Angola and Mozambique
in COSASSA has been a bit
of a challenge.
However, language should not
be a barrier in terms of developing
a dynamic, vibrant and an inclusive
COSASSA.
Over the years, COSASSA has
largely been dependent on the governments
of the region to foot the
bill for the competitions in terms
of organising, hosting and traveling
costs.
Of course, it is important that some
governments appreciate the need to send young
students to participate in regional sport s competitions.
Although this model has served the Southern
African region well for the past two decades or
so, it is now time for change. Going forward, it
is clear that dependence on government handouts
will cripple COSASSA in terms of what it
can do and achieve.
The organisation should be more than a competitions
organising forum but a regional institution
that is self-sustaining, financially independent
and viable.
This entails a radical change of mindset and
strategy to build a stronger COSASSA that adds
value to sport development in Southern Africa.
There is, therefore, a need to establish a permanent
full-time secretariat of the organisation
charged with mobilising resources, not only for
competitions but for capacity building as well.
COSASSA must play an important role in
facilitating the development of high calibre
coaches, managers and technical officials.
Everybody loves a winner. With the commercialisation
and globalisation of sport, winners
in sport are celebrated and provided with VIP
status almost everywhere they go.
They provide souvenir sports apparel and
autographs to almost everyone from state presidents
to the multitudes of ordinary admirers.
In this euphoric celebration of success, sport
leaders, admirers and sometimes the stars themselves
forget where they came from. Sport development
success and excellence are processes
and not events, long and tedious ones, for that
matter.
Along the road to success, there are school
sport teachers and coaches who play a critical
role in skills development, nurturing of talent,
mentoring, support and encouragement.
It is important that COSASSA develops mechanisms
of recognising and providing incentives
for these schools’ sport officials.
Even the national sports associations and
national Olympic committees (NOCs) rarely
take time to establish the history of their stars
and invite the people who have built the foundation
for the successes of the stars they have
jurisdiction over.
Sometimes, even parents are also forgotten in
the mad rush to bask in the glory of the success
of the sports celebrities.
According to sport scientists and the Long
Term Athlete Development (LTAD) approach,
it takes between eight and 10 years to produce
a truly world-class sportsperson.
This means in the sport development and
success equation, we cannot afford to lose focus
on the primary and secondary school teachers/
coaches.
This is very crucial as in most Southern African
countries, there is no robust community
club system to provide alternative sport development
paths to the school system.
National sports authorities should, therefore,
invest funds in the training and development
of this important human resource in the sport
development continuum.
This investment should not be an afterthought
or an act of charity on behalf of national sports
authorities but a strategic decision guided by a
long-term vision for the development of every
sport code or system.
Together with promoting academic excellence,
teachers should also be encouraged to
promote ethics through values-based education
among their school pupils and students.
This would help the students make conscious
decisions to avoid doping and other forms of
cheating affecting modern sport.
Teachers spend a lot of time with the children
and are trained in methodologies that can help
to bring the best purchasable of children in education
as well as various other life endeavours,
including sport.
While much focus is given to senior national
sport teams, there is now a greater need than
ever to go back to the basics, which is schools
sport.

28 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ SPORT
Football will take
me far – Barbra
■ Vera Phiri
Shepolopolo striker Barbra Banda
says she started playing football to
change her life. Barbra, who recently
joined Spanish Escuelas de Fútbol
de Logroño, says she believes she will go far in
her career if she just concentrates on what she
is doing. Barbra is currently with the Shepolopolo
in Ghana for the on-going African Women Cup
of Nations. The team takes on Nigeria today at
the Cape Coast Stadium with a win guaranteeing
their qualification to the semi-finals.
Barbra, the first Zambian female footballer
to play in Europe, spoke to BBC Africa sport.
She said when she started playing football,
she had no boots.
“It wasn’t nice seeing my friends putting on
boots and I was playing bare-footed. I normally
used to watch female football and I was inspired
by teams around the world. I went into football
to change my life because just sitting in the compound
sometimes it brings some other problems
for us girls. You get into other abuse of starting to
drink beer,” she said, Barbra captained Zambia
for the first time earlier this year.
She also excels in another sport – boxing.
Barbra says he was inspired to try boxing by
former WBC bantamweight champion Catherine
Phiri. “I started training as an amateur but
the amateur boxers started refusing to fight with
me because I had no losses in amateur boxing,”
she says.
“I like boxing because it is a disciplined sport.
You can fight, there is nothing like you hate each
other. When the fight is over, you are still friends.
Actually here in the compound, I am more like a
role model to them. Whenever they see me they
are always happy with what I do and they try to
get closer to me so that they know what I really
do so that they get inspired.”
Barbra says she loves both sports but mainly
chose football because boxing is a short career.
“I think football will take me somewhere. I just
have to concentrate on whatever I do. I think I
will go far,” said Barbra.
Coach Mellisa Saili says when Barbra was an
U17 player, what stood out was her determination.
“… there was a game where she was injured
but she said she was going to ignore the pain.
‘I am going to push so that I play for my country’
and she played very well in that game,” she
recalls.
Saili says in African culture, it was a taboo for
a female to play football or even get involved in
boxing, but of late parents are encouraging their
children to take up the sport.
Barbra’s mother Joyce Nkhoma said she
supported Barbra to play football and boxing
because sport is good for young people.
“Girls in the community lack sports activities.
Most of the girls drink beer and are found
in clubs. I have watched her a number of times
and the goals she has scored. She has made me
and the community proud,” said Nkhoma. –
The Mast
The unstoppable Banyana Banyana has done it again!
■ Colleta Dewa
Johannesburg - South Africa’s
national women soccer team
Banyana Banyana have left yet
another notable mark in the history
of women’s football by becoming the
first side to beat The Super Falcons of
Nigeria in an opening Africa Women’s
Cup of Nations.
The defending champions the
Super Falcons were bitten by 1-0 by
the unstoppable Banyana who are
geared to make a maiden qualification
to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World
Cup in France.
Banyana captain Janine Van Wyk
said the team is geared to reaching
greater heights and they will display
their best of abilities.
“It really means so much to us –
not only will it give the team a lot of
confidence going forward into the
tournament but us as players feel
confident after beating the defending
champions and tournament favourites
as well.
“It’s just given us a lot of hope to see
what we actually have been working
so hard for, so I’m extremely happy
with the performance of the team
– every single member really put
so much work and effort in on that
field. Without anyone on that field,
we would not have done it because
everyone gave 100 percent and it was
teamwork that won it for us at the end
of the day,” she said.
The captain also made specific
mention to starlet 22-year-old United
States-based Thembi Kgatlana who
saved the team at the 85th minute by
scoring the game changer goal.
“Obviously, Thembi coming on
and making the difference and scoring
a phenomenal cracker of a goal
was world class for her. Like I said to
the team in the locker room, we can
celebrate this win its normal for any
player to celebrate a fantastic win like
that. But we still have a long way to
go as a team, and we have a couple of
games ahead that we really need to
stay as focused for as we were against
Nigeria,” added the captain.
Speaking after the game, heroine
Kgatlana said the team has to remain
focused as they prepare for the coming
challenges.
“This means a lot to me, but more
especially for the team because we
know how important it is to have won
this game. We look forward to working
together as a team and we came
here for one goal, which is to qualify
for the World Cup. We are going to
take every game step by step,” said
Kgatlana after scoring.
Team coach Desiree Ellis was optimistic
that with the level of support
that her team was receiving from
home, more is yet to come.
“Even though they had a lot of possession,
they did not really threaten
us except for that one moment. In the
first half our passes were going astray,
and we spoke about that at halftime.
But we always knew we had it in us, it
took a moment of brilliance to decide
the match and we planned really well.
“We said the first game of the tournament
is the most important and
it’s even bigger playing Nigeria. The
victory is for, but also for the people
back home, for our sponsors Sasol
and SAFA and to the coaches who
have sacrificed for the last year,” said
Ellis.
Bantwana Bantwana
matches
Meanwhile, the country’s Under 17
women’s team, Bantwana Bantwana
did not impress when they played in
the FIFA under-17 Women’s World
Cup tournament in Uruguay.
On Friday, Bantwana were beaten
6-0 by Japan, three days after they
played to a goalless draw with
Mexico in their opening World
Cup match.
The babies’
preparations
for the FIFA under-17 Women’s
World Cup tournament were however
marred by a series of injuries.
Midfielder Oratile Mokwena and
forward Miche Minnes are recovering
after receiving knocks in the
friendly against Uruguay on Wednesday.
Bantwana Head coach Simphiwe
Dludlu said the team was excited to
have participated in the World Cup
tournament again.
“We are really excited to be back in
the World Cup again. The last time we
were here was eight years ago, and we
didn’t do so well. We’re a developing
country in terms of where women’s
football is concerned,” said Dludlu.
In 2010, Bantwana failed
to progress out of their
group and finished
16th overall. They
didn’t qualify for the
last three editions of
the under 17 World
Cup.
Didier Drogba calls
it quits @ 40
Yamoussoukro - Ivory
Coast and Chelsea
legend Didier Drogba
announced on Thursday
that he has officially retired
from football.
Now aged 40, the dynamic forward
made 381 appearances for
Chelsea, winning four Premier
League titles, four FA Cups and
the 2012 Champions League when
he took the final penalty in a dramatic
shootout to clinch the trophy
against Bayern Munich.
He also retires as Ivory Coast's
record goal-scorer with 65 goals.
“I want to thank all the players,
managers, teams and fans that I
have met and made this journey
one of a kind,” Drogba said on
Twitter on Thursday.
“If anyone tells you your dreams
are too big, just say thank you and
work harder and smarter to turn
them into a reality.
“When I think of the last
20 years of my professional
career, I can’t be more proud
of what I’ve achieved as a
player, but most importantly
how this journey
has shaped me as a
man.” - Nampa/ANA

The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
29
■ SPORT
Death stalks Botswana sport
■ Bakang Mhaladi
Gaborone - Botswana
sport, for the
13th time in just 18
months, was again
plunged into mourning as 400m
elite athlete, Omphemetse Mokgadi
was laid to rest just outside
the capital Gaborone on Sunday.
The 400m runner died and collapsed
while training at the University
of Botswana Stadium in
Gaborone last week Monday.
He was preparing for the 2019
World Championships to be held
in Doha, Qatar, when he slumped
to the ground, and never recovered.
Hundreds of mourners, including
fellow athletes turned up to
bury the 32-year-old at his home
village, Mochudi, 40 kilometres
east of Gaborone.
Former teammate and 2018
Commonwealth Games champion,
Isaac Makwala, paid a moving
tribute to Mokgadi.
"I met him in 2006 and he was
a kind person. I worked with
him until his untimely passing.
We have lost great talent," Makwala
said.
Botswana Athletics Association
(BAA) president, Thari Mooketsi,
said the nation had lost a great
athlete, who served with distinction.
He said he was made aware of
the late Mokgadi's financial struggles
in his athletics career.
"I learnt of his challenges very
late. As an association, we are
faced with difficulties, but we
try and assist where we can,"
Mooketsi said.
African Athletes Journalists
Association (AAJA) paid tribute
to the late athlete.
“We wish to express our sincere
condolences on the passing of
your athlete, Omphemetse Mokgadi
who was well known for his
exploits in the 400m,” AAJA said
in a statement to the BAA.
“The Botswana 4x400m team
will no longer be the same without
him, but we trust your organisation
will rise from this tragedy
and move forward. We had hoped
he will live to play a bigger role
in athletics for our beloved continent.”
The deceased was part of the
2008 Olympic Games team, and
also represented Botswana at the
2011 All Africa Games in Mozambique.
Mokgadi's death brings to
three, the number of sportspersons
who have died in the last fortnight.
Two soccer players, Lovemore
Murirwa and Lesego Matoteng,
died in separate car crashes early
this month.
In June, a marathon runner collapsed
during a race, while seven
soccer players perished in a car
crash on their way to a match in
January. Last year, Gofaone Tiro,
from Botswana's glamour club,
Township Rollers, collapsed and
died while training.
Days later, a First Division
player, Leatile Setabosigo also collapsed
and died while training with
his lower division side.
› Omphemetse Mokgadi
Blue Waters sign
on South African
goalkeeper
Windhoek - Coastal
side Blue Waters have
confirmed the signing
of former Kaizer
Chiefs development player and Polokwane
City goalkeeper, Brian Tebogo
Mpoyana.
The South African player has agreed
to a one-year contract with the club
and was registered before the closing
of the transfer window at 17h00
on Friday.
Mpoyana has previously played for
Batau and Free State Stars in South
Africa, Hanoi Football Club in Vietnam
and Hawassa Kenema in Ethiopia.
He has two national Under-17 caps
and helped Batau gain promotion
to the national first division in the
2009/10 season.
Confirming the signing, Knowledge
Iipinge, an interim executive committee
member told Nampa Saturday
the club had been struggling with a
goalkeeper, hence the decision to look
beyond the borders. “Our negotiations
took some time but we managed to
finalise everything with him yesterday.
We had a good deal for both the
player and the club,” Iipinge said.
The player was signed on a free
transfer. He added that they are looking
at bringing glory days to the club
hence the decision to bring in a player
of Mpoyana’s calibre.
Mpoyana told this news agency he
was looking forward to meeting and
training with his new teammates and
experiencing new things in Namibia.
“I arrived yesterday and I am yet
to train with my new teammates. I
am looking forward to this challenge.
I already know a couple of Namibian
footballers, like Da Costa (Angula),
Hendrick (Somaeb) and Rudolf Bester
from our time at Free State Stars,” he
said. He played with the Namibians
in the South African Premier Soccer
League 2014/15 season.
Mpoyana said he does not fear challenged
as shown by his ability to play
in Vietnam and Ethiopia.
“I am looking forward to learning
new things here, the culture and football
in the country. I watched the national
team today against Guinea-Bissau, they
were buzzing, they are a great side,” he
added.
The goalkeeper might make his
debut for Blue Waters in Sunday’s game
against Tura Magic in Walvis Bay at
15h00.
Waters started the 2018/19 season on
a sour note, losing to new boys Young
Brazilians 1-0 in Karasburg. - Nampa

30 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018 The Southern Times
■ SPORT
› Boks assistant coach
Mzwandile Stick
SA's Springboks
adapting well to
challenging conditions
Car d i f f -
Assistant
Springbok
coach
Mzwandile Stick has
commended the Bok
squad for the manner
in which they
have adjusted to
the challenging
conditions
so far during
their tour to
t h e Un i t e d
Kingdom and
Europe.
The Springbok
s f i nish
their end of
the year tour
on Saturd
a y w h e n
they play
Wales
at
the
Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
The match is South Africa’s
fourth tour game and
kicks off at 19h20.
The South Africans opened
their tour three weeks ago
with a one-point loss to England
at Twickenham in London,
but Bok skipper Siya
Kolisi and his teammates
bounced back to win their
next two games against France
in Paris and Scotland in Edinburgh,
respectively.
Stick said it is pleasing to
see how his team has adapted
to the challenging northern
hemisphere weather, where
the playing conditions are
mostly wet and slippery.
“I must be honest and give
credit to our players for the
way they’ve adjusted to the
conditions on tour in Europe.
They work extremely hard to
be well-prepared and I think
that is showing in our play at
the moment,” according to
Stick.
He is also happy with the
overall growth of the current
squad of players as a Bok
group.
“We started a bit slow in
June when we played against
England and we knew that
we have to give opportunities
to players and let them
play together as we increase
the depth of our squad.
“In that respect, we’ve seen
a lot of progress and improvement
in our squad, especially
if you take into account that
we’ve given a number of players’
chances since June, as we
try and increase our depth for
the World Cup.”
According to Stick, Wales
will be a very difficult side to
confront on Saturday.
“They have a number of
good performances and wins
behind them during this
month so we know it’s going
to be very tough. Wales have
a well-balanced team “there
are good on attack, strong
on defence and also have an
impressive kicking game.
However, we want to finish
the tour on a positive note so
we will give it our best effort,”
said Stick. - Nampa/ANA
Selemon Barega’s story
behind the picture -
winning the Diamond League 5,000m title
■ Steve Landells
Ethiopian distance-running sensation
Selemon Barega reflects on
what winning this year’s IAAF
Diamond League 5,000m title in
Brussels and climbing to fourth on the alltime
list over the distance, courtesy of his
12:43.02 time, meant to him.
“Going back to my preparation for the 2018
season I definitely changed my approach to
training. I decided to add interval/tempo
workouts on top of the training programme
given to me by my coaches and I believe this
helped my overall shape.
“During the indoor season, I won a world
3,000m silver medal in Birmingham, but
overall I was frustrated not to run a quicker
time during the indoor season, (note, he
did run a world-leading time of 7:36.64 in
Liévin), although I did learn a lot from my
experiences.
“I started the outdoor season well, winning
the two miles at the Eugene Diamond
League, the 3,000m in Ostrava and the
5,000m in Stockholm.
“However, my confidence then suffered
a jolt after I had to settle for fourth over
5,000m at both the World U20 Championships
and African Championships.
“Frankly speaking, I am always more comfortable
when the race is run at a quicker
tempo. At the World U20s I tried to make the
race faster but the weather was hot. Unfortunately,
just before the African Championships
I was sick and I did not feel at my
best in Asaba.
“I was very disappointed by my performances
(in Tampere and Asaba), but my
coaches refreshed my mind. They underlined
the fact that results do not always go
the way you want and told me to focus on
the Diamond League final (in Brussels). I
returned to training, worked on my individual
sessions and focused on performing as
well as I could for my final race of the season.
“In Brussels, because of the two bad
results, I did not have high expectations
and I went into the race scared of losing. But
my coaches were confident I could make an
impact. My plan was to ensure the pace was
fast, although my fellow Ethiopian Yomif
Kejelcha decided on the same approach! This
surprised me because he usually prefers to
let others set the pace, but by Yomif leading
it made life easier for me.
“To be honest, even though I knew the first
few laps were quick and I thought we would
be set for a good time, I was unaware of how
fast we were racing for much of the race.
“After hitting the bell, just behind Yomif
I was 100% sure I could defeat him. However,
I was very wary of Hagos (Gebrhiwet)
from behind because I knew he has a great
turn of pace.
“On that last lap I held back because I was
waiting for Hagos’s challenge and I only fully
accelerated once passing Yomif.
“I believe had I not waited for Hagos I
could have run 12:39-12:40 that day.
“I was overwhelmed and very happy when
I saw the time of 12:43.02. To win the Diamond
League on its own was an amazing
achievement but to run such a time was
crazy!
“To run so quickly meant so much to me.
It was the biggest victory of my running
career, so far. I had targeted to run under
my previous PB of 12:55 but running 12:43
has changed everything for me and my goal
is now to one day break the world (5,000m)
record.” - IAAF

The Southern Times Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
31
■ SPORT
Kenyan distance
runner Chepkoech
makes IAAF final 5
Nairobi - World steeplechase record
holder Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya
has made the cut in the final five athletes
eyeing the 2018 IAAF Female Athlete
of the Year award.
“I want to win the athlete of the year award but the
more important assignment for me is to run well and
win the world title in Qatar next year,” Chepkoech
said on Monday from Eldoret.
The 27-year-old missed out on the Olympics title
in Rio Olympics back in 2016 finishing fourth while
she had to swallow the bitter pill in London World
Championships in 2017 when she was elbowed out of
the medal bracket yet again, finishing fourth.
Chepkoech, who is the Continental Cup and Africa
3,000m steeplechase champion, will now battle it out
with sprinter Dina Asher-Smith of Britain, triple/long
jumper Caterine Ibarguen from Colombia, Shaunae
Miller-Uibo (Bahamas) and heptathlon athlete Nafissatou
Thiam of Belgium, who won it in 2017.
“The five athletes, who represent five countries
from four Area associations, have illustrated excellence
across nearly all athletics disciplines in 2018,”
said a statement from International Association of
Athletics Federations (IAAF).
The IAAF Council and the IAAF Family cast their
votes by email, while fans voted online via the IAAF’s
social media platforms.
The IAAF Council’s vote counted for 50% of the
result, while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public
votes each counted for 25% of the final result. Voting
closed on November 12.
The male and female world athletes of the year
will be announced at the IAAF Athletics Awards
gala on December 4 in Monaco.
The current World 800m record holder
David Rudisha is the only Kenyan athlete
to have won the award in 2010.
This year, Chpkoech won the World
steeplechase record by eight seconds,
backed up by the third-quickest mark
of all time. She was also the winner of
seven out of eight steeplechase finals
including the IAAF Continental
Cup, African Championships and
IAAF Diamond League final.
However, her biggest miss
was at the Commonwealth
Games in Gold Coast,
Australia where she
won silver at 1,500m
in personal best
of
4:03.09.
Chepkoech won
four of
her five diamond
league
races in the 3,000m
this season
with her victory in
Monaco on
July 20 producing a world record time of
8:44.32, making her the first woman run under eight
minute and 50 seconds. This broke Kenya-turned
Bahraini Ruth Jebet’s previous record of 8:52.78. -
Nampa/Xinhua
Manny Pacquiao v Adrien
Broner: WBA welterweight
fight set for January
Manny Pacquiao’s defence of his WBA world
welterweight title against Adrien Broner
will take place on Saturday, 19 January
2019, it has been confirmed.
The contest against the American four-weight world
champion will be held at the MGM Grand in Las
Vegas.
The Filipino, 39, has also reiterated his desire for
a rematch against Floyd Mayweather, who beat
him in 2015.
Mayweather, 41, has not fought since he beat
Irish mixed martial artist Conor McGregor in 2017.
Pacquaio’s belt is a secondary title, as the holder
of the ‘super’ title, Keith Thurman, is recognised as
the champion of the division by the WBA.
Pacquiao said at Monday’s announcement:
“When Floyd and I met in Japan [in September] we
talked and he said he wants to come out of retirement
to fight me.”
The American will fight Japanese kick boxer Tenshin
Nasukawa in a three-round exhibition contest
on New Year’s Eve in Tokyo.
On his contest against Broner, Pacquiao said: “I
chose Broner, because I believe we can have a
good fight and entertain the fans - we cannot
underestimate him.
“I want to prove I’m still in boxing.
I want to entertain people.
“My opponent is fast and a
[high] calibre fighter. We have
to work hard and train hard for
this fight.” – BBC Sport

32 Friday 23 - 29 November 2018
The Southern Times
The
Sport
Southern Times
INSIDE STORIES
PAGE
28
Didier Drogba calls it
quits @ 40
AFCON LOG TABLE
Group P W D L GD Pts
Group A
1 Senegal 5 4 1 0 8 13
2 Madagascar 5 3 1 1 2 10
3 Sudan 5 1 0 4 -5 3
4 Equatorial Guinea 5 1 0 4 -5 3
Group B
Afcon qualification
a colossal task for
southern Africa
■ Timo Shihepo
Windhoek – Most Southern
African countries
have failed to book spots
at the 2019 African Cup of
Nations (Afcon) after round five of matches
and have to wait will for the last round of
matches next year to decide their fate.
When the qualifiers started in 2017, there
was an aura of excitement that the southern
African region would finally put its miserable
performances in the Afcon qualifiers
in the past behind and qualify with ease
for the 2019 tournament in Cameroon. The
excitement was triggered by the Confederation
of African Football (CAF) decision’s
to extend the number of qualifying teams
from 16 to 24.
It all started very well when South Africa
defeated continental powerhouse, Nigeria
2-0 away in Uyo in 2017 – a result which
analysts believed was the foundation for a
good campaign for the region.
However, a year later, that aura of excitement
has not just fizzled out but it has also
turned into agony for the region. Today, out
of the 16 countries that entered the qualifiers,
only one qualified so far while the rest
anxiously wait for the last round of matches
in March 2019.
There is now growing fear that the ghost
of 2017 Afcon has come back to haunt the
region. In that edition, only two countries
from southern Africa qualified for the tournament.
From southern Africa, only Madagascar,
coinciding with the election of
Ahmad Ahmad as the CAF president, have
so far qualified for 2019 Afcon –and for the
first time in the country’s history.
South Africa, who started like a house on
fire, and was top of the group most of the
time, suddenly find themselves needing to
avoid defeat to Libya, away, after failing to
beat one of the lowly ranked teams in Africa,
Seychelles. They also made it difficult for
themselves after drawing 1-1 with Nigeria
in round five of matches at home.
It is a daunting task for South Africa, as
they drew at home against Libya in the first
leg. Libya thrashed Seychelles 8-1.
Botswana, Swaziland, Zambia, Comoros,
Malawi and Seychelles have all been eliminated
and will no longer qualify for Afcon
2019. Mauritius were already eliminated by
Comoros in the preliminaries.
That leaves only South Africa, Namibia,
Lesotho, Mozambique, Angola, Tanzania,
Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) with a chance of qualifying.
Despite the eight teams standing a chance
of qualifying, only four teams are likely to
qualify because most of them have to fight
for one ticket to Cameroon, as the top spot
has already been filled by a team from outside
the region.
The group winner and the runner-up
will qualify for the 32nd edition of the
Total African Cup of Nations to be played
in Cameroon from 15 June to 13 July 2019.
In group G, Zimbabwe must beat Congo
to qualify, while the DRC must beat Liberia
to also stand a chance to qualify. In a group
that anyone can still top, Zimbabwe leads
with eight points, followed by Liberia with
seven, the DRC are in third place with six
and Congo bottom with five points.
Group L, which has already been
won by Uganda, sees Tanzania,
Lesotho and Cape
Verde all scrambling for
second place? Uganda
has 13 points, Tanzania
and Lesotho five
points each, while
Cape Verde are on
four points. Tanzania
faces a daunting
task, as they host
unbeaten Uganda,
while Lesotho travels
away to Cape Verde on
the last day.
In Group K,
Namibia, who have
been punching above
their weight, as the
country didn’t have a
national league for 18 months,
have a chance to qualify for the first time
in 10 years, if they avoid defeat to neighbouring
Zambia.
Mozambique will also qualify with a victory
away to Guinea-Bissau. Guinea and
Namibia lead the log with eight points,
Mozambique are third with seven points
while Zambia have already been eliminated
with four points.
Namibia missed an avalanche of chances
against Guinea at home last weekend to
qualify, as a win would have been enough.
Coach Ricardo Mannetti was, however,
upbeat after the game and believes his
charges will still qualify.
“We will take the point and look at the
last game to make sure we qualify. We are
disappointed with the result today after so
many chances, football had other ideas.
We did not know we could have so many
chances and we should credit the boys. We
still have a chance to qualify and I believe
that we will be in Cameroon next year,”
said Mannetti.
After the match, Guinea coach, Baciro
Cande admitted they faced a good team
and said he would ask his players to win
the last game as anything is possible in the
Afcon qualifiers.
“Namibia is a good team and they showed
in the first match we won last year and we
came here prepared. I expect them to go
through. We wait for Mozambique and we
must win, final game, anything is possible,”
he said.
Meanwhile, Zambia’s failure to qualify
for back-to-back Afcon finals will immediately
see Belgian coach Sven Vandenbroeck
sacked. He signed a short-term contract
with the primary target
of qualifying
Zambia
for Afcon or
failure which would
see his contract terminated.
In group I,
Angola travel to
Gaborone knowing
that a victory against
Botswana would be
enough to qualify
for the continental
showpiece. Angola
are second on the log
on nine points trailing
already qualified
Mauritius, who have
12 points. Burkina
Faso are third on
seven points while
Botswana anchor
after amassing a
single point.
1 Morocco 5 3 1 1 5 10
2 Cameroon 5 2 2 1 0 8
3 Comoros 5 1 2 2 -1 5
4 Malawi 5 1 1 3 -4 4
Group C
1 Mali 5 3 2 0 5 11
2 Burundi 5 2 3 0 6 9
3 Gabon 5 2 1 2 2 7
4 South Sudan 5 0 0 5 -13 0
Group D
1 Algeria 5 3 1 1 5 10
2 Benin 5 2 1 2 -2 7
3 Gambia 5 1 2 2 0 5
4 Togo 5 1 2 2 -3 5
Group E
1 Nigeria 5 3 1 1 6 10
2 South Africa 5 2 3 0 8 9
3 Libya 5 2 1 2 6 7
4 Seychelles 5 0 1 4 -20 1
Group F
1 Kenya 4 2 1 1 3 7
2 Ghana 3 2 0 1 6 6
3 Ethiopia 5 1 1 3 -9 4
4 Sierra Leone 2 1 0 1 0 3
Group G
1 Zimbabwe 5 2 2 1 3 8
2 Liberia 5 2 1 2 -3 7
3 DR Congo 5 1 3 1 1 6
4 Congo 5 1 2 2 -1 5
Group H
1 Guinea 5 3 2 0 4 11
2 Cote d'Ivoire 5 2 2 1 4 8
3 CAR 5 1 2 2 -4 5
4 Rwanda 5 0 2 3 -4 2
Group I
1 Mauritania 5 4 0 1 2 12
2 Angola 5 3 0 2 2 9
3 Burkina Faso 5 2 1 2 2 7
4 Botswana 5 0 1 4 -6 1
Group J
1 Egypt 5 4 0 1 11 12
2 Tunisia 5 4 0 1 4 12
3 Niger 5 1 1 3 -7 4
4 Swaziland 5 0 1 4 -8 1
Group K
1 Guinea-Bissau 5 2 2 1 1 8
2 Namibia 5 2 2 1 1 8
3 Mozambique 5 2 1 2 0 7
4 Zambia 5 1 1 3 -2 4
Group L
1 Uganda 5 4 1 0 7 13
2 Tanzania 5 1 2 2 -2 5
3 Lesotho 5 1 2 2 -4 5
4 Cape Verde 5 1 1 3 -1 4