Erongo news
What influence will the new tariffs for fishing licences have on the coastal towns? Otis Finck Erongo talked to fishermen and shop owners.Erongo also remembers the late Kosie Pretorius for his contributions to an independent Namibia and reports on Garth Prince visiting his homeland from Canada with the hope of recreating his popular Canadian (African music) residency programme to the benefit of students in a local school. The documentary Music of the Motherland captures Prince’s homecoming and seeks to uncover the reality of Namibia’s history in music and culture.
There are still several good Samaritans at the coast: Corne Robbers of Grobbies Estates in Walvis Bay donated apples (bought from the Bank Windhoek Cancer Apple Project) to the feeding scheme at the !Nara Primary School; ErongoRed donated chairs and desks worth N$170 000 to the Da-Palm Secondary School in Otjimbingwe; and albino learners at !Nara received glasses, hats and sunscreen from Sinasra, a welfare organisation that supports albinism sufferers.
Riamekee Tjiraso (12), a grade 7 learner at !Nara Primary School, won first place at the annual ATKV debating competition in the Afrikaans as an additional language category, although Afrikaans is his third language, after English and Oshiwambo.
In other news, women are taking over the sport scene with the Swakopmund women’s soccer league kicking off at the Mondesa stadium this weekend and the first girls sevens rugby tournament hosted in Walvis Bay the past weekend where De Duine, Rehoboth and Jan Möhr battled it out. Swakopmund also hosted the seventh Ice Stock Africa Cup at the SFC hall where both Namibian men and women took the honours against Kenya. Vasbyters Herman Theron Jr and Nico Theron Jr were overall winners of the gruelling Weskus 4x4 Vasbyt event at Dune 7.
On community level, more beneficiaries received help from the revolving fund pledged by entrepreneur Knowledge Katti and female artist of the year, Monique English, has released her first music video of her debut album, Since 1994.
Events
Tour de Narraville takes place on 29 July and offers mountain bike rides (5, 10, 25 and 65 km), a 10 km run and 5 km walk
Oesterfees takes place 4-5 August
The Walvis Bay carnival (WAKA) takes place from 4 - 12 August
Swakopmund’s 125 birthday celebrations takes place from 4 August