THE NAMIBIAN PEOPLE: KNOW THE HISTORY FRIDAY 15 APRIL 2016 B19 OHORONGO CEMENT is operating a world class cement factory near Otavi in Northern Namibia. This is the most modern cement plant in Africa and proudly Namibian. To ensure the continued excellence of this new cement plant, we are looking for highly motivated employees who will contribute in different positions with their individual skills to the success of the plant. As an important player in the Namibian economy, Ohorongo Cement reduces unemployment, develops skills and delivers cement of world class quality no Namibia and abroad. Photos: National Archives of Namibia ONCE WAS OUR HOME ... An aerial view of the Old Location, 1930. PUBLIC RELATIONS AND CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Reporting to the Managing Director, the incumbent will implement and manage the Company’s Public Relations/Investors Relations, Social Investment and Communication Strategy in an effort to promote the public image of Ohorongo Cement. This position will also collaborate with others in the organization to achieve brand consistency, coordination of messages and the highest Windhoek’s Old Location standards of internal and external communication. The position is Windhoek based. Responsibilities • Manage creation, production, and dissemination of printed publications for information, More than half a century since the development and administration purposes. The forced removal of inhabitants of Windhoek’s Main Location • Coordinate and drive internal communication initiatives. to the township Katutura provoked an organised mass protest Old Location was shut down, one • Write and distribute press releases. culminating in a massacre on 10 December 1959. Today a public cannot reconstruct and present, from • Pitch the local and national media to secure media placement. holiday commemorates this act of resistance. The former location the outside, the full story of the place, • Networking and lobbying, establishing and maintaining corporate citizen relationship. • Responsible for representing the company at all relevant Expo’s, Trade Fairs & Exhibits/ became a synonym for African unity in the face of the divisions its people, their interaction with each other and with the authorities. The Shows. imposed by apartheid. But little is publicly known of daily life there. • Responsible for Ohorongo Otavi Community Trust Board meeting administration and assumed realities have so far oc- communication. casionally in the “heroic narrative” • Coordination of international associated tasks and partners. • Henning Melber ‘Human Rights Day’, celebrated tradition been a romantic projection internationally on 10 December, is of the “good old days”, which some- Requirements he Old Location has mainly now marked as ‘Women’s Day’, a what ignores the apartheid realities • Five (5) years relevant experience with specific exposure to PR, Corporate Social Investment, Stakeholder Management Communication and Project Management in a leadership role. Tremained alive in the memories Namibian public holiday. It com- of the time. Forms of social life of those who once lived there. For memorates the Windhoek massacre, were positively contrasted with the the outside world, two generations in which at least 11 people were newly constructed township outside SENIOR ACCOUNTING OFFICER later, it is largely ‘terra incognita’. killed when police opened fire on Windhoek, which accordingly was Anglican clergyman Michael Scott an unarmed crowd. In particular, called Katutura (“a place where we Reporting to the Financial Manager, the incumbent will be responsible for the entire creditors’ department including reconciliation of accounts. Financial overviews/reports and payments on was the only known ‘intruder’ from it pays respect to the courageous do not stay”). all Ohorongo Cement and associated companies. The position is Windhoek based. the outside. In 1948, he camped for women leading the boycott and The ambivalence of the former two months in the dry riverbed of protest. One of them, Anna (‘Kaku- place of living, where poor material Responsibilities the Gammams River bordering the rukaze’) Mungunda was shot and conditions contrasted with the social • Responsible for VAT run, including reconciliation of import VAT and NORMAL VAT settlement. He assisted the Herero killed while trying to set fire to the spirit and interaction, is captured by account and submission of different VAT returns. • Month-end commenting & compiling of Balance Sheet & Cash flow statement (controlling leadership petition the United Na- car of the location’s superintendent. a remark of Zedekia Ngavirue (‘Dr month end). tions, alerting them to the plight of She is honoured with a grave at the Zed’ as he is called with respect these • Release of payments. the Namibians. Heroes Acre. But no other efforts days). He was the first social worker • Responsible for proper maintenance of accounts. It was at that time that Chief Hosea have been made by the Namibian employed there (and later sacked) in • Monitor performance of staff, provide positive feedback and guide rectifying behavior as necessary. Kutako stated: “O Lord, help us who state to encourage further restoration 1959/1960, a co-founder of Swanu • Preparation and submission of Bank of Namibia quarterly surveys. roam about. Help us who have been of memory. and the co-founder and editor of the • Assisting Financial Manager with bank statements i.e. liaising with banks regarding foreign placed in Africa and have no dwell- Many of those in middle and higher South West News/Suidwes Nuus. As payments to suppliers and long term lenders. ing place of our own. Give us back government and civil service ranks the first local African newspaper, a dwelling place.” who now live in Hochland Park are it was established soon after the Requirements • Three (3) years working experience with appropriate Financial Qualifications. The Old Location plays a promi- barely aware that their homes were shootings in December 1959 and • Intermediate computer literacy to (excel, windows and word). nent role in ‘patriotic history’, rep- built on the grounds of the Old Lo- was published during 1960. • Accounting software packages experience, SAP will be an added advantage. resenting the formation of Namibia’s cation. Only a steel bridge over the Dr Zed then left for studies in • Excellent time management and organizational skills. modern anti-colonial resistance Gammams riverbed in Windhoek Sweden and became engaged in exile • Attention to detail and high level accuracy. leading to an armed liberation strug- West (and the dilapidated building politics. As he observed in retrospect: • Fluency in English. gle. The refusal to be voluntarily of a former ‘native store’ nearby), a “It was indeed when we owned little relocated to the new township of few grave stones and a small, hardly that we were prepared to make the Remuneration Katutura, culminating in the mas- known and visible memorial site greatest sacrifices.” In return we offer competitive income depending on skills and attributes. sacre of 10 December 1959, played serve as a reminder of its former Personal accounts on aspects of life a crucial role in the consolidation of existence. in the Old Location remain important Deadline/Contact If you meet the requirements, hand in your comprehensive political organisations, especially the for ensuing generations. I welcome CV by the latest: 25 April 2016 to formation of the South West African any contact from people who can Ohorongo Cement (PTY) LTD, Plant Sargberg, People’s Organisation (Swapo). share their memories or memories of Human Resources Department However, most of the published life their relatives with me for a popular OR histories of Namibians politically en- social history of the Old Location, E-Mail: [email protected] gaged at that time (most prominently which I am currently preparing for Note: No faxed applications will be considered John ya Otto’s ‘Battlefront Namibia’, publication for a local audience: and only short-listed candidates would be contacted. but also Sam Nujoma’s ‘Where Oth- [email protected] . ers Wavered’) do not refer in any – Biographical note: Henning Women and previously disadvantaged people are encouraged to apply. detail to the daily life and interaction Melber came to Namibia as a son No documents will be returned to applicants. in Windhoek’s old township. These of German immigrants in 1967 and biographies were mostly by those witnessed the last ruins of what involved in contract labour and there- had been the Old Location. He was fore not living there. Contract work- Director of the Namibian Economic ers employed in Windhoek had their Policy Research Unit (Nepru) from own compound at ‘Pokkiesdraai’, 1992 to 2000, Research Director of in the vicinity of today’s Northern the Nordic Africa Institute (2000 industrial area. As a result, the role of to 2006) and Executive Director of residents not affiliated to the contract the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation workers movement organised in the (2006 to 2012), both in Uppsala/ Owamboland People’s Organisation Sweden, and remains affiliated as (OPO), but rather in the South West IN THE MOOD ... A woman and Senior Advisor to both institutions. African National Union (Swanu) her partner swing to the strains He is Extraordinary Professor at the or the Herero Traditional Council, of jazz in the Old Location. Department of Political Sciences/ remains inadequately recognised. University of Pretoria and the Centre for Africa Studies/University of the Women To Fore Free State in Bloemfontein. .