Dear Sir
Sharks are by their nature and size enormous and have voracious appetites. They must eat everything they can to survive. Stop gorging themselves and they die! Through the years minnows have learnt ways to avoid becoming sustenance to the sharks of their world. They keep to shallow waters, swim near the bottom and hide among plants and keep to the rocks.

The dolphin’s dorsal fin looks very similar to that of the shark, but the innocent minnow has learnt the difference and keeps away from a roaming shark looking for its lunch or breakfast, and recognises the lack of threat from the friendly dolphin. The minnow senses the presence of the shark and keeps itself well out of harms way.
In the international economic ocean there are sharks and minnows. There are those voracious feeders looking for anything on which they can sustain themselves. There are minnows small and vulnerable. Many of these minnows have learnt to differentiate between the dorsal fin of the shark and the dolphin, and take evasive action when necessary. They are unharmed.
Unfortunately there are those young inexperienced minnows who still have to learn the hard way, and to know when it is a shark approaching, and to avoid it’s tricks and to learn to survive unscathed.
Some of the world’s multi-nationals are the sharks of the economic ocean, the majority, of course, are like the dolphin. Those predator voracious sharks are however constantly circling looking for food to sustain their constant appetite.
Namibia unfortunately is one of the young inexperienced minnows who has to learn by, often bitter, experience. That is how the minnow learns and survives. That is how Namibia must learn and grow stronger.
When the Ramatexes and the Bardens of the economic ocean, circle Namibia we must learn to recognise the dorsal fins. We must learn from our experiences and ensure we do not get trapped again. We must learn to watch for the differences between genuine facts and niceties, platitudes and vague promises. We must learn from the errors of the past. As the older the minnow gets, as he survives more and more sharks he grows wiser and survives. An injured minnow does not point fingers at his family and friends and blame them for his hurt. No, he passes-on what he has learnt to his family and friends.
With the demise of Ramatex, Namibia and the thousands of workers now without any source of income have taken a hard knock. There are those who will say “we warned you” That serves no purpose! Namibia must learn from this lesson, just like the minnow, and together we, Private Sector, Public Sector and Workers must join forces and when the next shark comes circling (and there will be more – some will say they are here already!) we must listen to the cries of our economic family and friends and take immediate evasive action.
We cannot risk being devoured for the short-term satisfaction of the shark’s appetite, and thus lose everything we have struggled for, and gained, in the last eighteen years.
Tim Parkhouse
Secretary General of the NEF