WINDHOEK – Have you ever experienced bad service or a rude attitude by sales staff and felt that there was nothing you could do about it?
Well, besides approaching the manager or the owner of the transgressing organization there is not much else customers can do for now because there is not a concrete piece of legislation in place that grants protection to the Namibian consumer.
However, the Ministry of Trade and Industry will soon commence with the drafting of the country’s first Consumer Protection Bill.
“The Ministry of Trade and Industry is in the initial state of drafting a Policy on Consumer Protection that will guide us when we draft the Consumer Protection Bill,” Maria Pogisho, who is at the helm of the consumer division at the ministry, told New Era last week.
Currently the only legislation in place to protect Namibian consumers is the Credit Agreements Act (75 of 1980) and the Usury Act but Namibia inherited both these antiquated laws from South Africa before independence.
Private individuals fighting for consumer rights have created a number of consumer organizations in Namibia. These include the Namibia Consumer Trust, Namibia Consumer Protection Group and the Namibia Consumer Lobby.
Speaking to New Era on Friday, Bob Ziekenoppasser, who has been at the forefront of consumer rights since 1988 with the Consumer Council, said: “There is no legislation in place to protect Namibian consumers. We are not getting anywhere in terms of consumer protection and my question is, ‘who is fooling who?’”
Ziekenoppasser added he is particularly concerned about the lack of customer service training and product knowledge of Namibian companies.
“There is not nearly enough customer service training in Namibia. You will find someone behind a counter either listening to music on their cell-phones or chewing gum or simply ignoring you,” he said.
Namibia’s Law Reform and Development Commission has asked Namibians to be patient as the commission has recently been aggressive to ensure that Namibia follows the example of South Africa to develop a Consumer Protection Policy.
The Ministry of Finance, along with the Bank of Namibia, also last year embarked on a financial literacy campaign to make Namibians aware of their rights when it comes to financial institutions.
The Namibian Competition Commission also commenced with an investigation on the link between consumer protection and competition policy and law.
The commission is drafting a research document that will propose concrete recommendations with regard to the strong relevance between consumer and competition protection in Namibia.
By Edgar Brandt