Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) appears to have a very different understanding of the terms of its Public-Private Partnership agreement with the Prosperity Group at the Daan Viljoen Game Park.
Visitors to the resort last weekend complained that they received a bill (pro-forma invoice) that clearly stipulates that the resort also charges customers a 10 percent NWR levy.
In response to enquiries about what the guests considered a highly irregular charge the internal auditor Zandre Haimbodi said that the 10 percent levy charged by Prosperity Group did not appear consistent with the agreement it had with NWR.
“This is totally wrong. It is not supposed to happen this way, we are in the process of engaging the managing director of Daan Viljoen,” he said.
Kobus Struwig, who is the current Managing Director (MD) of the Prosperity Group, confirmed in an interview on Wednesday that the NWR MD Zelna Hengari had called him personally to query the charges on the bills.
“I spoke to her and explained that I don’t see where the problem is because contractually just like with any public private partnership, I am obliged to pay 10 percent of my total monthly turnover to NWR.”
“I think there is some confusion. I don’t pay the levy on my profits, I pay it on my total turnover; if it was the other way around that would be great for me,” Struwig said.
He continued to explain that when a customer receives their bill the 15 percent value added tax (VAT) as well as the NWR levy is included in the cost of each item already.
Struwig further remarked that their prices are on par with those of popular restaurants in Windhoek and that if anything his company is at a disadvantage because they do not have to incorporate the NWR levy in their mark-up.
“I do it this way because the system calculates it for me and gives me separate amounts each month for VAT and the NWR levy. Doing this manually for it to not reflect on the customer invoice would be a nightmare,” he explained.
The Prosperity MD concluded by highlighting that there is nothing dubious about the method they used and if anything it made them that much more transparent.
He also mentioned that after his telephone conversation with Hengari she requested the explanation in writing, which he submitted to her electronically.
Contacted for comment regarding the apparent confusion of the NWR staff about the agreement, this newspaper could not reach MD Zelna Hengari because she had apparently travelled to the coast on official business.
NWR signed its Public-Private Partnership agreement with the Prosperity Group in 2008 that resulted in a complete revamp of the Daan Viljoen Nature Reserve.
So far the company has reportedly spent N$40 million on revamping the camp site, bungalows, restaurants and landscaping at the park which suffered from age and dilapidated infrastructure.
Currently the resort functions as a general tourism facility but also as a conference venue.
Prosperity subsidiary, San Karros Lifestyle Safari, signed the PPP deal with NWR in 2008 through which it has a 30-year lease on Daan Viljoen.
The industry refers to the PPP as a lease-rehabilitate-operate-transfer model. The reserve forms part of a cluster of projects that form part of the parastatal’s turnaround strategy aimed at transforming NWR into a profitable state tourism business.
Swapo’s Kalahari and Zebra Holdings have a combined 20 per cent stake in the project.
Visitors to the resort last weekend complained that they received a bill (pro-forma invoice) that clearly stipulates that the resort also charges customers a 10 percent NWR levy.
In response to enquiries about what the guests considered a highly irregular charge the internal auditor Zandre Haimbodi said that the 10 percent levy charged by Prosperity Group did not appear consistent with the agreement it had with NWR.
“This is totally wrong. It is not supposed to happen this way, we are in the process of engaging the managing director of Daan Viljoen,” he said.
Kobus Struwig, who is the current Managing Director (MD) of the Prosperity Group, confirmed in an interview on Wednesday that the NWR MD Zelna Hengari had called him personally to query the charges on the bills.
“I spoke to her and explained that I don’t see where the problem is because contractually just like with any public private partnership, I am obliged to pay 10 percent of my total monthly turnover to NWR.”
“I think there is some confusion. I don’t pay the levy on my profits, I pay it on my total turnover; if it was the other way around that would be great for me,” Struwig said.
He continued to explain that when a customer receives their bill the 15 percent value added tax (VAT) as well as the NWR levy is included in the cost of each item already.
Struwig further remarked that their prices are on par with those of popular restaurants in Windhoek and that if anything his company is at a disadvantage because they do not have to incorporate the NWR levy in their mark-up.
“I do it this way because the system calculates it for me and gives me separate amounts each month for VAT and the NWR levy. Doing this manually for it to not reflect on the customer invoice would be a nightmare,” he explained.
The Prosperity MD concluded by highlighting that there is nothing dubious about the method they used and if anything it made them that much more transparent.
He also mentioned that after his telephone conversation with Hengari she requested the explanation in writing, which he submitted to her electronically.
Contacted for comment regarding the apparent confusion of the NWR staff about the agreement, this newspaper could not reach MD Zelna Hengari because she had apparently travelled to the coast on official business.
NWR signed its Public-Private Partnership agreement with the Prosperity Group in 2008 that resulted in a complete revamp of the Daan Viljoen Nature Reserve.
So far the company has reportedly spent N$40 million on revamping the camp site, bungalows, restaurants and landscaping at the park which suffered from age and dilapidated infrastructure.
Currently the resort functions as a general tourism facility but also as a conference venue.
Prosperity subsidiary, San Karros Lifestyle Safari, signed the PPP deal with NWR in 2008 through which it has a 30-year lease on Daan Viljoen.
The industry refers to the PPP as a lease-rehabilitate-operate-transfer model. The reserve forms part of a cluster of projects that form part of the parastatal’s turnaround strategy aimed at transforming NWR into a profitable state tourism business.
Swapo’s Kalahari and Zebra Holdings have a combined 20 per cent stake in the project.
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