28 April 2008
Windhoek — Chaos, drama, pushing and shoving were the order of the day as MTC Mobile Homes around the country opened for business early Friday morning.
Responding to an advertisement by the cellphone company, people hoping to get cheap phones were to buy Nokia 3500 model handsets at the giveaway prize of N$13.
This model of cellphone is currently priced at N$1 500.
MTC customers at Swakopmund were sprayed with teargas on Friday morning while waiting to benefit from the cellphone company's 13th birthday freebies.
The Mobile Telecommunications Ltd (MTC) ran a nationwide advertisement on Thursday in which it promoted its 13th birthday anniversary this year.
As an appetiser, it planned to sell 13 phones to the first 13 customers who would pass through their doors at all MTC outlets countrywide for a mere N$13.
It may have been a good idea, but it did not turn out like that at the Swakopmund shop, as some customers are believed to have slept at the doors the previous night.
Mobile Home Supervisor Worick Laurence told Nampa on Friday that upon arriving for work in the morning, he found some people already waiting.
"My manager, who came in much earlier than me, also noticed and they decided to write down the names of those people with the help of the security guard who was on duty during the night," he said.
Laurence said the reason why they asked the security guards to spray teargas in the air was because the customers, who were mostly teenagers, did not want to move away from the door and nearly broke down the door.
"The customers pushed through and nearly broke our glass door, including the glass doors of the shops nearby, like the one of Roessing Uranium Mine," he said.
Since the security guards had little power over the customers, teargas was used.
The teargas did not help much, as only a few teenagers moved away from the door, while the rest remained standing at the doors.
It was the same situation in Windhoek, where eyewitnesses reported that queues had formed as early as midnight with Windhoekers also hoping to cash in on MTC's anniversary promotion.
A reporter from The Namibian who drove around the city around 04h00 Friday, said she was shocked to see that lines had already formed at every Mobile Home from Katutura to the city centre, Klein Windhoek and Olympia.
Maerua Mall seemed to be the most popular spot, as cars and people thronged the place the whole night.
"I was there around 05h00, but it was like it was during the day.
People all over the place," said one hopeful, who unfortunately did not have the stamina to fight off others who were ready to buy their N$13 cellphones.
Another eyewitness said there was fighting at the Mobile Home at BP House in Independence Avenue, as customers shoved and pushed to get in.
"It was chaotic.
People were fighting each other to get in.
They could have organised it better," he said, adding that there was teargas at one Mobile Home in the city centre.
Alina Garises of MTC Corporate Communications on Friday said there had been no incidents anywhere, and that everything had gone smoothly as planned.
"I talked to our Mobile Home manager [responsible for all MTC shops), and he said there was nothing like teargas or chaos anywhere around the country, and anyway we have not received any complaints.
"I was at Maerua Mall when the Mobile Home opened at 09h00 and everything was orderly, there was a red tape which gave space to those entering the shop," she said, contradicting customers who said there had been total chaos.
Garises rejected claims that there had been chaos and teargas at other places as people stampeded to get into the shops.
MTC offered this promotion at all 19 MTC Mobile Homes around the country.
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