Make your vote count for Walvis Bay
Financial injection, tourism boost
With the support of fellow Namibians, the harbor town can be crowned Kwêla's Town of the Year.
Kwêla presenter Johnny Davids, accompanied by a production team, recently visited Walvis Bay to do some filming for an episode of the Kwêla Town of the Year (Dorp van die Jaar) competition.
Davids, who was born and raised in the harbor town, highlighted that there is a significant difference in this year’s competition. This being that the winner can decide how they would like to use the cash prize of N$1 million up for grabs to improve the town, in addition to N$1 million in advertising/marketing revenue sponsored by kykNET to promote the town as a tourist destination.
A massive party also forms part of the winning prize package - with some of South Africa’s top artists visiting the winning town for this occasion.
Davids explained that Walvis Bay is the nominee for Namibia and the Erongo region, saying they were privileged to come and shoot some footage for the show in the area. The competition has been running for the past 15 years.
“Various towns in Namibia were nominated and, this year, Walvis Bay caught the eye. All eight provinces in South Africa also nominate towns and they compete for a fantastic prize. The nominated towns must have fewer than 500,000 inhabitants and should not be a regional winner in the last two years.”
From each region, the three towns with the most nominations advanced to the semi-final round in April. The public then had an opportunity to vote for their favorite from the three semi-finalists. This round only allowed 30 text messages per number and the town with the most votes represents the competing region as their finalist in the final round.
Vote!
When all nine towns have been shown on Kwêla, the public will be able to vote for the winning town from 18:00 on 16 July until 12:00 at noon on 21 July. The winning town will be announced on 30 July on the Kwêla programme on kykNET. The town with the most votes is named the Kwêla Town of the Year.
Davids encouraged Namibians to watch the upcoming Kwêla broadcast in a couple of weeks. “The moment the programme airs, the voting lines will open and any Namibian can vote. The whole country rallied behind Henties Bay and Swakopmund and ensured that they won the competition. The difference here is that when they won the competition, the financial injection of N$1 million was not yet on the table.”
According to him, the Namibian harbor town has what it takes to win. “I grew up here and just recently came and experienced places in Walvis Bay that I did not know existed. One example is Donkiebaai. I never knew that it is actually a surfers' paradise. I also experienced and heard things about Walvis Bay's future that really excite me. If we can all just work together, we can end up very happy.”
Previous winning towns may not participate again for six years after their victory. Henties Bay won the competition in 2016 and Swakopmund followed in 2019.
Davids, who was born and raised in the harbor town, highlighted that there is a significant difference in this year’s competition. This being that the winner can decide how they would like to use the cash prize of N$1 million up for grabs to improve the town, in addition to N$1 million in advertising/marketing revenue sponsored by kykNET to promote the town as a tourist destination.
A massive party also forms part of the winning prize package - with some of South Africa’s top artists visiting the winning town for this occasion.
Davids explained that Walvis Bay is the nominee for Namibia and the Erongo region, saying they were privileged to come and shoot some footage for the show in the area. The competition has been running for the past 15 years.
“Various towns in Namibia were nominated and, this year, Walvis Bay caught the eye. All eight provinces in South Africa also nominate towns and they compete for a fantastic prize. The nominated towns must have fewer than 500,000 inhabitants and should not be a regional winner in the last two years.”
From each region, the three towns with the most nominations advanced to the semi-final round in April. The public then had an opportunity to vote for their favorite from the three semi-finalists. This round only allowed 30 text messages per number and the town with the most votes represents the competing region as their finalist in the final round.
Vote!
When all nine towns have been shown on Kwêla, the public will be able to vote for the winning town from 18:00 on 16 July until 12:00 at noon on 21 July. The winning town will be announced on 30 July on the Kwêla programme on kykNET. The town with the most votes is named the Kwêla Town of the Year.
Davids encouraged Namibians to watch the upcoming Kwêla broadcast in a couple of weeks. “The moment the programme airs, the voting lines will open and any Namibian can vote. The whole country rallied behind Henties Bay and Swakopmund and ensured that they won the competition. The difference here is that when they won the competition, the financial injection of N$1 million was not yet on the table.”
According to him, the Namibian harbor town has what it takes to win. “I grew up here and just recently came and experienced places in Walvis Bay that I did not know existed. One example is Donkiebaai. I never knew that it is actually a surfers' paradise. I also experienced and heard things about Walvis Bay's future that really excite me. If we can all just work together, we can end up very happy.”
Previous winning towns may not participate again for six years after their victory. Henties Bay won the competition in 2016 and Swakopmund followed in 2019.
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