1 May is celebrated worldwide as Workers’ Day. This year 28 countries in Africa will celebrate this day with public prayers in 135 sports stadiums to pray for transformation in Africa, including Namibia. Under the initiative of Mr Paul Smit, deputy minister of agriculture, water and rural development, a committee repre-senting the Council of Churches of Namibia, the National Union of Namibian Workers, the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and business people was formed to join other African countries. According to Mr Dawie Fourie of PriceWaterhouse-Coopers, the movement was called Transformation Africa and started in June 2002, when a South African businessman, Mr Graham Power, allegedly "received a vision from God", to transform Africa, with the vision of ‘Africa for Christ’. After a first gathering of 45 000 people in Cape Town, the movement grew each year and is expected to reach millions of people in Africa across the barriers of race, colour, language or denomination.

After briefing President Sam Nujoma on Monday, who will be the keynote speaker at the event in the Windhoek Independence Stadium, on the Namibian initiative, Deputy Minister Smit was quoted by state media as "leader of the white community" and that the white community would publicly apologise for wrongs done to black Namibians.

Questioned on this during a media briefing on Wednesday at the NUNW headquarters, Mr Dawie Fourie said he could not answer that in the absence of Mr Smit, who was out of town that day. Neither would Reverend Kathindi and Mr Evaristus Kaaronda, deputy secretary general of NUNW, state clearly if the May Day celebrations would be a "black and white issue" with only some white people apologising in public.The three committee members of Transformation Namibia were adamant that relations among blacks and whites in Namibia needed to improve and that true reconciliation in the hearts and minds should be given a chance on May Day and other public holidays.

Apologies for "sins of the past" were already made by Mr Smit himself, who is of the Afrikaans language group, towards the end of last year in the National Assembly, where he said he apologised "on behalf of the white com-munity." Another apology was made on Wednesday in the office of Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab by a dominee of the Dutch Reformed Church (NG Kerk).

During a courtesy call of a CCN delegation to Mr Gurirab, Dominee Schalk Pienaar said it was the first time a representative of the NG Kerk was part of a CCN delegation meeting government and that he wanted to use the opportunity to "ask for forgiveness for the bad done" by that church "and what we did wrong". The Prime Minister replied he valued