Bahr celebrates 3 decades at Swakopmund municipality

Iréne-Mari van der WaltMarinda Bahr recently celebrated her 30th year with the Swakopmund municipality. Bahr’s colleague, Marolese Niemand, says she reported for duty two months before Bahr and has since formed a tight bond with her. “She is just the best. She has the type of personality that leads by example. We have learned so much from her. She is the type of person who teaches people by showing them, but simultaneously she manages not to spoonfeed people,” says Niemand. She says Bahr is not the kind to clean up another’s mess. “She doesn’t fix your mistakes for you. She believes that mistakes are lessons so we need to fix our own mistakes,” she says. Niemand believes that one of Bahr’s strengths is grooming strong individuals through her management. “When she throws you into the deep end, it is with intention. That’s when you learn and become strong.”More than this, Niemand believes that Bahr adapts well to different situations. “She is a bit of everything. When there is work to be done, she is not chatty at all but she will often see when someone needs a little bit extra from her and she’ll chat with them and give them what they need. She is very good at assessing the situation around her,” says Niemand. She believes that Niemand has taught her to believe in herself. Bahr says she hopes to teach her staff the virtue of thinking twice. “Sometimes we end up in strange situations and I hope to teach them not to react with emotion but to think things over before reacting,” says Bahr. She believes that the work of the human resources department is often misunderstood. “I think many people don’t see what we are doing, so they sometimes seem to think that we are trying to be unnecessarily fussy, or they think we’re not doing much work because they don’t see our work,” she says. Bahr says she enjoys talking to people and giving advice and that this is a driver in her career. She says the opportunities available at the Swakopmund municipality have kept her happy in her work for the past three decades. “I think there are many opportunities to grow and new challenges to take on here. All in all, this is a good employer to work for,” she says. PHOTO CAPTION: Marolese Niemand, Marinda Bahr and Scharlotte Kotze all work closely in the human capital department of the Swakopmund municipality. Photo contributed

Bahr celebrates 3 decades at Swakopmund municipality

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

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Bahr celebrates 3 decades at Swakopmund municipality

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

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