NAMIBIA WON'T BE SEEING YA

Life in a meritocracy: Deputy Environment and Tourism Minister Leon Jooste got a phone call from "someone" in America, announcing that Britney Spears was planning to fly to Namibia to have her baby.

You can see why he might have fallen for it - after all, Angelina Jolie had had a baby in the country, so maybe it she had started a Hollywood trend. And so Leon rushed to announce the good news to the world:

"She has shown interest to come over to Namibia," he said at the time. "Nothing has been confirmed yet, but there is a definite possibility of that happening."

Trouble is, of course, it was all a leg-pull. An abashed Mr. Jooste went public again:

Asked if the call might have been a hoax, Jooste said: "It is really possible."

However, he wasn't totally downcast. He'd just got an email that morning telling him that if he forwarded it on to ten more people, Bill Gates will send him thousands of dollars.

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