The Tsumeb municipality is considering approaching Weatherly Mine Namibia for a portion of land as the local authority looks at expanding its town boundaries to meet the ever-increasing demand for urban land.
Tsumeb mayor Mathew Hangula said, at the moment, council does not have any land to develop and provide to residents, apart from the already-serviced plots. He said this after being approached by the Kap en Bou group, which advocates for land for the landless people, and which had asked the municipality for a portion of land where ultra-low-income earners can set up housing in the form of an informal settlement.
Previously, Weatherly mining gave council a piece of land, known as Kuvukiland, for free after the masses encroached and forcefully occupied the area.
Tsumeb is landlocked and surrounded by privately owned farms, making the land situation dire.
Kap en Bou project is also in Otavi and Grootfontein, where the proponents of the venture were issued with a portion of land for citizens to develop and build houses.
The group has been pressing Tsumeb municipality to provide it with land over some time now or risk land grabbing.
Hangula, on the other hand, said the municipality appealed for calm among the group while looking into the issue of securing an area that can be subdivided between Kap en Bou and the Shack Dweller’s Federation.
“We know everyone needs land, and we are trying our level best. But we appeal for calm as we work on addressing it. It is an election year and we know people are using various tactics – some genuine; others slanderous – just to score political points.
We will approach Weatherly to give us a portion of land that will then [be] develop[ed] to accommodate our people,” he said.
– osimasiku@nepc.com.na