City of Windhoek CEO Moses Matyayi says the municipality cannot afford to give land for free, though it will be easier to sell the land at a minimal charge if the government subsidises the servicing of land.
Matyayi said this during a meeting with the leader of the official opposition, McHenry Venaani on Monday.
He said the City is struggling to deliver serviced land to the residents due to a lack of funds.
However, he could not agree with Venaani’s suggestion for the municipality to give land to the people, who had been living in the informal settlements free of charge.
“Urban land is very difficult for you to determine and say urban land must be given for free. But if you can give it to us and say, from the parliamentary perspective, you discussed and you have a law, you give us the funds. I am sure a lot of local authorities are prepared to say we can only charge a specific smaller amount – just for administrative purposes,” said Matyayi.
He noted that land cannot be given away for free in an urban setting due to the input costs associated with putting up essential infrastructure, including sewage and water systems.
However, Matyayi supports Venaani’s call for the government to assist local authorities with land delivery.
“Perhaps we need cross-subsidisation from the central government on infrastructure development. It will make land cheaper,” he said.
During his courtesy call to the municipality leadership, including mayor Joseph Uapingene, Venaani asked whether the City could give out land at no cost to people in the informal settlements to build houses.
“I believe the time has come for the country to really rationalise the debate to say if we donate that land to these people, who have been living there for more than 26 years, and you ask them to develop their homes, they will be able to do it. The reason people are not building is because the land does not belong to them,” Venaani said.
“These shanty towns keep expanding, and the City does not make any income on the land because these people are living on the land where there are no services.”
Venaani, the leader of the Popular Democratic Movement, also expressed his worry about the slow delivery of land.
He noted that one solution is for the government to subsidise the servicing of land in urban areas.
“The question of subsidisation is a big debate that needs to be brought up by parliamentarians,” he said, adding that the Windhoek municipality cannot survive without government direct subsidisation on land delivery.
– Nampa