The concept of self-help groups in Namibia started as a ‘self-help’ effort in the late 1980s when the Council of Churches in Namibia convened a meeting with urban settlers, who found themselves landless and homeless, to address their need for land and housing.
The result of the meeting was a group called Saamstaan (stand together), whose primary focus at the time was to improve housing conditions, and later to address the need for security of tenure by providing land and housing to its members.
Different self-help groups were formed to accommodate the different areas in which people were living at the time. Today, self-help groups are becoming a common phenomenon in informal settlements.
The demand for tenure security by self-help groups has become ever-increasing. This is because secure tenure and property rights are now well established as central to reducing poverty and promoting economic growth, social inclusion and sustainable development.
Since the introduction of these groups in the late 1980s and early 1990s, acquiring land as a group has grown very popular among informal settlers.
This method is seen as a progressive way for those who cannot afford to buy land by themselves. It is important to have a basic understanding of self-help groups in general, as well as the social constructs that give rise to them when it comes to land and housing.
Importance and effectiveness of self-help groups
Self-help groups are mutual help organisations that enable people to work together to better their own lives.
Part of bettering their own lives means getting access to resources that will enable that betterment.
Self-help groups exist to improve people’s subpar living circumstances. The idea is that, if the local authorities are delaying the provision of services, the groups themselves would be able to provide some form of relief for themselves.
They believe that working together will ensure they can receive necessary assistance, according to the difficulties they are facing.
These groups provide a sense of resilience when it comes to dealing with challenges that can occur within informal settlements.
This type of resilience provides security for groups to be able to better express their concerns, and propose development efforts to local authorities.
It also means residents in informal settlements can use the fact that they are organised to garner support from external entities. The government has implemented several affordable housing programmes to assist those living in informal settlements in acquiring tenure security. These programmes include the flexible land tenure system. The system was introduced to create alternative forms of land title that would presumably be simpler and cheaper to administer, compared to the forms of land title that are already available, more specifically in urban areas.
The system would offer the security of title to all those living in informal settlements, including those set to benefit from the low-income housing projects.
It provides for the acquisition of land as a group under a starter title scheme, which is upgraded to a land-hold title scheme and eventually to freehold title. To date, three successful pilot projects exist in which self-help groups have been able to acquire tenure security – one in Gobabis in the Freedom Square community, one in Windhoek in the Onyika settlement in Okuryangava and one in the Onawa Settlement in Oshakati. Under the flexible land tenure system, approximately 988 occupants received their landhold titles in Freedom Square (Gobabis), and approximately 117 in Onawa (Oshakati).
Challenges
Psychological fears and desires resulting in emotional and material needs are at the root of land conflicts.
Greed and frustrations are all psychological fears that manifest themselves into forms of conflict, and are a way that people act out because they wish to fulfil their emotional desires of material needs. Poverty, systemic reform and other social changes impact each other, and trigger intense psychological urges and fears.
Family disputes have led to tensions increasing in self-help groups. People form alliances for the sole purpose of harassing and bullying other residents in the groups.
The impact here is that people no longer want to work together.
The conflicts can be grouped into four main categories: Boundary disputes, land and property disputes, access and use disputes, as well as inheritance disputes.
These groups have demonstrated significant potential in addressing tenure security challenges for low-income urban settlers in Namibia.
These groups, which emerged as grassroots efforts in response to inadequate land delivery systems, provide a collaborative platform for marginalised communities to secure land and housing. The flexible land tenure system has further facilitated this process, enabling incremental ownership and development.
However, the effectiveness of self-help groups is often hampered by internal conflicts and systemic barriers. To enhance their impact, it is crucial to implement a national guiding document for the establishment and operation of self-help groups, provide regular capacity-building training, and establish conflict resolution mechanisms.
With these measures, self-help groups could play a pivotal role in achieving tenure security, and fostering sustainable urban development in Namibia.
*Daniel Abisai is a graduate of the School of Land and Spatial Sciences at the Namibia University of Science and Technology. daniel.abisai01@gmail.com.