Zebaldt Ngaruka

A housing group based at Erf 1304 in Katjikuru Katjiuongua Street in Otjomuise, is tired of being used and lied to by politicians during election season.

Christoph Slae Mbangura, the chairperson of Ka He Tani group shared their frustration in an interview New Era recently. 

According to him, politicians have been taking advantage of them, promising them land for over 12 years now but to no avail. 

“We have waited for too long; we want to commence with the construction of brick houses at our portions, and no one wants to live in the ghetto forever. We have reasons to be given the right to build proper houses just like all Namibians who stay in brick houses in Windhoek,” he said.

Mbangura said that they are eligible voters who also voted in previous elections, but this time around, there is great concern among the group members who must decide whether to vote or not.

The housing group management was also trained by the City of Windhoek community development department to run housing group affairs, he said. 

“It was, therefore, Ka He Tani could not finalise its registration process due to one clause stipulating that if a group member dies, his or her house will be the property of the group rather than their immediate family members,” said Mbangura.

He said that council resolutions were taken on the erf, and the group has several letters requesting the municipality to convert this area into individual erven.

The group, comprised of more than 50 households, is asking to be given portions demarcated already on an individual basis.

“These people are coming to me every day; they are tired of being lied to by the politicians. This scepticism brought fear and confusion about casting their votes because they are always forgotten after elections,” he said.

“Namibians who occupy high positions in the municipalities and treated them worse than colonisers,” he charged. 

“These people must serve the nation and must not act like they are hired for meetings only, meetings that do not yield proper results,” he said.

Mbangura added: “The State House is even much better; if the municipality can solve the issue, the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development should intervene in this matter.”

He emphasised that the group’s plight on decent housing and sanitation should be taken seriously.

“Imagine more than 40 households are sharing four toilets and two prepaid water taps. Frequently, these toilets and prepaid water taps experience breakdowns due to overload, forcing women and children to go fetch water as far as two kilometres,” he stated.

Mbangura lamented that the issue should be taken seriously because the group members have been waiting for a long time to build decent housing for themselves.

-zngaruka@yahoo.com