TSINTSABIS – Residents of Tsintsabis north-east of Tsumeb are seething over the weekend murder of two brothers, 28-year-old Albert Nanub and Piet Nanub (27).
Police at Tsintsabis confirmed the fatal stabbing of the two young men but remained tight-lipped, as details about the circumstances of the murders are still sketchy.
However, Moses //Khumub, a community activist at the village told New Era the incident took place at a local shebeen.
“We are outraged about the killings which took the lives of two productive San men. It is very sad that our people are being terrorised in their own settlement,” stated //Khumub.
A planned demonstration by the San community to condemn the gruesome killings has been stopped by the police due to reports linking the demo to an alleged tribal move aimed at driving some Oshiwambo speakers out of the settlement.
//Khumub rejected the claims but stressed the petitioning was primarily aimed at voicing the community’s anger over the mushrooming of shebeens at the impoverished village.
“Police told us to delay the demonstration because of reports that our demonstration has tribal undertones aimed at flushing out Oshiwambos from Tsintsabis. The fabrications do not hold water, however we respected and complied with the police orders and instead called a prayer session at the family home of the deceased brothers,” he said.
The community was to hand over a petition to the constituency councillor, the police as well as representatives of the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, which administers the village.
Meanwhile, all drinking holes at the village have been closed by order of the Haikhom Traditional Authority in solidarity with the mourning family.
//Khamub said the owners of the shebeens have given their cooperation and pledged to comply even if the community pressed for the permanent closure of shebeens at the village. Previous appeals by both the Deputy Prime Minister Marco Hausiku and the former first lady Kovambo Nujoma for the permanent closure of shebeens at Tsintsabis have fallen on deaf ears.
Principal of the Tsintsabis Combined School, Betty Kaula, noted that most of the shebeens are located in less than a 100-meter radius from her school and this adversely effects learners.
In a letter addressed to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on June 03, 2010, a copy of which is in possession of New Era, the principal wrote: “Schoolchildren attend these shebeens where they drink, dance and girls sell themselves to men because of poverty. In the morning after pay days, learners are sleeping in classes and even the younger ones are tired because they dance the night away at shebeens.”
Kaula said pensioners squander their social grants at shebeens where they are forced to take out cash loans and buy alcohol and food on account.
Kaula lamented that many schoolgirls dropped out of her school due to pregnancy and that HIV/AIDS amongst schoolchildren is reportedly on the increase, according to statistics made available to the school by the local clinic.
She called for the permanent closure of shebeens whether they are legitimately registered or not.
By Engel Nawatiseb