KEETMANSHOOP-Members of the Bondelswarts community in Warmbad, south of Karasburg in the //Kharas region, staged a peaceful demonstration last week over what they say is unfair treatment and exclusion from government development services.

Reading a petition addressed to the //Kharas Regional Council, spokesperson Charles Laberloth said they are rising up against the fact that properties and infrastructure belonging to them are utilised against payment by government institutions and individuals in the settlement without compensating or acknowledging the residents. 

“We, as the Warmbad community, are no more going to allow and tolerate bullying tactics of oppression and exclusion from skills development and job opportunities in the local mining, agriculture and tourism sectors,” he stressed in the document.

It continued: “We are involved in a tug of war with the Bondelswarts Royal house, //Kharas Regional Council and traditional authority over ownership of the AK Business centre, also known as the ‘yellow building’,” he stated in the petition. 

The document continued that 065 Trading is currently renting the building without paying rent to the rightful owners, the community. 

“Frank Severin, a foreigner, bought the centre a few years ago for the Warmbad community for them to benefit from it through income- generating projects. But now, others claim ownership of it, receiving monthly rental monies,” the document read.

 Laberloth continued that this left people without food or income, forcing them to commit crimes and sometimes go to jail.

It is also stipulated in the document that the authorities never came down to the settlement to assess and address the land situation, as only outsiders got resettlement farms in the area whilst local applicants were overlooked. It went on to state that former local government and housing minister Libertina Amathila previously allocated camps 1 and 5 as land to the local Warmbad community, but that these areas are now used by others for other purposes. 

In terms of the Warmbad hot springs, which previously provided much-needed income, it was stated that it is totally vandalised and worn-out without any development plans in place, which is very disappointing. “In addition, a water purification plant was constructed here one year ago through a N$1 million investment, but it has now become another white elephant,” the petition read. 

In conclusion, residents demanded that the government start boosting the economic growth of the settlement, and that civil servants change their attitude when serving the community members and including them in decision-making processes that can benefit them, such as the upcoming oil, gas and green hydrogen discoveries in the southern part of the country.