Without land, livestock or decent dwellings, the /Khomanin find themselves in destitution.
This is what could be deduced from a petition the /Khomanin Traditional Authority handed to Vice President Nangolo Mbumba yesterday, albeit in absentia.
Their petition was instead received by Minister in the Presidency, Christine //Hoebes.
Before handing over their petition, the traditional leaders and a number of their subjects conducted a peaceful demonstration, marching from Eros Girl’s School in the capital to the old State House.
Senior headman Jorro Eiseb, who read the petition, said their purpose was to share the landlessness of the /Khomanin people and the challenges that they continue to face.
“The landlessness of the /Khomanin traditional community, we are the only traditional authority without communal land, lack of office accommodation, community court and a community hall,” Eiseb said. This, he said was due to the forced removal and subsequent force relocation of their ancestors.
“The purpose of this petition is to share the landlessness of the /Khomanin, [the] communal land and challenges we are facing, 33 years of independence.”
He added that, the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development constructed offices for other recognised traditional authorities, and they don’t have one due to lack of communal land. The group who are frustrated and feeling sidelined pleaded for fair treatment from the authorities.
“Due to the forceful removal and subsequent relocation of our ancestors from Khomas Hochland by the previous regimes to areas alien to them such as Okakarara, Otjimbingwe and Okombahe by the South African regime [under] administrator general Daan Viljoen as part of the Odendaal Plan, resulted in the loss of thousands of domesticated animals such as donkeys, chicken, cattle, goats, pigs, dogs and countless dwellings and indeed loss of their most valuable ancestral land,” reads the petition.
“Your Excellency, we submit our petition and will wait for a month from today’s date [20 September 2023],” the /Khomanin gave the Presidency an ultimatum.
To this, //Hoebes said they are aware of the issues confronting the community and the government will respond to the same in earnest.
According to a report this week, the ministry of land reform is in the process of acquiring farms for the resettlement of /Khomanin people.