Windhoek
Mix, an impoverished settlement situated 20km north of Windhoek, has for many times been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
It is a community that feels forgotten by the government, and residents charge that 25 years after Namibia’s independence they still are marginalised and excluded.
Children of school-going age roam the area, as parents cannot afford to pay the transport fees to have their children taken to schools that are a bit far.
The settlement of about 3 000 inhabitants has no toilets, electricity, clinics, schools or a mobile police station to maintain law and order.
To access some of these basic services residents travel to Windhoek. The return taxi fare for adults from Mix to Monte Christo near Katutura is N$40. Then the fare still has to be paid from Monte Christo to other destinations in the capital.
The settlement however received additional communal taps. Previously the community made use of one tap . “It’s better now that we have seven taps but we have to drive to Ombili or Wanaheda to recharge the cards [to access usage of the tap],” said a resident, who requested that toilets also be constructed at the settlement.
She said that with more and more “outsiders” erecting shacks they are left with little space to relieve themselves.
The majority of the people, but especially women who head households, are unemployed and survive from selling kapana or firewood. The latter they get by sneaking onto surrounding farms where they face the risk of being charged for trespassing.
As this reporter drove into the settlement, several groups of people were seated under trees imbibing home brewed alcohol. Piles of dirt are visible around the settlement.
“Mix is dirty. Ministers come here and they find it like this,” said a woman during an interview.
“We don’t have bins. You’ll find children playing with used condoms or tablets,” remarked another resident who like the others did not want to be named. New Era visited the settlement last Friday afternoon.
Residents raised concern about high unemployment, land invasions and their not having identity documents, among others.
Speaking in unison the residents, without giving a figure, hammered home the point that a great number of children still do not attend school because parents can’t afford transport fees.
Last year a resident and project manager at Heiner Hambardt Mix Pre-Primary and Out of School Centre, Karin Nangula Shikalepo, said 312 children of primary school-going age do not attend school.
The nearest primary school is Frans Indongo at Okahandja Park, where a few learners are enrolled. Other children are enrolled at government schools around Windhoek or in other towns, where they reside in hostels.
The residents further said there is no municipal bus service between Windhoek and Mix.
Another resident Lukas Petrus said it does not make sense that the municipality can’t provide a bus to transport children to school, but during elections there are always buses available to pick them up to attend political rallies.
Fransina Johannes said a parent is expected to pay N$1 000 for transport for two children per month, and this excludes food and other basics.
Johannes pleaded with the government to at least provide them with a clinic.
“We have called an ambulance on several occasions but it normally doesn’t turn up,” said Johannes who revealed many women have delivered babies at home.
Asked if they were employed, she replied, “If we were employed would all of us be sitting here on a Friday?”
Committee member Martha Shivolo said since plans are underway to build a school in the area, the education ministry has provided them with a tent school in the interim, like they do in other areas.
Shivolo further said a few residents are employed on farms around Mix but she insists that they are exploited through starvation wages.
Lukas Petrus was involved in accident while on duty and was not compensated. He said has since lost his job.
Another resident suggested that if they were employed they would have money to spend on keeping the settlement clean, as it is very dirty. Committee leader Joshua Ngomo expressed concern about outsiders grabbing land in the settlement.
The Ministry of Education spokesperson Johanna Absalom confirmed to New Era that the ministry plans to construct a primary school at Mix.
“At this stage, the ministry is underway with the preparation for documentation and project management for construction of the primary school at Mix settlement. Infrastructure development and the construction of schools, as well as classrooms, remain a priority for the ministry. This is to ensure that education is brought close to the people, where quality and inclusive education will take place,” she said.
Khomas Governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua could not be reached for comment regarding developmental plans for the settlement.