The Katutura Residents Committee have voiced their frustration over the lack of concrete solutions after they visited the mayor on 19 July. The mayor promised to return in two weeks “to ensure peace”, but the residents say they don’t want peace, they want their debt written off.
The residents, during their peaceful demonstration through Independence Avenue to the City headquarters, demanded that their debt be written off, stressing that they are unable to pay their accumulated water bills after the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Reading a petition on their behalf, Benestus Kandundu, the committee chairperson, said the pandemic had a devastating impact on pensioners, and the majority are left with substantial amounts of water debt. This has resulted in the City disconnecting their water and electricity, as well as contracting Red Force debt collectors to recover the debt from the pensioners.
They announced plans for a peaceful demonstration on 6 September, aiming to bring attention to their concerns and the urgent need for meaningful change.
Kandundu highlighted the sense of neglect that the people of Katutura are experiencing. He pointed out that water and electricity services are frequently cut off, affecting the community’s well-being.
A significant number of Katutura’s population remains unemployed and are unable to afford full water and electricity bills.
Kandundu also noted that leaders seem to have forgotten the far-reaching impact of Covid-19, which affected everyone, including business owners within Katutura.
“Katutura people are not blind to see all these and how the leaders are treating them. It’s not fair that the City of Windhoek is grabbing land from people living in Katutura and sell it to the rich,” he said.
Jacqueline Cloete, a resident of Katutura said she has been living without water and electricity for the past two years. And life has not been easy.
She added that the City of Windhoek officials do not have manners and are arrogant.
“During winter, my children were refusing to go to school because they cannot bath in cold water and I cannot wake up early in the morning to boil water because its dark and dangerous. This is Katutura we are talking about,” she said.
Cloete alleged that if anyone owes N$15 000 and you go to the City of Windhoek with N$3 000, they will not allow you to pay; they expect you to pay the full amount, which is not fair because she cannot afford to pay that.
Cloete said it is hard for the children to do their school work and online tests without internet.
Simon Muhongi, the spokesperson of the Katutura Residents Committee, said businesses are still struggling after Covid-19.
“Since the pandemic came, we never had income as our business closed down. This matter made our situation worse and we lost our income. Now we are unable to afford services and water and electricity are cut off by Red Force, instructed by the municipality,” he said.
He added that, the matter made their lives difficult to survive. Businesses cannot operate without water and electricity and the bills are
high. Moreover, operating a small business in Katutura is not easy and most of them survive by those businesses.