Scores of people who illegally occupied land at Okahandja are facing eviction after the local municipality applied for a court order to force settlers off the unserviced property. 

The Okahandja municipality resolved in
February this year to evict all illegal land occupiers. Okahandja municipality CEO Alphons Tjitombo on Friday confirmed in a statement that the council’s decision has already been communicated to the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development. 

“Council is waiting for feedback from the attorney general’s office via the line ministry. Once the court eviction order has been obtained, council will implement the court order with immediate effect,” he said. “All residents of Okahandja town and the nation at large are hereby urged to refrain from grabbing land illegally, and to remain patient while council is busy planning these areas for mix-use development.” 

The decision to evict the land occupiers follows shortly after over 2 000 people who had allegedly grabbed unserviced municipal land last year expressed concern that they were still in limbo over the promised plots by the local authority. 

This is the second time in the last two years that the local authority is seeking to evict land grabbers through a court order. In August 2020, urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni also applied for an eviction order in the High Court to force about 2 000 illegal occupiers off the municipal land. 

At the time, Uutoni and the Okahandja municipality had asked the court to authorise the eviction of residents who occupied some parts of the town’s unserviced land illegally. The people who faced eviction include residents living in informal structures at Okahandja locations such as Ekunde, Ekunde Extension 5, Veddersdal Extension 1, 2 and 3, and Five Rand Extension 3 and 4, as well as any other municipal land occupied unlawfully.

 Fortunately, before the eviction order was to be carried out in the next month of September, Uutoni felt the demands from the community members who grabbed land were genuine, and ordered that everyone be registered to be allocated a piece of land. 

Nonetheless, land grabbing continued unabated around Okahandja, especially on the outskirts of the town - a situation that prompted the council to apply for another eviction order against land grabbers. 

In fact, since the 2020 lifting of the moratorium on the sale of land at Okahandja, the council has failed to contain the situation of land grabbing by residents, especially around the Ekunde informal settlement.  Tjitombo said council is delivering on its promise to formalise the informal settlements of Ekunde Proper, Ekunde Ext 1 & 2, Oshetu Proper, Oshetu Extension 1 and Oshetu Extension 2.  He announced that council has appointed the services of SPC to apply to the planning board for these formalisations. Once these townships have been proclaimed, the council will award the existing occupants with security of tenure. Lithon Project Consultants have been appointed for the design, documentation, management and supervision of the installation of sewer and water network services. 

“Hence, 90% of the design and documentation work has been completed. Once the full documentation is forwarded to council for its perusal and approval, council, in collaboration with Lithon Project Consultants, will advertise for the services of a construction company for the construction of the services in these townships,” the CEO noted.  

In terms of Section 63(3)(a) and (b) of the Local Authorities Act No. 23 of 1992, as amended, once the period of objections lapsed, the council forwarded the list of beneficiaries to the ministry in December 2021. However, Tjitombo said this request was sent back to council with a recommendation for further input. 

“Council has worked on the recommendations of the ministry, and submitted phase 1 of the inputs required for ministerial approval. Council is optimistic to hear from the ministry soon,” he added.

 Equally, council has appointed the services of a consultant for the renewal of the township board certificates for new townships with the urban and regional planning board. 

These include Ekunde Proper (unofficially known as Promised Land); Ekunde Ext 1 (unofficially known as Vergenoeg); Ekunde Ext 2 & 3; Veddersdal Ext 2 & 3, and Five Rand Ext 3 & 4. Under Ekunde Proper, council has earmarked developmental projects of a fire station and a health facility to be constructed, which will provide much-needed services to the community.  –anakale@nepc.com.na