WINDHOEK - The handing over of a petition with over 5 000 signatures calling on the  Windhoek Municipality to provide affordable land to the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) and Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG) was cancelled yesterday.

The petition was initially to have been handed over to the mayor of Windhoek, Agnes Kafula, at 09h00 yesterday, but had to be cancelled as she was unable to receive the petition due to other official commitments.

However, Kafula requested the groups to liaise with her office so that a suitable date be chosen for the petition’s handing-over.

In the letter dated 12 August the groups requested the municipality to sign a memorandum of understanding to honour and improve working relations between the city and the two groups to ensure continuity in the provision of land.  

“We have been waiting for land for more than 13 years and that includes one group who have been waiting for 23 years,” stated SDFN national facilitator Edith Mbanga when contacted for comment on Thursday.

The groups further say they want a fair distribution of land. “We want fair land distribution – for every one square metre sold to developers, three square metres must be given to the low-income community,” they said.

The two groups furthermore wanted to know what happened to the N$310 million of Tipeeg which was aimed at low-income groups.

“We want to know what happened to the N$310 million which was given to the City of Windhoek for low-income groups,” stressed Mbanga.

By Kuzeeko Tjitemisa