SWAKOPMUND – The Swakopmund Municipality plans to donate 165 single residential erven to residents of the Democratic Resettlement Community (DRC) as part of its ongoing decongestion and land regularisation process. 

This initiative started during the Covid-19 period. 

Swakopmund CEO Alfeus Benjamin said the planned allocations are one of the outcomes of the DRC decongestion programme aimed at formalising land tenure and improving living conditions for residents who have lived in the area for decades. 

According to a public notice published last week, some of the listed beneficiaries have been living in DRC for more than 28 years, while the oldest person on the list is 54 years old. 

Over the past four years, the council conducted a DRC-wide census to establish the number of shacks, household sizes, the first occupants of each erf, and the income levels of residents. 

“Through this process, council initially identified 805 residents who were issued with temporary occupation certificates while seeking ministerial approval for the transfer of ownership,” Benjamin said. 

A ministerial approval was granted to a first group in 2024, after which the first recipients received erven through the initiative. 

The current recipients will be relocated to approved extensions, and the council will soon inform those required to move from DRC proper. 

Benjamin continued that council resolved to donate erven in the identified extensions, as the areas were serviced using central government funding in previous years, and to fast-track land ownership. 

Beneficiaries will be required to pay only a N$1 000 transfer fee, not the market value of the erven. Some applicants are still paying the fees in instalments. 

“Residents earning more than N$6 000 per month were offered erven for sale at subsidised prices in Extension 31… these beneficiaries are currently constructing houses through the National Housing Enterprise,” Benjamin said. 

Municipality spokesperson Linda Mupupa said the council, as part of service delivery, appointed contractors for the electrification of 650 dwellings in extensions 27, 29 and 30 in DRC Proper. 

According to her, 197 houses were already electrified last year, while the next phase will connect a further 480 homes by March this year. 

To support this, the government contributed N$10 million, with ErongoRED adding N$1.4 million. 

The municipality remains committed to improving access to essential services, including electricity, water and sanitation, through continued collaboration with partners and stakeholders. 

Meanwhile, the council has invited members of the public to lodge objections against the proposed donations. 

Full particulars of the transaction are available for inspection at the municipal head office in Swakopmund during office hours. Any objections must be submitted in writing, in hard copy, and delivered to the office of the CEO by 12h00 on 30 January. 

-edeklerk@nepc.com.na