WINDHOEK – Single Quarters residents in Katutura are tired of rampant crime in the area with some comparing the societal degeneration to the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah.
At a community meeting on Wednesday evening residents listed noise pollution, the mushrooming of shebeens, late night and early morning operating hours of some shebeens, and the prevalence of thieves and robbers as some of the serious issues affecting the long suffering residents of the location still known as the Single Quarters, the name a throwback from the apartheid days when the then South African authorities disallowed male workers from living with their wives and families in the capital – thus the name ‘single quarters’, to meam quarters meant for ‘single living’..
Katutura Central Constituency Councillor, Ambrosious Kandjii, the Chief of the Windhoek City Police, Abraham Kanime, Katutura Police Station Commander Chief Inspector Ismael Basson, and the Deputy Mayor of the City of Windhoek, Muese Kazapua, were among the delegates that attended the meeting.
“The problems we have at the Single Quarters are alcohol abuse, drug abuse and shebeens, which do not close when they should, they operate 24 hours a day. Our children do not study or sleep because of the noise pollution that emanates from shebeens,” lamented Maria Ngavirue, a Single Quarters community leader.
Single Quarters resident, Selma Paulus, compared living in the location to the biblical Sodom and Gomorra because of the widespread crime. She said when people are robbed or beaten in full view of other residents nobody dares come to their rescue, even in broad daylight.
“We are scared of being beaten or stabbed that is why we look on when thieves attack their victims,” said another woman who attended the meeting.
“The youth do not want to join the Women and Men Network (volunteer community policing organisation) because they are not paid,” she said, adding that such an attitude is “wrong and negative”.
“The youth should change and listen to what their parents are saying,” she said.
Leaders within that community reportedly harbour criminals in their homes. “Criminal activities in the Single Quarters have escalated. There is no camp or training for criminals in this location and these criminals do not come from the bushes but from our homes. People in the Single Quarters hide thieves because they know that they benefit from their activities,” said Mike Aihwiki.
Furthermore, residents lament that the mobile police station at the Single Quarters is “useless” because all it does is to “certify documents”.
“When we report a crime we are sent to either the Katutura police station or the Wanaheda police station. There are young police people there – why can they not deal with cases other than the certifying of documents. After 23 years of independence that is unfair,” complained Aihwiki.
He charged that the Windhoek City Police is more effective and responsive than the Namibian Police Force.
Echoing similar sentiments, Lydia Jason said in a petition handed to Basson: “The police station is not readily available to assist residents and thus they refer residents to other police stations which is cumbersome as some residents encounter serious emergencies that require police intervention.”
With regard to illegal shebeens, Jason said most of the shebeen owners are not residents of the Single Quarters. “They are renting houses in Hochland Park,” she informed the interactive meeting.
Not many children in the location graduate from tertiary institutions, let alone acquire entrance to such institutions because of the disturbing noise pollution, alcohol and substance abuse that are rife in the area.
“You find a five-year-old child carrying a bottle of beer. It’s very disturbing, shebeens do not follow the rules, they are not supposed to sell alcohol to minors under the age of 18,” a disturbed Jason said.
Jason read and gave the petition to Kanime, Basson and Kazapua.
In response, Katutura Police Station Commander Chief Inspector Basson said he had no knowledge of the ineffectiveness of the police station at the Single Quarters as nobody “used the correct channels to complain”.
“If you have such difficulties you should know where to complain,” he advised.
He stressed the importance of fighting crime collectively by joining community policing activities and not hiding criminals when they need to be apprehended.
Caption (Pic 1: Community members):
Single Quarters residents at a community meeting where they said rampant crime has reduced the high-density location in Katutura to a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah.
By Alvine Kapitako