Africa-Press – Namibia. WINDHOEK mayor Job Amupanda says he is surprised when people tell him he has been at the forefront of the illegal land occupation issue in the country before he was elected to the city council.
He says what he did in 2014 when he erected a sign at Kleine Kuppe was not land grabbing, but a 15-minute campaign to achieve a national and international objective.
He says this narrative is now being used by “some chance takers” to instigate Windhoek residents to illegally occupy land to pressure him. He says this has turned Windhoek into “gramadoelas”, where people just want to “get, get, get, because apparently the mayor used to occupy land”.
“The mayor never grabbed land. The mayor was in Kleine Kuppe for 15 minutes. After that we mobilised people to apply to the city for land. You will find people saying ‘you were at the forefront of land grabbing’. Where? Which land have we grabbed?” he says.
He says those instigating people to occupy land illegally in Windhoek must therefore reflect deeply on the consequences of their actions, because they may also end up occupying positions of responsibility in the future.
“It is not like we are not aware of things we have done in the past, and if appearing at a site for 15 minutes can be constituted as land grabbing . . . we never grabbed land in Katutura, we grabbed land in Kleinne Kuppe,” he says.
Amupanda made these remarks at a media briefing on Tuesday when he announced the outcome of a five-day workshop the municipality organised to find lasting solutions to the land and housing question in the city.
Last week’s workshop was triggered by the increase in incidents of illegal land occupation, which started late last year at various informal settlements in Windhoek.
After announcing a myriad of proposals to improve the operations of the municipality in terms of land administration and the implementation of projects aimed at accelerating land servicing and housing, Amupanda said the Windhoek City Council would no longer tolerate illegal land occupation.
“Obviously . . . we cannot tolerate illegal land occupation. It won’t be happening, particularly due to the fact that we now have a clear plan on what should be done. We can’t be planning for you and at the same time you are occupying the very same land where we are supposed to put a clinic for your children,” he said.
