August Maletzky
Africa-Press – Namibia. The housing crisis in Namibia – particularly in Windhoek – is not merely a socio-economic failure; it is also a judicially sanctioned tragedy.
While the influx of job-seeking youth is indeed a contributing factor, one of the most overlooked and devastating drivers of urban housing shortages is the loss of primary homes due to the legal system’s abuse of Rule 108 of the High Court Rules.
Rule 108 was intended as a safeguard to ensure judicial oversight before a person’s primary residence can be declared specially executable.
In principle, it should protect the constitutional rights to housing and human dignity enshrined in Articles 8 and 10 of the Namibian Constitution. But in practice, it has become a notorious tool for dispossession.
There is no real judicial oversight.
Judges sign off on the sale of homes without any post-sale reporting or accountability mechanisms.
There is no verification that the home is sold at market value, no follow-up to assess whether a family has been rendered homeless, no transparency in the execution process.
The entire scheme plays out behind closed doors, facilitated by banks and a handful of deputy sheriffs, with the courts acting more like silent accomplices than neutral overseers.
How can we speak of ‘judicial oversight’ when primary homes – often the only source of security and dignity for struggling families – are sold for a fraction of their worth without any feedback loop to the presiding judge?
This is not oversight. This is administrative detachment at best – and wilful legal corruption at worst.
The government cannot continue to pretend that informal settlements are merely the result of rural migration.
Many of the people now living in shacks once had homes – homes stripped away from them in courtrooms with no regard for the irreversible social destruction that follows.
If Namibia is serious about addressing the housing crisis, we must begin by:
Suspending the operation of Rule 108 until it can be reviewed for constitutional compliance.
Introducing mandatory post-sale reporting to ensure transparency and prevent the undervaluation of homes.
Requiring independent market valuations before any sale can proceed.
Creating legal aid and mediation frameworks to help homeowners in distress avoid foreclosure in the first place.
The crisis of housing in Namibia is not just about land or population pressure. It is about justice, or the lack thereof.
Until our legal system stops enabling dispossession through silent signatures and rubber stamps, no number of housing initiatives will stem the tide of homelessness.
Source: The Namibian
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