Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Karibib Town Council has put the sale of and applications for land on hold, pending the completion of a land audit expected to be carried out by the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development.
This was communicated in a public notice seen by The Namibian.
Karibib CEO Lesley Goreseb says the resolution was taken by the council late last year, but clarified that the decision would not affect applications that were submitted before the resolution was passed.
Karibib mayor Davey van Wyk says the land audit was requested by the council to assist in the verification of landowners at the town.
“We’ve come across issues where we allocate land but the land belongs to someone else or it was already sold to someone else, and the person did not pay. It does not help that we sell land and then someone else comes and produces a title deed,” he says.
Van Wyk adds that the council also needs to confirm which land within the town boundaries belongs to the council, as there were many plots sold off during the establishment of the town in 1900, when it was a watering hole for German soldiers, as well as during the apartheid dispensation.
He says he suspects many plots at the town were never registered with the council.
“We want to know which land belongs to TransNamib and the government. Especially after independence, Spoorweg’s land was transferred to TransNamib. There are many pieces of land belonging to TransNamib and we don’t how big it is,” he said.
The moratorium on the sale of land will remain in place until the end of February, as the council awaits a directive from the ministry.
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