Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Walvis Bay municipality has put individual land applications at Farm 37 on hold until further notice.
The municipality said it will only accept applications in groups.
According to a statement issued recently by the municipality’s communication officer, Catty Sheya, there are residents who are submitting land application letters to the office of the chief executive officer to secure land at Farm 37.
“Council would like to clarify that no such applications are needed. The said application form was prepared by an external party and members of the public complete it by adding their names and ID [card] numbers,” Sheya said.
According to her, the municipality has not made any official announcements on land.
“Therefore, any information or communication on behalf of the municipality should be treated with distrust. Council’s commitment to fast-tracking land delivery and servicing on Farm 37 is underway and no application forms from the public are required at this stage,” she said.
The municipality has over the years been unable to deliver land to the residents.
The available residential land was sold by auction, while other portions of land were sold to companies for their employees.
Diina Eliakim, a cleaner at a local shop, questioned how people like her will ever get land.
“I cannot join the Shackdwellers Federation. Those people have been waiting for land for over 10 years at Walvis Bay,” she said.
Community activist Efraim Nanghama said that the municipality should not decide for individuals when they can apply for land.
“It is not the first time that individuals have applied for land in this town or anywhere in Namibia. There is no such constitutional provision that says one can only apply for land when the municipality says you can apply,” he said.
He accuses the municipality of applying neo-colonial rules to exclude some sectors of society.
Nanghama called on the municipal councilor to hold rallies in the communities and explain the land policy.
“The same way they were explaining their manifestos to us, they must come back and explain their discriminatory land policies. We don’t want those fake land occupation certificates,” said Nanghama.
Former Walvis Bay local authority councillor Gibson Goseb explained that the municipality has got the full mandate to decide how it disposes of land within its area of jurisdiction.
“At no point has the municipality outsourced its function of registering beneficiaries to date, thus anyone registering people without municipal consent is committing what constitutes a crime,” said Goseb.
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