City explains rejection of Amushelelo's housing project
Development fails to meet key requirements
City of Windhoek said the settlement has not complied with the provisions of the Water Resources Management Act and has no environmental clearance certificate.
The City of Windhoek (CoW) has defended its decision to reject Michael Amushelelo’s proposed housing development, citing non-compliance with municipal and national environmental standards.Amushelelo is accusing the CoW of deliberately obstructing his efforts to provide affordable housing.
He claims that his development has been subjected to requirements not enforced on other developers.
Responding to Amushelelo, City spokesperson Lydia Amutenya said the development failed to meet key requirements, including the construction of an on-site wastewater treatment facility that complies with the municipal and national environmental standards.
Amutenya also said that the settlement has not complied with the provisions of the Water Resources Management Act and has no environmental clearance certificate.
High-strength industrial effluent
The Windhoek municipality rejected Amushelelo’s request to use the Ujams industrial wastewater treatment plant, stating that it is engineered to handle high-strength industrial effluent, not domestic sewage. “Introducing lower-strength domestic sewage into the system disrupts the plant's microbial balance and may reduce treatment efficiency,” she said. “This compromises the stability and performance of the plant and misuses high-value capacity intended for industrial operations.”
She warned that forcing the Ujams facility to process sewage outside its design parameters could result in partially treated or untreated waste being released into the environment.
Amushelelo argued that other estates within the boundaries of Windhoek, such as Frankenstein and Elisenheim, are required to have roads that are 25 metres wide or to include a bus stop.
Changing requirements
He further said the City has imposed these requirements on his development in addition to deliberately shifting requirements to reduce the scale of his project.
“We suggested to the City that we would construct our wastewater plant. Initially, the requirement was for the plant to be within a 250-metre radius to avoid waste spillage.
"Suddenly, they changed it to a 500-metre radius, meaning we would have to remove no fewer than 70% of the erven and acquire additional land to build the sewage plant,” Amushelelo claimed.
Furthermore, he questioned the City’s claim that Ujams is unsuitable for domestic waste, noting that estates like Thorn Valley and Klein Windhoek had been allowed to direct their sewage to the facility.
“We lodged our complaint with the Ministry of Agriculture, and we were shocked to learn that the Ujams plant currently allows Thorn Valley and Klein Windhoek to pump their waste there. So, if other developments are granted access to this wastewater treatment plant, why is our specific development being denied the same?” he asked.
Properly laid out and planned
Amutenya clarified that the usage by Klein Windhoek and Thorn Valley was a temporary measure during the early operational phase of Ujams, and that Klein Windhoek’s waste was later redirected to Gamma’s Wastewater Treatment Works.
She noted that logistical constraints prevented the redirection of Thorn Valley’s flow once Ujams reached capacity.
Despite the regulatory hurdles, Amushelelo said he remains committed to providing affordable housing.
“Since we own the land as the property group Save Namibia, we have now decided to set up an informal settlement that has been properly laid out and planned. We will proceed with an informal township where people will own the land on which their houses are built.
"However, because we fall within the boundaries of the CoW, we will only be able to put up temporary structures,” he said.
Amushelelo insisted the City’s treatment of his project is politically motivated, stating that for five years, his plans have been delayed by excessive bureaucracy.