Windhoek housing crisis: Residents expose failures in the shack dwellers model
Residents accuse the Shack Dwellers Federation of turning into a cash-lending scheme while 20 000 people remain trapped in unfinished housing projects.
The Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia, once celebrated as a solution to Windhoek’s housing crisis, is now facing damning accusations from residents who claim the scheme has become a “cash loan business” that enriches a few while leaving tens of thousands trapped in poverty.In a searing letter to the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Sankwasa James Sankwasa, the Windhoek Ratepayers and Residents Association describes the Saamstaan Build Together housing scheme as “a burden maintained for financial gain” and calls for urgent government intervention.
The letter, seen by Network Media Hub (NMH), paints a picture of systematic neglect, bureaucratic capture, and financial mismanagement at the heart of Windhoek’s housing efforts.
From hope to stagnation
Launched in 1987, the Saamstaan model was Namibia’s first attempt to formalise shack communities through group savings schemes. It grew from 33 groups in Windhoek to 155 today, with nearly 1 000 across the country.
According to the group, nearly four decades later, the model is collapsing. Only seven groups in Windhoek have completed the process, and even those residents remain without title deeds due to Town Planning Board hurdles. For the vast majority, roughly 20 000 people, the dream of owning land after 30 years of payments remains unfulfilled.
“The model has failed under current circumstances,” the residents argue. “It benefits only those milking the poor, while the inhabitants shoulder escalating debts and insecurity.”
Money in, but little to show
Criticism centres on the Shack Dwellers Federation itself. Despite receiving at least N$10 million annually in government support, the federation’s 2023/24 annual report allegedly shows only two houses built in the Khomas Region over the last decade.
Residents accuse long-serving committee members of being “captured” by City of Windhoek officials, creating a closed circle of control that resists accountability. The federation, they say, now functions more like a micro-lending scheme than a housing agency.
Municipal debts have spiralled, worsened by what residents describe as “inco-operation” among members and opaque financial practices. Meanwhile, households are burdened with costs they can never meet: N$400 000 for construction and N$10 000 in so-called “improvement rates” just to replace a shack with a brick structure.
The crisis extends beyond Saamstaan. The residents’ association highlights communities in Groot Aub and those relocated to Farm 508, accusing the City of “dumping” families with false promises of housing. Pensioners, they note, were excluded from last year’s municipal debt write-off, despite having campaigned for its adoption.
“They can’t enjoy the benefits like others,” the letter states. “They don’t even have collateral to secure small loans. They are trapped.”
Drastic change needed
At the heart of the residents’ demands is a proposal to redirect N$255 million, recently withdrawn from the City coffers, towards completing Saamstaan’s unfinished housing projects.
They also call for the Shack Dwellers Federation to be phased out within five years. Its functions, they argue, should be absorbed into the ministry, cutting what they see as an unnecessary expense to the government.
“The federation has become more problematic than helpful,” they say. “It’s a poor people’s fund, and other provisions only benefit those in charge, not the residents.”
The ministry has already given the City of Windhoek until 31 October to present an informal settlement plan. If the municipality fails, residents say they will table their own proposal for Windhoek’s 55 000 informal households.