Development on Groot Aub under the microscope
Community activists are complaining about how the Windhoek municipality is managing the settlement.
The development of Groot Aub came to a standstill after the settlement was placed under the management of the Windhoek Municipality in September 2017.This is according to a complaint filed by community activist Cicel Titus last Saturday on behalf of the residents of Groot Aub. With the support of fellow community activists Edward Gaingob and Shikomba Shikomba, Titus raised the community’s dissatisfaction with the “one-sided manner” in which the City of Windhoek (CoW) is developing the settlement.
Specifically, they are unhappy with the location of temporary container offices that the CoW has placed in front of the largest retailers in the town, which also allegedly detracts from the main street. The community is also concerned that the CoW will eventually impose rates and taxes on this poor community.
Another fear of the residents is that plots will be divided into smaller parts and unaffordable leases will be imposed on houses in which families have lived for decades, which will lead to the seizure of properties when payments cannot be made. Residents of Groot Aub also reportedly do not have title deeds to prove home ownership, according to Titus.
Unemployment
Up to 50% of the approximately 15 000 residents are unemployed, with many households dependent on the state pension of older relatives, he claims.
Furthermore, half of Groot Aub’s households do not have a water supply to their homes.
The CoW also has to purchase the power supply that NamPower has established in the town at great expense and the community expects the municipality to impose the cost on them. There are no tarred roads in Groot Aub and the tarring of roads in the town is only a false promise, according to residents.
A Windhoek councillor, Ivan Skrywer, is the chairman of the advisory committee for the formalisation of informal settlements, responsible for the merger of Groot Aub and the CoW.
“Ivan Skrywer does not live here either and is therefore not relevant to Groot Aub, because he does not know our struggle,” said Shikomba.
'Not right'
“We are not fighting to stop development, but what is happening here is not right,” he argued. “We see officials from the City of Windhoek coming here and there to measure, but we do not know what for.”
When asked, Skrywer stressed that the proclamation of Windhoek’s expansion and the inclusion of Groot Aub within the capital’s borders was done by the central government. Consultations on this should have taken place before. “Now there is a legal obligation on the City of Windhoek to facilitate the integration,” he said.
Skrywer said Windhoek is progressing with the integration, although the influx of people to Groot Aub after the proclamation is putting pressure on the capital.
The approximately 900 plots in the formal part of Groot Aub are gradually being provided with prepaid power and water, while the growing informal part of the settlement is also being measured.
He confirmed that CoW is taking over the power infrastructure from NamPower and he expects Groot Aub to be transformed into a business hub as the integration progresses.
Regarding the municipal office, Skrywer said it is necessary to bring services closer to the community. All municipal services will be available at Groot Aub when the office is fully operational in a month or two.
A permanent office will eventually replace the shipping containers, he said. The location of the new office is the responsibility of engineers and municipal officials and he cannot comment on it, Skrywer said. – [email protected]