Residents dump sewage at City offices
For more than a decade, residents of Salm Street in Windhoek’s Nama 10 area have endured overflowing drains, delayed waste collection and what they describe as years of municipal neglect.At the centre of the growing frustration is 47-year-old resident Lisa Isaacks, who says she has spent years pleading with the City of Windhoek for help, to no avail.
Holding a file of letters and emails dating back to 2018, Isaacks said the community has been left to live among blocked drains and sewage that regularly spills into their yards and homes.
“There is only one sewerage line that runs through our yards. When there’s a blockage, the drain overflows. We can’t use our toilets for weeks. We end up using plastic bags and throwing them into the riverbed,” she said.
The health impact, especially on children, has been severe. Isaacks claimed several children who were previously healthy have developed asthma and other respiratory illnesses due to constant exposure to polluted air and stagnant wastewater.
“I have a clinic card of a child who was born without asthma, but now has it. The municipality told us to remove the drainage from our yards and deepen the riverbed. When it rains, everything overflows back into our homes. We’ve been in this hole for 11 years. We are tired,” she said.
Protest and outrage
Tensions reached a boiling point this week when angry residents, led by community activist Shaun Gariseb, took matters into their own hands, dumping buckets of raw sewage at the City of Windhoek’s Customer Care office in Katutura.
“We came to make sure that the City officials have a ‘kak Monday’,” Gariseb said. “We made sure it smells as bad as it smells where we live.”
Gariseb accused the municipality of neglecting basic sanitation, despite boasting of investments in water and wastewater infrastructure. “They talk about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, flying around the world to attend conferences, yet people here live in filth. It’s just about priorities – replacing ageing pipes and fixing drains,” he said.
He added that despite the City’s claims of investing N$1.7 billion in water reclamation and wastewater upgrades, “people in Katutura have yet to see real change.”
City responds
City spokesperson Harold Akwenye confirmed the protest and said a team had been dispatched to clean up the affected area.
“The City of Windhoek is aware of the incident that took place this morning, where sewage waste was dumped at the City’s offices. A cleaning team has already been dispatched,” he said.
While condemning the protest action, Akwenye maintained that the City remains committed to resolving sanitation challenges. “Our technical teams continuously monitor and attend to reported sewer blockages and overflows across the city, including in Dolam. We encourage residents to report incidents through official communication channels for timely response and resolution,” he said.
Akwenye urged residents to engage constructively with municipal departments to address service delivery challenges.