11111 Media Monitoring on Urban Development in Namibia

Media Monitoring on Urban Development in Namibia is a service provided by Development Workshop Namibia (DWN), a newly registered Namibian NGO with a focus on sustainable urban development and poverty reduction. DWN is part of a world-wide network of Development Workshop (DW) organisations with centres in Canada, Angola and France, and offices in Vietnam and Burkino Faso. It was founded in the 1970s by three architect students in the UK and has been funded by non- governmental organisations, private citizens, and national and international development organisations.

In Namibia, DWN’s activities focus on urban related research, effective urban planning for the urban poor, solutions to informal settlements, water & sanitation, and projects specifically targeting disadvantaged segments of the urban youth. Through 40 years of engagement on urban issues mainly in Africa and Asia, the DW network of organisations has acquired significant institutional knowledge and capacity and is well integrated in regional and international networks.

The Namibian media provide an important source of information on urban development processes in the country, highlighting current events, opportunities and challenges. The media further provide insight into the different views and perceptions of a variety of actors, be it from government, non- government, private sector, and individuals that reside in Namibia’s towns and settlements.

It is therefore hoped that DWN’s Media Monitoring service will provide insights into those different views, with potential use for a variety of institutions and decision-makers that work in the urban environment in Namibia.

The Media Monitoring service is currently provided on a monthly basis and monitors the following newspapers: The Namibian, Republikein, Namibian Sun, New Era, Windhoek Observer, Confidente, and Informante. Compiled by: The articles are grouped into following categories: Esleen Guriras & Alina Nambuli 1. Urban Planning, Land & Housing Edited by: Ester Veiko & Beat Weber 2. Urban Infrastructure and Services Produced by: 3. Livelihoods and Urban Economy Development Workshop Namibia 4. Environment & Human Health Address: The text of the news articles has not been altered and thus 18 Nachtigal Street PO Box 40723, Ausspannplatz reflects the opinion of the respective media outlets, and not Windhoek, Namibia that of DWN. We hope you find this service useful and 061 240 140 interesting. DWN is keen to improve the service and [email protected] welcomes suggestions and comments.

Yours sincerely,

With support from: Development Workshop Namibia Namibian Chamber of Environment

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Index

1 URBAN PLANNING, LAND AND HOUSING ...... 4 1.1 Katrina hits back at Smit ...... 4 1.2 Windhoek gets new developments ...... 4 1.3 NHE allocates houses ahead of completion ...... 5 1.4 Windhoek endures a two-hour power outage ...... 6 1.5 Swakop budgets N$99 million for houses, plots...... 6 1.6 City cancels drawn-out land deals ...... 7 1.7 Technicalities ground NHE housing project in Omuthiya ...... 8 1.8 NHE denies building poor quality houses...... 8 1.9 NHE defies N$500 000 govt price cap ...... 9 1.10 Over 3,200 on NHE’s Rundu housing waiting list...... 9 1.11 Six times more for Windhoek land ...... 10 1.12 NHE wants to change the housing market with public investment ...... 11 1.13 House prices contract for third straight month, expected to retreat further ...... 11 1.14 Kalahari Homeless Indaba verbeter behuising ...... 12 1.15 Reduce Govt borrowing to lower housing finance ...... 13 1.16 KHI making housing inroads ...... 13 1.17 Academia erven out on tender...... 14 1.18 City can't get N$300m from land deals ...... 14 1.19 Rehoboth woeker met begraafplaas ...... 16 1.20 Expensive land and housing lead to more shacks – Klazen ...... 16 1.21 Back Home ...... 17 1.22 Shack dwellers make strides in housing provision ...... 17 1.23 House prices down, but still unaffordable ...... 18 1.24 Shack dwellers accuse City of delays ...... 19 1.25 Lüderitz pleased with housing project ...... 19 1.26 Outjo renames major streets ...... 20 1.27 City to rename several streets...... 20 1.28 Councillors question street renaming ...... 21

2 URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES ...... 23 2.1 Omuthiya hospital not up to standard-Angala ...... 23 2.2 B2Gold solar farm to produce renewable energy ...... 23 2.3 Kragonderbreking lei tot chaos ...... 24 2.4 Govt coughs up N$58m to City ...... 24 2.5 New power substation commissioned at Otavi ...... 25 2.6 //Karas receives N$1b for infrastructure ...... 25 2.7 Local authorities should ensure solid waste disposal ...... 26 2.8 Katima residents lament late rubbish removal ...... 26 2.9 Vlamme verswelg sinkhuise op Henties ...... 27 2.10 Towns keep close eye on water ...... 27 2.11 Bids open for Gobabis projects ...... 28 2.12 Tsumeb municipality in N$7m electricity debt ...... 28 2.13 City to fill up 3 000 potholes by end July ...... 29 2.14 Police prioritise infrastructure development – Ndeitunga...... 29 2.15 //Karas councils struggle to pay debts ...... 30 2.16 Enough money for road repairs ...... 30 2

2.17 Keetmans to upgrade Krönlein stadium ...... 31 2.18 Windhoek se krane dalk oor twee seisoene leeg ...... 32 2.19 Great Relief ...... 33

3 LIVELIHOODS AND URBAN ECONOMY ...... 34 3.1 Upsurge in chicken runs in the city ...... 34 3.2 Factory closure deals Witvlei body blow...... 34 3.3 Avani Hotel and shopping centre revamp to cost N$160 million ...... 35 3.4 Ongwediva meat processing plant nears completion ...... 36 3.5 Promiseland feeding scheme receives boost (livelihoods) ...... 36 3.6 Oshakati council stops free-for-all ...... 37 3.7 //Karas residents trained in brick-making ...... 38 3.8 N$4.8 million Wanaheda fish shop to boost consumption ...... 38 3.9 Donkey problems at Okahao remain ...... 39 3.10 New open market fails to impress ...... 39

4 ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH ...... 41 4.1 Rubbish a serious health hazard in Khomas ...... 41 4.2 Informal settlements threaten Daan Viljoen wildlife...... 41 4.3 Keetmans to reuse waste water for irrigation...... 42

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1 Urban Planning, Land and Housing

1.1 Katrina hits back at Smit The Namibian Sun|05/06/2018

Education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa is standing by a decision not to give Kleine Kuppe land to a private school in exchange for a state-of-the-art school in an informal settlement, and further hit back at Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) MP Nico Smit by saying that she, and not he, is the education minister. This follows a recent report that the minister had rejected a deal by the Windhoek Gymnasium private school, which wanted to buy land reserved for the education ministry in exchange for building 24 classrooms and other facilities at the Monte Christo School in the Havana informal settlement. In a media statement at the weekend, Smit said his party was waiting for the minister to explain to the nation why she had reversed the decision to provide about 2 000 Namibian children with state-of-the-art school facilities and simultaneously give the desperately ailing Namibian economy a much-needed boost. “The PDM wishes to remind the minister that ever since independence this government has made numerous appeals to the private sector to get more involved in education as this, and specifically primary education, is a huge drain on the national treasury. “However, when the private sector, as in this case, does offer to get involved, the government, in the form of the minister of education, makes it as difficult as possible to actually get anything done,” he said. Hanse-Himarwa hit back by saying that she does not make decisions willy-nilly but always in the best interest of the Namibian child.She also emphasised that her decision was well thought through and made after extensive consultation based on fairness. “It is really unprofessional for PDM to just run with what they read in the media. They have not engaged me on what they have read; they do not have any in-depth information on why the decision was made. I think they must first engage the relevant people before they go to the media,” she said.

1.2 Windhoek gets new developments The Namibian Sun|05/06/2018

New developments such as a waterfront at the Goreangab Dam and a golf course in Eros will not only bring services closer to people but also increase housing in Windhoek. Khomas governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua said in her State of the Region Address that that these projects form part of the Special Projects Portfolio of the City of Windhoek. According to her the Windhoek City Council has approved a waterfront development at the Goreangab Dam. The project entails a waterfront development with business-zoned erven with walkways and a residential component with amenities. “Council and the communities will derive benefits from the project when implemented through a new commercial development which will bring services like supermarkets, clothing shops, restaurants and furniture shops closer to the people, where people currently have to travel long distances to access such amenities,” the governor said. McLeod-Katjirua said the Windhoek City Council had also approved the development of a golf course and residential component by the Eros Valley Consortium. This will be located on Erf Re/403 Erospark and a portion of farm REM/EROS no.69. The development entails a state-of-the-art golf course with a residential component. She said the council and communities were expected to derive several benefits from the project once completed. According to McLeod-Katjirua, these will include the development of residential plots that would otherwise not have been undertaken and the provision of 466 residential erven in Windhoek that would otherwise not have been a priority. A total of 2 967 applications were received and processed by the Khomas Lands Regional Office. Out of the applications received only six applicants from the Khomas Region were allocated farming units. As far as land delivery is concerned, McLeod-Katjirua said during 2017, the City Council offered plots through the offer-to-purchase, private treaty and tender methods with its partners in the suburbs of Academia and Otjomuise. During 2017, the City also allocated additional 4 land to the education ministry for the construction of schools in Khomasdal and surrounding townships. She said the Mass Housing Project continued with land allocated by the City at Otjomuise Extension 10. According to her the finance ministry has now given all municipalities the mandate to alienate council-owned property in line with previous alienation methods as per the Local Authorities Act. Ino Investment offered 116 available serviced plots in Otjomuise Extension 5 and Acacia Investment sold 98 serviced plots to successful applicants. The last phase of selling erven in Academia Extension 1 and Otjomuise Extension 5 was under way, said McLeod-Katjirua. Four informal markets were completed or upgraded to the value of N$1.1 million during the 2017/18 financial year. These included the Caesar Street Market in Wanaheda, the Lyeeta Market in Okuryangava, the Okahandja Park Market in Okahandja Park and the Post Street Mall Market in the Central Business District. According to her the upgrading of these markets included the construction of new barbeque stands, extension of existing roofs to provide shelter against the sun and rain and the fencing of some markets. “However, we take note with concern that some of such places set up for a very good purpose remain under-utilised. Some of the reasons include poor public consultation during the planning phase of those projects.” With regard to the Northern Industrial Market she said the City had received N$3.5 million from the trade ministry to procure containers and create facilities and structures for trading at Erf 8219 in the Northern Industrial Area. These projects included developing trading areas, barbeque stands, communal storage and ablution facilities, paving demarcated areas and connection to water and electricity services. Construction of the new market at a cost of N$4.6 million was due to be completed by 30 April this year. The Windhoek City Council has also approved the development of a market at Erf R/6296 (Herero Mall) in Katutura. The provision of ablution facilities and fencing of the site are currently under way at an estimated cost of N$300 000. The City is also looking at finalising the designs for the market in consultation with all stakeholders.

1.3 NHE allocates houses ahead of completion The New Era|05/06/2018

The National Housing Enterprise (NHE) has already started allocating houses under construction to prospective owners to ensure that all houses are occupied immediately after completion. This is a deviation from the model that was used to construct houses under the mass housing programme, whereby houses are constructed for ‘ghost owners’ resulting in the houses being unoccupied for months and even years, confirmed the manager for corporate communications and marketing at NHE, Eric Libongani. Libongani says NHE opted for this new model, through which the occupants of the house start paying the mortgage immediately after occupying the house. The advantage of this new system is that new homeowners would not experience delays with the bond registration, which often sees new owners paying rental fees in the months that they are occupying the house without the bond in their name. “The challenge is that if the bond (mortgage) is not registered, ownership of the house remains with NHE. The rental fee unfortunately does not contribute to the prospective owner’s bond because they are exposed to the lease and not the bond,” Libongani explained. Some homeowners at Ehenye in Oshakati were until this year subjected to pay rental fees for houses they have occupied for up to a year. The houses, although constructed by NHE, were built under the mass housing programme. Libongani was speaking at a progress site visit at Ekuku in Oshakati where the housing enterprise is constructing 200 houses through the Request for Proposal model. The model allows the housing enterprise to partner with private investors with readily available money and skills to fast-track housing provision. The 200 houses are being constructed jointly by Top International and Ellimite Investment for a period of 12 months. The houses will be constructed at a cost of N$68 million. According to Libongani, the 41 units of the 200 houses are at the roofing level while 59 houses are at the window level. The rest of the houses are between window level and roofing. In Okahao all 50 houses are at floor level. Libongani said the provision of housing is moving at a snail’s pace as a result of a lack of available planned and serviced land, which is exacerbated by the bureaucracy of acquiring land. “And while at that stage the waiting list keeps growing because the demand for housing does not wait for

5 the bureaucracy to be solved,” Libongani said. In addition the housing enterprise competes for land acquisition with the private sector, derailing the process further. Currently, Oshakati, Rundu, Okahao and Omuthiya have a combined waiting list of more than 12,000 applicants with Rundu topping the list with over 5,000 applicants and Oshakati with 4,862. Omuthiya has 1,418 people on the waiting list while Okahao has 991. With that being the case, Libongani assured that the housing enterprise will continue to provide affordable houses with the smallest unit currently sold at about N$300,000 – for a two-bedroom house.

1.4 Windhoek endures a two-hour power outage The Namibian|05/06/2018

A power outage that lasted for more than an hour brought business in Windhoek to a standstill yesterday afternoon. NamPower spokesperson Tangeni Kambangula yesterday said the outage happened at 12h56 until 14h14 when power was restored. While power supplies to Windhoek were restored by 14h14, the outskirts and surrounding areas, including places like Finkenstein and Hoffnung, had to wait longer before power was restored. Kambangula said a broken conductor at the Hoffnung sub-station, about 18 kilometres outside Windhoek, had caused power to trip at the Van Eck sub- station. The outage caught many people unawares when banks went offline, and some shops had to close briefly. Some ATMs also went offline for the duration of the outage because the banks did not have power back-up. While FNB Namibia and Standard Bank were unreachable for comment, Bank Windhoek head of corporate affairs Hayley Allen said they minimised the effects of the outage as they have back-up generators. “Our branches have back-up generators for eventualities such as the one experienced this afternoon, which kick in as soon as the power supply is interrupted. Our clients would have experienced only minimal inconvenience for a short period,” said Allen. As if the outage was not enough, motorists endured negotiating congested roads, especially at the robot-controlled intersections, without the help of the Windhoek City Police traffic section to direct traffic. Windhoek City Police divisional head of the traffic management unit Adam Eiseb yesterday said the police indeed sent through a team of traffic officers to ease traffic flow within the central business district, and at other busy roads. He added that there were not enough traffic officers to send around to all areas as traffic officers work shifts, but luckily no accidents were reported during that period.

1.5 Swakop budgets N$99 million for houses, plots The New Era|05/06/2018

The Swakopmund Town Council has allocated the lion’s share of its 2017/2018 budget for the establishment of new townships, land development and servicing of land to provide affordable housing at the town. Councillor Erriki Shitana, the chairperson of the management committee of the town council, during the tabling of its budget on Thursday indicated that N$99 million would be allocated towards new projects from the council’s N$138 million capital budget. The council’s operational budget reflects a surplus of N$153 million. A further N$38.7 million under the capital budget is earmarked for the continuation of projects that were carried over from the previous financial year. A sum of N$7.1 million is allocated for the establishment and servicing of extensions, establishing new townships and environmental impact assessments in this regard. Council also allocated N$11.5 million towards new public facilities at the Mole and for the jetty assessment as well as the upgrading of public open spaces and sports facilities. An amount of N$18 million is also earmarked under the capital budget for the resurfacing of streets and roads, and the council has taken the initiative to provide the required material and local contractors are being appointed to carry out the work. Council also allocated N$18.7 million for the completion of the SME industrial park that will open up new business ventures for local entrepreneurs. A further N$18.8 million was allocated to maintain and improve sewerage-related services at the town. Also under the capital budget, N$700,000 is earmarked for the

6 replacement of the mayoral vehicle while N$665,00 is allocated to corporate services for the acquisition of a vehicle, a fingerprint access control system and office furniture. Shitani said the main aim of the budgetary process is to improve service delivery and maintain and upgrade infrastructure in which millions were invested. “Maintaining and improving our infrastructure while continuing to make affordable land available for housing is one of council’s top priorities and will receive our undivided attention during the current financial year,” he said.

1.6 City cancels drawn-out land deals The Nambian|05/06/2018

The City of Windhoek has cancelled six land transactions that were approved between 2013 and 2015, including plans to build a private hospital in Katutura and a private college in Rocky Crest. The six transactions, which were valued at over N$21 million, were cancelled due to delayed payments from the prospective land buyers, city council minutes from last Thursday indicate. The council minutes show that the purchase of Erf 10812, measuring 28 000 square metres and situated adjacent to Hans- Dietrich Genscher and Claudius Kandovazu streets in Katutura, was cancelled. The land was allocated to a company called Otjomuise Hospital, owned by medical practitioners Thomas and Puleinge Ihuhua, to build a “one-stop-shop” hospital. Other prospective shareholders in the hospital were Namibians Alugodhi Paulus Kanyama and Ingrid Kainongo Ikondua Muhenye, and Zimbabweans Daniel Mishale Bengesai and Orippa Tendauyi Madziwa. The council minutes state that this transaction was cancelled after the company had failed to pay an amount of N$11,4 million for the land within the specified time, and “even after having been given further extension”. Another transaction which was cancelled was for Erf 261, measuring 8 500 square metres in Kleine Kuppe that was sold to Johanna Court Body Corporate to build residential units. The company has also failed to pay about N$7,5 million since 2013. The Namibian reported in 2016 that Johanna Court Body Corporate CC was majority-owned by “previously disadvantaged” individuals Selma Nalusha (25,5%) and Jackson Nampola (25,5%), who reside at the same Hochland Park address in Windhoek. The other shareholders are Aune Axel (19%) and Vitalis Chiza (30%). The council also cancelled an agreement to sell Erf 950, measuring about 60 000 square metres, situated along Sando Street in Rocky Crest to Tanben College due to non-payment. The agreed sale price of the land was not mentioned in the minutes. A plot given to Windhoek motor vehicle dealership M&Z Limited was also cancelled after the company indicated that it was no longer interested in buying the land, which was valued at about N$500 000 in 2013. The city also cancelled an agreement to sell Erf 10 553, measuring 783 square metres, for about N$600 000 to an individual. During the council meeting some councillors raised concerns at how the city had failed to collect money from buyers of land. Windhoek's former deputy mayor, Fransina Kahungu, last week said the issue of non-payment for land already approved had a negative impact on city operations, as it hampered service delivery. She said city officials should be more cautious when allocating land to make sure that “people allocated land have the means to pay to avoid delays” in order to avoid having money tied up in land transactions. “We are always crying that we don't have money, and when chances present themselves to us to make money, we don't take them. “We keep waiting and negotiating with people who were saying that they have money, and all of a sudden they don't have money. Many were even given on a private treaty, promising that they will pay on time. So, that delay is also affecting our service delivery,” she said. According to her, some land transactions which were approved as far back as 2012 have not yet been concluded because “people are still saying that they don't have money”. “Our officials must do what it takes for us to get our money,” she said. She added that the city also needed to speed up processes such as town planning to avoid payment delays.

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1.7 Technicalities ground NHE housing project in Omuthiya The New Era|06/06/2018

Some technical issues experienced by Atlantis Logistics, the company contracted to build 50 low-cost houses in Omuthiya for the National Housing Enterprise (NHE,) have stalled work on the project for nearly three weeks. According to the NHE manager for communication and marketing, Eric Libongani, who is not so impressed with the progress made so far, some issues were experienced between the financer and the contractor, which resulted in the work stoppage. “The company informed us that they are resolving the issue and soon they will commence work. So far eight houses are at roof top level, two under window, 15 above foundation, while seven are at concrete level and 18 have been excavated and compacted,” said Libongani. He made the remarks yesterday during a site inspection of houses in Omuthiya. “This is a six-month project, but if there are challenges it should not go beyond February 2019. We are only displeased with the three weeks because, in construction, missing even a day is a big challenge. However, there are measures to be put in place as per the contractual agreement if they do not finish on time,” warned Libongani. On a positive note, Libongani said the Omuthiya project is the cheapest for prospective homeowners compared to others instituted in other towns. The starting price is set at N$359,000 for a two-bedroom core house and the highest is N$483,000 for a house at the top rung. “Our aim is to provide affordable housing to the low and medium-income earners, because those are the most affected and needy, although we can build houses for upper income earners. I am glad that in Omuthiya we have achieved our goal to make housing affordable,” he said. “By conventional and core houses we mean some houses are built with double and single boundary brick. This means variation in housing prices. I would also like to state that some of the banks, which initially could not finance single brick houses, are now coming on board. However, in an event when the bank declines, we as NHE will be able to finance the house for the client through our loan book,” further explained Libongani. The houses will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. In Omuthiya, 1,418 people are on the waiting list for houses.

1.8 NHE denies building poor quality houses The New Era|07/06/2018

Potential house owners at Ekuku came out gun blazing, accusing the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) of building sub-standard houses. They claim, banks said they will not finance such poor quality houses. NHE Corporate Communications and Marketing Manager Eric Libongani refuted the claims, saying the bricks meet the benchmark of the Namibian Standard Institution (NSI). Potential homeowners alleged that NHE uses single 110mm bricks instead of double 220mm bricks. Bankers also refuted the claims saying they are baseless as the banks financed the NHE houses in question without any qualms on the quality of the bricks being used. “If you look at the affordability which is the issue here, if you double the bricks then you will double the cost. It is an issue of cost. But those who can afford can still double even though it is not the minimum requirement,” said Libongani. He explained the low-cost housing enterprise strives to construct affordable houses at the minimum standard. “People are just crying foul. If we double the price people are still going to whine that the houses are not affordable,” he said. The NHE is currently constructing 200 houses at Ekuku in Oshakati of which 41 houses are already at floor level while 59 houses are between floor and window level. The rest of the houses are still at floor level but they are expected to be completed by February next year. Meanwhile, 50 houses are also under construction at Okahao while another 50 are under construction in Omuthiya and 123 at Rundu. The houses are being constructed in partnership with private companies and NHE to accelerate land delivery to the masses on the NHE waiting list.

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1.9 NHE defies N$500 000 govt price cap The Namibian Sun|07/06/2018

The National Housing Enterprise (NHE) has defied a verbal ministerial directive, given by former housing minister Sophia Shaningwa and reiterated by her successor Peya Mushelenga, that its houses should cost less than N$500 000. In January during a groundbreaking ceremony for 200 houses being constructed by NHE at Oshakati, Shaningwa, who has since taken up her Swapo secretary-general post, publically intimated to NHE that its houses should not cost more than N$500 000. In April, at a groundbreaking ceremony at Okahao in Omusati, Mushelenga reiterated this, saying the cost of NHE houses should not exceed that amount. However, this week during a media briefing at Ekuku in Oshakati, where the 200 houses are being constructed, NHE spokesperson Eric Libongani told journalists that some of the houses under construction will cost as much as N$625 000. He said further NHE is not only limited to constructing houses for low and middle-income earners, but that it could also cater for high-income earners. When contacted for comment, Mushelenga said the directive was clear and NHE should partner with contractors who are willing and able to build houses for less than N$500 000. “That is not what we have asked them to do. If there are companies that were given instructions to build houses above N$500 000, that is against the directive of the ministry.” We would like to be informed where those houses are and why they are above N$500 000,” Mushelenga said. “If a developer cannot build a house within the region of N$500 000, they should look for other developers. There are so many other developers that can build at cheaper prices.” When asked about the directive, Libongani said it was impractical, in the sense that the money to construct is being borrowed, and NHE and the developer will need to recoup their funds. Therefore the directive is not good for business. He added if it was government money being used to construct the houses, it would not be a problem for NHE comply with the directive. “How practical is that if the money is being borrowed? If government was giving us money, maybe then,” Libongani said. He said when Mushelenga made the remark about the directive in Okahao, it was the first time he had heard about it and he has never seen a document to that effect. Libongani directed further questions to NHE CEO Gisbertus Mukulu. Mukulu told Namibian Sun there was just a verbal directive given by Mushelenga and consultations still need to take place, adding it is not applicable to the public-private partnership in Oshakati. “I think that one was just a verbal directive, so to say. I think they are yet to communicate to us. I don't think it is applicable to the PPP project, because this is private money and they use their money for the cost of capital and they need to recoup their investment.” On the issue of finding other developers that can construct houses for less than N$500 000, Mukulu said it depends on the type of the houses being built. “Of course if you look at our project, we do have houses that are under N$500 000, but if the house is bigger it will also attract more costs,” Mukulu said. When asked why they have not informed Mushelenga it is impractical to limit the price to N$500 000, Mukulu said they are waiting for the right moment. “When a correct platform is made available, we will be able to appraise the minister on what factors are at play in terms of determining the prices.” NHE's core business is providing for the housing needs of low and middle-income inhabitants, as well as financing housing for them.

1.10 Over 3,200 on NHE’s Rundu housing waiting list The New Era|11/06/2018

There are about 3,207 clients on the National Housing Enterprise (NHE)’s waiting list in Rundu, although the town council’s own housing backlog stood at a hair-raising 30,000 units in 2016. Nationally, NHE has 90,000 house-seeking clients on its waiting list. At the beginning of February this year NHE commenced a new housing construction initiative that will bring 123 homes to families in Rundu. This would still leave 3,084 clients waiting – underpinning just how acute housing is in Namibia as a whole. “This is a unique initiative by NHE where we are partnering with the public sector. We brand it as a RFP, Request for Proposals, where we have gone out in the market to partner with 9 individuals and companies that have the money and also have the skills and technical capacity to build houses,” NHE’s Corporate Communications and Marketing Manager Eric Libongani said last week. “Now we have gone out into the market and we received 54 bids from people willing to partner with NHE, meaning to fund our housing project and to construct the houses. Now we have a total of 423 plots that we are piloting for this project. We have 200 in Oshakati, 50 in Omuthiya, 50 in Okahao and 123 here in Rundu.” Libongani was in Rundu with a team of technical staff from NHE head office to assess progress made so far. According to Libongani, the Rundu project, which is being constructed by Darwin Investment Group Namibia in a joint venture with Salami Island Investments, is a very unique initiative because it is a process whereby NHE doesn’t need to go to government and ask for money. “Rather, NHE without using a cent, requests money, we do the design, we do the plans and then we avail the land. We avail the clientele, we do the demand analysis and ensure that the plans and the cost of the houses speak to the real needy on our waiting list, which is currently close to 90,000 countrywide, and we look forward to addressing it,” he said. Libongani and his team also inspected other projects in Okahao, Oshakati and Omuthiya and have reported. “I must mention that we are very happy that in Rundu we are progressing very well. It’s a 12-month project but as you can observe we have a lot of houses that are at roof level – this is very exciting for us.” In Rundu, NHE already has clients that they have referred to the banks to go and seek for pre-approvals so that by the time the new houses are formally completed, the clients should be ready to move in. “All houses range between N$360,000 and N$539,000, meaning they are still affordable and we are very happy that we are achieving affordability,” Libongani noted.

1.11 Six times more for Windhoek land The Namibian Sun|11/06/2018

Windhoek land can be sold by its municipality for six times more than the average price you would pay for the same sized land in Keetmanshoop. On average local authorities in both Windhoek and Swakopmund could sell a 375-square-metre piece of land for N$95 000, while in other towns it could be sold for N$23 000. It also costs N$74 000 more to construct a three-bedroom 76-square-metre standard house in Windhoek and Swakopmund than in other major towns in the country. A report by First Capital, which monitors trends in terms of building a house in Namibia, collected the construction costs involved at Windhoek, Keetmanshoop, Swakopmund, Ondangwa, Rundu and Katima Mulilo. On average, building materials for a three-bedroom house could cost N$240 300 in Windhoek and Swakopmund, while in other towns similar building materials could cost, N$242 570, indicating that materials remain cheaper in Windhoek and Swakopmund. Using prices from March this year, the report found the cost of building a standard three-bedroom residential house of 76 square meters can range from N$376 298 in towns such as Keetmanshoop, Ondangwa, Rundu and Katima Mulilo, while the same house with similar specifications can cost N$449 926 to build in Windhoek and Swakopmund. The report indicates the cost of building materials is more expensive in Katima Mulilo (N$242 200) and Rundu (N$242 100), mainly due to transport costs. “Despite the building materials cost advantage in Swakopmund and Windhoek, the high cost of both land and labour makes the cost to build a house in these two cities is expensive, compared to other towns that continue to benefit from cheaper land costs,” says the report. The price of land and labour is more expensive in Windhoek and Swakopmund than anywhere elsewhere in the country. Due to the high cost of the price of land in most upper locations both in Windhoek and Swakopmund, the report only considered the middle and low-income residential locations for the prices of land, which could be a reflection of the cost to an average household. An average 375 square metres of land costs N$110 000 in Windhoek and in Swakopmund it costs N$75 000. Land remains cheaper in Keetmanshoop, followed by Katima Mulilo. The average price of land measuring 375 square meters will cost you N$18 200 in Keetmanshoop. Both Rundu, Ondangwa and Katima Mulilo sells land measuring 375 square meters at no more than N$24 100, which is 4.5 times less than the price of land in Windhoek. “Land prices remain higher in Windhoek than in other town in the country, due to the high cost of servicing land which is transferred to

10 households when buying land,” says the report. Equally, labour in Windhoek and Swakopmund could cost 2% more than in other towns, the report says. In the presented scenario, where the average building materials cost to build a three-bedroom standard residential house is N$241 331, labour could cost N$100 926 on average in both Windhoek and Swakopmund, while in other towns it costs N$97 028. According to the report the higher labour cost in Windhoek is explained by the extra workload due to excavation of rock surface ground, to create a foundation for construction, compared to soft surface foundation excavation in other towns. The report adds that it was 4.3% more expensive to build a standard house in March 2018, compared to March 2017. On average the price of land increased by 4.8% in March 2018 compared to a year ago. Land remains the subcomponent of building cost which recorded the highest price increase, relative to other cost components such as labour and building materials. Building materials prices were 4% higher in March 2018, compared to the same month a year ago. Labour costs, which is also inclusive of the profit margin for contractors, increased by 4.4% in March 2018 compared to the previous year. Overall all residential building costs increased moderately by 4.3% higher in March 2018, compared to the same month a year ago. The report used for comparison purposes a standard three-bedroom residential house structure measuring 76 square meters, with among other 220cm (double brick) external walls, 110cm (single brick) internal walls, an average wall plate height of three metres with a ceiling height of 2.7 metres and a corrugated pitch roof. The building material prices collected covers a list of raw construction materials identified to satisfy the construction needs of a standard house.

1.12 NHE wants to change the housing market with public investment The New Era|12/06/2018

It is only with sufficient public investment, to capitalise the National Housing Enterprise (NHE), can the state-owned residential property company be able to provide sufficient units for affordable housing. “If we have a lot of public investments, in terms of capitalising NHE, giving us capital, prices will go down initially. We have left the housing industry to the market forces which are the private sector and developers,” said NHE Corporate Communications and Marketing Manager Eric Libongani last week during a site tour at the ongoing NHE housing project in Rundu, were 123 houses are being constructed. At the moment NHE currently has close to 90 000 people on its waiting list countrywide. “Now because the housing demand is high, the private developers take advantage of that because it is a free market economy. More public investment in the housing sector will equalise the pricing as it will reduce the demand, and we would not need the rent control board that is being advocated,” he said. It has become difficult to acquire a house in Namibia as housing prices are a nightmare to citizens, especially those that earn low salaries, renting is also another costly step and thus many end up erecting shacks to provide shelter for their family. Libongani says if Namibia is serious about making a change with regard to providing affordable housing to citizens, government must invest big in the local housing enterprises, through which many affordable houses will be constructed and that will also balance the housing industry, and in the end all houses will be affordable and rent prices will decline.

1.13 House prices contract for third straight month, expected to retreat further The New Era|12/06/2018

House prices contracted for a third straight month in March by 8.8 percent year-on-year, the sixth contraction in the last seven months, announced Josephat Nambashu, an analyst at FNB Namibia in the March edition of the FNB Housing Index. “The decline meant the price of the average home was cut by N$109 941 from what it was this time last year to N$1 136 030,” explains Nambashu. When disaggregated, property prices in the middle price segment stagnated, while property prices in the upper price segment contracted by 3.0 percent year-on-year. Conversely, property prices in the lower price segment increased modestly by 3.4 percent year-on-year. Additionally, year to date data shows

11 property prices across 14 towns, including the capital Windhoek contracted. Volumes however, increased 11.7 percent, driven primarily by the new affordable housing supply and improved land delivery. Volumes in the lower price segment have consequently risen by 17.9 percent, while land delivery has increased by 58.0 percent, bringing partial relief to those in the housing backlog. Both the middle and upper price segment recorded volume increases as well, albeit minimal. However, transactions in the luxury housing segment have dried up, with only one transaction registered in the past four months. “Given the likelihood of more affordable housing stock entering the market and the delayed reaction to the economic downturn, we expect property prices to retreat even further and remain under pressure for longer – allowing the market to correct after decades of exuberant house price inflation. Sellers seem to remain in denial on pricing shifts, as 91 percent of homes sold in the period, sold for below asking price, which points to overly optimistic prices in an ultra-cautious buyers’ market,” said Nambashu. He elaborated that Windhoek property prices fell for the second time in twelve months, whilst Okahandja prices contracted by as much as 13.7 percent year-on-year. “The coastal property prices fell for the ninth month in a row – this time by 38.0 percent year-on-year, as changes in the housing mix came into play. In contrast, the northern property price inflation is picking up after months of negative price growth. Property prices in this region increased by 12.3 percent year- on-year, their highest in almost two years. “House price growth has diminished, and the recent developments suggest that we are set to face price correction as affordable property supply increases at a time where subdued economic activity persists and labour uncertainty is high. These factors have curtailed housing demand, and with mortgage advances growing at a paltry 8.1 percent, property prices can only contract.” Nambashu added that with more serviced land entering the market, the price pressure would only intensify. “It is for these reasons we have revised our house price expectations to reflect a market correction after decades of robust house price appreciation. Although our econometric models do suggest a modest recovery in 2018, the housing market will take a bit longer to recover. Nothing economically looks very strong, just mildly better than where we come from, and as such, house prices are expected to contract even further through 2018. Current forecast points towards price contractions of 5.8 percent for 2018 as a whole, easing to 1.2 percent in 2019.”

1.14 Kalahari Homeless Indaba verbeter behuising Republikein|12/06/2018

Sowat 11% van huishoudings in die Kalahari-kiesafdeling in die Omahakestreek leef in tuisgemaakte huise of sinkhuise. Volgens die Bevolkings- en behuisingsensus van 2011 behels dit 190 huishoudings - die tweede hoogste aantal in die hele streek. Dit word deur Okorukambe (19%) en Gobabis (37%) gevolg. Volgens ’n opname deur die kiesafdeling se kantoor het sowat 300 huishoudings ’n behoefte aan ordentlike behuising. Blouberg, ’n klein gemeenskap naby die Trans-Kalahari-grenspos Buitepos, word die meeste deur swak behuising in die kiesafdeling geraak. Ander gemeenskappe in dieselfde bootjie sluit Tsjaka, Vergenoeg en Drimiopsis in. Dié dringende behoefte aan ordentlike behuising in die Kalahari-kiesafdeling het tot die Kalahari Homeless Indaba (KHI), ’n inisiatief van die Omaheke- streeksraadslid en voorsitter, mnr. Ignatius Kariseb, gelei. Die doel van KHI, wat in Augustus 2016 bekend gestel is, is om huise wat met plastiek en vervalle sinkplate gebou is, van nuwe sinkplate te voorsien. Die hoop is om 30 tot 60 huise per finansiële jaar só op te rig. Dié proses het aan die einde van die 2016-’17-boekjaar met 10 huise in Blouberg as loodsprojek begin en sal na verwagting vir die volgende twee tot drie jaar voortduur. Die beskermvrou van die KHI-projek en adjunkminister van myne en energie, me. Kornelia Shilunga, het die projek op Blouberg in Mei vanjaar besoek. Uit die 35 huishoudings wat geregistreer is om gebou te word, is sewe huise reeds deur die begunstigdes self gebou. Die bestaande tuisgemaakte huise, waarvan sommige in vloedgebiede in Blouberg gebou is, het reeds danksy CENORED elektrisiteit ontvang. Aanvanklik sou die bestaande huise met nuwe sinkplate en ’n betonblad teen ’n beraamde koste van N$5 000 tot N$6 000 per huis vervang word. Shilunga het egter voorgestel ’n ingenieur moet ’n alternatiewe laekostehuis ontwerp in plaas daarvan dat tydelike sinkplate gebruik word. Dit is om te verseker dat die huise wat opgerig word, permanente

12 strukture is. Shilunga gaan in dié verband die hulp van mynmaatskappye sowel as ander private maatskappye inroep. Die Omaheke-streeksraad het N$80 000 uit terugbetalings van sy belasting op toegevoegde waarde uit die 2016-’17-boekjaar aan die projek toegeken. Die Kalahari- kiesafdelingskantoor het ook ’n sporttoernooi gehou om borgskappe vir en skenkings van boumateriaal in te samel.

1.15 Reduce Govt borrowing to lower housing finance The Namibian|13/06/2018

African governments must strengthen their macroeconomic management while reducing borrowing as a way to lower the overall level of interest rates affecting housing finance on the continent. This is the view of Michael Fuchs, a consultant for the World Bank and other donors on financial sector development in Africa and East Asia, in a Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa report on 'Lowering the high interest rates cost of housing finance in Africa'. Fuchs, however, conceded that the challenges of achieving these broad objectives are much more pervasive, and do not relate to the housing finance agenda alone. “While it is worthwhile to put pressure on government officials and politicians, a 'quick fix' is unlikely. Recognising this problem, the authorities in many countries in Africa have adopted alternative approaches to reducing the impact of high interest rates,” he stated. Governments should thus enhance the efficiency of their debt management practices, which can both reduce the cost of domestic debt financing, and contribute to deepening the absorptive capacity of local debt markets. Fuchs added that by placing greater reliance on government borrowing abroad, the authorities have worked towards reducing pressure on domestic interest rates. The benefits of this approach, however, are likely to be short-lived, as exchange rate depreciation often makes the cost of foreign borrowing considerably higher than expected. “Such borrowing, rather than reducing the government borrowing requirement, may accentuate the macroeconomic challenges faced by the government. Governments have also intervened directly to control bank lending rates, or the spread between bank deposits and lending rates. “The impact of such interventions have invariably been counterproductive, as when confronted with lower returns on their lending exposures, banks have withdrawn from riskier, more innovative lending activities, such as lending to the housing sector. Finally, governments have introduced subsidised lending schemes,” he said. Fuchs said a case can be made for targeted, time-limited subsidies, particularly to young borrowers in the early years of a mortgage, when the 'repayment of the loan over time' burden is greatest. “Experience, however, demonstrates how difficult it is to implement targeted subsidy schemes. This is largely because the administration of such subsidies requires professional, even-handed administration.” He noted that most African countries' bureaucracies are all too easily subject to influence and interference, adding that where subsidies are more broad-based, they become costly and less effective, and only contribute to exacerbating the fiscal imbalances, which are the root cause of high interest rates.

1.16 KHI making housing inroads Windhoek Express|14/06/2018

Of the 190 households in the Kalahari constituency of the Omaheke region, about 11% live in improvised housing or shacks. According to an assessment conducted by the constituency office, around 300 households in the constituency are in need of decent housing. Blouberg, a small community close to the Trans-Kalahari border settlement of Buitepos, is the most affected by poor housing. Other communities in need are Tsjaka, Vergenoeg and Drimiopsis. The Kalahari Homeless Indaba (KHI), an initiative of the regional council, was established to address the need for decent housing in the constituency. The Omaheke regional council allocated N$80 000 for the project from its value-added tax refunds in the 2016/2017 financial year. The aim of the KHI, launched in August 2016, is to replace houses constructed with plastic sheets and dilapidated iron sheets with new iron sheets,

13 by constructing 30 to 60 houses per financial year. This process began at the end of the 2016/2017 financial year, with ten houses in Blouberg as a pilot and is expected to continue for the next two to three years. Furthermore, the office held a fund-raising sport tournament two years ago in an effort to solicit sponsorships for building material, of which some have already been received from the private sector. The patron of the KHI project and deputy minister of mines and energy, Kornelia Shilunga, visited the project in Blouberg in May to familiarise herself with the project. Of the 35 households registered to be constructed, seven houses have already been constructed by the beneficiaries themselves. The existing improvised houses, some of which have been constructed in flood-prone areas in Blouberg, have already been electrified by CENORED. Initially, the existing improvised houses were to be replaced with new iron sheets and a concrete slab at an estimated cost of between N$5 000 and N$6 000 per house. Shilunga advised the team to request a structural engineer to design an alternative low-cost dwelling to be used instead of the temporary iron sheets currently being used. This is to ensure that houses constructed are permanent. Shilunga said she would dedicate herself to soliciting support from mining companies and other private companies for the project.

1.17 Academia erven out on tender Windhoek Express|14/06/2018

A total of 111 erven in Academia Ext 1, phase 5 are currently available on tender and interested parties have until 29 June to hand in relevant documentation. The erf sizes range between 500 and 734 square meters, with an upset price from N$425 00 to N$623 547. A training session is being held at the Khomas regional council hall at 09:00 today to advise prospective tenderers of the requirements for the completion of the tender document. A non-refundable tender fee of N$500 is payable. Thereafter the issuing of tender documents will close on 27 June at 15:00, and interested parties have until 29 June at 11:00 to hand in their tender. One tender submission, the original and a copy, must be submitted in one sealed envelope marked, “sale of single residential unimproved erven in Academia extention 1, phase 5”.

1.18 City can't get N$300m from land deals The Namibian|14/06/2018

The City of Windhoek has about N$300 million tied up in incomplete land transactions, including deals that were approved as far back as 2004. A progress report on revenue collection released last month shows that the city signed 40 land deals with private companies and community groups such as the Swapo Party Youth League. That report says some of the transactions were not completed because of non-compliance by customers, despite continued reminders and demand letters sent by the municipality. One transaction cited in the report was between the municipality and Eros Valley Development Consortium owned by businessmen Sidney Martin, Russell Paschke, Frank Fredericks, Lazarus Jacobs, Desmond Amunyela, Stephen Roy Paschke, Thurstan Salt and Jacobus de la Rey du Toit. The company got approval to buy the land in 2012, and paid 10% of the evaluation price, which amounted to N$3,3 million. Because of delayed payment, the company incurred interest, which brought the upset price to N$6,8 million, resulting in an outstanding N$3,4 million. Amunyela yesterday said they experienced unexpected delays from their side as well as from the municipality; therefore the deal could not be completed. He did not explain the type of delays they experienced. He, however, said they had paid about N$1,4 million of the remaining N$3,4 million, and that another N$2 million would be paid in the next two weeks to finalise the deal. Another company, Friedenaue Street Properties CC, owes the council N$8,2 million for land acquired in 2012. This company, the report also states, has not responded to reminders and demands for payment. Apart from delayed payments on approved property sales, the municipality is sitting on about 31 single residential plots valued at

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N$14,4 million that have been serviced but were never advertised to buyers. Even though the city claims to have a lot of funds tied up in incomplete transactions, some of the deals listed in the report were cancelled, but are still reflected as outstanding. One such transaction is the N$70 million land deal given to Holme Investment, a company reportedly owned by Italians. This transaction was, however, cancelled by former urban development minister Sophia Shaningwa. Another transaction that was cancelled but is still recorded on the council's books as pending is a plot valued at N$46,7 million sold to Landscape Development. Another cancelled deal was the N$46,7 million plot measuring 30 hectares sold to the Swapo Party Youth League-owned company called Youth Development Initiative, in 2014. The deal was cancelled after the youth league company acquired another 20ha without following procedures. Apart from the youth league, the Swapo Party owes the municipality N$8,6 million for a plot in Katutura, which they wanted to exchange for another piece of land. There were recommendations made to cancel more deals because of non-payment. One such deal involves Erf 10812 in Katutura, measuring 28 000 square metres and valued at N$17,2 million, that was sold to local medical practitioners Thomas and Puleinge Ihuhua's company called Otjomuise Hospital in 2013. The report says Otjomuise Hospital could not pay about N$11 million, and did not respond to demands for payment. Another transaction that was recommended for cancellation was for Erf 261 that measures 8 500 square metres in Kleine Kuppe, sold to Johanna Court Body Corporate to build residential units. The company has also failed to pay about N$7,5 million since 2013. Erf 950, measuring about 60 000 square metres, situated along Sando Street in Rocky Crest given to Tanben College, was also recommended for cancellation due to non-payment. The land was valued at N$8,2 million. The report also listed some plots sold to individuals in 2004 and 2013 valued at a combined N$2, 9 million. These transactions would be cancelled “where there is no progressive response received from clients, after 30 days of the demand letter being sent”. “[The] effective administration process of cancellation of transactions as a result of buyers who fail to execute conditions in accordance with the terms and conditions of council resolutions to be resolved within the shortest period possible,” the report reads.

Internal delays

Several delays, the report said, lie with the city's property management department, which was finalising deeds of sale for land already approved. The report also listed issues such as outstanding town planning and cadastral procedures and other internal matters as factors delaying the completion of some transactions. The city's property manager, Sheridan Simpson, did not respond to questions sent to her email address yesterday. For example, the report says a transaction for a N$38,2 million piece of land sold to a company called Dellie Enterprise has been delayed due to issues related to a guarantee on the deed of sale. A N$10 million transaction between the city and a company called E- Med Rescue has also been dragging on since 2014 because the deed of sale has not been signed for the client to effect the payment. According to the report, One Square Property Investment has been postponing the payment of a N$10 million transaction approved in 2016 because they did not have the money. Some councillors have raised concerns at how the city had failed to collect money from buyers of land that has already been approved. RDP councillor Brunhilde Cornelius this week questioned the manner in which the city decided to cancel some drawn-out deals. She expressed shock that some deals dating back to 2004, 2009 and 2010 were still on the council's system because of non- payment from clients, while the council was cancelling some deals approved between 2015 and 2017. “I couldn't understand that we are always blaming the financial crisis for not having enough money, while we have land that was given to people but they are not paying for it. Where is the money for the land that we have been approving all this time?” she asked. Cornelius said the city has also been reluctant with effecting cancellation recom­mendations from the urban ministry. “Some of the deals were supposed to be cancelled a long time ago so that we can allow other people to apply for the land, but people are still sitting on them. There are a lot of transactions that are not included in that report that were supposed to be cancelled,” she said. Windhoek's former deputy mayor, Fransina Kahungu, last month said city officials should be more cautious when allocating land to make sure that “people allocated land have the means to pay to avoid delays” and to avoid having money tied up in land

15 transactions. “We are always crying that we don't have money, and when chances present themselves for us to make money, we don't take them. “We keep waiting and negotiating with people who were saying that they have money, and all of a sudden they don't have the money. Many were even given land on private treaty, promising that they will pay on time. So, that delay is also affecting our service delivery,” she said. The Namibian understands that there is an updated progress report listing outstanding transactions. Simpson, however, could not provide this report yesterday.

1.19 Rehoboth woeker met begraafplaas Windhoek Express|14/06/2018

Die geesdrif op Rehoboth is aansteeklik en werk die inwoners mooi saam met die dorpsraad om te verseker dat die dorp reggeruk word. Amanda Groenewaldt van die Rehoboth begraafplaas ontwikkelingsforum, sê lede van die groep is hard aan die werk met die eerste fase van die nuwe begraafplaas. Lede van dié forum het onlangs met lede van die dorpsraad vergader. “Die dorpsraad het hul finansiële steun aan die forum belowe vir die omheining van die nuwe begraafplaas,” het sy gesê. 'n Plan sal opgestel word met werk aan die begraafplaas wat in twee fases gedeel word. “Voorsiening sal ook vir parkering gemaak word na deeglike bespreking oor die pad tussen die twee begraafplase,” sê Amanda. Insamelingsprojekte deur die ontwikkelingsforum is ook in volle gang om hierdie projekte te finansier. Die familiedag wat die afgelope naweek by Oanob dam plaasgevind het, was 'n reusesukses. Volgens Amanda het dit net weer eens bewys dat daar baie talent onder Rehobothers is. “Plaaslike ­kunstenaars het omtrent die gaste vermaak.” Die volgende fondsinsameling vind op 22 Junie plaas, dié keer by die Origo-skoolsaal. Voormalige Pop Idol- wenner Sasha Lee Davids sal die verhoog betree met die alombekende Alistair Ozibell. Rehoboth se eie jazz groep, Major 7, sal ook by die geleentheid wees. Kaartjies is by komiteelede beskikbaar. VIP-kaartjies kos N$150 per persoon. Volwassenes betaal N$120 and skoolgaande kinders N$60.

1.20 Expensive land and housing lead to more shacks – Klazen The Namibian|18/06/2018

The exorbitant prices of land and housing are one of the reasons why there is an increase in shacks in urban areas, deputy minister of urban and rural development Derek Klazen said last Thursday. He said this in the National Assembly in response to a question by United Democratic Front leader Apius Auchab why shacks continue to define the housing system in urban areas. The latter raised concern that shacks constitute about 40% of housing in several regions, and are most prominent in regions such as Hardap, Khomas, Erongo and Kavango East. Klazen explained that the high number of shacks in urban areas can be attributed to the lack of income and unemployment due to constrained economic growth. The lack of credit and financial support for low-income earners, he added, is another reason why people resort to erecting shacks for themselves. “The cost of land planning and servicing, as well as development and consequent high prices thereof are often beyond the affordability of the majority of the needy,” he stated. Another aspect that drives the masses into living in shacks is greed, and speculative activities by those with the means to acquire and develop land. The deputy minister said the pricing of land surveying, engineering designs and housing construction is unreasonably high and out of reach, even for those who are employed. Klazen stressed that it will take collective efforts from local authorities and other stakeholders to address Namibia's housing backlog. He, however, indicated that there are several government interventions to address the housing crisis in the country. One such intervention is the Flexible Land Tenure Act of 2012, which seeks to ease the planning, servicing and ownership of land in informal settlements. The other is the Regional and Urban Planning Act of 2018, which streamlines and decentralises certain decision-making processes from the central government to local government, he said. Other initiatives include the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia, the

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Build Together Programme and the approval of public- private partnerships in land servicing and housing developments.

1.21 Back Home The Namibian|20/06/2018

Recently, The Namibian wrote about 10 families evicted from land in Windhoek’s 8ste Laan informal settlement by the Windhoek City Police. One of the evictees, Shivute Kleopas, was back yesterday and said that after their eviction, everyone had moved back. Kleopas also said the group of about 37 people were looking to raise funds to buy the land from the City of Windhoek so they could live there legally. Kleopas, who lives with his partner and two children, said: “Perhaps if we, the people staying here, could raise about N$20 000 by the end of the year, we could ask the City of Windhoek to use this land.”

1.22 Shack dwellers make strides in housing provision The Namibian|20/06/2018

The Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) continues to change the lives of its members by providing housing, one brick at a time, with 4 800 houses having been constructed under the programme as at December 2017. Not only do would-be home owners contribute to the design of their new homes, but they actively participate in the actual construction, which creates a virtual lifelong sentimental bond with their houses. The federation services land with equipment it hires, and builds affordable houses for low-income groups in informal settlements countrywide. SDFN members mould their own bricks in order to cut costs, and through its self-help process, the federation provides capacity building to its members in areas of bricklaying and the laying of water and sewerage pipes to enable them to work on their own houses. The programme has made remarkable strides since its inception in 2001, cementing its footprint in the housing provision sector, and successfully integrating low-income earners into the mainstream of the economy. It caters for some 23 423 members who belong to various savings groups across the country. The SDFN encourages communities living in shacks, rented rooms and those without accommodation to form savings groups in order to improve their living conditions. Members contribute nominal amounts ranging from N$300 to N$1 000 a month, depending on affordability. Today, the federation has 751 savings groups, which had saved over N$25 million by the end of 2017. Community savings have been used to secure land and to leverage additional government contributions, enabling the groups to acquire land for about 6 230 families so far. The Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG) supports the federation. Heinrich Amushila, NHAG co- director told Nampa recently that the commitment of members across the entire network of savings groups has placed the SDFN above the rest in successfully housing Namibia. He said since the construction of the federation's first house in 2005, the members have not looked back, and continued saving towards their goal of building their own formal dwellings. “The members have shown commitment, and used the power of teamwork to advance their quest of becoming home owners. It is such dedication and perseverance that has made the programme what it is today,” he stated. Otjinene in the Omaheke region is the latest beneficiary of the programme, as 47 residents became proud home owners a few weeks ago. This brings the number of houses constructed under the programme in the Omaheke region alone to 412, with the bulk constructed at Otjinene (202). The design is simple – a one-bedroom unit with a bathroom and open-plan kitchen. Such simplicity of design, however, does not reduce the value of the house to those becoming owners, as many rate the programme highly. More Otjinene residents are set to soon become home owners following the launch of the construction of new dwellings. Fourteen new houses will be constructed here in response to the shortage of affordable dwelling units for low-income earners, and the new units are expected to be completed within the next three months. Deputy urban and rural development minister Derek Klazen said at the groundbreaking ceremony that construction should not exceed the envisaged period of

17 three months, as the need for housing is urgent. “We have a backlog of about 200 000 in housing provision as a government, and this figure grows by 4 000 people every year. The need is urgent, and we highly value the work of the SDFN,” he noted. Standard Bank Namibia, a partner of the SDFN over the past 12 years, last year contributed N$2 million to the federation's activities. The funds were sourced through the bank's national Buy-a-Brick campaign. Magreth Mengo, Standard Bank's head of marketing, told the Otjinene community at the event that the bank will continue supporting the initiative. “We want people to restore their dignity by becoming home owners. We want them to be at the same level as any other Namibian, and have a comfortable place to call home,” she said. The Buy-A-Brick project raises funds for the SDFN by selling token bricks in the form of erasers for N$5 each. In this way, Standard Bank hopes to mobilise the private sector and the public in raising funds required by the federation to build affordable houses for the disadvantaged. As Amushila puts it, there is no stopping the activities of the SDFN as more houses are on the cards at various towns and settlements across the country.

1.23 House prices down, but still unaffordable The Namibian Sun|21/06/2018

Even with the decline in house prices, the market is still far too expensive for most residents of Windhoek to penetrate, resulting in roughly 12 000 shacks popping up every year. “The annual sales forecast is -5.8% for 2018,” says Elzita Beukes, group communications manager at FNB Namibia. According to the bank's statistics of houses sold, a decline was seen from 2013, when 1 293 houses were sold, compared to 1 089 in 2017.“However, this may be understated due to cash transactions that are not on the deeds register,” she said. Although it may vary between markets and segments, properties spend an average of 24 weeks on the market at the moment. According to the March edition of the FNB housing index, house prices contracted for a third month in March, by 8.8% year-on-year. “The decline means that the average home was N$109 941 cheaper then what it was this time last year and now costs N$1 136 030,” says FNB Namibia analyst Josephat Nambashu. Year-to-date data shows that property prices across 14 towns, including Windhoek, contracted. Volumes however increased by 11.7%, driven primarily by affordable housing supply and improved land delivery. Consequently, volumes in the lower price segment have risen by 17.9%. “Land delivery has increased by 58%, bringing partial relief to those in the housing backlog,” Nambashu says. Both the middle and upper price segment recorded volume increases as well, albeit minimal. However, transactions in the luxury housing segment have dried up, with only one transaction registered in the past four months. This transaction was also not recorded in the capital, but in Okahandja. During last week's National Assembly, Derek Klazen, deputy minister of urban and rural development, said that the increase in shacks in urban areas are due to the exorbitant prices of land and housing. This came after Apius Auchab of the United Democratic Front asked why shacks continue to define the housing system. “Shacks constitute about 40% of housing in several regions and are most prominent in regions like Hardap, Khomas, Erongo and Kavango East. “It can be attributed to lack of income and unemployment due to constrained economic growth,” Klazen explained, noting that the lack of credit and financial support for low income earners can be another reason why people resort to shacks. The deputy minister said that the cost of land planning and servicing, as well as development and consequent high prices are beyond the affordability of the majority of the needy. “The cost of land surveying, engineering designs and housing construction is unreasonably high and out of reach, even for those who are employed.” According to him it will take collective efforts from local authorities and other stakeholders to address the housing backlog. “There are several government interventions to address the housing crisis, one of which is the flexible land tenure act of 2012, which seeks to ease the planning, servicing and ownership of land in informal areas.” The regional and urban planning act of 2018 is another initiative set to streamline and decentralise certain decision-making processes away from central government to local government. Other initiatives include the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia, the Build Together programme and the approval of public private partnerships in land

18 servicing and housing developments. According to the Namibia Statistics Agency's (NSA) latest demographic update, about half a million Namibians live in shacks. This figure grows every year, with more than 12 000 shacks being erected, adding 50 000 dwellers. At this rate, more urban residents will live in shacks than in brick houses in the next seven years. According to Dr Beate Weber of the Development Workshop Namibia, not only does this have social, economic and political risks, but it also affects the country as a whole and hinders development potential. In light of this, Weber hosts a presentation on how the mushrooming of informal settlements can be deterred at 19:30 the Scientific Society next Thursday.

1.24 Shack dwellers accuse City of delays The Namibian|21/06/2018

The City of Windhoek has been accused of frustrating efforts by the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) to speed up the delivery of houses, while ensuring affordability. However, the municipality has strongly defended its support and commitment to the upgrading of informal settlements in Windhoek. It was responding to complaints that it had shut out the SDFN. Countrywide, the federation has helped members build a total of 4 800 homes through the dedication and hard work of 23 000 members, belonging to 747 groups. In total, the groups across the country have saved over N$25 million with the help of their members, in addition to funds from private sponsors and government. “The City of Windhoek has not been very helpful. It looks like the Windhoek municipality prefers to do everything themselves,” Edith Mbanga of the SDFN recently told Namibian Sun. She said since 2005, the City of Windhoek has not come to the table to assist SDFN groups. The first SDFN savings group initiated an upgrade project 13 years ago and an agreement was signed with the City of Windhoek. “What was lacking was a strong multi-stakeholder team to maintain the momentum until the community could also build their houses,” she said. She emphasised that involving the community speeds up informal settlement development and improves affordability. According to Mbanga however, the Windhoek municipality “insists it is not according to their standards and that the municipality will do it”. “This is delaying all the development and the securing of tenure by groups,” Mbanga added. The City of Windhoek this week strongly defended its prioritisation of informal settlement development, and acknowledged that cooperation between the community and authorities is crucial and that “sustainability means developing with the people, and not for them”. Instead of being viewed as “unhelpful”, City spokesperson Lydia Amutenya this week said it is merely complying with standards as stipulated by the Town and Regional Planners' Amendment Act 32 of 1998. Amutenya highlighted that the City has prioritised the urgency of informal settlement upgrading in its main strategic plans and sticking to set standards “should not be perceived to be delaying development”. She added in the past the City did allow groups to design their own layout and services, but “due to lack of technical and qualified expertise those designs were found not to meet the required standards”. She added that compliance “is critical to any development to avoid developmental problems later”. Amutenya said the emphasis on compliance should not be regarded as a tactic to delay development, “but it is the responsibility of the City of Windhoek to ensure that development conforms”. In May, Windhoek mayor Muesee Kazapua was quoted by Namibian Sun at a groundbreaking ceremony in the Rocky Crest suburb, saying that the next agreement he signs must be to service land in informal settlements.“As we know, the demand for serviced land and housing in Windhoek is overwhelming - a reality which rendered council unable to meet this demand alone.”

1.25 Lüderitz pleased with housing project The New Era|22/06/2018

Construction of 58 Build Together houses in Lüderitz town that started last month will go a long way to roll back the acute shortage of houses at the coastal town. The Lüderitz Town Council facilitated the

19 construction of the houses that are being built in accordance with the provisions of the guidelines and procedures of the Build Together program for low-income earners. The Acting CEO of the Lüderitz Town Council, Otto Shipanga said they invited local SMEs interested in constructing low-cost houses to participate. “Build Together housing beneficiaries were provided with a list of possible local contractors to choose from and to independently agree their respective terms and conditions prior to the signing of the contract. The project has started and the contractors are performing to our satisfaction. Council is pleased with the progress of the project, even-though there are still challenges experienced with the availability of building material,” stated Shipanga. Council also made provision to construct middle-income houses in Donkerhoek, in Benguela, to alleviate the housing shortage that is prevalent countrywide. The town council has made budgetary provision for the planning and construction of services of 60 erven at Benguela Extension 3, for low-cost housing that would cater for residents in the informal settlements of Area 7, Amilema and back-yard squatters, but preference will be given to those registered on its waiting list. The town council also intends to announce an “offer to purchase” tender for the already constructed 55 erven in Area 3, in Benguela and those on its list will also receive preference. “Despite council’s commitment to strive for continued economic growth and development of the town, there are major challenges hampering development such as land constrains and economic factors such as risks associated with the mining and fishing sectors mostly influenced by the threat of imminent strikes,” he said. He said the low prices on minerals and the closure of Elizabeth Bay mine, might translate in the slow-down of revenue collection for the council in future. Shipanga further called for interventions from central government to ensure it creates new revenue streams, that could transform the town’s economy and to ensure more fish is processed for export at the town.

1.26 Outjo renames major streets The Namibian|25/06/2018

Outjo mayor Samuel !Oe-Amseb on Friday announced the names of six people the municipality found befitting to be named for the town's feeder streets. The six were vice president Nangolo Mbumba, the late Kunene governor Angelika Muharukua, first Kunene governor Ernst Fanuel Amporo, the late NBC staffer Salmon Salath //Hoëseb, Outjo-born musician Sagarias Kalux, and Dr Japie van Zyl, a specialist in scientific space knowledge from Outjo. !Oe-Amseb revealed the names at the 120th anniversary of Outjo's existence on Friday at the Etoshapoort Stadium. According to !Oe-Amseb, many streets carry meaningless names and needed to be renamed after some iconic people who have excelled in their personal, political and professional lives. He said the municipality street naming committee, which comprises local authority councillors, municipality officials and community members, agreed to change and rename some of the major tarred streets such as Buitekant, Lang, Koedoe and Zebra. Buitekant Street was named after Muharukua, while the nearly three-kilometre long Lang Street was named after Mbumba with Hospital Street renamed after Amporo. Zebra Street was renamed after Karunga, and Koedoe Street became Dr Japie van Zyl Street. “This exercise is just the start. It is not the end of it, as we have many deserving residents in and outside Outjo who need to be accorded this honour and respect based on what they have achieved in life,” said !Oe-Amseb. The anniversary celebrations were attended by more than 1 000 residents of the town, visitors and officials of the Kunene Regional Council.

1.27 City to rename several streets The Namibian Sun|26/06/2018

The City of Windhoek plans to rename several streets, should no objections be received from the public within 21 days. This follows the approval of the names by the city councillors. Ten existing streets will be renamed while two new streets will be named. Streets at Elisenheim will also get new names, a City notice said. Babs Street in Klein Windhoek will be renamed to Pan Africanist Marcus Garvey Street.

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Zenobia Street in Klein Windhoek will be renamed to honour Philip Shiimi, who was the CEO of the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority. Also up for change is Kenneth Kaunda Street in Freedom Square which will change to Priscilla Charlene Geingos Street. Geingos, or Aunty Patty as she was commonly known, was President Hage Geingob's first wife. Bach Street in Windhoek West will be renamed to honour the late leader of the National Unity Democratic Organisation, Kuaima Riruako, while Bismarck Street will become Simeon Lineekela Shixungileni Street. He was a combatant in the liberation struggle and took part in the battle at Ongulumbashe on 26 August 1966. A former principal of Mandume Primary School, the late Juuso Katangolo, will also get a street renamed in his honour. Tuin Street in Katutura will be named after the late educator, who died last February. A new street intersecting with Lazarett Street will be named after the late Member of Parliament Moses Katjiuongua. Düsseldorf Street in Otjomuise will be renamed in honour of Theophilus Katjiuongua, Moses Katjiuongua's father. Another new street that branches off from Lazarett Street will be named after John Muundjua. He is credited with mobilising residents of the Old Location to oppose a forced removal from there. Klaagliedere and Kronike Streets in Katutura will be renamed in honour of the late bishop of the Unity Protestant Church, Asaria Kamburona. Other streets to be renamed included Genesis Street in Katutura, which will be renamed to Patropas Tjitjo Street, and Delfos Street in Windhoek North which will be renamed after Filemon Nangolo. The name of late ANC stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela does not feature on the list. City spokesperson Scheifert Shigwedha said a formal request to have a street named after her had not been received. Meanwhile, the Namibia Press Agency reports that the Outjo town council has renamed several streets. They honour vice- president Nangolo Mbumba, the late Kunene governor Angelika Muharukua, first Kunene governor Ernst Fanuel Amporo, the late NBC staffer Salmon Salath //Hoëseb, Outjo-born musician Sagarias Kalux, and NASA rocket scientist Japie van Zyl, who was born at Outjo. Buitekant Street was named after Muharukua, while the nearly three-kilometre Lang Street was named after Mbumba and Hospital Street was renamed after Amporo. Zebra Street was renamed after Karunga, and Koedoe Street became Dr Japie van Zyl Street.

1.28 Councillors question street renaming The Namibian|27/06/2018

Two Windhoek councillors have questioned the process of renaming streets in the capital, while others believe that applications by politicians often get a quicker response than those from other people. These councillors are Ian Subasubani of Swapo and Nudo's Joseph Kauandenge. Subasubani told The Namibian yesterday that those who have connections with people working for the municipality can speed up the processing of their applications to rename streets. Although he does not sit on the committee which decides the renaming of streets, Subasubani believes that in every set-up, it is easier to get the approval of your application if you know someone there. He suggested that if there are flaws in the approval system, people should inform councillors so that the problems can be identified. Kauandenge also suspects that applications from influential people are immediately approved, while those from ordinary citizens take a bit longer to be processed. He cited the example of Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila's application for renaming Zenobia Street in Klein Windhoek to the late Phillip Shiimi Street. Shiimi, who headed Namfisa, is Kuugongelwa-Amadhila's relative. He died in a road accident in September 2015. Council documents show that Kuugongelwa-Amadhila submitted her application in January 2016, but the municipality suggested to rename Julius Nyerere Street in Okuryangava after Shiimi. An advertisement flighted on Monday this week, however, shows that Kuugongelwa-Amadhila's request to rename Zenobia Street after Shiimi still stands. The public, the advertisement said, has 21 days to object to the renaming of the streets. Kauandenge queried whether the approval of the street renaming process was “transparent and fair”, and whether it took into consideration the wishes of the people who live in that area. The Prime Minister was not reachable for comment, and did not respond to questions sent to her in February and this week too. Kauandenge said he applied for the renaming of Shanghai Street in Katutura after paramount chief Kuaima Riruako,

21 but the council suggested to rename Bach Street in Windhoek West instead. RDP councillor Brunhilde Cornelius also told The Namibian that she hoped that there was no favouritism in Kuugongelwa- Amadhila's application. City of Windhoek spokesperson Scheifert Shigwedha said the council's policy is that only one street can be renamed after one person after approval from the council. Shigwedha added that only those who would have had an impact on the development of Windhoek should be honoured by having streets named after them. “It is also to honour institutions and individuals for their contributions to the development of the country and the city, and should, therefore, be done with careful consideration since it may have an impact on current and future users of a particular street or place,” he stated.

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2 Urban Infrastructure and Services

2.1 Omuthiya hospital not up to standard-Angala The New Era|01/06/2018

The health care facility at Omuthiya does not meet the requirements to be called a hospital, because it is not fully equipped with a functional theatre and it does not have anaesthetic equipment for the administering of drugs before surgery. The Oshikoto regional Health Director, Peter Angala, who described the situation as one of the biggest challenges facing the health centre care facility, revealed this. “People are flocking in numbers, because when they look at the facility they think it is a fully- fledged hospital, but it is not and it does not meet the standard of a hospital. We are doing little in helping them, thus mostly we are referring them to Onandjokwe intermediate hospital for further treatment,” stressed a concerned Angala. “We can only do normal deliveries, but premature and complicated pregnancies are referred to Onandjokwe because we do not have the facilities and equipment to operate, even though we have qualified doctors who can do it internally,” added Angala. Due to the facility’s limitations an ambulance can transport more than five patients who are usually transferred to Onandjokwe, a practice he said is draining the ministry’s resources. Furthermore, Angala said, he obtained and submitted a quotation of the anaesthetic machine, which is worth N$1.2 million. “I hope they will prioritise this soonest, because my youthful doctors are also threatening to leave the hospital because their skills are going down the drain hence they want to move to health facilities with a good environment,” stated Angala, saying by August he will only be having two doctors, because one is leaving already. He said one doctor has been sent for training in anaesthetic. “The Deputy Minister of Works, James Sankwasa was here, and I toured with him through the hospital, and he saw how bad the situation is. We want to save more lives but now we are not saving any. However, in general I would say we are doing the best that we can in offering the available services,” he stressed.

2.2 B2Gold solar farm to produce renewable energy The Namibian|01/06/2018

Mines and energy minister Tom Alweendo said socio-economic development challenges will be addressed more successfully when there is an effective partnership between the government, private sector and Namibian citizens. He said this when he officially inaugurated the B2Gold Otjiko Solar Farm in the Otjozondjupa region on Tuesday. “As part of our 5th National Development Plan (NDP5) and the Harambee Prosperity Plan, we recognise energy as priority infrastructure needed for our socio- economic development agenda,” Alweendo said. B2Gold has a sustainable educational programme that originated from the Colorado State University in the United States. “The programme is endorsed by the ministry of education, the Namibian Institute of Educational Development, and the University of Namibia,” he noted. According to Alweendo, his ministry finalised the national renewable energy policy last year, which is intended to provide the necessary thrust to renewable energy development, to serve as a clear signal to the commitment of a clean energy future powered by renewable energy sources. “The policy is to enable access to modern, clean, environmentally sustainable and affordable energy for all Namibians for our short and long-term development goals,” he said. “This will then assist us in climbing the development ladder, empowered by access to energy at the levels that facilitate engagement in productive activity,” the minister added. B2Gold last year signed a memorandum of understanding with Total Namibia, which will commit two cents of every litre of heavy fuel oil (HFO) sold to B2Gold Namibia to the Namibian Chamber of Environment. Alweendo further stated that in terms of energy, Namibia has the world's second-best solar resource, a significant amount of biomass, and an excellent wind regime. “As part of our NDP5, we have a target of 750 megawatt (MW) of locally generated energy by the year 2022, which is necessary for us to reduce our over-reliance on the imports of electricity from our neighbours,” he explained. Nine projects in various towns across the 23 country have also connected to the national grid, adding a total of 45MW of clean energy. “The facility will further add another 5MW of electricity generation towards sustainable energy generation. The solar plant, which is one of the largest installations in Namibia, will deliver positive economic, environmental and social impacts that are likely to outlive the life of the mine”, said Alweendo. The solar plant will serve as a sustainable power solution as B2Gold works to improve economic returns, reduce impacts on the environment, and could potentially be a funding source for community development. “The expected saving on the consumption of HFO is in the region of 20%. This will not only reduce costs, but will also significantly reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions into our pristine skies,” he noted. “This clearly shows that B2Gold is setting the mining industry standards for sustainable approaches to livelihood development, health, conservation and education,” the minister said.

2.3 Kragonderbreking lei tot chaos Republikein|05/06/2018

Windhoek en omliggende gebiede het gister van 12:56 af ’n kragonderbreking beleef. Volgens ’n verklaring wat NamPower uitgereik het, is die kragonderbreking deur ’n gebreekte geleier by die Hoffnung-substasie, 18 kilometer oos van Windhoek, veroorsaak. Dit het ’n kortsluiting by die Van Eck- kragstasie teweeggebring, wat die kragtoevoer na Windhoek en omliggende gebiede beïnvloed het. Die kragtoevoer na die stad is teen 14:14 weer herstel, terwyl die herstel van kragtoevoer na Finkenstein, Hoffnung en omliggende gebiede langer gevat het. NamPower het die publiek gewaarsku om alle kraglyne en elektriese punte te alle tye as lewendig te beskou, aangesien kragtoevoer sonder enige kennisgewing herstel kan word. NamPower het verskoning gevra aan sy kliënte en die publiek vir enige ongerief weens die voorval. Windhoek se strate was weens die kragonderbreking oor die etensuur in chaos gedompel. Mnr. Nico Ruiters het die verkeer op die hoek van Mandume Ndemufayorylaan en Dr. Frans Indongostraat gereguleer. “Ek het die verkeerschaos gesien en besluit ek moet ingryp. Ek het ’n weerkaatsende jas aan en het geweet mense sal my respekteer en gehoorsaam,” het hy gesê. Die meeste winkels in die Wernhil Park-winkelsentrum was weens die kragonderbreking gesluit. ’n Werker by ’n klerewinkel het gesê die onderbreking was baie sleg vir besigheid.

2.4 Govt coughs up N$58m to City The Namibian Sun|05/06/2018

Significant progress has been made in settling government municipal debt owed to the City of Windhoek, with about N$58 million having been paid to date. By the end of December last year the City's debt book reflected N$80.9 million owed by government, but by the end of March this amount was reduced to N$22.38 million.“This notable reduction is worth applauding and we count on your continuous, similar support,” said Khomas governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua during her State of the Region Address last week. At the launch of the City's strategic plan for 2017 to 2022 in July last year, its debtors' book totalled N$500 million. By the end of December 2017, the city was owed around N$634 million by government, private residents and businesses. Government was among the major culprits, as it owed the City about N$80 million, while state-owned enterprises owed N$18.5 million. Some of the major culprits were the education ministry (N$24.7 million), the works ministry (N$15.9 million), the health ministry (N$13.1 million), the safety and security ministry (N$8.3 million) and the defence ministry (N$4.5 million). McLeod-Katjirua said the City is currently in the third quarter of the first year of its transformational strategic plan, which was launched on 14 July 2017. “The first two years of a strategic plan typically set the base for the necessary turnaround strategies, with clear governance, financial rescue and strategic funding plans.” Among the highlights the governor mentioned were efforts to convert conventional meters to prepaid ones for the top 500 defaulting

24 pensioners. This project was to have commenced last month. She said addressing the town planning applications backlog and the completion of all building and compliance inspections, within 48 hours and 10 days respectively, have also been finalised. McLeod-Katjirua also elaborated on the Sustainable Urban Transport Master Plan (SUTMP): The Move Windhoek project. She said transport affects the daily lives of Windhoek's residents, especially in terms of commuting to and from work or accessing essential services. According to her, Windhoek and its neighbouring towns need a new approach to ensure efficient and coordinated sustainable urban transport. “The existing challenges of urban transportation congestion, insufficient parking and the inadequate provision of public transportation are already measurable and on the increase.” McLeod-Katjirua said on 11 May 2016 it was decided to first develop bus lines 1 and 2 to high operational standards and provide passenger information for these, before operationalising the other lines. A total of seven new bus lines were implemented (lines 1, 2 3, 4, 5, 6 and 11) during the 2017/18 financial year The City, in partnership with GIZ, procured 26 new buses in order to improve the capacity of resources for improved quality service delivery. Twenty- four buses have already been delivered and the remaining two will be delivered before the end of this month. The new buses have already been deployed to service the newly introduced bus lines, which have extended the coverage to Okahandja Park and parts of Khomasdal and Dorado Park.

2.5 New power substation commissioned at Otavi The Namibian|06/06/2018

A new power substation was commissioned at Otavi in the Otjozondjupa region on Monday. During the commissioning, executive manager for engineering and systems development at the Central North Regional Electricity Distributor (CenoRED), Silvester Wayiti said Otavi previously used to experience frequent power outages due to faults on the old power line supplying the town and farms in the constituency. “Any power failure on a farm or guesthouse connected to this old line would also affect the town,” said Wayiti, adding that with the new dedicated line connected to the power station, such power outages will no longer occur. The power station is situated near the Ohorongo Cement factory, and can produce about 10 megavolt amperes of electricity. It cost over N$125 million to build, including the erection of 25 kilometres of electricity poles and the upgrading of an electricity mini-station at Otavi. Otavi deputy mayor George Garab expressed gratitude to CenoRED for the development. “We were getting tired of power outages, mostly during the rainy seasons,” he said. Otavi constituency councillor Laina Nekundi also expressed excitement over her constituency receiving a dedicated power line that will support over 5 000 people. “This development is welcome, and I hope it will help prevent the many power outages we experienced,” said Nekundi. Farms and guest houses in the constituency will continue to receive electricity supplies from the old power line.

2.6 //Karas receives N$1b for infrastructure The Namibian|06/06/2018

The government will inject N$1 billion into infrastructure projects in the //Karas region in the current fiscal year, economic planning minister Obeth Kandjoze told Governor Lucia Basson. In the letter dated 7 May, Kandjoze told Basson about the implementation of projects budgeted for in the 2018/19 - 2020/21 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF). He said the funds allocated for the first year have been confirmed, while those for subsequent years were subject to change. The minister added that the National Planning Commission, of which he is director general, will be improving engagements with regions, in particular to monitor and request quarterly progress reports from regional councils on projects being implemented. The NPC would also annually be requesting a list of projects the region had submitted to various ministries for inclusion in the national budget. “This exercise will enhance coordination and planning between the region and the NPC,” Kandjoze stated. In terms of the MTEF, aside from this year's N$1 billion, //Karas would receive N$833 million in the next financial year, and

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N$831 million in the 2020/21 financial year. About N$70 million will go for the rehabilitation of the southern railway line's Sandverhaar-Buchholzbrunn section, and N$24 million will be for the ongoing upgrading and rehabilitation of the Aus-Lüderitz railway line. Funds have also been allocated for the construction of bulk services at Keetmanshoop (N$15 million), Lüderitz (N$8 million), Tses (N$7 million), Koës (N$7 million), Bethanie (N$4 million), Berseba (N$7 million), Noordoewer (N$3 million), Karasburg (N$5 million), Oranjemund (N$6 million), Aroab (N$3 million), Grünau (N$1 million), Aus (N$6 million), and Ariamsvlei (N$3 million). An amount of N$20 million was set aside for the //Karas regional office park currently under construction, while N$11 million will go towards the construction of the new Keetmanshoop vocational training centre. The region will receive N$25 million for its land purchase sub-programme, and N$12 million for ongoing construction at the Keetmanshoop military base. N$15 million was set aside for the upgrading and renovation of the Keetmanshoop State Hospital, and N$4 million for the maintenance and repair of health infrastructure in the region. //Karas governor Lucia Basson yesterday welcomed the allocation of funds for regional infrastructural development, amid the prevailing economic and fiscal challenges. She thus called on public servants in the region to spend every cent on what it is allocated for, saying that a lot of money allocated to the region in the past had been diverted to unbudgeted for spending, and this resulted in some projects not being completed. The governor said her office will monitor the implementation of capital projects to ensure the money was spent in a transparent and accountable manner.

2.7 Local authorities should ensure solid waste disposal The Namibian|06/06/2018

Environmental commissioner Teofilus Nghitila has urged local authorities to make solid waste management infrastructure available for disposal in urban and rural areas. Nghitila said during the commemoration of world environment day in Windhoek yesterday that some of the excuses people give is that there are no facilities available for disposal. He said it is therefore essential for local authorities not to give people such grounds of reasoning by providing solid waste infrastructure at all the necessary sites. He emphasised that waste disposal infrastructure should be made available among others in shopping malls, public transport, bus stops, playgrounds and resting places for Namibia to become the leading country in Africa regarding standards of solid waste management. At the same occasion in a speech read on his behalf, minister of environment and tourism Pohamba Shifeta said this year's theme 'Beating plastic pollution' befits the threats plastic poses to human and environmental health. Shifeta said all types of litter negatively affect the pristine nature of Namibia's environment, the quality of life of its population and create a negative impression among visiting tourists. The minister said plastic bags warrant particular attention and regulatory measures to curb their use because of their prevalence and threats to wildlife, humans and aquatic biota. “Over 15 African countries have already introduced measures to either ban or tax the use of plastic carrier bags and our intention is to learn from these lessons and propose measures to reduce the use of plastic bags that will work in the Namibian context. Shifeta said the intended measures would be an essential first step in efforts to beat plastic pollution. The United Nations General Assembly designated world environment day in 1972, and it is observed annually on 5 June as a vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action on the protection of the environment.

2.8 Katima residents lament late rubbish removal The Namibian|08/06/2018

Residents of Choto compound at Katima Mulilo say they are forced to live in unhygienic conditions for months because the town council does not collect rubbish on time. Choto compound has about 1 930 residential erven, most comprising mud houses. The disgruntled residents who spoke to The Namibian yesterday said they pay N$83, 55 a month for refuse collection to the Katima Mulilo town council, yet

26 they do not get the service on time. “This situation is getting out of hand because they can go up to three months before coming to pick up the trash. This is just poor service delivery on their part as we do our part to pay and gather the rubbish, and put it nicely to be collected,'' stressed Harriet Mbala. Another unsatisfied resident, Esther Shakanda, told The Namibian that they have now resolved to burn the refuse at their homes, which is a health hazard for them. “We have no choice but to burn the refuse right in front of our houses because it is piling up. The council gives a lot of excuses when we ask, but they gladly take our hard-earned money every month,'' she observed. Agnes Mwezi, who also spoke to The Namibian yesterday, said anyone with eyes can see how dirty the streets are because of the uncollected refuse. “When we go and put the rubbish outside, the plastic bags are torn by scavenging dogs, and the rubbish gets blown all over by the wind. The other thing is we are not even provided with plastic bags. This is a big problem for us, and the council should start providing better services,'' she pleaded. Others like Yvonne Kamwi have resorted to taking the garbage to the dumpsite by using private transport. “This is costing us double because although we pay for services, we still fill up our cars to take the rubbish away from our homes,'' she added. The Katima Mulilo town council's chief marketing and communications officer, Muyoba Muyoba, told The Namibian that Choto is a large township, and the contractor responsible for refuse removal currently only has one truck. It thus takes time for them to collect the rubbish. “The other issue is that since it is a big township, by the time people collecting reach the end of the houses, rubbish will already be piling up where they had started. However, we are busy looking into the matter. In future, we think maybe we should give the tender to two contractors, who will cater for the needs of the township's residents. We are asking that the community be patient with us,'' he said.

2.9 Vlamme verswelg sinkhuise op Henties Republikein|12/06/2018

Verslae inwoners van Hentiesbaai het gister toegekyk hoe drie sinkhuise binne minute voor hulle oë in die informele woonbuurt van Omdel afgebrand het. Die brand het omstreeks 13:30 ontstaan, vermoedelik nadat kinders kos warm wou maak en die vlamme hand•uit geruk het. "'n Redelike sterk ooswind het bygedra dat die vlamme nog vinniger versprei," het Barrine Blom gesê. Volgens LifeLink Emergency Rescue Services wat op die toneel hulp verleen het, het 'n vrou ligte bese•rings opgedoen toe sy 'n kind uit 'n sinkhuis wou red. Gelukkig is geen lewens geëis nie. Volgens dié reddingsdienste is die sinkhuise vernietig voor die munisipale brandweerwa op die toneel aangekom het.

2.10 Towns keep close eye on water The Namibian Sun|12/06/2018

Although no Namibian towns are currently experiencing a water supply crisis, most municipalities are keeping a close eye on current infrastructure and planning ahead to ensure a secure supply of drinking water to residents. In line with this, the municipality of Okahandja has begun installing pre-paid water meters for residents who previously depended on communal standpipes. Okahandja council spokesperson Ian Patrick Haraseb says the first phase of the water meter installations began two months ago, with 180 meters already installed.He said the municipality hoped to install more than 5 000 pre-paid water meters in total, with the first 800 to be completed before the end of the year. Haraseb said once pre-paid water systems had been installed in these residential areas, the municipality hoped to begin replacing conventional water meters in the rest of the town in order to improve the payment of water bills. Another challenge faced by the Okahandja municipality is increasing pipe bursts due to old infrastructure. In terms of future water-supply security, he said the municipality had completed the drilling of two new boreholes, with a third under way. “These three boreholes are actually not enough, should NamWater stop supplying water should the Von Bach Dam ever run dry. So we still need to drill more,” he said. NamWater's latest dam bulletin, dated 4 June,

27 stated that Von Bach was 54.7% full. In the south, both the Mariental and Keetmanshoop municipalities say their water supply is not at a critical stage yet, but ongoing efforts include motivating residents to save water and keeping a close watch on infrastructure. Keetmanshoop municipal spokesperson Samuel Nashima said the only problem at the moment is that the AC pipes that make up 75% of the town's water network are very old. “Their lifetime is over. Ideally all AC pipes must be replaced,” he said. He said the municipality was working on a maintenance plan to replace these pipes as its budget permitted. The town's water supply from the Naute Dam is secure, as the dam maintains a level of between 70% and 80%. Nashima said the Donkiedraai reservoir was functioning optimally, and ball-valve problems that had plagued the Oxpass reservoir were resolved. “Both reservoirs are still in good condition and with periodic maintenance, their lifetime can be extended.” Furthermore, a sliding scale of water tariffs was introduced to encourage residents to use water wisely, Nashima said. At Mariental, where the main source of drinking water is the Hardap Dam, water security remains assured. The CEO of the municipality, Paul Nghiwilepo, said if the level of the Hardap Dam fell to 10%, the remaining water would be exclusively used for human consumption, and no water would be released for irrigation. The NamWater dam bulletin of 4 June put the current level of the dam at 45.2%. Nghiwilepo said NamWater had made provision to increase its supply capacity to the town as its population continues to grow. The municipality is also exploring other options, including boreholes, for short- and long-term water security. “We do not currently have alternative water supply sources in the event that the Hardap Dam runs dry. So it is very important for us to put in place alternative sources for the town,” he said. He added that although there had been brief periods when water quality deteriorated, water quality overall remained good.

2.11 Bids open for Gobabis projects Windhoek Express|14/06/2018

The municipality of Gobabis has invited interested candidates to hand in their tenders for a number of projects set to start there in the near future. Firstly, the procurement management unit of the municipality is looking for persons to connect toilets to a gravity system in Ongulumbashe, as well as water reticulation. This tender is re-advertised from last year. Other tenders include infrastructure development in Ongulumbashe and the construction of a sewer and water reticulation system. The gravel road in Roeseners Street must also be upgraded to a bituminous surface. The length of the street is 1.2km. A complete set of bidding documents can be bought on the submission of a written application. Application fees are N$300 per tender. A pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for 26 June at 09:30 at 35 Church Street in Gobabis. According to the municipal notice, all interested parties' documents must be up to date, including a valid company registration certificate and a good standing tax certificate. Candidates should also be capable of securing finance for the project. Applicants have until 13 July at 11:00 to hand in all bids. No electronic bids will be accepted.

2.12 Tsumeb municipality in N$7m electricity debt The Namibian|14/06/2018

CENORED said it will cut down electricity supply to the Tsumeb municipality this week because of a N$7 million outstanding electricity bill. The company's public relations officer, Chali Matengu, told The Namibian yesterday that the outstanding bill is from the last five years, adding that electricity will be cut off at several offices, as well as sports and recreational facilities this week. He said the municipality was given a deadline by yesterday morning to make a N$3,5 million down payment, but the electricity supply was cut off to the municipal offices before lunch time because they didn't pay. Matengu added that after discussions with them, the municipality promised at least N$1,3 million by yesterday, and the Central North Electricity Distributor (Cenored) later turned the lights back on. “However, we will continue with electricity supply to the boreholes pumping water to the community of Tsumeb for now,”

28 he said, adding that if no payment is done, Cenored will be forced to also cut off supply to the boreholes within this week. Matengu said the company has tried on several occasions to reach a payment agreement since 95% of the municipality's bill is consumed by the boreholes. “We have suggested the possibility of them acquiring alternative power supply, such as a solar plant to reduce electricity consumption at their boreholes, but to no avail,” he said, adding that the municipality has tried engineering efforts to reduce the pumping of water, but that also does not deliver the desired results. The company's spokesperson said they have suggested that the municipality's offices use pre-paid meters, but they have been unwilling to convert. “There have been efforts in the past to see how this account can be reduced, but it seems the municipality can simply not afford to pay their account,” he stated. Matengu said they are currently waiting for the municipality to keep to their promise and pay Cenored the outstanding amount. The chief executive of the Tsumeb municipality, Archie Benjamin, confirmed to The Namibian yesterday that they owe Cenored money, but said the municipality's bill only stands at N$5 million. He added that the municipality has made a standing agreement with Cenored to pay the outstanding amount, and that they made a payment of N$1,2 million yesterday. However, Matengu said they have not yet received the N$1,2 million payment from the municipality. CenoRED is the third licensed regional electricity distribution company after NoRED and ErongoRed.

2.13 City to fill up 3 000 potholes by end July The Namibian|15/06/2018

The City of Windhoek says it would have spent about N$880 000 to fill up close to 3 000 potholes on its roads network by the end of July 2018. City spokesperson Lydia Amutenya said this yesterday, following concerns that the municipality was not doing much regarding potholes. She said a study was conducted between 8 and 10 June to determine the number of potholes on the roads, and their location. This study found that there were around 3 000 potholes in Windhoek, with most of them in the northern suburbs. It would cost the municipality N$294 to fill up one pothole, and Otjomuise Construction and Indigenous Construction will do the work, she noted. “The unit rate contractors (whose contracts) expired during October 2017, were reinstated as an emergency measure on 11 July 2017,” she said, later explaining that this was due to the bureaucratic procurement system. There would also be four teams from the municipality working with the two construction companies. “If an average of 20 potholes can be repaired per day, 100 potholes can be repaired per team. With five teams repairing the potholes, all the potholes will be repaired in six weeks. Thus, we can expect all potholes to be fixed by the end of July 2018,” said Amutenya. While noting that the municipality had delayed starting repairs on potholes this year, she gave an assurance that they will all be repaired as a matter of urgency. Dirk Reed, the municipality's chief engineer of roads and stormwater, described the potholes in Windhoek as something that happens mostly when the city experiences continuous rain. When it rains continuously, the roads do not have time to dry, and this leads to potholes. He added that the standard of roads has been good for the past 20 years, and usually only needed maintenance after every two years. However, for busy roads and those that carry a lot of traffic, annual repairs are done to keep them up to standard. Reed explained that there was a delay in fixing the potholes, which he attributed to the fact that they ran out of tar mix, and had been using another poor-quality mix in the interim. The city has now acquired the correct mix, which will be used to repair the damaged roads.

2.14 Police prioritise infrastructure development – Ndeitunga The New Era|15/06/2018

The Inspector General of the Namibian Police, Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga, has underscored the importance of infrastructure development, saying it has become a top priority to the force more than ever. “It is important for us to recognise… we are bringing security services to the people,” said Ndeitunga. He made the remarks in in an interview with New Era, after a street

29 procession in Omuthiya in preparation for the official opening of the Oshikoto regional police headquarters and a police station today (Friday). In 2008 when Omuthiya was proclaimed the capital town of Oshikoto, we planned for this state-of-the-art headquarters, proactively, to ensure police services are made available in the new town. I am very proud that this facility will address the issue of lack of accommodation for officers, which is also affecting others in different regions and town,” he added. Ndeitunga said such a development is significant because it decentralises services, hence it reduces bureaucracy as services are brought closer to the people. Ndeitunga however hopes a magistrate’s court is constructed soon in Omuthiya so that the police and courts can work closely together and in a timely manner, as opposed to now when trial-awaiting suspects have to be taken to Tsumeb which is 160km, or Ondangwa which is 80km, away. “All in all preparations are done, and the public are welcome to see the facility, this is their facility. We the police are here to render services to them,” he said.

2.15 //Karas councils struggle to pay debts The Namibian|18/06/2018

Local authorities in the //Karas region are battling to pay their electricity and water bills. This emerged at a meeting between urban and rural development minister Peya Mushelenga and local and regional leaders, as well as top administrators at Keetmanshoop last week. The struggling local authorities cited ageing water and electricity infrastructure, illegal electricity connections as well as high unemployment and poverty rates at their towns and villages as challenges affecting their ability to collect revenue and pay their bills with NamWater and NamPower. Settlements owing NamWater include Keetmanshoop (N$7,5 million), Bethanie (N$6 million), Koes (N$2 million) and Tses (N$7,4 million). Only Lüderitz and Aroab, and the recently proclaimed mining town of Oranjemund do not owe water and electricity bulk suppliers, it emerged at the meeting. It also transpired that NamWater has issued notices to the defaulting local authorities to pay up by the end of this month, or face water cuts. Keetmanshoop CEO Desmond Basson revealed that council has already settled the N$1,2 million of its NamWater debt, and that an additional N$2 million would be paid this month to avoid having water supplies disconnected. Tses Village Council CEO Fritz Christiaan candidly admitted that they were unable to pay the debt, as they only collected N$200 000 per month from residents. “We can sell water to the entire village, but we would not be able to meet our obligations with the bulk water supplier,” he said. Mushelenga said the inability by local authorities to settle their debts was largely caused by consumers failing to pay their municipal bills. The minister advised the local authorities to put in place mechanisms to recover money owed to them by residents in a reasonable time. “There is nothing like a free meal; even the fight for freedom was not free,” he stated. He directed political office-bearers to be tough on administrators to ensure that they collect revenue and use it for the right purpose. Mushelenga further called on local authorities to speed up land delivery to ensure that citizens get affordable housing. “Housing construction companies push up house prices to become rich overnight,” he remarked, while emphasising the need to provide decent housing to the poor. “This is not the Namibia we fought for. We want people to have a house, and we mean it,” he added. The minister reminded political office- bearers that they were decision-makers, and therefore should not interfere in the administration of towns. However, he was quick to point out to administrators that this did not mean they should take advantage of political office- bearers by misleading them on administrative matters. Mushelenga also lectured political office-bearers and administrators about ethical behaviour.

2.16 Enough money for road repairs Windhoek Express|21/06/2018

The City of Windhoek (CoW) has enough funds to repair the estimated 3 000 potholes in the capital by the end of July. The tendered rate to repair a pothole is around N$295, bringing the total to N$890 000

30 to fix all potholes in the capital. The budget for surface repairs for the 2017/18 financial year is N$26 350 000 of which N$11 152 470 has already been used. “Thus, there is no shortage to repair potholes,” said the CoW’s PRO, Lydia Amutenya. “An average of 20 potholes can be repaired per team per day,” she adds. With five teams repairing potholes, all potholes can be repaired within 6 weeks. “This includes fixing potholes that were repaired temporarily with soilcrete,” she said. At a meeting last week, Amutenya said that in the past few months potholes were temporarily filled with soilcrete due to a procurement issue with regards to the needed premix. Before fixing the potholes now, the soilcrete first needs to be removed. “However, this will not have any effect on the time frames we have set our teams as all potholes need to cleaned out before being repaired in any case,” said Dirk Reed, chief engineer for roads and storm water at the CoW. A total of 942 potholes in the southern suburbs and 753 in the northern suburbs were fixed with soilcrete. Although much cheaper than N$295 a pothole, the soilcrete costs between N$20 and N$50 to fill a pothole. However, the soilcrete’s quality is lacking and fixes don’t last more than around six weeks. “Road infrastructure are crucial to our lives and thus its importance cannot be overemphasised,” Amutenya said, “so making asmall contribution to temporarily fix potholes is all worthwhile.” Although the CoW fills potholes after the rainy season through appointed Unit Rate Contractors, the unintended delay with procuring the correct pothole fix mixture was unfortunate. “Maintenance teams fell behind on repairs and therefore only two teams were used for both the southern and northern suburbs.” When asked why the city centre enjoys more road maintenance than suburbs like Katutura, Reed said that a pavement management system assessment is done every second year. “This determines what roads are more severely affected.” Other factors the CoW considers is what method should be used to repair the roads.

2.17 Keetmans to upgrade Krönlein stadium The Namibian|21/06/2018

The Keetmanshoop Town Council and the //Karas Regional Council will revamp the KrÖnlein Stadium at a cost of N$5 million. In a statement issued yesterday, the Keetmanshoop council said it had agreed during a meeting with the //Karas officials on 12 April on a plan to renovate the vandalised stadium. The renovation includes repairing the perimeter wall, the ticketing office, tennis and netball courts, as well as the change rooms. It also includes planting a lawn and installing an irrigation system on the main soccer pitch, as well as repairing the floodlights. Keetmanshoop public relations officer Dawn Kruger said the council pledged to contribute N$2 million towards the project. Council resolved to approve the provision of the N$1, 5 million during the 2018/19 financial year for the renovations. Furthermore, they had agreed to make available their earthmoving equipment for the renovations, and to assume responsibility for the future maintenance of the stadium. Kruger also revealed that the council had approved the sale of erven valued at N$729 000. A deposit of 10% is payable on the erven after ministerial approval for the sale has been obtained, and that the full price should be paid within six months after the signing of the deed of sale. The council's spokesperson furthermore informed residents who are renting plots at Tseiblaagte extensions 4, 5 and 6 that they can now buy these plots as they have been registered with the deeds office. Provided that their municipal accounts are paid up to date, residents interested in buying the plots can contact the council. Kruger added that the construction of a N$1 million early childhood development (ECD) centre in the town's Tseiblaagte extension 4 had been completed in March this year. Anglo American and Namibian Homes funded the project, and the council remains the owner of the ECD centre and will be responsible for maintenance of the facility until it becomes self-sustaining. Kruger said the council had also resolved to grant a 50% discount on the approval of building plans to members of the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years. “At the standard rate, it would cost N$1 000 in approval fees for each of the relevant building plans,” she stated. According to her, members of saving groups affiliated with the SDFN have submitted 12 building plans for approval to date.

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2.18 Windhoek se krane dalk oor twee seisoene leeg Republikein|22/06/2018

Windhoek het genoeg water om twee reënseisoene te dek, indien dit bykomende waterbronne in die Noorde, asook die Windhoek-akwifer onvolhoubaar gebruik én inwoners 5% water kan bespaar. Namwater sê egter die huidige beskikbare water sal nie drie jaar hou nie. Selfs om twee jaar te haal, sal beteken die Von Bachdam se dooie bergingwater moet gebruik word. NamWater se bestuurder van hidrologie, mnr. André Mostert, het gesê volgens die modellering behoort die beskikbare water tot April 2021 te hou. Hy het die syfers gister tydens ‘n waterseminaar in Windhoek bekend gemaak. “Die drie jaar-scenario vereis ‘n 8%-besparing. Met ‘n bykomende 3,500 Mm³ (miljoen kubieke meter) wat per jaar vanaf die Noorde gepomp word en selfs as ons 11,000 Mm³/jaar uit die Windhoek-akwifer pomp, kan ons steeds nie drie seisoene oorbrug nie. “Ons vertrou egter dat daar in die volgende twee reënseisoene ‘n mate van waterinvloei in die damme sal wees,” het Mostert gesê.

Akwifer straf gebruik

“Ons is egter bekommerd dat as ons - soos uit noodweer beplan – só baie water uit die akwifer onttrek, dit teen April 2022 leeg kan wees en die dam ook leeg kan wees. Die probleem is dat die akwifer nie oornag opvul nie,” het Mostert gesê. Hy het verduidelik daar is nie sekerheid oor hoe die akwifer op die onvolhoubare gebruik sal reageer nie. Boonop sal dit hierna jare neem om te herstel. “NamWater doen rekenaarmodellering volgens die ergste scenario van geen invloei in damme nie – en wil graag sien dat ons altyd genoeg water vir minstens twee reënseisoene in die damme oor het.” Hy het gewys dat daar op 4 Junie altesaam 52,269 Mm³ (miljoen kubieke meter) water oor was in die damme wat Sentraal-Namibië van water voorsien – nie eers genoeg om Windhoek se vraag na water oor twee jaar te dek nie. “Dit beteken ons gaan moet staatmaak op bykomende bronne, soos herwonne water, water wat vanuit die Noorde gepomp word, asook water uit Windhoek se akwifer.”

Neoperl bied opsie

Intussen meen die Switserse maatskappy Neoperl dat hulle Windhoek ‘n eenvoudige oplossing kan bied wat ‘n groot verskil in waterbesparings kan maak – veral wanneer tyd en geld beperk is. Hulle vervaardig vloeireguleerders en kraanbelugters, en die installasie hiervan het byvoorbeeld in Australië 100 gigaliter water in een jaar help bespaar. Die maatskappy se visepresident, mnr. Armin Tettamanti, het tydens die waterseminaar gesê die stad Kuwait het 1,2 miljoen van hul kraanbelugters gratis in huise laat installeer en kon daarna van hul planne om ‘n ontsoutingsaanleg te bou afsien. “’n Ontsoutingsaanleg is ontsettend duur, kan verreikende gevolge vir die omgewing inhou en vereis ‘n groot hoeveelheid elektrisiteit,” het hy gesê. Hy het gesê die installasie van kraanbelugters en – reguleerders is baie goedkoper as die bou van ‘n ontsoutingsaanleg. “In die Verenigde Arabiese Emirate het ons by hul Jebel Al-werkerskampe in 180 geboue van die belugters en reguleerders in krane laat installeer. Altesaam 32 000 werknemers werk in hierdie geboue en hul waterrekening was sowat 8 miljoen Amerikaanse dollar per jaar. “Die installasiekoste was 1,2 miljoen Amerikaanse dollar. Nie net het hulle onmiddellik 35% water bespaar nie, maar binne 18 dae hul koste verhaal met die besparings,” het hy gesê. ‘n Soortgelyke eksperiment is in munisipale geboue in Durban gedoen en waterbesparings van 40% is gemaak. Hulle het ook voorgestel Namibië stel bouregulasies op vir hoeveel water per minuut deur onder meer krane, storte en toilette kan vloei. Hul reguleerders kan watervloei afbring na enigiets van 2 tot 8 liter per minuut, waar die gemiddelde kraan in Windhoek 18 liter water per minuut laat deurvloei. Neoperl word ook in Namibië deur Pearl Waterfree verteenwoordig.

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2.19 Great Relief The Namibian|28/06/2018

Some Havana residents will now not worry about using open spaces after the City of Windhoek partnered with the Velile Construction and Adcon Transport Company to install about 20 toilets since January this year. Two of the toilets were installed yesterday. In the picture, a Velile and Adcon worker installs one of the toilet units, while resident Hilaria Gebhardd watches.

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3 Livelihoods and Urban Economy

3.1 Upsurge in chicken runs in the city The New Era|01/06/2018

The Mayor of the City of Windhoek, Muesee Kazapua says the city does not allow the rearing of chickens and other livestock such as goats following reports that there is an upsurge in illegal chicken runs in the city. The mayor said this during an interview with New Era on Thursday. Kazapua said the city will take drastic action against people who are raring chicken and other domestic animals in back yards in the city. Kazapua said that the city has a policy in place that guides them to take actions against those rearing chickens for the pot or for selling as this is illegal and goes against municipal by-laws and other gazetted laws. He however, said the city will for now sensitise residents to desist from chicken rearing. The City will conduct awareness campaigns and share information that will raise awareness of existing laws and illegal chicken runs in the city. “We have by-laws in place and these people know that it is not allowed and I am sensitising and warning our people to refrain from it,” said Kazapua. He said any form of livestock farming even on a small-scale is not allowed and those passionate about farming should do this in areas demarcated for farming. He said one of the reasons goats, cattle or chickens cannot be raised in an urban environment is strictly to prevent the spread of diseases and there are too many vehicles which is not an ideal setting for those who might want to rear goats. It will also be very odd for urbanites to be awaken by cocks crowing, he said. Kazapua said so far the city has been reluctant to take action because they initially want to embark on a sensitisation campaign before they crack the whip. “First we have to educate people, then we issue warnings and then we will start issuing fines against those who are doing it,” he elaborated.

3.2 Factory closure deals Witvlei body blow The Nambian|05/06/2018

Witvlei residents have to grapple with growing unemployment after the closure of the Leap Manufacturing clothing factory, one of the few that had provided them with a lifeline, early last month. Before the garment factory closed, the Witvlei abattoir had ceased operations in December 2014, leaving 156 people jobless. The garment factory, which supplied clothes for the My Republik and M&A, started operations in November 2015 before closing shop in early May 2018. Leap Manufacturing is a subsidiary of Leap Holdings, owned by businesswoman Ally Angula, which provides jobs to 38 people from various regions. Its closure underscores the fate of various Namibian companies which have succumbed under the difficult economic times the country is experiencing. Angula confirmed the closure of the factory, but said funds had been raised to have it reopened. “We are hopeful though that we should have finalised our fundraising efforts in order to commence operations again on 2 July 2018”. She added that the company had shut down for three weeks in January, but attributed this to an assessment of the workers' competency. The problem started around April 2016 when sales decreased due to the economic downturn, and forced her to close the Swakopmund store in May last year. The Namibian has established that the salaries of the workers – those who sew, wash, press and iron the new clothes – range between N$1 200 and N$8 000. During a visit to the village last weekend, The Namibian spoke to five employees and three former workers. Some complained that they received their salaries in bits and pieces between January and April. According to them, the factory also twice gave them a kilogramme of maize meal, cooking oil and dry fish each in lieu of salaries for April and May. Although the workers claimed that they had been paid with food instead of cash, Angula said there is no worker who has not received their wages. She said they had chosen to pay the workers ahead of their suppliers due to the lack of funds, but conceded that for April, the workers were only paid in part. “All employees were last paid in part on 8 April 2018 (all cash in the company). We had been alerted since January 2018 that we were experiencing severe cash flow constraints,” said Angula. 34

The factory also had to deal with a lack of skills, competencies and absenteeism, she added. On the other hand, the workers complained of being ill-treated, and working in an environment where they could not voice their concerns for fear of being fired. Regarding the non-payment of salaries for April and May, the workers said they risk being kicked out of rooms for not paying rent, but Angula insisted that no employee was ever left stranded or unpaid. She said she had made it clear in her monthly staff meetings that disgruntled workers can leave work until the cash flow problem improved. “If any of them feels they can no longer work until we resolve our cash flow constraints, they are free to go home, and only return when we are appropriately funded,” said Angula. Some of the people who spoke to The Namibian said they had hoped to gain experience from working at the factory so that they could set up their own shops in future, while others just wanted to be able to support themselves and their families. Angula said funding was required for their new brand called Trench, which supplies protective gear. She said over the years, the company had acquired financing from friends to the tune of N$763 000, an N$11, 5 million loan from Leap Holdings, and a Development Bank of Namibia investment of N$9, 9 million. Of this, N$4, 6 million was used for the retail store roll-out, and N$3,166 million was spent on equipment.

3.3 Avani Hotel and shopping centre revamp to cost N$160 million The New Era|06/06/2018

The colossal renovations of the Avani Hotel in Windhoek’s Independence Avenue, which is transforming the entity into an ultra-modern hotel with state-of-the art facilities, will also see a major revamp of the Gustav Voigts Centre where the hotel is situated. Total cost of the renovations is estimated to be about N$160 million, of which the hotel will cover N$20 million while the owner of the property, Oryx Properties, will fork out between N$135 million and N$140 million. These figures were confirmed yesterday by Avani Windhoek’s General Manager, Rudy Putter, during an exclusive interview with New Era. The renovations and total revamp of the hotel includes most aspects of the establishment, from the reception area on the ground floor all the way up to a new pool area and grand ballroom on the rooftop. During yesterday’s interview Putter for the first time revealed that the rooftop ballroom and restaurant will bear the names Stratis Ballroom, Stratis Restaurant and Stratis Bar, in a clear association with the stratosphere as these will be the highest facilities of their kind in Windhoek. Putter noted that in addition to the N$20 million, Avani, which is part of one of the largest hospitality and leisure companies in the Asia Pacific Region, Minor International, will contribute an additional N$6 million to replace the four elevators in the hotel while the remainder will be injected by Oryx. Minor International operates over 159 hotels and resorts, 2000 restaurants, and 307 retail trading outlets in Thailand and in 32 markets from Africa to Australia, including South America and Europe. Before being taken over by Minor International, Kalahari Sands belonged to South African hotel and resorts group, Sun International, which was reluctant to re-invest in the refurbishment of Kalahari Sands. According to Putter, the original Kalahari Sands Hotel was constructed as an office building during the 1970s. As such, Putter noted that the property was plagued inherent weaknesses as an accommodation establishment. “These inherent weaknesses included a compromised guest experience, under-utilised banqueting facilities as well as poor luggage handling capabilities,” Putter explained. “These renovations are an indication of Avani’s inherent confidence in Namibia. The country has great potential to grow the influx of tourists. However, in order to do this, we have to make Windhoek a better MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) market,” said Putter. Based in Bangkok, Thailand, Minor International operates hotels under the Anantara, AVANI, PER AQUUM, Oaks, Tivoli, Elewana Collection brands and owns The Pizza Company, Thai Express, and Riverside Restaurant franchises. They also operates restaurants under the Swensen’s, Sizzler, Dairy Queen, Burger King, and The Coffee Club brands in Thailand and other countries. Once complete towards the end of 2018, the revamped Avani Hotel will employ 350 staff. Putter emphasised Avani’s aggressive reinvestment in skills and on-the-job training. He also noted that currently the hotel

35 employs 100 percent Namibians. “All our staff members come through our development pipeline or have been recruited locally,” said Putter.

3.4 Ongwediva meat processing plant nears completion The Namibian Sun|08/06/2018

Farmers in the Northern Communal Areas (NCAs) were relieved when the minister of agriculture, Alpheus! Naruseb, announced that the construction of the N$90.8 million Ongwediva meat processing plant was nearing completion. Communal farmers under the Namibian National Farmers Union (NNFU) have been complaining about the agriculture ministry's delay in establishing meat processing facilities within the NCA, which stretches from the Zambezi to the Kunene Region. The ministry is constructing a meat processing plant at the Agro-Marketing and Trading Agency (AMTA) at Ongwediva and according to !Naruseb it will be completed by the end of this financial year. According to NNFU president Jackson Emvula, the processing facility would allow processed meat products to be exported from the area. He said their meat products used to reach the South African market through Meatco, but since the closure of the Oshakati and Katima Mulilo Meatco abattoirs, they have had no market for their meat. “We are more than ready after NNFU embarked on a nationwide campaign that covered all 14 regions of the country, registering farmers based on what they produce. “We also established farmers' associations, cooperatives and other community-based organisations in all constituencies toward well-organised agriculture. In constituencies where these institutions already exist, we will support and empower them,” Emvula said. He said the union's goal was to protect and advance the interests of communal and emerging farmers and to promote the development of a viable farming industry in order to improve rural communities' standard of living. It wanted to enhance the communal farming sector's contribution to the national economy and grow internationally competitive, innovative and sustainable farming businesses. Emvula added that one of the NNFU's mandates was to formalise the agricultural industry, including involving all role-players, to control, advise, direct and implement diverse agricultural activities in order to uplift the living standard of rural people. !Naruseb said another meat processing facility would be established at Bukalo in the Zambezi Region. “The construction of the Ongwediva meat processing facility is 65% complete and it is expected to be completed by the end of this financial year. I am determined to see to it that the ongoing construction projects are completed according to their new schedules,” !Naruseb said.

3.5 Promiseland feeding scheme receives boost The Namibian|11/06/2018

The Promiseland Trust at Walvis Bay is now able to expand its feeding scheme to underprivileged children after receiving a donation valued at N$300 000 by a charity organisation from the United Arab Emirates. Sharjah Charity International, an organisation based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), donated a 40-foot container to the trust on Saturday, which has been converted into a soup kitchen, as well as 150 food parcels. The initiative was coordinated by the embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Pretoria, South Africa, under the leadership of Ambassador Mahash Alhameli. Sharjah Charity International works in 44 countries, including the Arab world, Asia, Africa and Europe with the aim of extending a helping hand to ensure its objective of reaching the needy and benefiting their lives positively and sustainably. The donation is also in commemoration of the year of Zayed, as 2018 marks 100 years since the birth of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Zayed, who is the founding father of the UAE, passed away in 2004. The first secretary to the ambassador of the UAE in South Africa, Fatima Alsuwaidiwho, handed over the donation, saying the organisation has been monitoring the work of the Promiseland Trust, and was impressed with what they are doing for the Tutaleni community. The Promiseland Trust was established in 2009, and provides approximately 2 500 meals to disadvantaged children at Walvis Bay through two feeding schemes on a daily basis. About 300

36 children receive a hot meal at the centre, while volunteers prepare 2 200 meals consisting of fish and bread or pap during weekdays at seven schools at Walvis Bay's most impoverished communities. “Thanks to this donation, we are now able to relocate our current soup kitchen to the Tutaleni Primary School premises, which will allow us to increase the number of meals served daily as the space available at the Promiseland centre has become limited. “Furthermore, we will be able to use the current soup kitchen hall at the centre to double our current project by introducing more classrooms,” said the chairperson of the Promiseland board of trustees, Pieter Greeff. The donation was received by the head of the department of the Tutaleni Primary School, Anna Josti. “It is no secret that the Tutaleni community is struggling to put food on the table, especially the single mothers taking care of their children. Today's good gesture and helping hand extended by Sharjah Charity International through the embassy of the UAE in South Africa and Namibia is more than welcomed,” she noted. The trust aims to improve the quality of life of Walvis Bay's most vulnerable children through education, feeding and character building. It relies on donor funding and sponsorships from companies like Etosha Fishing and Merlus Seafood Processors. Other primary sponsors which provide ongoing funding to ensure the running of the centre include Engen Walvis Bay Convenience Centre, Fruit & Veg Walvis Bay, Hantunga Fishing, Langer Heinrich Uranium mine, Namib Mills, Seaworkx and Walvis Bay Ship Chandlers. Educational and other partners, including the Headstart Montessori training college, Hand of Hope ministries, the Elma Philanthropies Services (US) Inc, and volunteers from the German Red Cross Society also support the trust.

3.6 Oshakati council stops free-for-all The Namibian Sun|12/06/2018

Increasing sales of smuggled goods at the Oshakati open market have led to the town council stopping unregistered vendors from trading outside the market on Mondays and Fridays. Since the opening of the market in 2016 the town council has allowed vendors from surrounding villages to sell their goods there, but this has caused chaos among vendors and also led to the selling of smuggled goods. Council spokesperson Katarina Kamari told Namibian Sun that the council had decided to stop allowing unregistered vendors to trade at the market. “This initiative was meant for people from surrounding villages who do not have stalls at the open market, but have unique items they would like to sell in town. “Only now we realise that this initiative brought chaos among the vendors as these vendors are selling the same products that are already found at the open market, or smuggled products from Angola,” Kamari said. She said the decision was taken on Friday and was endorsed by the council yesterday. “The council noticed with great concern that some vendors are selling products that are not allowed to be sold at the market, which was only meant for seasonal products and this was only meant for those who do not have stalls in the open market. “The process of allowing day vendors to sell products has therefore been terminated [with effect from] the end of this month,” she said. Vendors who spoke to Namibian Sun accused the town council of failing to control the situation by not keeping an eye on what these vendors were selling. One of the vendors, Helena Ishitile welcomed the decision. “Town council officials told us that the people who were selling outside the open market had unique products and they would only be selling two days a week. “Later we found out that these people were either selling the same products we are, or they were selling products smuggled from Angola. People at the open market also started taking their products outside the open market, which brought chaos,” said Ishitile. “We have stalls that we pay for on a monthly basis. Customers do not come into the open market to buy our products anymore because those outside are cheaper,” she said. The town council charged the day traders N$10 per visit, while those with stalls inside are charged depending on the size of the stalls and the products they sell. The local branch of the Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) could not be reached for comment. Kamari could not say what would happen to the real seasonal vendors whom the initiative had been aimed at.

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3.7 //Karas residents trained in brick-making The Namibian|13/06/2018

Thirty-two residents from the //Karas region yesterday became the latest beneficiaries of the brick- making training offered in support of the Harambee Prosperity Plan by the Ohorongo and Build-it Brick- Making Academy. Six women were among the participants who underwent a three-hour training programme at Keetmanshoop on cement types and indicators; health and safety issues; components for concrete bricks; quantities of components; and why they should use water and sand in brick-making. The academy, established in March this year, is the result of a smart partnership between Ohorongo Cement and one of its customers, the Build-It Group, in support of the government's development policies as well as poverty eradication efforts. Ohorongo Cement marketing manager Carina Sowden said the residents of 11 regions have already benefited from the brick-making training programme. She said the //Karas region was the third-last region to benefit from the programme, and that the next training session will be in the Hardap and Omaheke regions. Build-it Group's southern regional operations manager Pikkie van Vuuren said the building material supplier will buy bricks produced by the trainees on condition that they are of good quality. “We will test the bricks for quality in our laboratory before buying them from the trainees,” she added. //Karas governor Lucia Basson urged the trainees to use their brick-making skills to participate in development projects in the region. “Towns in the region are growing, and we need to deliver more houses to the people. We should do away with the informal settlements in our region, and build dignified houses for ourselves and our people,” she stressed. The brick-making skill has also proven that it is possible to cut down on the cost of building a house as bricks can be made on site, cutting out the logistical costs, the governor added. One of the trainees, Gertjie Witbooi, a resident of Aroab village, said the brick-making training will pave the way for many of the jobless participants to become self-employed. He thus thanked the regional government and the private companies funding the brick-making training programme for empowering the youth to alleviate unemployment in the country.

3.8 N$4.8 million Wanaheda fish shop to boost consumption The New Era|25/06/2018

The Namibia Fish Consumption Promotion Trust (NFCPT) unveiled its more than N$4.8 million Wanaheda fish shop on Friday, which is part of the institution’s aim of encouraging Namibians to eat more fish. Namibians currently eat about 11kg of fish per person per year, which is significantly lower than the world average of 21.4kg per person per year. Besides the nutritional benefits of consuming fish, the increased local sale of fish also promotes enterprise development in both rural and urban areas. “This shop is targeted at serving the constituents of the Wanaheda Township and beyond. Furthermore, this fish shop aims to provide much-needed and cost-effective fish, and in doing so is bringing fish much closer to the people at grass-roots level for an inclusive society,” said Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Bernhardt Esau, in a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Sylvia Makgone. The new Wanaheda fish shop, which has six staff members, was necessitated by an increased demand for fish. The shop consists of three offices, a canteen, retail area, fish processing area, cold storage and chemical room. This latest shop joins 15 other NFCPT shops in 12 regions, which collectively employ 134 people. During the 2017/18 financial year, the NFCPT shops distributed close to seven tonnes of fish throughout the country. “When fish is made available our people are able to set up fish shops, process dried, smoked and otherwise transformed fish and hence generate household income which greatly helps in our fight against poverty … We have a deliberate policy to encourage more consumption of fish nationally. Indeed, we need the foreign exchange that comes from our fish exports. However, we equally wish to encourage a culture of fish eating in Namibia.” “We are driven by the need to have a healthy and well-nourished population and also use local consumption to unlock enterprise development and the potential of our fish in communities, which will have a spin- off impact on our objective of ensuring national food security, as articulated in the Harambee 38

Prosperity Plan and Vision 2030 of the national development plans,” Esau added. Officiating at the Wanaheda shop’s inauguration, NFCPT board chairperson, Suzan Hambelela, said the Trust has actively embarked on ensuring a desired consumption of 21.4kg per capita. “This vision casted can only be achieved through strategic smart partnerships with institutions both within the fishing sector and those supporting industries to the sector. I am confident that we will achieve these aspirations within our lifetime,” said Hambelela. Also present at the opening was Windhoek Mayor Muesee Kazapua, who welcomed the substantial investment as a confidence booster and encouraged the uptake of development opportunities available within the city. “We stand to reap great rewards through the injection of employment and enterprise opportunities of which the opening of this fish shop is an example. The opening of this fish shop is surely commendable as it contributes to the socio-economic advancement of our people in terms of employment creation and bringing services closer to the masses,” he said.

3.9 Donkey problems at Okahao remain The Namibian Sun|27/06/2018

Stray livestock, especially donkeys from nearby villages, remain one of the biggest challenges at the town of Okahao in the Omusati Region. Livestock grazing on town land is a problem facing many local authorities in the north. The Okahao town council says the problem is aggravated by the fact that the donkeys do not have ear tags or brands that would allow the authorities to trace their owners. This has resulted in the council having to spend thousands of dollars on feed for impounded donkeys. When Ewi lyaNooli visited the Okahao council pound this month; it held more than 50 donkeys. Council CEO Timoteus Namwandi attributed the situation to the introduction of tractors, which means that people don't use donkeys to plough their land in the traditional way anymore. “What I think the cause is for the free-roaming donkeys in town is because they have lost their value, as people are now ploughing their mahangu fields with tractors,” Namwandi said. He added that donkey owners do not mark them with ear tags as they do with other livestock. He said when it comes to impounded goats and cows it is easy to identify and trace the owners. “When we impound animals like goats and cows, the owners are traced the same day,” Namwandi said. “Donkeys destroy a lot. In town they even attempt to open taps and if they are successful a person's water bill goes up. People who have plants and grass in their yards are also suffering because of these free-roaming livestock,” Namwandi said. To solve the problem, the council decided to implement impounding regulations which permit them to auction unclaimed livestock after 30 days. “There is a policy which we make use of, which is the impounding regulation that states that you can only detain livestock for 30 days and after that they become council property and then they can be auctioned. Even recently we had an auction,” Namwandi said. He encouraged farmers to mark their livestock so that they can be returned if they go astray.

3.10 New open market fails to impress The Namibian Sun|28/06/2018

The Ongwediva town council and a development agency have jointly spent N$766 000 on building an open market at Oshiko on the outskirts of Ongwediva, but vendors have already abandoned it after it was inaugurated last week. Urban and rural development minister Peya Mushelenga inaugurated the open market on Friday, 22 June, and at the occasion, said it signified the government's commitment to bringing services closer to the people and to address socio-economic challenges. The town council had started the construction of the open market, named after a liberation icon Wilbard Haindongo, in 2015 but it was only completed last year. When Namibian Sun visited the market on Tuesday afternoon there was only a single security guard and no vendors. Vendors have informed Namibian Sun that the place is not ideal for business. “The place is not strategically located. Firstly, it is situated at a very quiet place without many people. Secondly, it is situated out of public reach. Very few people will drive to

39 that open market to get what they want,” said one vendor. He added that the town council was supposed to create an enabling environment before establishing the open market. “If we go to that open market nobody will buy our products. It is better we remain at our illegal areas where we get support from our old customers instead of going to the open market just to pay municipal fees while not generating anything,” he said. The market is designed to accommodate more vendors in the future, but currently has 20 vending spaces for sellers of kapana, fruit, vegetables, traditional beverages and health products. The town council's spokesperson, Jackson Muma, said that the open market was constructed at the request of the public, as many people were found trading at undesignated sites. “That area is a new location and we are busy developing it into a township. More people will be going that side and we realise that there is a need for the open market. “The council heeded the people's call to establish an open market to cater for people who are currently there and those who are still coming. Since the open market is new there might be no people now, but that is an area where development is taking place. “We also need to remove the vendors from selling in the streets and create a place where they can sell legally. This is just a start and people are still getting used to the new infrastructure,” Muma said. He said two registered vendors were already operating at the open market.

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4 Environment and Human Health

4.1 Rubbish a serious health hazard in Khomas The Namibian Sun|07/06/2018

The inability to manage waste in the Khomas Region was the direct cause of disease outbreaks such as hepatitis E in the past financial year. This is according to Khomas governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua in her State of the Region Address. She said the high prevalence of littering in Windhoek and settlements in the Khomas Region had become a major threat to the environment and to people. “This situation is also a major threat to our reputation as an international tourism destination of choice.” According to her the cleanliness of Windhoek was something that all tourists used to admire and remark upon. “This is no longer the case and is an issue that requires our utmost attention. We are pleased that cabinet approved a National Solid Waste Management Strategy during the 2017/18 financial year to improve the overall management of waste so that Namibia becomes the leading country in Africa in terms of standards of waste management by 2028.” She said this strategy tackled the development of appropriate waste management infrastructure, increasing human resources capacity, promotion of waste minimisation and recycling, and raising awareness for behavioural change among citizens. On the other hand, McLeod-Katjirua said it was important that economic development not be undertaken at the expense of the environment. During the 2017/18 financial year, a number of cases of environmental degradation were brought to the regional government's attention. “We are particularly concerned about illegal sand-mining operations that are being carried out in the region, especially at Groot-Aub, or even in very sensitive areas like the one in proximity to a primary school at Aris Settlement.” She stressed that sand mining is a listed activity requiring an environmental clearance certificate in terms of the Environmental Management Act. McLeod-Katjirua urged all operators engaged in sand mining to apply for environmental clearance in order to legalise their operations and protect the environment. She further said illegal hunting is a crime that is very prevalent in the Khomas Region, especially at certain resettlement farms. “We are concerned, and the ministry has and will continue to conduct several patrols on government farms, along the corridors and mount roadblocks in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies in the Khomas Region.” Furthermore, she said the encroaching informal settlements around Daan Viljoen Game Park and the Von Bach resort had become a serious concern, since it resulted in increasing wildlife crimes committed within those protected areas. She warned present and prospective perpetrators to desist from carrying out such “selfish and misguided acts” that are tantamount to undermining the economy.

4.2 Informal settlements threaten Daan Viljoen wildlife The New Era|15/06/2018 he Khomas Regional Governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua says the encroaching informal settlements around Daan Viljoen Game Park have become a serious cause for concern, since it has resulted in an increase in wildlife crimes committed within those protected areas.A number of threats to the environment have been identified, which include poaching, especially in Daan Viljoen Game Park and the outlying areas of Khomas in general. “Illegal hunting is a crime that is very prevalent in Khomas Region, especially at unsuspecting spots like resettlement farm Versailles No. 67. We are concerned, and the ministry [of environment] has and will continue to conduct several patrols on government farms, and along the corridors, and mount roadblocks in conjunction with other law-enforcement agencies in the Khomas Region,” she said. The governor revealed that a number of wildlife species were illegally hunted across Khomas during the 2017/18 period. She made the revelations during her State of the Region Address last week at the Khomas Regional Council. The 4,000-hectare Daan Viljoen Game Park supports a healthy population of game typical of the Namibian highlands, including giraffe, eland, kudu, oryx, mountain zebra, baboon, warthog, jackal and blue wildebeest. With over 200 species 41 of birds, Daan Viljoen is particularly popular for birding enthusiasts. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism is the sole custodian of Daan Viljoen Game Park. The park plays an important role in housing many wildlife species and serves as a tourist attraction and environmental education facility in the region. “At this point, I would like to warn present and prospective perpetrators of this and similar crimes, to desist from carrying out such selfish and misguided acts that are tantamount to undermining our economy,” she warned without shedding light on what actions would be taken against illegal occupiers. Fines and penalties for illegal hunting and other related wildlife offences or crimes were amended through amendments to the Nature Conservation Ordinance, 1975 (Act No. 4 of 1975) to make them stiffer for would-be offenders. The Nature Conservation Amendment Act, 2017 (Act No. 3 of 2017) was promulgated in June 2017. A couple of years ago the City of Windhoek took the first legal steps to have a group of illegal occupants evicted from land which the city owns close to Daan Viljoen Game Park. However, McLeod-Katjirua said as far as land matters are concerned, the Khomas Regional Council, in conjunction with the Ministry of Land Reform during the period under review, convened a consultative meeting with stakeholders in the region to seek views and opinions on the land reform programme and other land-related matters in preparation for the hosting of the second National Land Conference. “I am reliably informed that there is another round of consultations to be held soon this year in preparation for the second National Land Conference to be hosted in October 2018. I urge all the stakeholders in the region to honour that invitation when the times arise,” she said. The governor thanked the environment ministry for its continued efforts to register butcheries, game dealers, professional hunters and hunting farms across the region. She says all these activities facilitate economic development of the rural parts of Khomas. She further noted that the Ministry of Environment and Tourism provided game meat to the !Khomain community during their traditional festivities and also donated game meat to centres for needy and vulnerable members of society, such as Mother’s Voice, Mount Sinai, Foundation Care, Moria Grace, Katutura Old Age Home, Tuhafeni Pre- Primary, Planet Hope Centre and Children Life Change Centre. With regard to human-wildlife conflict, she said the ministry has effectively responded to numerous reported incidents in Khomas. These incidents include of baboons, snakes and kudu with rabies straying into the suburbs of the City of Windhoek “Inspections were carried out on farms around Khomas Region. These inspections are important because they provide basic data needed to grant wildlife utilisation permits, such as for hunting for selling purposes or capturing and movement of live game from one farm to another,” she noted.

4.3 Keetmans to reuse waste water for irrigation The Namibian|27/06/2018

Most people do not think about what happens to their waste when they flush the toilet. However, livestock speculator Johan Blaauw has plans for the waste water piped from the local sewer ponds, located just outside town, which could create about 20 to 30 permanent jobs, and grow the local economy. In an interview with The Namibian, Blaauw said his plans are getting closer to reality to turn the wastewater from the sewer ponds into something “useful, and even profitable”. “The vacant land earmarked for the irrigation scheme has been lying idle, and is being used by nearby residents as a bush toilet,” he added. Blaauw's company, Southern Waste Water Logistics, has partnered the local council to treat effluent and use the waste water to irrigate lucerne. The entrepreneur, who also owns a feedlot near the town, said his company would invest N$10 million in the project, first proposed in 2008. The local council leased out eleven hectares of land to his company to develop the irrigation scheme. “We have already started preparing the soil for cultivation, and expect to produce lucerne by the end of August this year,” he revealed, adding that the irrigation scheme would use five cubic metres of waste water per hectare a day. According to Blaauw, about 12 000 to 14 000 bales of lucerne could be produced when the project becomes fully operational. The bulk of the produce would go to his feedlot, while a small number of bales will be offered to farmers in the //Karas region. “Currently, it costs farmers about N$5 000 for a tonne of lucerne, but we will offer them the fodder at a realistic

42 price,” he added. Besides job creation and boosting the local economy, the project will also solve the problem of a shortage of fodder being experienced in the //Karas region, especially during droughts, he added. Blaauw said plans were likewise on the cards to set up a feed pellet plant near the town, and to develop grape vines near the sewer ponds to be watered with waste water. When asked about the health risks of growing grapes with treated effluent, he said the water would be treated with chlorine to kill bacteria. “Wine produced from grapes watered with waste water is of the best quality,” he said, adding that studies have shown that treated waste water is safe for crop production. The Keetmanshoop council's economic development manager, Jegg Christiaan, said the council has submitted an application to the ministry of agriculture for a permit to reclaim waste water at the sewer ponds for irrigation purposes. “They have acknowledged receipt of our application, and we expect a favourable response soon,” he noted. He also revealed that an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and an environmental management plan for the project have been completed at a cost of N$200 000, and they were now waiting for the ministry of environment to issue an environmental clearance certificate. “This project is the biggest breakthrough in terms of an environmental management plan to ensure that waste water does not contaminate underground water,” he stated, explaining that the council will invest N$5 million over three years to drill boreholes for water audits as well as remove all prosopis trees. Christiaan said the project would create about 100 direct and indirect jobs, in addition to benefiting the region's livestock farmers. Local farmer Basil Brown said the project was a move in the right direction. “It will have a positive impact on farming as we would buy fodder for our livestock at a much cheaper price,” he said.

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