ENCOUNTERING POST-SETTLER STATE DYNAMICS Understanding Namibia’s Housing Challenges and State Housing Policy By: Paulina Ingo Student Number: 12120627 Supervisor: Prof. Vusilizwe Thebe A thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Pretoria, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies in 2018 © Paulina Ingo This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it understands that its copyright rests with the author and that no quotation from this thesis or any information derived therefrom may be published without the author‘s prior consent. DECLARATION I declare that this dissertation is my own work. It is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies to the University of Pretoria. I hereby confirm that this thesis is my own work and it has never been submitted for examination of any other degree in any other university in Namibia, South Africa and the entire world. Signature: ……………….....Date: ……………………… ii ABSTRACT The urbanisation and housing crisis in contemporary Namibia has been the subject of intense debates in recent years. Much of these debates have focused on the post-independence government, which has been blamed for inadequate policies and lack of political to provide adequate houses for its citizens. Many observers saw the housing crisis as yet another instance of corruption and nepotism within the government and property development institutions in the country. Such a narrative has come to dominate both public and private spaces, leading to social agitation and the formation of a social movement – the Affirmative Reposition (AR), which has positioned itself as people‘ saviour. This thesis has analysed the urbanisation and housing crisis, and attempts to take the discussion beyond this simplistic perspective, thus filling a gap in housing debates in the country by focusing on the bigger picture. It questions the ‗state is to blame‘ narrative for being reductive – reducing all post-independence development problems to the state. By questioning the current narrative on the housing crisis, the analysis adopted a broad historical and political economy approach, and views the housing provision crisis as having both historical and post-independence roots. The central aim of the thesis was therefore to offer a counter narrative to the foregoing narrative on the housing crisis by offering a deeper analysis of both historical and post- independence factors that contributed to the crisis, and to link the crisis to the broader African development question. This was done through a number of stages: First, through an analysis of the colonial historical context and its implications for post-independence development; second, by analysing phenomena after independence that resulted from the fall of colonialism; and finally, by analysing realities of the people in urban areas. The approach adopted for the analysis of the housing crisis was therefore grounded on discourses of Africa‘s development crisis, including those of economic collapse and ‗failed‘ or vampire‘ states. More specifically, the analysis explored the role played by the colonial history and the crisis of expectations after independence. The analysis pointed to many factors that contributed to the housing crisis after Namibia‘s independence, but also argues that apportioning the blame iii for the crisis to the post-independence government is rather reductive and has resulted in limited and incomplete understanding of the housing crisis. The analysis suggests that the country‘s settler period should be a critical starting point to understanding the post-independence housing crisis. By focusing attention on the post- independence government and placing the blame for the housing crisis directly at its door steps, it is easy to end up neglecting historical factors and their consequential effects and manifestations after independence. These are not peculiar to Namibia, but have also been experienced in other post-colonial states in the region. These were often responsible for the demands, expectations and challenges that were encountered after independence, which any explanation that focuses on the government and its failures fail to fully explain. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to give my grateful appreciation to the Lord for giving me the courage and wisdom to pursue this thesis. He was with me throughout out the journey and gave me the strength to persevere even during the hardest of times. Secondly, my extended gratitude goes to my supervisor Professor Vusilizwe Thebe for his outstanding support and supervision during this journey. Thank you for your meticulous guidance and patience. Your thinking and professional insight during the initial stages of this study provided the basis for what ended up being an interesting study. I would also like to greatly appreciate and acknowledge the following people/bodies/organisation for outstanding assistance: my employer, the Namibia Statistic Agency for vital support in the journey of this thesis, my family and friends for the help and inspiration extended during this lengthy period, the community members, all NGOs, and government ministries for assisting with data collection for this dissertation. My special thanks goes to my best friend Dr. Rauna Mwetulundila and my special friend Mr. Tomas Ukola for their support and encouragement during the time of my studies. Lastly let me thank Mr, Charles Kondiri, a colleague and a long-time friend indeed who has done a great work in providing editing support to my paper. v DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my one and only daughter Pauline Faithfull Kandenge, who, despite her young age, got used to the idea of me being a student and was robbed off of motherly love and attention she deserved. I had deprived her of motherly care she needed at the age of three when I gave her to my elder sister to do my master‘s degree which is the foundation to the present study. I don‘t know how to repay for the times that we lost; I never loved you less, and you were just a victim of my circumstances, I LOVE YOU MY FAITH. vi LIST OF ACRONYMS AR: Affirmative Repositioning BIA: Banking Institutions‘ Act BoN: Bank of Namibia BTP: Build Together Program CoA: Co-operatives Act CoW: City of Windhoek FLTA: Flexible Land Tenure Act FSA: Friendly Societies Act LAA: Local Authorities Act NHA: National Housing Development Act NHE: National Housing Enterprises NHEA: Namibia Housing Enterprise Act PFA: Pension Fund Act SDFN: Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia UA: Usury Act GoN: Government of Namibia CBS: Central Bureau of Statistics NSA: Namibia Statistics Agency CoW: City of Windhoek SWAPO: South West People Organisation NHIES: Namibia Households Income and Expenditure Survey vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................ III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................... V DEDICATION..................................................................................................................................... VI LIST OF ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................ VII CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION: THE HOUSING ‘CRISIS’ ................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 MOTIVATION FOR THE RESEARCH ............................................................................................ 2 1.2.1 WHY WINDHOEK CITY? ..................................................................................................... 5 1.2.2 WHY IS THE AR AN IMPORTANT PLAYER?.......................................................................... 6 1.3 AIM OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................................... 8 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................................................................................... 10 1.5 OPERATIONALISATION OF CONCEPTS ..................................................................................... 11 1.5.1 Differentiating state from government ........................................................................... 12 1.5.2 Migration and urbanisation ............................................................................................ 16 1.5.3 Housing policy ................................................................................................................ 17 1.5.4 Corruption ...................................................................................................................... 18 1.5.5. Understanding colonialism ............................................................................................ 19 1.6. ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS ............................................................................................. 20 2. 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 22 2.2 THE SETTLER STATE POLITICS ................................................................................................. 24 2.2.1 Conceptualising the settler state ....................................................................................