Struggle kids snatch fire truck

A fire truck was briefly hijacked near Brakwater on Friday by a group of incensed 'struggle kids' who also set a broken-down minibus on fire to barricade a road. The incident began early on Friday morning when a number of so-called struggle kids blocked a service road and set dry grass on fire, protesting a lack of jobs. A team of fire-fighters were dispatched to the scene at around 06:15 to extinguish the fire near the Ndilimani farm, where the group of struggle kids currently live. It is alleged that on arrival, the agitated group stormed the officers while they were extinguishing the fire and managed to temporarily hijack the 3 800-litre medium pump truck. City Police chief Abraham Kanime on Friday confirmed that when the fire truck arrived at the scene, they were met by some members of the group and the truck driver was overpowered. He said the police managed to quickly retrieve the truck at the Ndilimani camp. A NamPol spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi, said no arrests were made, and that the incident was handled quickly and effectively and should not raise concern. “Members of the police arrived at the scene and removed the blockade,” he said. In an interview with Nampa on Friday, a representative of the estimated 350 struggle kids who have locked horns with the government on a number of issues, and regularly launch aggressive protests, said the incident stemmed from a Coordination Committee meeting held on Thursday, where complaints and grievances were voiced. “The result left people with no choice. It was disappointing because government told them [in April] to go to their own regions and register for training, which they did,” Tuhafeni Nhinda said. He said when they returned to Windhoek they were informed that the next intake would be in September or October. He claimed the government had promised to recruit about 1 000 of the men and women “but it later surfaced that a training centre is not available.” Nhinda questioned why they were not being accommodated at the Simon Mutumba Mutumba Police College in the Otjozondjupa Region. “Once we informed the group of this they were frustrated and decided to go block the road, but that was not our intention. The idea was to march to the office of the secretary to cabinet so that he could make a decision or instruct the officials for the next intake to start,” he claimed. A Brakwater plot owner, Siegmar Pascheka, on whose property the grass fires were lit, confirmed that the group blockaded the gravel road and attacked the driver of the fire truck. “They are really looking for trouble now,” he told Republikein newspaper, a sister publication of Namibian Sun. -Additional reporting by Nampa AUGETTO CRAIG

Struggle kids snatch fire truck

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Namibian Sun 2025-12-12

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Struggle kids snatch fire truck

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Namibian Sun 2025-12-12

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