Poor living standards infuriate Dordabis community
In Dordabis, some 80 kilometres east of Windhoek, most residents are “forced to live under impoverished conditions”.
This, coupled with a lack of job opportunities, poor sanitation and landlessness, has the community desperate for government intervention to improve their standard of living.
“Our young people do nothing but sit at the shebeen all day. There are no training facilities to give them more skills. We are tired. We are surrounded by private property abundant with firewood that we cannot make use of,” 78-year-old community representative Alfeus !Auxab lamented when Namibian Sun visited the settlement on Friday.
“The land we have is not big enough to accommodate the farming and nutritional needs of every household.”
He added that residents need more land, and implored government to buy the surrounding private land and turn it into resettlement farms.
‘We are uneducated’
The settlement, which is home to approximately 2 000 people, falls under the Windhoek Rural constituency.
It boasts only a post office, clinic, police station and one primary school. Learners are forced to move to boarding schools in Windhoek, Rehoboth, Hoachanas, Groot Aub or Leonardsville if they want to advance their education, residents said.
“We are uneducated, with nothing but a grade seven report. We want to get knowledge and skills that will improve the quality of our lives and our children’s lives. We are tired of just waking up, having nothing to do but sit at the bar and sleep when the sun sets,” a 28-year-old mother of three – who preferred to remain anonymous – said.
“Sometimes you just sit at home and think about killing yourself because there is nothing to do.
"Drinking, smoking, promiscuity; nothing helps. Politicians only come here when it is election time and make us promises. We want to see results,” she fumed.
The concerned resident said she fears speaking up and questioning councillors at community meetings because of victimisation.
“When we speak up, especially young people, councillors feel as though we are disrespecting them and bash us for speaking up. It’s terrible,” she said.
She added that many young girls from the settlement resort to sex work, sleeping with men visiting from Windhoek, Rehoboth or Gobabis to try and make ends meet.
Comment from Windhoek Rural constituency was not available by the time of going to print.
This, coupled with a lack of job opportunities, poor sanitation and landlessness, has the community desperate for government intervention to improve their standard of living.
“Our young people do nothing but sit at the shebeen all day. There are no training facilities to give them more skills. We are tired. We are surrounded by private property abundant with firewood that we cannot make use of,” 78-year-old community representative Alfeus !Auxab lamented when Namibian Sun visited the settlement on Friday.
“The land we have is not big enough to accommodate the farming and nutritional needs of every household.”
He added that residents need more land, and implored government to buy the surrounding private land and turn it into resettlement farms.
‘We are uneducated’
The settlement, which is home to approximately 2 000 people, falls under the Windhoek Rural constituency.
It boasts only a post office, clinic, police station and one primary school. Learners are forced to move to boarding schools in Windhoek, Rehoboth, Hoachanas, Groot Aub or Leonardsville if they want to advance their education, residents said.
“We are uneducated, with nothing but a grade seven report. We want to get knowledge and skills that will improve the quality of our lives and our children’s lives. We are tired of just waking up, having nothing to do but sit at the bar and sleep when the sun sets,” a 28-year-old mother of three – who preferred to remain anonymous – said.
“Sometimes you just sit at home and think about killing yourself because there is nothing to do.
"Drinking, smoking, promiscuity; nothing helps. Politicians only come here when it is election time and make us promises. We want to see results,” she fumed.
The concerned resident said she fears speaking up and questioning councillors at community meetings because of victimisation.
“When we speak up, especially young people, councillors feel as though we are disrespecting them and bash us for speaking up. It’s terrible,” she said.
She added that many young girls from the settlement resort to sex work, sleeping with men visiting from Windhoek, Rehoboth or Gobabis to try and make ends meet.
Comment from Windhoek Rural constituency was not available by the time of going to print.
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