82 Swakopmund families get new homes

Eighty-two families received the keys to completed houses in Swakopmund last Thursday under the national informal settlement upgrading programme.The homes are situated a few hundred metres from 186 mass housing units that have stood incomplete and partly vandalised for years.The handover was officiated by deputy minister of urban and rural development Evelyn !Nawases-Taeyele.Andreas Mayanga, speaking on behalf of the 82 beneficiaries, said he had lived in Swakopmund for about 20 years, most of it in the informal settlement."Staying in the ghetto, for those people who stay in Swakop, they know it's not an easy situation. But for today, the day has come," he said, urging the new owners to protect the houses: "Instead of vandalising, we must develop our houses."!Nawases-Taeyele said the 82 houses were far from what government wants to deliver, particularly given that the DRC informal settlement is home to thousands. Citing the 2023 population census, she put the number of households in informal settlements at over 200 000, a 192% increase on 2011, and the national housing backlog at more than 270 000 units. The informal settlements baseline report, she said, records over 400 informal settlements countrywide, most without sanitation, running water or electricity.She also warned beneficiaries who rent out allocated houses while returning to shacks."That is a very worrisome trend," she said, adding that those who default on their agreements will lose the properties and they will be reallocated.The deputy minister said government has endorsed a private-sector-led programme aimed at more than 100 000 affordable houses nationally, with a price cap of N$400 000 and a target of 10 000 units a year. Under this programme, the NHE would act as a strategic off-taker and expand rent-to-own options for people who cannot qualify for mortgages. Measured against a 10 000-a-year target, Thursday's 82 units represent under 1% of a single year's national goal.Stalled projectsNo speaker referred to the incomplete mass housing units nearby, which fall under a separate national programme.Those 186 houses, being built by Desert Paving and Construction CC, are the last of a Swakopmund project that has been stalled for years by legal disputes. In January, ministry executive director Wilhelmine Shivute told Namibian Sun the disputes and negotiations had been resolved late in 2025 and that government was finalising the contract for signature to allow work to resume. She said 4 826 units had been completed and handed over nationally since the Mass Housing Development Programme began in 2013, with 572 outstanding across Opuwo, Swakopmund and Windhoek.Swapo's 2025–2030 manifesto implementation plan had pledged that all outstanding mass housing units would be completed by the end of 2025. Shivute said the delay was regrettable but pointed to factors beyond the ministry's control.Eight months after the ministry said the contract was being finalised, the Swakopmund units remain unoccupied.National Housing Enterprise (NHE) deputy board chairperson Hasting Tjipueja said the project began in October last year, was built by 19 contractors and was delivered at a cost of more than N$18 million.The project created 285 jobs during construction. Some beneficiaries, he said, have monthly repayments of about N$500.

82 Swakopmund families get new homes

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Namibian Sun 2026-08-31

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82 Swakopmund families get new homes

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Namibian Sun 2026-08-31

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