Hold off paying for Amushelelo's plots until papers in place – Matyayi

Windhoek chief executive officer Moses Matyayi says the municipality has not received an application for the establishment of Michael Amushelelo's proposed 10 528-plot development near Hosea Kutako International Airport.Amushelelo has confirmed that the developers have not yet submitted their township establishment application but insists that money already collected from prospective buyers is protected through a legal practitioner's trust account and that contributors will be refunded if the project fails to obtain approval."All payments towards our plot reservations are being deposited into a trust account administered by Kadhila Amoomo Legal Practitioners," he told Namibian Sun yesterday."Should the development ultimately fail to obtain the necessary statutory approvals, we undertake to refund every individual who has made payments towards a plot reservation."Speaking during an interview on Nampa's Behind The Wheel, screened on 26 September, Matyayi said the City of Windhoek welcomed private initiatives aimed at addressing the capital's housing shortage but could not overlook the legal requirements governing township development.Matyayi urged interested parties to conduct proper checks before parting with their money and encouraged developers to be transparent about the approval status of their projects.Matyayi warned that prospective buyers could expose themselves to financial risks by paying towards plots before the statutory processes had been completed."I think what we would actually advise, in that specific situation, is not for people to commit any funds [before] they have not really seen the true nature of things," he said.He explained that developers must first establish a township extension and obtain the relevant certificate before proceeding with the sale of plots."So without that process having been satisfied, we are cautious… you must not be able to commit any level of funds if somebody cannot produce a certificate of establishment for an extension," he said."We don't have any application that has been provided to the council," he added, referring to the airport housing development.He stressed that the municipality was not opposed to the project and was prepared to engage its developers once they submitted the necessary documents."We are willing, and we are able to say, please give us the documents, apply accordingly, and follow the rules we want to support," he said.He maintained that planning regulations were intended to protect residents and ensure orderly development rather than prevent people from acquiring land.Developers, he added, must first establish whether the proposed land meets planning, environmental and engineering requirements, including the provision of water, sewerage and electricity, before selling plots.Major developmentResponding to Matyayi's remarks, Amushelelo yesterday said the proposed development comprised 10 528 residential and commercial plots and that the developers had deliberately chosen to engage the urban and rural development ministry first before formally approaching the municipality."Given the magnitude and national significance of this development, we deliberately opted to engage the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development, particularly the Honourable Minister James Sankwasa, before formally engaging the City of Windhoek," Amushelelo said.He claimed that Sankwasa had been scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the project's launch but could not attend because of other commitments.Amushelelo further claimed that the development had received support from the minister and his ministry.Namibian Sun was unable to verify these claims with the ministry before going to print."We will lodge our formal township establishment application through the prescribed processes in due course," he said.Amushelelo explained that previous experience in property development had shown that submitting applications before completing the necessary groundwork could lead to repeated amendments, extra costs and delays."We are not avoiding the statutory approval process. We are preparing to engage it properly," he said.Held in trustAmushelelo also defended the collection of monthly contributions towards plot reservations, describing the arrangement as an affordable way for ordinary Namibians to save towards land ownership.He compared the initiative with savings arrangements used by the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia and the Build Together programme, where participants contribute money towards future housing.Addressing concerns about the security of buyers' money, he said the trust account was intended to ensure accountability and protect contributors while the project proceeded through the approval stages.He did not disclose how much money had already been collected, how many people had made payments or the contractual conditions governing refunds.Amushelelo rejected suggestions that the development should be discouraged because statutory approval had not yet been obtained."We are not asking the City of Windhoek to disregard the law, nor are we claiming exemption from any statutory requirements," he said. "What we expect is constructive engagement, administrative fairness and a genuine willingness to facilitate development rather than unnecessarily obstruct it."

Hold off paying for Amushelelo's plots until papers in place – Matyayi

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-09

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Hold off paying for Amushelelo's plots until papers in place – Matyayi

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-09

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