Swakop rent payers want land, not waiting lists

The Swakopmund Rent Payers Movement has criticised the municipality’s plan to review its members’ profiles against the housing waiting list, accusing it of delaying a decision on its proposals for access to land.The movement addressed the media at a press conference in Swakopmund on Wednesday.It submitted between 4 500 and 5 000 profiles to the municipality on 12 June, following a municipal request.In a letter dated 4 September, municipal chief executive officer Alfeus Benjamin said the movement’s “applications are still being reviewed against the existing master waiting list to understand the profile of applicants”.“Upon completion of this review, a submission will be presented to council, and a decision will be communicated accordingly,” the letter reads.The letter does not say when the submission will be made or whether the movement will be granted an audience.“We are confused at this particular point as to how the profiles which we submitted on the request of the municipality have now become application forms,” movement chairperson Mabasen Narib said. “They are not telling us whether the proposal will be part of the submission that the housing department will give to the council as a recommendation.”Waiting for more than a decadeThe movement said residents had raised concerns about long waiting periods, a lack of public access to the waiting list and the criteria used to allocate land.“Myself, I’m on that waiting list together with my wife since 2014,” Narib said, adding that others had been on the list since 2009. “So the waiting list story is not working at all. That cannot be a solution.”According to the movement, a municipal presentation on 31 March put the housing waiting list at about 22 000 applicants, while the cost of servicing plots was estimated at about N$1.2 billion, or roughly N$77 000 per plot.The movement proposed that the municipality and rent payers split servicing costs 60/40 or 50/50. Beneficiaries would be pre-allocated plots, given a set period to pay their share and pay the purchase price once the land is serviced.Its second proposal is to buy unserviced land through a non-profit organisation it has registered, with partners to service the land and build houses.“We are not interested in a temporary intervention that produces only 50 plots and then leaves thousands of residents waiting for years again,” Narib said.The movement also wants the municipality to extend to rent payers an arrangement it says was made available to Swakop Uranium employees, with serviced plots priced at N$72 000 to N$80 000 for plots of 350 to 400 square metres.Narib said council had limited meetings left for the year and accused the municipality of delaying the matter into next year “until the five years are over”.“But we are not going to allow that to happen,” he said.Committee member Adri Maasdorp said: “We are not asking the municipality to give us land for free. We are asking for an opportunity to purchase land that we can afford and pay for so that we can build our own homes and stop being permanent tenants.”

Swakop rent payers want land, not waiting lists

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Namibian Sun 2026-09-28

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Swakop rent payers want land, not waiting lists

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Namibian Sun 2026-09-28

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