All eyes on 7de Laan
Fifteen applicants, who were left homeless on Monday when the Windhoek City Police demolished their shacks, are petitioning the High Court to restore their corrugated-iron homes.
The issue of poverty and landlessness will be in the spotlight again today when legal teams for the City of Windhoek will square off against Affirmative Repositioning (AR) lawyers acting for 15 7de Laan residents whose shacks were torn down on Monday during a City Police operation.
The fate of the 7de Laan residents has been a hot topic over the past week, with many Namibians condemning the actions of the police and questioning the treatment of some of Namibia's poorest citizens.
On Wednesday the AR lawyers, whose co-founder Job Amupanda questioned the legality of the demolitions when he visited the scene, were granted an urgent application at the Windhoek High Court.
This week the AR offered to spearhead, and fund, the legal proceedings.
Lawyers Kadhila Amoomo and Henry Shimutwikeni are acting on behalf of the 15 applicants, who were left homeless on Monday and who are petitioning the court to restore their corrugated-iron homes.
Roof over their heads
Late on Wednesday the High Court ordered the City of Windhoek to provide “suitable accommodation” to the first applicant, Christine Lukuwa and her children, as well as ordering the City of Windhoek to cease the demolitions until further notice.
The matter continues today.
Following the court order instructing the city to provide accommodation to Lukuwa and her three young children until court proceedings are finalised, Amupanda wrote on social media:
“Last night they slept in the open! They are now going to sleep in this guesthouse with air conditioning, a nice bed, shower and everything for free. “Tomorrow they will wake up they will have bacon and eggs for breakfast and the City of Windhoek will pay.”
Legal battle
The legal battle will at least partly focus on the issue of time, and on proving how long the shacks that were torn down had stood there.
City officials defended their decision this past week, saying the shacks were erected late on Sunday and had not been there for long.
A police official was quoted in media reports saying that the police had been monitoring the area closely and could prove that the shacks were erected very late on Sunday or early on Monday and that it was not a case of demolishing long-term illegal structures.
The courts have emphasised in at least two judgements handed down in the past five years, that a structure, whether illegal or not, may not be demolished without a court order.
Threats & insults
In an affidavit filed by the first applicant, Christine Lukuwa, this version is disputed.
“I have been living in the area which has come to be known as 7de Laan for a period of more than three years. All the shacks that were unlawfully demolished by the City Police, as far as my knowledge is concerned, have been in existence for a period of more than three years.”
She told the court that she and her three children, the youngest who is only four months old, had been preparing for school when police arrived early on Monday morning. Lukuwa's affidavit contains a number of allegations that describe the police as aggressive during the early morning operations, claiming that they threatened her and “insulted my womanhood” when they demanded she open the door.
She also claimed that police damaged and soiled some of her belongings, including a microwave and fridge, when they began removing them from the shack.
“After witnessing and experiencing the horrendous eviction, I look around the neighbourhood and saw how the other people were being treated, in the same or worse manner in which I was thrown out.”
She told the court the police were unable to produce a valid court order and said they did not need one.
JANA-MARI SMITH
The fate of the 7de Laan residents has been a hot topic over the past week, with many Namibians condemning the actions of the police and questioning the treatment of some of Namibia's poorest citizens.
On Wednesday the AR lawyers, whose co-founder Job Amupanda questioned the legality of the demolitions when he visited the scene, were granted an urgent application at the Windhoek High Court.
This week the AR offered to spearhead, and fund, the legal proceedings.
Lawyers Kadhila Amoomo and Henry Shimutwikeni are acting on behalf of the 15 applicants, who were left homeless on Monday and who are petitioning the court to restore their corrugated-iron homes.
Roof over their heads
Late on Wednesday the High Court ordered the City of Windhoek to provide “suitable accommodation” to the first applicant, Christine Lukuwa and her children, as well as ordering the City of Windhoek to cease the demolitions until further notice.
The matter continues today.
Following the court order instructing the city to provide accommodation to Lukuwa and her three young children until court proceedings are finalised, Amupanda wrote on social media:
“Last night they slept in the open! They are now going to sleep in this guesthouse with air conditioning, a nice bed, shower and everything for free. “Tomorrow they will wake up they will have bacon and eggs for breakfast and the City of Windhoek will pay.”
Legal battle
The legal battle will at least partly focus on the issue of time, and on proving how long the shacks that were torn down had stood there.
City officials defended their decision this past week, saying the shacks were erected late on Sunday and had not been there for long.
A police official was quoted in media reports saying that the police had been monitoring the area closely and could prove that the shacks were erected very late on Sunday or early on Monday and that it was not a case of demolishing long-term illegal structures.
The courts have emphasised in at least two judgements handed down in the past five years, that a structure, whether illegal or not, may not be demolished without a court order.
Threats & insults
In an affidavit filed by the first applicant, Christine Lukuwa, this version is disputed.
“I have been living in the area which has come to be known as 7de Laan for a period of more than three years. All the shacks that were unlawfully demolished by the City Police, as far as my knowledge is concerned, have been in existence for a period of more than three years.”
She told the court that she and her three children, the youngest who is only four months old, had been preparing for school when police arrived early on Monday morning. Lukuwa's affidavit contains a number of allegations that describe the police as aggressive during the early morning operations, claiming that they threatened her and “insulted my womanhood” when they demanded she open the door.
She also claimed that police damaged and soiled some of her belongings, including a microwave and fridge, when they began removing them from the shack.
“After witnessing and experiencing the horrendous eviction, I look around the neighbourhood and saw how the other people were being treated, in the same or worse manner in which I was thrown out.”
She told the court the police were unable to produce a valid court order and said they did not need one.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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