Doing it for themselves

Shack Dwellers get busy creating homes
Jana-Mari Smith
It's all hands on deck for the more than 200 members of the Otjiwarongo branch of the Shack Dwellers Federation as they take on the mammoth task of clearing land for the 65 brick houses the federation will start constructing this year.

For the 65 recipients of the one-bedroom brick houses, their new home will represent the first time they have lived in anything other than a home constructed out of corrugated iron.

Currently, members rotate to clear the area on a daily basis, using shovels and other implements to clear away vegetation, with the goal of to start servicing the land by the end of May.

The backbreaking work is “hard, but worth it,” Gottert Hipona told Namibian Sun.

Hipona, one of the recipients of a brick home, says he currently lives in a corrugated iron home in Otjiwarongo's informal settlement.

He says the corrugated iron homes are uncomfortable, partly because in summer they are too hot and in winter, they are freezing.

“Dust is also a big problem,” he adds.

The erven, situated southwest of the Tsaraxa-Aibes Combined School, will be divided into 65 plots ranging in size of between 345 square metres and 600 square metres.

The unserviced land was allocated to the federation by the Otjiwarongo municipality at a steal at the beginning of the 2017.

Otjiwarongo Municipality's chief executive officer (CEO), Ismael

/Howoseb described the allocation of the land as “almost a kind of donation”, as the plots were sold for around N$10 per plot.

/Howoseb said the allocation is the largest yet to the federation and forms part of the town's target to help eradicate poverty and address housing shortages “in the spirit of Harambee.”

Chairperson of the federation at Otjiwarongo, Erenst Muraranganda, who spoke to Namibian Sun while helping with the clearing of the land, said that the houses will consist of one bedroom, a kitchen, lounge and a bathroom.

For Isabel Guruses (53), her future brick home is a “dream come true”. She says she will live there with her daughter, and plans to create a large garden “with a lot of flowers.” She added that she wants to paint the house a calm shade of cream with a tint of orange and beige.

Team work

Muraranganda said although not all members are current beneficiaries and that it is a team effort to prepare the area and much of the work will be undertaken by the federation members themselves.

This includes the laying down of water and sewage pipelines and the construction of the houses, which will be undertaken by the federation's members.

Bricks will also be made by members themselves.

Other building materials for the building of the houses will be funded by loans from the federation.

Muraranganda said the federation hopes to start servicing the land next month and to commence with the construction of the houses by August.

The federation has approached architects and land surveyors to assist with some of the more technical aspects according to /Howoseb who says they have had a positive response to date.

Muraranganda says since the news of the land allocation spread, more people enquired about joining the Shack Dwellers Federation.

Membership requires an annual contribution of N$800, which can be paid in monthly installments. The selection of beneficiaries for the houses is based on four pillars, which include a member's active participation in the federation, their financial contributions and assisting other federations across the country. According to a Nampa report, the secretary of the Otjiwarongo branch, Christa Jeomba last week thanked /Howoseb for allocating the land to them.

“I would like also to call on the CEO to expect us in 2018. We need more residential plots, including unserviced land so that we can develop it ourselves,” said Jeomba.

JANA-MARI SMITH

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-28

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Katima Mulilo: 19° | 37° Rundu: 17° | 33° Eenhana: 18° | 33° Oshakati: 20° | 31° Ruacana: 19° | 33° Tsumeb: 17° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 28° Omaruru: 18° | 31° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Gobabis: 17° | 28° Henties Bay: 16° | 19° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:54, High tide: 04:57, Low Tide: 22:58, High tide: 17:16 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 29km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:55, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:14 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 33km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:54, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:13 Rehoboth: 18° | 29° Mariental: 22° | 32° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 34° Aranos: 21° | 31° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 23° | 34° Oranjemund: 15° | 21° Luanda: 27° | 30° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 24° Mbabane: 15° | 23° Maseru: 12° | 28° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 29° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Cape Town: 17° | 23° Durban: 21° | 25° Johannesburg: 18° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 18° | 30° Harare: 15° | 31° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.84 | EUR to NAD 20.42 | CNY to NAD 2.62 | USD to NAD 18.94 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.8 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.33 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.35 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 18.94 | USD to ZMW 25.01 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 74536 Up +0.85% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1528.69 Up +0.84% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12986.94 Up +0.04% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 27559.35 Down -2.36% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 219.03/OZ UP +1.29% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.06% | Zinc US$ 2 451.00/T UP 0.08% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.59/BBP UP +1.39% | Platinum US$ 907.28/OZ UP +1.39% Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 19° | 37° Rundu: 17° | 33° Eenhana: 18° | 33° Oshakati: 20° | 31° Ruacana: 19° | 33° Tsumeb: 17° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 28° Omaruru: 18° | 31° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Gobabis: 17° | 28° Henties Bay: 16° | 19° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:54, High tide: 04:57, Low Tide: 22:58, High tide: 17:16 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 29km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:55, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:14 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 33km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:54, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:13 Rehoboth: 18° | 29° Mariental: 22° | 32° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 34° Aranos: 21° | 31° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 23° | 34° Oranjemund: 15° | 21° Luanda: 27° | 30° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 24° Mbabane: 15° | 23° Maseru: 12° | 28° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 29° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Cape Town: 17° | 23° Durban: 21° | 25° Johannesburg: 18° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 18° | 30° Harare: 15° | 31° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.84 | EUR to NAD 20.42 | CNY to NAD 2.62 | USD to NAD 18.94 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.8 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.33 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.35 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 18.94 | USD to ZMW 25.01 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 74536 Up +0.85% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1528.69 Up +0.84% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12986.94 Up +0.04% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 27559.35 Down -2.36% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 219.03/OZ UP +1.29% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.06% | Zinc US$ 2 451.00/T UP 0.08% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.59/BBP UP +1.39% | Platinum US$ 907.28/OZ UP +1.39%