N$100m apartheid debt haunts councils

Massive apartheid era debt - totalling nearly N$100 million - continues to cripple the operations and creditworthiness of many of the country's municipalities.And evidence has emerged that the ministry of regional and local government has been sitting for three years on recommendations from the Association of Local Authorities in Namibia (ALAN), which proposes a way forward to deal with the issue.The debt was originally owed to the South African apartheid regime and has not been written off by the Namibian government, who has since taken over the debt.According to a letter sent to municipalities in 2010, ALAN indicated that the Ministry of Finance was willing to write off the debts on the condition that the local authorities give government land to the same value as the debt.Included in the letter to the then minister of regional and local government, Jerry Ekandjo, which appears to have been shelved, is the astronomical figures of the apartheid debt owed by councils.The City of Windhoek owes N$57 million, while Tsumeb owes N$23 million, Keetmanshoop (N$9 million), Swakopmund (N$5 million) while MaltahÃ¶he owes N$1 million.Aroab, Omaruru, Witvlei and Usakos all owed between N$130 000 and N$550 000 at that time, while Karasburg owed N$3 000.ALAN's acting chief executive officer Maureen Kambala said the debt is a &quot;bad reflection of the local authorities' financial status&quot;.&quot;We did our part in submitting the recommendations with the list of debts to the minister as requested, but up to date nothing has happened. We do not know what happened,&quot; said Kambala.&quot;Now the municipalities are not in a position to apply for grants from donors like the European Union (EU) because of this credit record.&quot;Meanwhile, another report compiled by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts indicated that there was uncertainty about what municipalities, town and village councils should do to write off pre-independence debts.Both Ekandjo and the current minister of regional and local government Charles Namoloh could not be reached for comment yesterday.Although, the parliamentary report was compiled in November last year, it was only tabled this week and had advised local authorities to engage the ALAN regarding the issue.According to the report, the town council of Mariental took out a loan to build houses for its residents from then South African government, while of some of the debt was written off, some houses are still being paid.Adding to the confusion, the town council is allegedly not servicing these debts since it does not receive statements from the Ministry of Finance to make payments.The parliamentary report was tabled shortly after Namoloh said recently that government cannot afford to write off vast amounts of money owed by local and regional authorities for water and electricity purchases for their communities.He said this was because &quot;they need to be accountable&quot; and it would mean that the national government would have to step in and pay the millions upon millions owed.WINDHOEK ELVIS MURARANGANDA

N$100m apartheid debt haunts councils

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-08

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N$100m apartheid debt haunts councils

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-08

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