Rehoboth ignites

Chaos erupted in Rehoboth yesterday morning when a planned land occupation in the town’s Kuvukiland settlement went awry. According to early reports from AR representatives, the Namibian police and its special reserve force branch had come out in full force and were even firing rubber bullets at protestors and bystanders.
The situation escalated rather quickly and a very tense atmosphere was palpable in the community. One activist, Apes Kaibeb was arrested along with four others and several people were also removed from the scene by the police and the special reserve force. According to police officers, Kaibeb was targeted for an outstanding traffic violation, but the fate of the other four remains unknown. They will appear in the Magistrate’s Court today on unknown charges.
Following the arrests, several scuffles broke out and eye witnesses at the scene described how people who were looking on, were grabbed and some were fired at with rubber bullets. The people then re-grouped and took their placards and banners demanding land and marched to the police station demanding the release of their comrades. Some members stayed behind singing Gospel songs and chanting, ‘God, enough is enough’.
Chris /Uirab, the CEO of Rehoboth Town Council yesterday told Namibian Sun that the council will not give in to the demands of the land grabbers, taking into account the directive from Cabinet that the Rukoro Report had to be prioritised. He said that the AR movement is responsible for the land grabbing movement in Rehoboth and has also swept the beneficiaries of the Rukoro Report into this action.

“There is no formal agreement between the AR and the government and we will not follow their demands. We cannot support this group that are instigating [members of] our community.”
He said the council cannot at this stage entertain the demands from other groups while they are busy prioritising the Rukoro Report.
The report, compiled by erstwhile attorney-general Vekuii Rukoro in 1992, recommended that more than 3 000 free erven be allocated to residents who had been forcibly removed from a neighbourhood at that time, called the Old Location. It also recommended that 2 500 free erven be allocated to ‘Burghers’ (Basters) under their Paternal Laws. Around 1 200 beneficiaries are still in the process of being verified.
/Uirab admitted that the report has been delayed for some time, but said that they have started with the process and that people should be patient. If all goes well the provision of land through the report will be completed within the next six months, he said.
“At this stage the Rukoro Report is already putting the council under financial pressure and we cannot entertain other demands for land if the proper channels are not followed. People must understand that it is a financial blow for the council to give free land.”
He blamed the AR movement for instigating land grabbing in Rehoboth and said that the leaders of the movement should have communicated with the council through the appropriate channels.
“All we see is the people on the ground instigating this, is Job even supporting this?”
He said that they are considering proposing to council that unserviced land should be allocated to those that are in need on a temporary basis, but that this must still be discussed and approved by council.
“There is an outcry for land in Rehoboth and by fuelling the situation it is pushing the public to grab land,” he said.
The Hardap Governor Esme Isaaks travelled to Rehoboth and while the community was blocking her entry into the studios of Live FM, the community radio station, she managed to get in with a police escort to address the community.
“I urge them to wait and give government time to complete their things. After they have seen what government has done, they can do such things as grab land and then they can stand up. The council is looking into this matter. In Rehoboth, people are sitting with more than two plots while their neighbours do not have a single plot. This has been instigated by the AR movement, they have threatened Rehoboth Town Council,” Isaaks told the community, live on air.
She also accused another radio station of instigating violence, racism and tribalism. “If a radio station is to promote racism it must be terminated. I will spearhead this process personally.”
She then turned her attention to the AR. “We are aware of their motives. We have no agreements with the AR. They should know they have no support in Hardap. Why are they targeting the south, why not the north?”
Isaaks also gave the public the assurance that the implementation of the Rukoro Report had already begun and again lamented the cost to the town council as there would be no money forthcoming from the free erven.
“So it is not a thing that the ministry did not do anything. Rome was not built in a day.”
Several Rehoboth residents responded to her comments with disdain, saying that some of them have been waiting since 1985 for a piece of land to live on. Another said, “She does not worry. Instead of fearing God, she fears nothing and will leave here and eat Kentucky.”
Another community member asked why she had to address the people through the radio station. “We are right here, why can’t she talk directly to us?” he asked.
By late afternoon yesterday, the AR’s Dimbululukeni Nauyoma had arrived and was in talks with the Hardap police regional commander, Commissioner Andries van der Byl. The crowd had also dispersed, having returned to the tree in Kuvukiland.
“We are waiting for the AR to address us. If we are not satisfied, we will sleep at the offices of the town council tonight,” a resident said.
According to Nauyoma, the AR is “tired of Mafia town councils”.
“If they are not ready to engage, we will have some way of going forward. The colleagues have been writing letters to the council. This must be a last resort. Our people are not violent,” he said.

JEMIMA BEUKES