San homes lie abandoned

The !Xun, ‡Akhoe and Hai||om San communities have abandoned about 200 modern homes that were built for them in 2005 by former deputy prime minister Libertina Amathila at Ekoka and Oshanashiwa villages.

The two villages are situated in the Okongo Constituency of the Ohangwena Region.

The village headman, Fillemon Mwapangasha, accuses the government of wasting money after failing to consult local people before addressing the San's plight.

Mwapangasha says the government made a mistake by building brick structures with corrugated-iron roofs, each with a small front porch and a small yard.

Mwapangasha says only elderly and ailing people live in a few of the houses, while young people prefer to sleep outdoors.

He says national leaders have a tendency of side-lining traditional leaders when they are identifying the needs for the poor. He claims that government officials only approach regional councillors, who often are unaware of the real needs of the people. “I advised Libertina (Amathila) when she brought up the idea of building houses for San people in Ekoka that first she must conduct research, referencing the books of the Finnish missionaries who had lived with them for decades, in order to find out their real need,” Mwapangasha says.

“My advice was ignored and they went ahead. Today houses are abandoned. According to their traditions these people do not live in permanent houses, because if one dies in that house, they will abandon it, and that is what happened. When community members started dying, they shunned the houses.”

This is corroborated by Lusia Kamati, a San elder from Ekoka. She says it is a taboo to continue living in a house after a family member has died there.





Mwapangasha says as a headman who was born and grew up at Ekoka, he should have been consulted.

“These people were living a nomadic life until the arrival of the Finnish missionaries in the 1960s. The missionaries changed their lifestyle to an even greater extent. They (missionaries) taught them farming practices, while supporting them with food, clothing, blankets and basic healthcare. The government could have done the same,” Mwapangasha says.

“The missionaries established two crop fields of about 600 hectares each were they used to produce mahangu and other crops. Unfortunately in the 1980s the war of independence took centre stage and the support of the Finnish missionaries became inconsistent and the San people went back to their traditional lifestyle.”

Mwapangasha says instead of wasting money on houses, the government could have developed an irrigation project at the village.

He says there is a government tractor that helps the San people with ploughing, but they plough one field and rent out the other one to generate money for their trust fund.

“These people need a caretaker to take care of them. They are not at the stage of living on their own yet, otherwise they will go back into the bush.

“They have a craft centre where they are supposed to be selling their crafts, but it is no longer operational since they are on their own. The Desert Research Foundation of Namibia and Omba Arts Trust used to take care of them, but they left them when they became part of the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement. The ministry left them to their own devices.”



Namibian Sun could not establish how much the houses cost.



The former Ohangwena regional councillor for Okongo Constituency, Paulus Mwaanyekange, also confirmed that the San communities at Ekoka and Oshanashiwa had abandoned the houses.



“When they get aggressive during fights, they start vandalising houses, and when they started dying they started abandoning the houses.



“Only later did we realise that they have cultural norms that when someone dies in the house, they have to vacate it and that is why they do not live in permanent structures,” Mwaanyekange said.



Mwaanyekange said besides the houses, the community was also provided with a borehole and solar pump to supply them with water. The houses were provided with free electricity.



“These people are creative and hardworking, but they cannot think of coming up with their own horticultural project. A government tractor is there to help them and they can also get seed and fertilisers. They only want to work for the Oukwanyama farmers who are leasing their land,” he said.



When contacted for comment, Amathila said she acknowledged the headman's advice and it was painful to hear that they had abandoned the houses.



“Before I handed over my responsibilities I used to visit them from time to time and I compiled recommendations that could have been followed, including the one of the headman,” she said.



ILENI NANDJATO