Sauyemwa squatters 'not voting cows'

A massive stand-off is unfolding at Rundu between developers and a group of thousands of squatters who refuse to leave a piece of land.

The squatters said they feel they are used as voting cows during elections and neglected soon thereafter.

The land in question is situated at Rundu's Sauyemwa Extension 1, which the over 3 000 squatters refuse to leave despite an eviction court order obtained by the developers who bought the land from the Rundu town council in 2016.

Last Thursday, a court messenger escorted by the police attempted to forcefully remove the squatters.

However, things did not go as planned – the community members dug in their heels and refused to move.

To avoid any bloodshed, the forced removal was shelved.

The squatters are adamant that they will not move from the area unless they are relocated to an area with water, electricity and proper roads for their vehicles.





As per the court order, the applicants are Pioneer Civil Contractors, Thobias Kandjeke Rumeta, Katrina Uwanga Moses and Domingu Marcelinu Dishu, while the respondents are Edmund Jacob, Haihengo E T, Makayi Gabriel, Kandjeke Petrus, the Rundu town council and the Kavango East Police Regional commander.

Sharing what transpired last Thursday, group representative Manaseh Julio said the deputy sheriff in the company of the police arrived at the area and started removing poles of houses, an action which angered the community members.

Julio said the group then started to demand answers.

“Upon seeing that the police did not have the answers to the questions we were asking, we then acted to disrupt their operation, which lasted for some hours, and after which they left,” he said.

When asked why they refused to comply with the court order, Julio said that they are not settled illegally on the land as they have been there for many years.

He claimed that some people had been residing at the area since 2011.

He further claimed that being Namibian citizens, they have the right to settle freely in an independent Namibia.

“We are Namibians and we have the right to settle anywhere in the corners of this country,” he said.

Julio said the police indicated that they should move to an area behind Sikanduko and SunCity informal settlements, which does not have water and electricity.

Meanwhile, according to court documents, the contractors argue that the squatters have been residing illegally on the land they bought procedurally.

According to the founding affidavit of the applicants, made by Leonard Holo Elago, who is said to be the sole member of Pioneer Civil Contractors, they applied for 60 plots to develop from the Rundu town council, which was approved on 10 February 2016.

Namibian Sun has a copy of the letter from the town council awarding the plots, which was signed off by then CEO, Romanus Haironga.

The 60 plots, measuring 26 603 square metres, were sold at N$20 per square metre.

Furthermore, in his affidavit Elago said they have experienced losses of up to N$1 million due to the project's delay.

“The first applicant (Pioneer Civil Contractors) is unable to comply with its contractual obligations to survey the land, service it and sell it off as a plot to plan. Even those erven sold by the first applicant cannot be constructed because on the erven are illegal squatters who have refused to move. The land needs to be cleared for the above activities to ensue,” the founding affidavit reads.

KENYA KAMBOWE