PEOPLE of the Asab community living along the main road between Keetmanshoop and Mariental are sick and tired of being used by politicians and have decided not to vote in the November elections.
‘We don’t want elections here. There is no use for it. In 19 years we have got no positive change, only promises,’ said Katrina ‘Mamalisa’ Fransman.For months now, the community have been without water despite several pleas with the authorities.They can’t remember when last they had a good bath or even used a proper toilet in their homes. That is in addition to the lack of electricity.’It is so bad that even the tourists who stop here hoping to use the bathroom must run into the bush. We can see their nakedness from over here,’ said Tobias ‘Ararab’ Haman.Asab means ‘new’ – but residents say the village is ‘long dead’.Although the village is next to the road, residents can’t recall when last they had a visit from the President, a minister or any other high-level official.’They all speed past us and it seems as if we don’t exist in their eyes,’ said Jeremias Fransman, better known as ‘Ou Droogjaar’.Residents must travel around five kilometres to the next farm or to nearby Grundorn settlement to get water.’Life in Asab is about fetching water. The shop has closed down, there is no petrol station and authorities told us to repair the water pumps ourselves,’ Haman said.According to Magrietha Fransman the authorities even told them that they did not grow up with electricity and must thus stop complaining about their circumstances.A few years ago everything seemed to be booming at Asab. There was a hotel, a grocery shop and even a bar, while auctions would attract hundreds of farmers and buyers.Nowadays, those coming to the auction must bring along their own food and drinks as there is none on sale.The hotel burnt down under questionable circumstances almost three years ago while it was under the management of former Karas Governor Stephanus Goliath, who was in partnership with the current Governor Dawid Boois.Although most of the Namibian tourist maps still display a fuel station at Asab, the tanks have been empty since the beginning of this year after previous owners could not convince the Ministry of Local Government to get electricity to the village.’It is not clear whose responsibility Asab is. Everyone is passing the buck when we inquire about services and that pains us,’ said Francina McKay.Recently the Hardap Regional Council built an information centre at the village.The centre has yet to be finished and opened but the community don’t have high hopes for it in the face of the lack of electricity and water.’What is extremely sad is that almost all the farms around us have electricity but Asab, which is on the main road, is in the dark every night. We can’t charge a cellphone nor buy sugar. For that I must travel 30 km,’ Haman said.They said political parties just turn up every five years with election promises and they’ve had enough of that.’Who do I vote for? Should I vote? If not, will I be wrong? These are all questions we are sitting with,’ said ‘Ou Droogjaar’.Both Katrina and Magrietha answered him, almost in the same breath.They feel politicians only use them for their own benefit and election officials must stay away from them until they have water and electricity at Asab.
