Eviction upsets disabled people at Keetmanshoop

PEOPLE with disabilities at the Keetmanshoop Disability Resource Centre (DRC) have reacted with outrage to a recent notice to vacate an accommodation block at the centre.

Expressing her anger at the eviction, Lydia Motinga (42) demanded immediate intervention by Health Minister Richard Kamwi to what she termed ‘inhuman and unacceptable treatment’.
Motinga claimed no reasons were given why they had to vacate their apartments when social worker Annatjie Louw and the head of the DRC had ordered them to move out.
‘They only told us to vacate the apartments,’ Motinga said angrily.
‘Our stay at the resource centre has made our lives so comfortable, because our workplace was just a stone’s throw away from our living quarters,’ said Motinga
Motinga and four other people living with disabilities run the Duwweltjie Bicycle Shop as part of the Bicycle Empowerment Network (BEN), and a vegetable project from the DRC to generate extra income.
According to Motinga, those involved in the bicycle project earn monthly allowances of N$400 from repairing and selling bicycles on top of the disability grant of N$456 they receive each month.
Magdalena Visser (50) also condemned the secrecy surrounding the eviction, although she did not live in the apartments.
‘If we’re denied the right to stay at the disability resource centre apartments, then it’s no use to call it a disability centre,’ Visser fumed.
The acting regional health director, Jan Steenkamp, could not comment.
‘I am unaware of the eviction, thus cannot comment. Only the regional health director, who is attending training in Windhoek, would be able to comment on the issue when he returns next week,’ said Steenkamp.
Motinga also expressed anger over a string of break-ins at the bicycle shop since December last year.
She said bicycles with an estimated value of N$10 000 had been stolen during separate burglaries, despite the presence of security guards at the centre around the clock.
She further complained about a lack of wheelchair access to the Police station.
‘We have to stand outside the Police station and call an officer to be assisted because we’re unable to walk up the stairs at the Police office,’ she said.

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