Groot Aub: A Forgotten People at a Forgotten Place

Dear madam president, we, the residents of Groot Aub, write to you not as enemies of the state, but as citizens and human beings who have run out of patience.

We write to demand what we are constitutionally entitled to: dignity, equality, and access to basic services.

All is not well at Groot Aub. In truth, the situation on the ground is dire – especially the worsening water crisis. Communities such as Oshakati Central have endured three months without reliable water supply. The promised water tanks – intended as a temporary solution – have yet to arrive. This is not just neglect; it is a violation of our human rights.

The City of Windhoek has declared vast areas of Groot Aub ‘unmapped’ or ‘illegal’ – including Beverly Hills and surrounding areas – effectively cutting them off from access to water, electricity, and other essential services.

Over 8 000 residents are trapped in bureaucratic limbo. These citizens are being told, in no uncertain terms, that they do not count.

We ask: Are we not Namibians? Are we less human because we are poor and unemployed?

Madam president, we urgently request the intervention of your office, as well as that of the prime minister and the minister of urban and rural development.

We do not have access to basic services. We are not mapped. Our community lacks development.

We see funds being allocated to the city’s budget year after year, but these funds never translate into real development.

Instead, administrative offices are built, while our people walk kilometres to fill a 25-litre container with water, live in zinc houses, and suffer in darkness due to a lack of electricity.

If we cannot be served by the municipality, let Groot Aub be declared a settlement under the Khomas Regional Council again – the only authority that has ever made a genuine effort to improve our lives.

We reject the colonial legacy of regulations and urban planning that continue to suffocate our people.

We demand that:

1. The prime minister personally visits Groot Aub to witness the unacceptable conditions and engage with our community.
2. The minister of urban and rural development tasks the current councillors to complete the formalisation process of Groot Aub before November 2025.
3. Political representation for Groot Aub must include residents who live, sleep, and suffer here – not outsiders detached from our daily struggles.
4. A halt to the construction of administrative offices at Groot Aub until the map is finalised and services like water and electricity are delivered.
5. An urgent update of the spatial data (mapping) of all locations at Groot Aub to enable service provision.

Elections will soon be upon us, and we are watching closely. Empty promises will no longer sway the people of Groot Aub.

If no party is willing to take action, we will remember that at the ballot box.

It is time our voices are heard. If development cannot come from the city, then let us be a settlement – with our dignity restored and our rights respected.

We will not wait another five years for another committee to ‘familiarise’ itself with our suffering.

The fire of development has died at Groot Aub – and not because of its people.

E Gaingob

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