Khorixas is acknowledged as the capital of what is known as Damaraland. But unlike the northern towns of Ondangwa, Ongwediva and its northern counterpart Oshakati, which are all flourishing with development, Khorixas has very little or nothing to offer its young people.
Unemployment figures have skyrocketed and judged by comments made by some youths who spoke to The Namibian early last week, the situation has reached such proportions that the young people are drinking to forget their sorrows.Accusations of nepotism and a lack of visionary leadership with a clear mandate of how to lure development projects to the town, despite great tourism potential in the surroundings, were also considered huge stumbling blocks.Said Seth Nowaseb: ‘To be honest there is nothing to live for in this place. I am only here because of my family and I don’t have anywhere else to go. I’ve considered looking for work in Windhoek but I don’t have anywhere to stay there.’One cannot just go and stay with other people without contributing anything. You are using their water and electricity and, on top of that, you are also eating their food – so they will expect you contribute. There’s no free lunch in Africa like they say.’But 25-year-old Seth, who dropped out of school after he failed Grade 10 at Petrus Ganeb Secondary School in 2003, does not sit idle and wait for a job opportunity to come knocking at his door.’I am a man and I have to provide for my family one way or the other. I have starting washing the windscreens of cars and trucks at the service station in town.’I am only making small money but at least I am able to bring bread and butter back home. I even use some of the money to buy clothes,’ the former bantamweight boxer said.He admitted that he and friends drink frequently in order to forget their frustrations and the nightclubs and shebeens are their only source of recreation at the moment. Seth’s sentiments were echoed by Cleo Namises, a young woman who was lucky enough to leave Khorixas to get an education at Swakopmund.’I’m afraid there is no future in this town at the moment. I am lucky that my parents sent me to Swakpomund where I finished my matric in 2003.’I went to Windhoek, where I am living now and, although I have resigned from my previous job, I am able to support myself and to pay my rent,’ she said. The 23-year-old said that she would never live in Khorixas, which is her place of birth, because of the lack of devlopment in the town. She said the town looked exactly the same after the more than 10 years she had been studying and living away from home.’One cannot blame the young people really,’ she noted, adding that the leaders of the town have failed the young people and older citizens of Khorixas badly.She said that in Windhoek there were a lot of recreational facilities where she could go with her friends on weekends, like Wernhil Park and Maerua Mall, which offers a cinema and franchise restaurants where one can go to relax.’But life is just too boring and very predictable in Khorixas. You are just doing the same thing over and over again and that is sleep, stand up and drink, because boredom and frustration can drive one to do irresponsible things,’ she said.The situation is reported to have driven young girls into prostitution in their bid to support themselves and their families and unwanted pregnancies are also said to have become a problem.The presence of under-aged children, and school children from the two secondary schools in town at drinking spots, was also shocking and authorities in the town, some of whom are believed to own some of the places, just seem to turn a blind eye.The town needs a serious revamp and with development opportunities continuing to stay away from town, it will take a lot of convincing to keep the youth of Khorixas focused.Meanwhile, Councillor Sebastian !Gobs, while acknowledging the poor state of development in Khorixas, put part of the blame on the youth.Said !Gobs: ‘It’s true that the town has lost some of the spark that it had for the last decade or so but the big question remains, what is the youth doing to rescue the town’s fate? It is true that development is very slow but they must be innovative as well.’What plans do they have to become self-supportive? The town council has proposed a garden project as a means of creating jobs. Work has not started yet but all that the young people of Khorixas are asking is how much they are going to be paid.’He added that they should follow the example of their counterparts from Fransfontein, 30km north of Khorixas, who are proposing projects like the fish dam project which is definitely going to ease the unemployment problem of the village.!Gobs said that the youth of Khorixas were a bunch of frustrated young people who are too lazy to stand up and do something for themselves. ‘All that they would tell you is that they are drinking to forget their frustrations,’ he noted.
