LPM councillor claims Swapo sabotage

MAXIE MINNAAR, regional councillor for the Landless People’s Movement in the Keetmanshoop Urban constituency, has accused Swapo’s regional and local authority councillors of sabotaging her socio-economic development initiatives.

Minnaar made these accusations at a press conference from her home on Thursday, reflecting on her first 100 days in office.

She had been elected as the new regional councillor in the January by-election.

Minnaar said the LPM’s election campaign manifesto promised the electorate to address land delivery, housing and sanitation, which she listed as her priorities.

Swapo members, who are dominating the Keetmashoop Town Council, are, however, sabotaging her land delivery efforts, she said.

The local authority council mandated with land provision is not cooperating the boosting of a motion to provide the landless with land ownership in informal settlements.

“The majority of the regional council supported the motion, but referred it to the local authority,” she said.

Minnaar said the LPM remains firm in its commitment to provide title deeds to low-income groups in informal settlements.

Taking a swipe at Keetmanshoop mayor Gaudentia Kröhne and former //Kharas governor Lucia Basson, Minnaar said her fellow politicians foiled her plans to set up an additional pay point for social grant recipients at the unused municipal building office at Tseiblaagte.

The duo had influenced the local NamPost management not to honour an agreement for an additional social grant pay point.

Kröhne on Monday said under no circumstances would her council sabotage the regional councillor’s development initiatives at the expense of the electorate.

“We have pledged to serve irrespective of their political affiliation,” she said.

Kröhne hit back at Minnaar, claiming she never consulted the local authority council on the land provision issue.

She accused Minnaar of having shunned a meeting the mayor had called to discuss the additional pay point.

Minnaar charged that the regional council chairperson Jan Scholtz had directed the council chief regional officer Beatus Kasete to temporarily suspend all government programmes of the Keetmanshoop Urban constituency.

“Jan Scholtz is victimising me simply because I am an LPM councillor,” she said.

Scholtz on Monday described claims of sabotage as “absurd”.

“Sabotaging development initiatives means people at grassroots level will suffer,” he said.

He admitted to having directed the council’s chief regional officer to take over the management and distribution of food handouts due to complaints of disorderly food distribution.

Scholtz said a dispute between Minnaar and her office administrator over who should benefit from the drought food aid had also contributed to this decision.

“Food distribution should not be used as a political football,” he said.

Minnaar said she recently donated a housing structure built by LPM members to a family who had lived in a shack since 2014 in the /Gereres informal settlement.

She said the Fonteintjie Fish farming project has been revived, and plans are underway to expand to gardening, poultry and egg projects to enhance food security.

Minnaar said she has also engaged the Angl American Foundation and other stakeholders about funds to establish more playgrounds at the town.

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