Susana Bock has been left destitute. She has been living in a makeshift structure measuring 1.6m by 2m with a baby and three school-going children at Mariental, after a former boyfriend allegedly set their home on fire in 2021 as an act of revenge.
This was two years after that she lost her job, which was her source of income to support herself and her children.
Bock told The Namibian yesterday that her decision to end the relationship led to her ex-boyfriend torching their home. They were a couple on and off for 17 years.
“My ex-boyfriend became angry when I informed him that I want out of the relationship.
I was tired as I was the only one working. The things I would buy for the house he would go and sell and use the money on alcohol or drugs,” Bock said.
Fortunately she and the children were not at home when the house was set alight, she said.
“I was visiting at me family when neighbours informed that my house is burning.
The children were also with me.”
Her former partner, Marius van Zyl, was arrested for arson.
He was denied bail in the Mariental Magistrate’s Court and spent two years and six months as a trial-awaiting inmate.
At the time of sentencing, Bock said Van Zyl’s family pleaded with her to oppose the sentence on his behalf during mitigation, promising to help her rebuild her home.
Because of her testimony and his deteriorating health, Van Zyl was released in 2025.
However, Bock and her children are yet to recover from the trauma emotionally, financially and physically.
She said no family came to help her.
“After the place was burned down I started renting. But then I lost my job could not afford to pay rent anymore.
My uncle offered to help me by providing space for me and my children next to his house,” Bock said.
The space is a narrow corridor-like structure with poor roofing and large openings that expose the family to the cold.
She said her four-month-old baby has been ill and was admitted to hospital, but was recently discharged.
“I just want help to rebuild my home. If somebody can help me with corrugated zinc, I can build again and me and my children can have a safe place to stay,” she said.
Her previous attempts to obtain assistance from the regional governor’s office and councillors proved futile, Bock said.
Community activist Rencia Kooper says Namibia’s Child Care and Protection Act states that a child’s best interests must be paramount in decisions by organs of state concerning children.
PICKING UP PIECES … Susana Bock says her decision to leave her relationship of 17 years led to her then boyfriend torching their home out of anger.
Kooper says it also recognises a child’s right to basic conditions of living necessary for development, including adequate shelter, care and protection, and healthcare.
“Where must this mother go if elected and appointed authorities can not help her.
What she now calls home is not a proper house. If the rain comes they are wet. I don’t even know how they are able to sleep in that corridor.”
Kooper says as a mother, she is deeply affected and struggled to hold back her tears while listening to Bock explaining her circumstances when they met last Saturday at Mariental.
Officials in the Hardap governor’s office say this incident was before their term, and that Bock has not been to their offices since 2025.
“However, our team will go out and make an assessment. Thereafter we will determine the way forward in how to assist this mother,” says governor Riaan McNab.
