NBC radio says not to blame for land grab

A RADIO announcement blamed for instigating large groups of people into illegally grabbing land at a Windhoek informal settlement this past weekend was in fact meant for a specific group who had been granted land in those areas.

The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) yesterday said it had concluded an investigation into claims that a caller statement on its Damara-Nama service was responsible for Sunday’s confusion.Hundreds of men, women and children gathered at Otjomuise’s Sewende and Agtste Laan areas with garden tools in an attempt to secure free land.This was stopped by members of the Windhoek City Police and the local councillor for the area, Margaret Mensah-Williams.Mensah-Williams later charged at a press conference that the radio announcement was politically motivated in a bid to make the city ungovernable.The NBC yesterday confirmed that a woman who identified herself only as Naomi, called in to its local language station on Saturday morning. But it added that the announcement was meant for a community housing group identified as Goodlyn Number Two.NBC spokesperson Ilke Platt said the announcement was: ‘I would like to send an announcement. Our group is called Goodlyn Number Two, and all the committee members are urged to come to Soweto market at 13h00 today. All members of the group must also meet us at Soweto Market. This message comes from Naomi. At 13h00 we will be shown erven which we got in Otjomuise and it is urgent that we meet at 13h00 at Soweto Market and the bus will depart from 13h00 to be shown the land. Since we did not meet in a long time all members should come, especially Elizabeth Kasasobi, who lives in Okuryangava. It is important that she is informed and she must be at Soweto Market at 12h30. This comes from Naomi. Please, people from Goodlyn Number Two, people of that settlement. Thank you.’ Platt said the NBC broadcasts messages like these as a public service. ‘The NBC does, therefore, not accept indirect or direct responsibility for the misinformation that resulted in the ‘land rush’,’ she said.