Protesters ignore eviction notice

THE ‘Children of the Liberation Struggle’, who have been demonstrating outside the headquarters of the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs since early September, on Friday expected to be forcibly removed, but nothing happened.

On Thursday afternoon, they had received a notice from the Deputy Minister of Youth, Pohamba Shifeta, to vacate the TransNamib premises by 14h00 on Friday. As the deadline drew closer on Friday, there was a heavy presence of private security guards at a nearby business fearing that its property might be damaged should the worst come to the worst.The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs was standing on his office balcony to get a good view of the spectacle; and the media converged on the demonstration site to witness how the six weeks of protest might come to an end.At 13h45, the protesters rallied together as their spokesperson, Shinedima Salomon, and other leaders encouraged them to remain put, regardless of what was to happen.”They can come if they want to, but we will stay together and remain strong,” they urged.”They must come.We are waiting for them.”Many of the protesters wet their facecloths and towels, expecting the Police to disperse them with teargas.The group then sang Swapo liberation songs and toyi-toyi’ed for a good hour before settling down to spontaneous bursts of singing.But the expected force did not come, and by yesterday, the protesters were still awaiting word or action on the part of Government, though their stance to stay put remained unchanged.”We will not leave this place.We did not come here for registration, we came here for employment,” related Salomon.Another demonstrator, who identified himself only as Thomas, asked: “Why did they only set up registration now? What have they been doing for the past 18 years? We are just fighting for our rights.”Asked what the next step would be for the group, Salomon said: “The only person who can help us is Tatekulu Sam Nujoma.He understands what we went through in exile.He is our key.Our next step is to go to talk to him, or if possible, for him to come to us.”In the meantime, the City of Windhoek has issued a response to public concerns over hygiene and health at the demonstration site.The City said it has carried out its own investigation “and can confirm the poor state of hygiene due to poor sanitation”.”The continued presence of the war veterans’ children on the premises affects the image of the city negatively and is also a concern for the road users and the business community in the area,” it said.The City said it has been disinfecting the area every second day and rubbish is being removed every day.As the deadline drew closer on Friday, there was a heavy presence of private security guards at a nearby business fearing that its property might be damaged should the worst come to the worst.The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs was standing on his office balcony to get a good view of the spectacle; and the media converged on the demonstration site to witness how the six weeks of protest might come to an end.At 13h45, the protesters rallied together as their spokesperson, Shinedima Salomon, and other leaders encouraged them to remain put, regardless of what was to happen.”They can come if they want to, but we will stay together and remain strong,” they urged.”They must come.We are waiting for them.”Many of the protesters wet their facecloths and towels, expecting the Police to disperse them with teargas.The group then sang Swapo liberation songs and toyi-toyi’ed for a good hour before settling down to spontaneous bursts of singing.But the expected force did not come, and by yesterday, the protesters were still awaiting word or action on the part of Government, though their stance to stay put remained unchanged.”We will not leave this place.We did not come here for registration, we came here for employment,” related Salomon.Another demonstrator, who identified himself only as Thomas, asked: “Why did they only set up registration now? What have they been doing for the past 18 years? We are just fighting for our rights.”Asked what the next step would be for the group, Salomon said: “The only person who can help us is Tatekulu Sam Nujoma.He understands what we went through in exile.He is our key.Our next step is to go to talk to him, or if possible, for him to come to us.”In the meantime, the City of Windhoek has issued a response to public concerns over hygiene and health at the demonstration site.The City said it has carried out its own investigation “and can confirm the poor state of hygiene due to poor sanitation”.”The continued presence of the war veterans’ children on the premises affects the image of the city negatively and is also a concern for the road users and the business community in the area,” it said.The City said it has been disinfecting the area every second day and rubbish is being removed every day.