Rent business ‘immoral’

THE NAMIBIAN housing market is an immoral business because it is done to exploit people.

This was the answer land activist and University of Namibia (Unam) lecturer Job Amupanda gave to a young member of the public who had asked the difference between the flat sellers and drug dealers during a public dialogue on housing, that focused on rent control, in Windhoek on Tuesday evening.

The event was organised by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES).

The youth further said he almost cried after he went to enquire about his home loan qualification at a local bank, and realised the bank will pocket more than three times what they would pay for ‘an already expensive house’ for him.

“Any business that is making income from the exploitation of people is immoral. The rent industry in this country is an immoral industry,” said Amupanda.

Amupanda said the youth can only wish and want the rent industry to collapse so that they can also be accommodated and make their way to acquiring their own houses as well.

He said it is worrying how the rent industry is still not being controlled.

“There is a high demand for taxis at the moment. When you go to Unam, you find a lot of students standing there waiting up to 11pm before they can get a taxi home. But taxi drivers cannot just wake up and charge what they want. Their fares are being controlled,” Amupanda said.

“Both drug peddlers and flat owners are devaluing human dignity,” he said.

Namibia currently has a national housing backlog of over 300 000 units, minister of economic planning Tom Alweendo told an investors’ conference in November last year.

Amupanda said there is no way government can build even 100 000 houses in the next 10 years.

He further said the majority of the people are excluded from owning a family home and when they go to the National Housing Enterprise (NHE), they are expected to earn at least N$5 000 a month.

“So, security guards and taxi drivers who earn N$3 000 are excluded.

“When a teacher goes to NHE, they are told they earn too much, when they go to the bank for a loan, they are told they earn too little. Where do they go then?” he asked.

He further said that the current housing crisis in the country is purposely designed.

“Most people living in Windhoek are always on the move all the time. The landlord can just decide to increase rent anytime because he knows there is a desperate need for housing,” he said of the current exploitation of tenants by unscrupulous landlords.

He said since the only local building society in the country was allowed to be bought by a South African bank long time ago, there has not been another.

“That building society was assisting people. But they (politicians) allowed it to be bought by a bank,” he said.

“In this country, there are people who matter and those who do not matter,” he said.

On his part, economist and managing director of Twilight Consulting Mally Likukela said Namibia has a profit-driven economy.

“Rent control has worked in some countries and failed in others but we just have to make ours work,” said Likukela.

The economist further said the fact that some senior government officials have been occupying government houses for years adds to the problem.

“Every year universities produce graduates, where do they go to?” he said.

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