There are grounds for seizing Mix plot: lawyer

IF the Namibian Government was compelled to expropriate the farm Ongombo West on behalf of the interests of six farmworkers under the guise that their housing rights represented a public interest, then it stands to reason that it should act to protect the interests of 3 000 people at the Mix squatter camp, who without Government protection may be rendered homeless, a leading human rights lawyer says.

Maran Turner from the Southern Africa Litigation Centre said the Government relied on this power when it expropriated Ongombo (a private farm) on behalf of six workers who were under threat of eviction, the same situation 3 000 residents at Mix camp were facing. “Whilst the private landowners owe no duty to the Mix community – except of course to treat them humanely, the Government’s responsibility to its citizens means that it cannot simply enforce property rights without due consideration for the competing, yet more urgent humanitarian needs of housing,” Turner said in an opinion piece.Eluwa Lya Tenda Property, owners of Mix camp, 20 km north of Windhoek, obtained a court order to evict the residents from the private plot at Brakwater but the people asked the Government and the City of Windhoek to expropriate the land in the public interest.They set up the informal settlement in the 1980s when the former plot owner, the late Heiner Mix, allowed some workers to settle on his property.Since his death in 1999, the settlement has mushroomed in the absence of a landlord.The residents claim that they had an agreement with Mix to stay on the 50-hectare plot but new owners Eluwa Lya Tenda Property of Cabinet Secretary Frans Kapofi told them to move off the land by December 31 last year.A part of the land belongs to the Deputy Minister of Housing, Kazenambo Kazenambo.The majority of the residents work in the city and remain in Windhoek for the rest of the week, as it is too costly for them to commute on weekdays.Turner said the situation unfolding at Mix illustrates the competing interests between landowners and those in need of housing in a way that urgently calls for balanced legal intervention.”In any event, it seems unfair to characterise the people living in the Mix community as squatters.After all, the community occupied the land from 1980 onwards as part of an arrangement with the prior landowner.Moreover, once the land was sold in 1999, the community continued to live without interference from the new owner, which made no attempt to make use of the land, collect any rent, or remove the settlers,” Turner said.Turner said the despite the tenets of property law, international law protects basic rights like housing and consequently would bar states from blindly applying laws that facilitate an infringement of these rights.”In Namibia’s case, the Government is party to international treaties that contain commitments on housing.In addition, the Government of Namibia promised to provide housing for its citizens when it established its National Housing Policy.”Turner found it ironic that a major investor in the corporation seeking to evict the Mix community was Deputy Minister of Housing Kazenambo – “a man entrusted to carry out the Government’s housing mandate”.Kazenambo previously argued that he owned the plot before he became Deputy Minister and that he was ready to sell the land at the right price.”Whilst the private landowners owe no duty to the Mix community – except of course to treat them humanely, the Government’s responsibility to its citizens means that it cannot simply enforce property rights without due consideration for the competing, yet more urgent humanitarian needs of housing,” Turner said in an opinion piece.Eluwa Lya Tenda Property, owners of Mix camp, 20 km north of Windhoek, obtained a court order to evict the residents from the private plot at Brakwater but the people asked the Government and the City of Windhoek to expropriate the land in the public interest.They set up the informal settlement in the 1980s when the former plot owner, the late Heiner Mix, allowed some workers to settle on his property.Since his death in 1999, the settlement has mushroomed in the absence of a landlord.The residents claim that they had an agreement with Mix to stay on the 50-hectare plot but new owners Eluwa Lya Tenda Property of Cabinet Secretary Frans Kapofi told them to move off the land by December 31 last year.A part of the land belongs to the Deputy Minister of Housing, Kazenambo Kazenambo.The majority of the residents work in the city and remain in Windhoek for the rest of the week, as it is too costly for them to commute on weekdays.Turner said the situation unfolding at Mix illustrates the competing interests between landowners and those in need of housing in a way that urgently calls for balanced legal intervention.”In any event, it seems unfair to characterise the people living in the Mix community as squatters.After all, the community occupied the land from 1980 onwards as part of an arrangement with the prior landowner.Moreover, once the land was sold in 1999, the community continued to live without interference from the new owner, which made no attempt to make use of the land, collect any rent, or remove the settlers,” Turner said.Turner said the despite the tenets of property law, international law protects basic rights like housing and consequently would bar states from blindly applying laws that facilitate an infringement of these rights.”In Namibia’s case, the Government is party to international treaties that contain commitments on housing.In addition, the Government of Namibia promised to provide housing for its citizens when it established its National Housing Policy.”Turner found it ironic that a major investor in the corporation seeking to evict the Mix community was Deputy Minister of Housing Kazenambo – “a man entrusted to carry out the Government’s housing mandate”.Kazenambo previously argued that he owned the plot before he became Deputy Minister and that he was ready to sell the land at the right price.