Urgent action needed on San, says Deputy PM

THE situation of impoverished San communities in the Ohangwena and Omusati regions has been described as “precarious” and requiring urgent action.

“The situation of the San is precarious to say the very least. There is visible poverty,” a visibly worried Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila told the media in Windhoek yesterday.She appeared particularly concerned that they might not be helped soon enough.Amathila said she was preparing a comprehensive report and a submission to Cabinet to ensure that these communities were supplied with basic needs.She said she was also very concerned that the situation had affected morale.”People are not working.People are hungry.They are cold.People need food.People need shelter,” she said after week-long trips to obtain first-hand information about their situation.She visited about 1 400 people at Ekoka, Oshana shiwa, Onamatadiva and Eendobe in the Ohangwena Region and also San communities at Onankali, Oshivelo, Farm 6, Tsintsabis and Exelsior in Omusati last week.The number of people requiring assistance in the Omusati Region was still being determined, she said.Amathila identified the lack of food, basic shelter, sanitation, access to water and social grants as the most pressing needs facing these communities.Amathila plans to travel to the Kavango and Caprivi regions soon to assess the needs of San communities there.The Deputy Prime Minister said lots of pensioners were not receiving social grants because in many cases it was difficult to establish their true age, as their identification documents declared them up to 30 years younger than they actually were.A meeting with the Home Affairs Minister was already lined up yesterday afternoon to look into the issue.Amathila said she had also discussed the provision of houses for the San people with the Ministry of Lands, and said huts would not be acceptable.”They need proper houses.Even small ones [are acceptable],” she said.Amathila said she also felt that the school at Exelsior needed a hostel so that children did not have to walk such long distances, mostly on empty stomachs, to attend class.Last month, Amathila informed Parliament that San communities in the Kavango would receive rice donated by the Indian government, while those in the Oshikoto Region were still receiving drought aid although the programme officially ended in May 2004.The Emergency Management Unit was also set to deliver rice to San people at Tsintsabis and Oshivelo and communities in the Ohangwena, Otjozondjupa and Omaheke regions were all on the list to receive food aid.There is visible poverty,” a visibly worried Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila told the media in Windhoek yesterday.She appeared particularly concerned that they might not be helped soon enough.Amathila said she was preparing a comprehensive report and a submission to Cabinet to ensure that these communities were supplied with basic needs.She said she was also very concerned that the situation had affected morale.”People are not working.People are hungry.They are cold.People need food.People need shelter,” she said after week-long trips to obtain first-hand information about their situation.She visited about 1 400 people at Ekoka, Oshana shiwa, Onamatadiva and Eendobe in the Ohangwena Region and also San communities at Onankali, Oshivelo, Farm 6, Tsintsabis and Exelsior in Omusati last week.The number of people requiring assistance in the Omusati Region was still being determined, she said.Amathila identified the lack of food, basic shelter, sanitation, access to water and social grants as the most pressing needs facing these communities.Amathila plans to travel to the Kavango and Caprivi regions soon to assess the needs of San communities there.The Deputy Prime Minister said lots of pensioners were not receiving social grants because in many cases it was difficult to establish their true age, as their identification documents declared them up to 30 years younger than they actually were.A meeting with the Home Affairs Minister was already lined up yesterday afternoon to look into the issue.Amathila said she had also discussed the provision of houses for the San people with the Ministry of Lands, and said huts would not be acceptable.”They need proper houses.Even small ones [are acceptable],” she said.Amathila said she also felt that the school at Exelsior needed a hostel so that children did not have to walk such long distances, mostly on empty stomachs, to attend class.Last month, Amathila informed Parliament that San communities in the Kavango would receive rice donated by the Indian government, while those in the Oshikoto Region were still receiving drought aid although the programme officially ended in May 2004.The Emergency Management Unit was also set to deliver rice to San people at Tsintsabis and Oshivelo and communities in the Ohangwena, Otjozondjupa and Omaheke regions were all on the list to receive food aid.