Witvlei villagers allege corruption

A Section of the Witvlei community staged a peaceful demonstration on Monday, alleging corruption and theft of property at the local authority’s offices.

The residents of the small eastern village claimed that around N$100 000 had disappeared from the Witvlei Council offices and no one had been held accountable. Through a petition they demanded the immediate removal of all the councillors.Witvlei was in the news recently after NamPower threatened to cut off the electricity supply to the village because of unpaid services.A spokesperson for the residents, a certain Petrina, said they had had enough of the misappropriation and theft of money at the council offices.A year ago, Witvlei made headlines with a string of thefts believed to have been carried out by a syndicate.Two identical break-ins were reported at Witvlei within a month.The first occurred at the Nossob Primary School, where N$11 614 was stolen – the school fees paid by pupils.Thieves used a master key to unlock the school’s safe – exactly the same method later used to steal N$10 000 from the Witvlei Village Council.No one was charged with the crimes – something that provoked anger among Witvlei residents.Through a petition they demanded the immediate removal of all the councillors.Witvlei was in the news recently after NamPower threatened to cut off the electricity supply to the village because of unpaid services.A spokesperson for the residents, a certain Petrina, said they had had enough of the misappropriation and theft of money at the council offices.A year ago, Witvlei made headlines with a string of thefts believed to have been carried out by a syndicate.Two identical break-ins were reported at Witvlei within a month.The first occurred at the Nossob Primary School, where N$11 614 was stolen – the school fees paid by pupils.Thieves used a master key to unlock the school’s safe – exactly the same method later used to steal N$10 000 from the Witvlei Village Council.No one was charged with the crimes – something that provoked anger among Witvlei residents.