Patience Makwele
The City of Windhoek has embarked on a large-scale plan to formalise informal settlements, a move that could see more than 11 000 residential erven created for thousands of residents currently living without secure land tenure or access to fully serviced municipal infrastructure.
The initiative follows the submission of the City’s first five Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) applications to the Office of the Environmental Commissioner, marking the first regulatory hurdle in what municipal officials describe as one of Windhoek’s biggest informal settlement upgrading programmes.
The first phase is expected to unlock about 3,587 residential erven across five planning areas, including Havana, Okatunda, Okandundu and several surrounding farms.
Speaking during an interview with NBC, City of Windhoek Chief Executive Officer Moses Matyayi described the applications as a significant milestone in the City’s efforts to reduce the housing backlog while transforming informal settlements into planned neighbourhoods.
“We started this process in March through public consultations to ensure we complied with the Environmental Management Act,” Matyayi said.
“It is important that residents know where we are in the process because this is about bringing dignified housing to communities that have waited for years.”
Matyayi said obtaining environmental clearance is a legal requirement before any township can be proclaimed, adding that the process is intended to ensure developments are environmentally sustainable before construction begins.
Once the Environmental Commissioner has completed the assessment, the City must still obtain approval from the Urban and Regional Planning Board before the land can be surveyed, registered with the Deeds Office and eventually serviced with roads, water and other municipal infrastructure.
However, the City could not indicate when residents should expect serviced land, with Matyayi saying the project remains dependent on statutory approvals outside the municipality’s control.
“We are on track, but there are a number of statutory processes that still have to be completed,” he said.
Matyayi also disclosed that some of the proposed residential erven are currently occupied by two or three households, meaning negotiations and, in some instances, relocations will be necessary before the townships can be fully established.
“The beneficiaries are the residents themselves,” he said.
“They are the people we have already surveyed and they will receive the first right of refusal.”
While the announcement has been welcomed by some residents, questions remain over how beneficiaries will be identified and whether the allocation process will be transparent.
Eveline Naruseb, who lives in the 7de Laan informal settlement in Otjomuise, said residents have waited years for improved living conditions but are worried that the process has not been adequately explained.
“It is a good thing because we have been struggling,” she said.
“But the question is, who are the people that are going to benefit? We need proper communication.”
Naruseb said residents have not been told whether they will need to apply for the residential plots or how beneficiaries will be selected.
“They should sit down with the community leaders and explain the way forward because people are confused,” she added.
Meanwhile, community activist Shaun Gariseb questioned the timing of the announcement, saying it followed concerns raised by the Khomas Ratepayers and Residents Association during a recent presentation to the City.
Gariseb said the association had asked the municipality to account for previous informal settlement upgrading initiatives and provide progress reports before announcing new projects, arguing that residents deserve clarity on what has been achieved under earlier programmes.
He said the association would submit a detailed written response outlining its concerns over the City’s approach to informal settlement upgrading.
The City’s broader formalisation programme is expected to create approximately 11 226 residential erven across 21 planning groups as part of efforts to reduce Windhoek’s housing backlog and expand access to formal housing and municipal services.
Questions sent to Matyayi by this publication were not responded to by the time of publication.
