Shaun E Gariseb
Your Excellency, We write to you not in opposition to development, but in defense of a coordinated, just, and nationallyaligned future for the Khomas Region, we also made a presentation through a “deputation” to the City ofWindhoek on 3rd July 2026 in front of a full council.
- THE CORE ISSUE: NO CLEAR REGIONAL VISION
The Khomas Region holds urban Windhoek, peri-urban settlements, agricultural and freehold farms, state
land, and historically significant land areas of the /Khomani Traditional Community. These systems exist
side by side.
What is missing is a single, publicly visible Regional Spatial Development Framework that integrates
them. In its absence, municipal planning by the City of Windhoek has become the de facto driver of
regional growth. The result:
- Peri-urban expansion without regional sequencing
- Uneven development of rural and secondary settlements like Santansloch / Groot Aub
- Land transitions occurring without clear alignment to national objectives
We seek clarity: does a regional spatial development framework co-exist with the City’s 2021–2041
Spatial Development Framework, and how are municipal growth and regional outcomes coordinated?
- BOUNDARY EXPANSION AND LAND SALES: A NATIONAL RISK
We are deeply concerned by proposals to extend Windhoek’s boundary from the current 41km radius to
75km. Windhoek’s major boundary expansion was officially gazetted on 30 September
2011 in Government Gazette No. 4801 (Notice No. 184) under the Local Authorities
Act, 1992.
You will also pick up from the delimitations commission report that we ”flagged this danger” before the
Farm Neu Progress No 506 case already in 2024.
The Farm Neu Progress No. 506 case shows why. The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform
first flagged the auction to foreign buyers as a violation of the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act.
It later conceded the farm falls within the expanded municipal boundary, where those restrictions do not
apply. The farm was sold for N$88 million on the international market.
If we allow to expand further without safeguards, we effectively remove state oversight over farm sales
and open more land to bypass land reform objectives. There are approximately 1200 farms in Khomas
region, of which 600 are Commercial farms. If government loses total control and first option to buy the
state stands to lose Billions of dollars in revenue.
Windhoek is already one of the largest cities globally by land area at a 40km radius, yet service delivery
has not matched that scale. Expansion at this stage works against government efforts to address
historical displacement. - THE /KHOMANI AND HISTORICAL LAND JUSTICE
The /Khomani Traditional Community has been dispossessed since 1884 and is one of the only
community’s which remains without sufficient access to communal land. People of (ǂGoas) Santansloch
have lived in the area since 1951 and the indigenous communities have lived in pockets for generations.
The question is simple: when we expand municipal boundaries into these areas, where are we are again
displacing people who have been there for generations? Any regional plan must consider historically
significant land areas and support the restoration of communal land, not undermine it. - COMMONAGE LAND AND GOVERNANCE GAPS
Commonage land is meant to support poor communities and food security. Instead, we see long leases to
commercial entities at rates that do not serve the public:
- Commonage Farm 3, 4,000 hectares, leased to Trustco for N$9,700 per month. The lease runs until
2051 after a 2011 extension. - Farm Windhoek: 6,000 hectares for hiking, biking and agriculture
- Farm Borealis and Farm Otjere: similarly leased for recreation and private use
These agreements were signed without visible public process or documentation. This is not what
commonage was intended for. We will oppose any further extension of the Trustco lease in 2031.
By comparison, in Oshikoto Region communal land is allocated through traditional authorities, overseen
by Communal Land Boards and registered under the Communal Land Reform Act 5 of 2002. Khomas
does not have an equivalent, functional regional structure. This governance gap is being exploited.
- OUR RESPECTFUL REQUESTS TO YOUR EXCELLENCY
We therefore respectfully request Your Excellency’s intervention to: - Confirm and publish- whether a Regional Spatial Development Framework for Khomas exists, how it
is implemented, and how it aligns with municipal expansion. - Place a moratorium- on the sale of commercial farms by previously advantaged owners within the
proposed 75km radius until the loophole on municipal boundary exemptions is closed and all
stakeholders, including the IKhomani Traditional community’s, are consulted. - Review all commonage leases to ensure they serve public, cultural and community development
purposes, not only recreational and commercial interests. - Strengthen intergovernmental coordination between the City of Windhoek, Khomas Regional
Council, and the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development so that regional outcomes, not only municipal
capacity, determine spatial development.
CONCLUSION
Your Excellency, our forefathers, SWAPO, NANSO and other progressive political formations did not
struggle for this land so that it could be sold cheaply through technicalities and silence. Land is now being
traded from Berlin via lawyers because oversight in Khomas is weak and taken advantage of.
We are not against growth. We are for growth that preserves Namibia’s identity, restores historical
injustices, and puts the interests of the people first.
History will remember this moment. Let it record that we chose coordination over fragmentation, and
justice over convenience.
We stand ready to engage in good faith with Government to finalize a regional framework that protects all
land systems in Khomas.
Regards
Shaun E Gariseb
Social Justice Activist & Autodidact
Khomas Rate Payers & Residents Association
On behalf of Residents of Windhoek and the /Khomani Traditional Community
