Govt considering expropriation plea

THE Ministry of Local Government is set to consult the City of Windhoek about a request made by around 3 000 squatters at the Mix Camp at Brakwater.

The squatters have requested that both institutions expropriate the 50-hectare plot on Portion 8 of Farm Emmarentia from Eluwa Lya Tenda Property after the High Court ordered that they be evicted from the land. Local Government Permanent Secretary Erastus Negonga told The Namibian yesterday that he was instructed by Minister John Pandeni to consult the City of Windhoek on the matter.”I will report back to the Minister and he will have to pronounce himself,” Negonga said.It was not clear how soon that will be, as Negonga must first schedule a meeting with the City of Windhoek.However, some angry residents of the Mix camp told The Namibian yesterday that they would march to the office of Frans Kapofi, Secretary to Cabinet.Kapofi is the owner of the plot through his company, Eluwa Lya Tenda Property.The residents said they would stage a peaceful demonstration in front of the building which hosts the Office of the Prime Minister.Through the Legal Assistance Centre, the community claimed that they had tried to buy the plot since March 2004, but that their offer to Kapofi had never been considered.Recently, in February 2007 and May 2007, that offer was repeated, but without any response.The residents, many of them small children and old and frail people, were allowed by previous plot owner Heiner Mix to live on the property since 1980 in return for a nominal rent.Mix died in 1999 and the plot was then sold to Eluwa Lya Tenda Property.The owners of Eluwa Lya Tenda Property informed the residents that any rent agreement was terminable by “reasonable notice” and that the month and a half they were given last year to pack up was enough.Local Government Permanent Secretary Erastus Negonga told The Namibian yesterday that he was instructed by Minister John Pandeni to consult the City of Windhoek on the matter.”I will report back to the Minister and he will have to pronounce himself,” Negonga said.It was not clear how soon that will be, as Negonga must first schedule a meeting with the City of Windhoek.However, some angry residents of the Mix camp told The Namibian yesterday that they would march to the office of Frans Kapofi, Secretary to Cabinet.Kapofi is the owner of the plot through his company, Eluwa Lya Tenda Property.The residents said they would stage a peaceful demonstration in front of the building which hosts the Office of the Prime Minister.Through the Legal Assistance Centre, the community claimed that they had tried to buy the plot since March 2004, but that their offer to Kapofi had never been considered.Recently, in February 2007 and May 2007, that offer was repeated, but without any response.The residents, many of them small children and old and frail people, were allowed by previous plot owner Heiner Mix to live on the property since 1980 in return for a nominal rent.Mix died in 1999 and the plot was then sold to Eluwa Lya Tenda Property.The owners of Eluwa Lya Tenda Property informed the residents that any rent agreement was terminable by “reasonable notice” and that the month and a half they were given last year to pack up was enough.