SPYL takes up Mix Camp issue

THE City of Windhoek and the Government must do everything in their power to assist more than 3 000 squatters living at the Mix Camp at Brakwater, according to the Swapo Youth League.

The people face eviction after the owners of the plot approached the High Court in December to get an order for their removal. The Youth League’s Secretary, Elijah Ngurare, said last week the two institutions must “rescue” the community from being uprooted from the place where many had been living since 1980 after the previous owner, Heiner Mix, allowed them onto the land.He said even though some joined the group purely to capitalise on what Government might do for others, there were many with genuine needs.He said the recent Swapo Youth League congress deliberated on the plight of the Mix community and agreed that they had a serious concern.Although the High Court ordered that the community be evicted, the order has not been served, as legal representatives of the owner of the 50-hectare plot, Frans Kapofi, and the Legal Assistance Centre are still discussing how to go about it.Earlier the LAC appealed to the Government and the City of Windhoek to expropriate the plot but the Government informed them that it was a private matter and that there was no reason to interfere with the eviction order.The City of Windhoek also decided to stay out.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.In February 2007 and May 2007, that offer was repeated, but without any response, they maintained.The squatters, many of them small children and old people, had been 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 was enough.The Youth League’s Secretary, Elijah Ngurare, said last week the two institutions must “rescue” the community from being uprooted from the place where many had been living since 1980 after the previous owner, Heiner Mix, allowed them onto the land.He said even though some joined the group purely to capitalise on what Government might do for others, there were many with genuine needs.He said the recent Swapo Youth League congress deliberated on the plight of the Mix community and agreed that they had a serious concern.Although the High Court ordered that the community be evicted, the order has not been served, as legal representatives of the owner of the 50-hectare plot, Frans Kapofi, and the Legal Assistance Centre are still discussing how to go about it.Earlier the LAC appealed to the Government and the City of Windhoek to expropriate the plot but the Government informed them that it was a private matter and that there was no reason to interfere with the eviction order.The City of Windhoek also decided to stay out.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.In February 2007 and May 2007, that offer was repeated, but without any response, they maintained.The squatters, many of them small children and old people, had been 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 was enough.