Nam’s biggest challenge: Mass housing

FRANK STEFFENThe biggest challenge that the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development faces is the huge housing shortage in Namibia. It is one of the ministries that can make a substantial contribution towards improving the lives of the poor.It would seem as though exactly that part of the population has no real understanding of the difference between the responsibilities and obligations of the ministry and those of local authorities. When Erastus Amukwaya of the Havana informal settlement northwest of Windhoek was asked for his opinion of the housing shortage, his answer was as simple as it was demanding: “I do not know how this works and I do not care. They must just build houses and give the water.”This opinion seems to reverberate around the country, but also brings the real issue to a point. With unemployed settlers moving from rural to urban areas - especially the capital city Windhoek, but also Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and a few other destinations – the migration to urban areas follows an African trend, where these towns need to realign their spending in order to cater for these newcomers, while having to manage their already scarce financial resources.‘No opportunities’President Hage Geingob recently commented on this phenomenon when he visited Havana and tried to get a better understanding of why contagious diseases such as hepatitis E were suddenly breaking out in Windhoek: “People simply come here and settle. They have no work and no immediate livelihood, so they build their shacks and wait for the right opportunity. But contrary to what people believe in the rural areas, places like Windhoek do not offer opportunities in these trying times. “This migrating population does, however, immediately expect the City to cater for housing, sanitation, water and electricity. This is impossible, as the town councils cannot plan properly under these circumstances,” Geingob said.He came to the conclusion that it is of paramount importance to develop the rural areas in order to offer people a future at home, “but that takes time”. More importantly, he expects people to adhere to normal sanitary standards as they would do at home.ResponsibilityThe ministry is undoubtedly the most important vehicle in addressing this challenge.On its internet site the ministry in fact acknowledges this responsibility: “The ministry has the role to coordinate and spearhead the decentralisation process. The Directorate for Decentralisation Coordination of the ministry is entrusted with the effective coordination and management of the process. The other four directorates (Regional and Local Government and Traditional Authority Coordination; Housing, Habitat, Planning and Technical Services Coordination; Rural Development; and Finance, Human Resources, Administration and Information Technology) are supporting the decentralisation either through direct decentralisation measures or through more general supportive services to the regional authorities, local authorities and traditional authorities, while at the same time attending to the mandated normal or routine functions of the ministry.” So the new Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Peya Mushelenga and his team have their work cut out for them.BudgetIn the budget period 2015/16 the ministry spent N$3.04 billion and built 943 houses of the 10 500 houses it had aimed to build. This seems a little skewed, as many housing projects were approaching completion at the time. The ministry’s biggest expense for that period was N$1.13 billion, which was spent under the budget heading "Support to planning infrastructure and housing". In line with the budget cuts made in the subsequent year the figure for the period 2016/17 decreased to N$0.73 billion, and in the current budget (2017/18) is reflected as a mere N$0.55 billion, while increasing to N$0.98 billion and N$1.54 billion for the periods 2018/19 and 2019/20 respectively. This is in line with expected developments as defined in the Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP) and fifth National Development Plan (NDP5) and is likely to be taken into consideration by the Minister of Finance when he allocates his scarce resources.ChallengesThe many additional factors adding to the challenge were listed in the ministry’s supporting documents, which formed the basis of the previous year’s budget:1. Unavailability of serviced land for mass housing projects.2. Insufficient funding by the government as well as additional financial support structures.3. Financial unsustainability of the local authorities in their current form.4. Tribal disputes, which hamper the availability of land for development in communal areas.The ministry is playing its cards close to its chest and hopes that the new budget will stick to the promises made as part of the Medium-term Expenditure Framework.

Nam’s biggest challenge: Mass housing

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Republikein 2025-05-01

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Nam’s biggest challenge: Mass housing

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