City of Windhoek responded to the land issue just now.. City of Windhoek Vision: To enhance the quality of life of all our people MEDIA STATEMENT LAND ALLOCATION In recent weeks, the City of Windhoek has been inundated with allegations of un-procedural land grabbing and land acquisition that has appeared in various media reports. With regard to land allocation and land alienation procedures and processes as per the enabling legislation. The City hereby wishes to set the record straight, as follows: 1. Policy Requirements In terms of the Local Authority Act 23 of 1992, 63 (2) , Council is empowered to alienate land through three (3) methods of sale which are: public auction; tender transaction and private treaty. The same Act provides that a sale by Private Treaty is subject thereto that a notice be published in at least two newspapers circulating in its area on one occasion in a week for two consecutive weeks. With reference to City of Windhoek Councillors’ related recent allegation, the media, and with reference to the above principle, it is equally important to note that, as a democratic principle and corporate practice, individual Councillors have independence of an opinion; and the Council decides in unison. As such, the Mayor cannot take an independent decision nor can she/he impose her/his personal decision on Council. Furthermore, as a public institution that is open for public scrutiny, Council meetings are open to members of the public and media attendance. It is a standard practice of Council that members of the public and all media houses are issued with Council agenda at all its meetings, hence the media could report on matters of public interest as they unfold. 1.1 Advertisement: Accordingly a general rule, any private treaty sale is advertised as per the provisions of Section 63 (2) of the Local Authorities Act, 23 of 1992, as amended. This particular provision states that the procedure to advertise sales is applicable to part 1 Municipalities as referred to in schedule 1 of the Local Authorities Act. Therefore, once Council approves the sale by way of private treaty, the process in terms of the Act is strictly followed in that the proposed sale is advertised and the public is invited to submit objections to the proposed sale. 1.2 Objections: Section 63 (3) (b) states that in the event that objections are lodged, the immovable property in question shall not be sold, unless the Local Authority Council (emphasis Council) has submitted to the Minister such particulars as the Minister may require in relation to the proposed transaction. It goes further to state that the proposed transaction together with the objections lodged and the comments of the Local Authority Council must be submitted to the Minister and the Minister will then decide whether the property will be sold as per the decision of Council. With regard to some specific allegations, the following is what transpired: 2. Sale of Erf 674 Kleine Kuppe Ms. Dillish Mathews submitted an application for a residential plot. The Mayor proposed to Council through an internal memo dated 17 October 2013 that the applicant could be honoured, by donating a suitable plot to her for putting Namibia on the map. An item was submitted to Council and Council per Resolution 347/10/2014 resolved that Erf 674 Kleine Kuppe rather be offered for sale to Ms. Mathews at an upset price still to be determined by the Strategic Executive: Urban Planning and Property Management. The Erf has not yet been sold to Ms. Mathews, for the process as described above first has to be concluded before the sale can be finalized. Accordingly, the property could only be deemed to have been sold when a Deed of Sale is signed and a Title Deed is issued. Equally important to note is the fact that contrary to newspaper articles, the subject Erf was not donated as claimed in the media. 3. Application Erf 153, Otjomuise: Mr. Harry Simon Mr. Harry Simon, on the other hand, applied to purchase a piece of land in Otjomuise in 2013, to set up a boxing academy facility with a mixed use of business and residential. Unfortunately, the particular Erf has already been reserved for the development of an Informal Market to accommodate the traders from the surrounding areas prior to his application. Council resolved that Mr. Simon be advised to approach the City’s Property Division for an alternative site. Mr. Simon was informed accordingly. 4. Sale of Erf RE/875 and Erf RE/3481 Windhoek A number of applications were received for the allocation of Erf R/875 and R/3481. A number of applications were received on this plot proposing different land uses. Two proposals by Hotel Fort Oberhof and Elimwena Investment Group cc (co-owned by Mr. David Kafula), were considered by Council for the development of a revolving restaurant due to the unique location of the property, and the restaurant would also add value to the location and good view overlooking the City’s landscape, thus ultimately contributing to attracting tourism and advancing the image of the City in general. The rest of the applications were not considered since their proposals were not in line with the development envisioned by Council on this particular property. Council therefore directed that the two applicants, Hotel Fort Oberhof and Elimwena Investment Group CC, submit proposals that should include a revolving restaurant. Elimwena Investment Group CC submitted a detailed proposal outlining the proposed development of a revolving restaurant. The applicant Hotel Fort Oberhof did not submit a detailed proposal and also provided insufficient information on their planned development. It was further found that the applicant Hotel Fort Oberhof are not a registered entity. They indicated in an email that they will only register as legal entity if Council grant approval. It was also not clear who the applicant was because their representatives when requested to submit registration documents of Hotel Fort Oberhof, instead presented names of two companies who did not submit any application to Council. Council as an administrative body cannot sell land to entities that are not properly registered or that did not submit any application to it. Council considered the two applications during which proceedings the Mayor excused herself, and the decision was taken by the Members present at the meeting. The decision was again arrived at in unison. Council indeed allowed all two applicants an ample opportunity and acted within the confines of the law. It was on this basis that the property was sold to Elimwena having fully met the development intention and requirements set by Council, but pending Ministerial approval. 5. Perceived “First Come First Serve” Principle To promote orderly development, the town planning provisions guides land use in the City and developments are not dictated by the property developers. Council predetermines land use of developable land around the City- through town planning zoning - as residential, general residential, business, institutional etc. Council cannot for example allocate land to an applicant proposing to develop a house or a church on a plot zoned “business”. Hence, Council has no “first-come- first- serve” Policy on the sale of land as implied in the media. Council considers all development applications on merit. 6. Removal of illegal shacks elected on erf: 4079, 4080 and 150B/31 (Sam Nujoma Drive Road Reserve) Otjomuise and Klein Kuppe. It is a well-known fact that land invasion and the construction of illegal structures are tremendously on an increase. The City of Windhoek, in order to ensure that development is taking place orderly and within urban planning schemes is obliged to pro-actively prevent the unauthorised urban land occupation by removing incomplete and unoccupied structures. In most cases these illegal structures are constructed during the night and construction is done while the belongings are already brought along to the construction site or even inside the incomplete structure. The City is therefore not necessarily demolishing structures but preventing land grabbing through the removal of the incomplete and unoccupied shacks to avoid further unauthorised establishments. The illegal occupation of City land makes planning and service delivery by the City of Windhoek very difficult and further compounds the challenges to orderly development and the delivery of municipal services. We therefore remain focused in dealing with land invasion, and we will not condone or tolerate actions that are jeopardizing our efforts. Land grabbing remains illegal, and it does not matter where it is undertaken within our boundaries. It should therefore be clear that we will continue to guard against this unscrupulous phenomenon at all times, and we urge our residents to refrain from these acts and follow proper procedures put in place to acquire land in our City. Lack of serviced land for housing and commercial land is a national problem and a priority of all levels of our government; which is currently being jointly addressed by the City and Government through programs like TIPEEG, Mass Housing and the City’s own land delivery programs. These projects can however not move at the pace that they should, if the land earmarked for servicing is illegally occupied. The public is urged to familiarise themselves with the above mentioned legal and town planning provisions on the sale of land; and should exercise caution against cheap and unscrupulous politicking taking advantage of their genuine desperation for land.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 13:24:26 +0000
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