Farmers occupy resettlement farms

Godfrey Mallet has occupied Farm Kouewater number 209 in the Hardap Region with his 850 small livestock and 45 cattle since last month, a move that prompted the regional land reform authorities to rope in the police in a bid to evict him.

Last week, Augustine Arises, the Hardap Region deputy director for land reform, accompanied the Namibian Police to Farm Kouewater to remove Mallet from the land. Prior to that, the office of Salomon April, the Hardap regional governor, had instructed him to immediately remove his animals from the farm.

Mallet told Namibia Media Holdings he has been applying for resettlement since 1996.

Last year, Mallet once again contacted the Hardap land reform office about the upcoming eviction from where he rented pasture, but to no avail. He had previously farmed successfully for years on communal land outside Gibeon before the drought forced him to vacate the area.

In 2020, the Witbooi Traditional Authority recommended that Mallet be urgently resettled, as his animals had become too numerous to allow him to return to communal land.

Expulsion threatens again

On 5 March, Mallet received an eviction letter from the lawyers of Pieter Mostert of Farm Fre-Ya number 626, who insisted that he remove his animals before 31 March.

On 13 March, Mallet once again wrote desperately to the governor's office to ask for an urgent meeting of the resettlement committee.

Mallet said he never received feedback on any of his formal communications. In a video shared with Namibia Media Holdings, Arises explained to Mallet that the ministry does not have the necessary funds to call a resettlement committee meeting now and that it would be a waste of money to convene a meeting for just one issue. She advised that government has a resettlement programme in place and that procedures must be followed. Furthermore, she said farms that government buys for resettlement cannot be occupied without permission.

"You come here to evict me, but I have nowhere to go. I have 850 animals, livestock and 45 cattle. The moment I'm back in the corridor, you'll call the police because my animals are blocking the way. Where should I go?” Mallet asked Arises, as seen on video footage.

He claimed other government farms were occupied illegally without any consequences. "The circumstances in which I found myself forced me to come to this farm because you did not listen to me. You didn't answer me," he said. He said he would refuse to vacate the farm until he is given an alternative.

No land

This past weekend, an attack reportedly took place on resettlement farm Witsand outside Gobabis when farmers invaded with their animals on Saturday.

Eight of the farmers involved were arrested on Wednesday.

The urban farmers of Gobabis are also contributing to an ongoing issue, exacerbated as commercial farmers evict farm workers and their animals. Witsand has remained uninhabited for the past four years, while many farmers in the Omaheke Region have also applied for relocation in vain.

Agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein recently said: "The farm is government property and can only be occupied by following legal procedure. Anything else is not tolerated."

Among other challenges, members of disadvantaged San communities have nowhere to take their animals.

Land distribution

The agriculture ministry tabled its budget for the new financial year in parliament yesterday. More than N$270 million has been earmarked for land reform and resettlement.

In the 2023/2024 financial year, the ministry was able to acquire seven farms for more than N$91.4 million. A total of 23 beneficiaries were resettled, including four farm workers evicted from commercial farms. Another N$50 million has been allocated this year for similar cases.