Swapo member who slapped party leader speaks
• Man says leaders wanted to silence him
The unemployed father, whose filmed physical confrontation with a Swapo coordinator at Mix on Saturday went viral, says he is fed up with empty promises.
Swapo member and father of six Moses Andjene, who slapped Swapo branch coordinator Bonifatius Munango during a party meeting at Mix settlement on Saturday, says it’s painful to see party officials shout the slogan ‘Now hard work’ while there is very little evidence of such work in his community.
Mix, an impoverished community, is situated 21 kilometres north of Windhoek. The settlement is named after German Heiner Mix, who allowed people to settle on his 50-hectare plot in the 1980s. After Mix’s death in 1999, the settlement mushroomed because there was no landlord.
In 2006, a lengthy legal and political battle started after a company owned by now defence minister Frans Kapofi bought the plot and wanted the residents to leave. Mix residents, in turn, requested the government to expropriate the land.
In a perceived political move, government acquired the land in November 2010, two weeks before the regional elections, and promised to develop the area. In early 2020, plans to formalise and develop the settlement were made public. Among the planned improvements were the provision of water and sanitation and the establishment of a clinic and a police station.
While the promise of water and sanitation has been fulfilled, the settlement remains without a clinic, school and police station.
Residents must pay N$25 for transport to Windhoek to access many services, and the same amount to go back to their miseries in Mix.
“You must have N$50, but that’s just to travel between Mix and the Monte Christo service station. You must then have an additional N$13 to go to the City of Windhoek in town – to recharge our water cards – and a further N$13 to return to Monte Christo where you can get a lift to go back to Mix,” Andjene told Namibian Sun yesterday.
No evidence
A bona fide Swapo member, he attended Saturday’s party rally in the settlement where Swapo central committee member Tobie Aupindi addressed those in attendance.
But it was Khomas regional governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua’s address to the community that infuriated Andjene.
“I questioned, as a party member, why they keep shouting ‘now hard work’ while there is no evidence of that hard work on the ground,” he said.
“After I questioned these things, I was told that I must leave the meeting, and I refused. Are we only supposed to be in the meeting if we are nodding heads and clapping hands? Why are we not allowed to challenge our leaders and hold them accountable?” he wanted to know.
“In actual fact, I only slapped him [Munango] because he was being physical with me. Until my cap fell off, that’s when I reacted by slapping him. They know where I live, I am not afraid of being arrested.”
He said Swapo officials come to Mix when there are elections to be held, but after that, they disappear and only return again when the next election comes around. “Who do we talk to if they are never here?” Andjene, who has lived in Mix for 24 years, asked.
‘We don’t have jobs!’
The unemployed father narrated the struggle their children endure to attend school.
“We have arrangements with people who have cars to take our children to school, but if you fail to pay at the end of the month, they refuse to take your children. I am a Swapo member in good standing; I even have the new membership card that was issued in 2023, but now I am told I must leave the meeting because I am critical of certain things? No, I won’t accept that.”
He compared party leaders to an uncle who comes home drunk and wants the final say on everything.
Andjene further tore into the City of Windhoek, saying they must bring water card recharging services to the community. “They can even visit us once every month, so that we can recharge our cards, instead of having to pay astronomical amounts of money in transport. We don’t have jobs!”
Hailing from Omufito Weelo village in Ombalanhu, Andjene said small jobs in Mix, such as cleaning roads, are given to people from outside the settlement instead of to unemployed locals. On who he will vote for this November, he said: “My vote is my secret”.
Mix, an impoverished community, is situated 21 kilometres north of Windhoek. The settlement is named after German Heiner Mix, who allowed people to settle on his 50-hectare plot in the 1980s. After Mix’s death in 1999, the settlement mushroomed because there was no landlord.
In 2006, a lengthy legal and political battle started after a company owned by now defence minister Frans Kapofi bought the plot and wanted the residents to leave. Mix residents, in turn, requested the government to expropriate the land.
In a perceived political move, government acquired the land in November 2010, two weeks before the regional elections, and promised to develop the area. In early 2020, plans to formalise and develop the settlement were made public. Among the planned improvements were the provision of water and sanitation and the establishment of a clinic and a police station.
While the promise of water and sanitation has been fulfilled, the settlement remains without a clinic, school and police station.
Residents must pay N$25 for transport to Windhoek to access many services, and the same amount to go back to their miseries in Mix.
“You must have N$50, but that’s just to travel between Mix and the Monte Christo service station. You must then have an additional N$13 to go to the City of Windhoek in town – to recharge our water cards – and a further N$13 to return to Monte Christo where you can get a lift to go back to Mix,” Andjene told Namibian Sun yesterday.
No evidence
A bona fide Swapo member, he attended Saturday’s party rally in the settlement where Swapo central committee member Tobie Aupindi addressed those in attendance.
But it was Khomas regional governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua’s address to the community that infuriated Andjene.
“I questioned, as a party member, why they keep shouting ‘now hard work’ while there is no evidence of that hard work on the ground,” he said.
“After I questioned these things, I was told that I must leave the meeting, and I refused. Are we only supposed to be in the meeting if we are nodding heads and clapping hands? Why are we not allowed to challenge our leaders and hold them accountable?” he wanted to know.
“In actual fact, I only slapped him [Munango] because he was being physical with me. Until my cap fell off, that’s when I reacted by slapping him. They know where I live, I am not afraid of being arrested.”
He said Swapo officials come to Mix when there are elections to be held, but after that, they disappear and only return again when the next election comes around. “Who do we talk to if they are never here?” Andjene, who has lived in Mix for 24 years, asked.
‘We don’t have jobs!’
The unemployed father narrated the struggle their children endure to attend school.
“We have arrangements with people who have cars to take our children to school, but if you fail to pay at the end of the month, they refuse to take your children. I am a Swapo member in good standing; I even have the new membership card that was issued in 2023, but now I am told I must leave the meeting because I am critical of certain things? No, I won’t accept that.”
He compared party leaders to an uncle who comes home drunk and wants the final say on everything.
Andjene further tore into the City of Windhoek, saying they must bring water card recharging services to the community. “They can even visit us once every month, so that we can recharge our cards, instead of having to pay astronomical amounts of money in transport. We don’t have jobs!”
Hailing from Omufito Weelo village in Ombalanhu, Andjene said small jobs in Mix, such as cleaning roads, are given to people from outside the settlement instead of to unemployed locals. On who he will vote for this November, he said: “My vote is my secret”.
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