Amupanda wants Red Line gone in 90 days

ELLANIE SMITWINDHOEKWindhoek mayor Job Amupanda has filed an application with the High Court in which he is asking that the Veterinary Cordon Fence (VCF) be declared unlawful, unconstitutional and not sanctioned by law.The defendants in the matter are agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein, the government, attorney-general Festus Mbandeka and an official from the directorate of veterinary services, Hango Nambinga. Amupanda further wants a court order directing and compelling the agriculture minister and the government to remove the VCF within 90 days.He is also asking the court to declare that if the VCF is sanctioned by any law, such law violates the dignity of Namibians, is discriminatory and unconstitutional.In the particulars of claim Amupanda describes the VCF, commonly known as the Red Line, as a brutal, shameful and draconian policy seeking to sustain discrimination of any person who resides north of the Red Line and their livestock.According to him the Red Line was erected to act as a shield and to insulate people who reside south of the Red Line and their livestock from perceived or actual diseases which emanates from those north of the Red Line and their livestock.‘Discrimination’“This protection and insulation are not accorded to people who reside north of the Red Line and their livestock. This is discriminatory.”Amupanda claims that the Red Line is also used to ensure black people are free from diseases and that such diseases are not carried over to the south of the country.“Black people are constantly screened to ensure that they do not carry any diseases to the south of the Red Line.”He says the Red Line was also erected to restrict black people from transporting animals and animal products for domestic or commercial consumption.According to him the fence serves as a border between the South and the North in order to facilitate the implementation of laws specifically and exclusively enacted to deal with the affairs of black people who reside north of the Red Line.Amupanda continues to say that he owns livestock north of the Red Line at Omaalala village and he relies on the agricultural products produced to feed his family.Amupanda says while frequently travelling between his home village and Windhoek, he has been and continues to be subjected to “degrading and inhumane treatment” by agriculture and government officials.This, he says, is through continuously being required to declare any animal product, which does not happen when he is travelling from south of the Red Line to north of the fence.According to Amupanda he is also continuously subjected to compulsory and routine searches of his luggage and motor vehicle without a search warrant.He adds that he is also required to disembark any vehicle to step on a disinfection mat to ensure that he does not carry diseases south of the Red Line.He says these requirements are not necessary when travelling from south to north of the Red Line.According to Amupanda animal products valued to the amount of N$1 000 was unlawfully confiscated from him on 17 May at the Oshivelo Checkpoint by Nambinga.‘Controlling people’“The fence continues to be used for purposes of controlling the movement of animals and black people from north to the south of Namibia.”Amupanda says that the Red Line is unconstitutional because it was erected as a colonial structure, it is not sanctioned or made provision for by any law in Namibia and is not rationally connected to any purposes.He says that the fence classifies people or enable the classification of people, including their animals, by officials of the agriculture ministry and the government who travel from north of the Red Line as inferior.The court papers were filed yesterday and a combined summons have been served on the defendants. The defendants have 21 days file notice of intention to dispute the claim and defend the action. Schlettwein was not available for comment yesterday.

Amupanda wants Red Line gone in 90 days

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Namibian Sun 2025-01-10

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Amupanda wants Red Line gone in 90 days

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Namibian Sun 2025-01-10

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