Land tenure in spotlight

ELLANIE SMITWINDHOEKWith the successful implementation of provisions of the Flexible Land Tenure Act in the pilot local authorities of Windhoek, Oshakati and Gobabis, the land reform ministry wants to expand this to other areas. Land reform deputy minister Anna Shiweda said the implementation of the Act is now in full swing.She was responding to a motion tabled in parliament by Popular Democratic Movement leader McHenry Venaani regarding the need to promulgate the Act.According to Shiweda, statistics show that after independence, Namibia's population grew from 1.4 million in 1991 to 2.1 million in 2011, while the urban population almost tripled from 382 280 to 903 434.“The mushrooming of informal settlements required our urgent attention. The government, therefore, introduced the flexible land tenure system.” The concept is derived from the need to create upgradeable alternative land tenure options to informal settlements, which complements the current formal system of freehold tenure.After efforts that started in 1997, the Flexible Land Tenure Act of 2012 was passed and brought into force on 31 May 2018, she added. PilotingShe said to give effect to the Act, the ministry commenced with its piloting in Oshakati, Gobabis and Windhoek to ascertain whether the provisions are adequate and that they can be implemented successfully.The Oshakati local authority made available land measuring 42.8 hectares (ha) for flexible land tenure in the Onawa area and the ministry has finalised the surveying and internal demarcation of individual plots, she said.“So far, a total of 55 land hold titles have been registered and issued to the beneficiaries of Killian-Sheehama block.”The local authority is still working on the allocation of the remaining 119 plots.Meanwhile at Gobabis, the ministry implemented the Act on land measuring about 63.4 ha.The surveying and demarcation of individual plots has been completed and a total of 1 163 individual plots were created.According to Shiweda, the land rights office is currently registering 114 land hold titles for the area. Two Windhoek locations In Windhoek, the ministry implemented the Act in two locations measuring 1 163 ha and 2 598 square metres in Okuryangava.The surveying of the boundary area has been completed and 148 individual plots will be created and demarcated.“The land measurer is busy with the demarcation of individual plots,” Shiweda said.According to her, all statutory provisions such as planning and feasibility studies for the scheme establishments in pilot areas were completed. Extending implementation The ministry has further engaged the local authorities of Lüderitz, Mariental, Outapi and Walvis Bay with a view to extending the implementation. All local authorities except for Walvis Bay have indicated their willingness to implement the Act, Shiweda said.The ministry also engaged the Katima Mulilo, Rundu, Tsumeb, Otjiwarongo, Grootfontein, Rehoboth, Outjo, Ongwediva, Maltahöhe and Oranjemund local authorities.Further meetings will be held to fast-track the implementation of the Act within these local authority areas. Aussenkehr expansion The ministry has also discussed the implementation of the Act in //Karas, in particular the Aussenkehr informal settlement.However, rolling out the Act would require an expansion of administration capacity.“More land rights offices would be required to be established in other local authority areas to bring services closer to the people. This would enable more land measurers and registration officers to be recruited to deal with the workload of the registration of titles,” Shiweda said.

Land tenure in spotlight

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-03

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Land tenure in spotlight

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-03

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