Open letter to City of Windhoek management

Unfortunately, the Brakwater community representatives now have to resort to an open letter, as all previous efforts via letters, emails, community meetings and the Brakwater Advisory Committee (BAC) have failed to generate any response from City management during the past few years.

At a public meeting of 11 October 2023, during which the Brakwater representatives submitted a comprehensive report on 17 core issues, His Worship Cllr Uapingene had committed to honouring the terms of reference of the BAC and to respond within two weeks. This did not materialise and all related correspondence from the Brakwater Ratepayers Organisation and the BAC representatives since have remained unanswered.

Urgent matters are:

Accountability of the Brakwater-generated development funds (betterment and endowment)

Despite continued enquiries, the City has not responded and accepted accountability for these in direct violation of Council Resolutions 105/03/2004 and 267/08/2012, which stipulate that: All Brakwater betterment and endowment fees payable since March 2004 be deposited in specific financial votes, ring-fenced with interest and be used exclusively for development in Brakwater.

The City has furthermore failed to clarify the charging of a 9% endowment fee instead of 7.5% as specified in CR105/03/2004 and the Ordinance No. 11 of 1963.

The City has started charging the private developers in Brakwater excessive endowment contributions and added expenses to the betterment fees for the development of municipal infrastructure without referencing appropriate authorisation.

The City expects Brakwater to contribute financially to Windhoek Urban and that Brakwater developers finance own future development and infrastructure from Brakwater-generated funds, which seem to have been misappropriated. Windhoek ratepayers will not contribute to Brakwater’s development as per CR185/06/2018.

Lack of City management’s communication and transparency in respect of Brakwater matters

City management has chosen not to respond to any Brakwater-related communication since 2012 and has completely disregarded and disrespected the Council-implemented Brakwater Advisory Committee (BAC) (CR433/11/2008) and the Brakwater Ratepayers Organisation.

The City maintains that they are only prepared to communicate with the BAC, but have failed to uphold this commitment since 11 October 2023.

The Brakwater representatives have undertaken a study of all available Brakwater-related Council resolutions and have found that the majority have not been implemented. Most of the related agendas to Council since 2018 have been intentionally misleading.

NB: THE BRAKWATER RATEPAYER IS NOT REQUESTING ANYTHING EXTRAORDINARY, ONLY THAT WHICH CITY COUNCIL HAS ALREADY APPROVED.

Conclusion

Brakwater ratepayers can no longer tolerate the City’s continuous avoidance of addressing these urgent issues and the blatant unaccountability of Brakwater funds. City management has had enough time and opportunity to resolve these issues. Brakwater ratepayers prefer an amicable solution rather than pursuing other, more radical options.

The Brakwater community insists that City management urgently responds with the required accountability and commitment to resolving the above and the 17 core Brakwater issues that were submitted to management on 11 October 2023.

Yours in quest – non desistas non exieris,

Brakwater Ratepayers Organisation

April 2024