Illegal invasions in N?aJaqna continuesSan communities in the conservancy area say their livelihoods are threatened as leaders of the !Kung Traditional Authority persist with corrupt land transactions. Livelihood of indigenes threatened 0 Just weeks after the landmark High Court ruling which ordered illegal settlers in the NU450;aJqna conservancy area to move and remove their illegal fences and livestock from the area, desperate San communities in the area claim that unlawful settlements continue unabated on a weekly basis.This continues amidst the recent assurance by the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta that he would personally ensure that illegal settlers leave the area.
The conservancy community claims there are no signs that those evicted by the court order, which includes the well-known and controversial businesswoman Teckla Lameck, are preparing to leave.
The San communities in the areas of Grashoek, Kano Vlei, Omatako, M’kata and Mangetti Dune in Tsumkwe West say they see new illegal arrivals move into the area every weekend and continue to fence off large tracts of land spanning thousands of hectares in many instances.
On 16 September no less than 14 new unlawful settlers were identified in the Kano Vlei area alone. This was apparently reported to the Namibian police but, according to the local community neither the police nor the !Kung Traditional Authority are taking corrective steps.
In fact, the local communities accuse senior councillors of the !Kung Traditional Authority of unlawfully and corruptly selling off the communal land for as little as “a bottle of whisky to N$20 000”.
“I have seen with my own eyes how a councillor took money and then went and got drunk with the cash at a shebeen,” said former councillor of Kano Vlei, Raino Eino, of one such illegal transaction.
The San communities are singling out the new chief of the !Kung authority, Glony Arnold, who succeeded her father, as well as Agarob ‘Alla’ Sauseb, former secretary of the deceased headman, of administering the illegal land deals.
They say the new chief Arnold when asked about the unlawful deals arrogantly told them that she and she alone has a say in the manner in which land is dished out in the conservancy area.
The secretary of the NU450;aJaqna conservancy office, Frans Gomeb, as well as other locals, confirmed that Arnold at a meeting some months ago repeated this apparent exclusive authority over land matters.
Sauseb reportedly treat the local San communities with the same arrogance.
“When we go to the traditional authority and ask Alla for land he tells us that he will never ever help a Bushman [San] because the Bushmen are stupid,” said an indignant Hiskia Kukurushe from the Grashoek area.
Sauseb, whose position at the traditional authority after the passing of the former chief Arnold is not clear, reportedly continues to sell off land in the NU450;aJaqna conservancy with impunity.
Moreover, various members of the community have related how Sauseb is using an unauthorised quotation book to enter the illegal land transactions and receive cash on behalf of the traditional authority.
Sauseb is also accused of backdating the land deals in his quotation book as 2011, allegedly to give the impression that these deals have been concluded during the late chief Arnold’s term.
The new chief Glony Arnold is said to publicly distance herself from any decision taken during her father’s tenure.
None of the community members could say whether money from the illicit land transactions goes into the coffers of the traditional authority. They did report that those allegedly involved in the deals not only conspicuously flash large amounts of cash in shebeens but also drive around in new cars and wear fancy clothes.
Sauseb, when approached at the office of the !Kung authority, flatly refused to comment on the allegations. Chief Glony Arnold, despite insisting that questions be sent to her on SMS last week, did not respond to repeated requests for answers.
Who are the settlers?
According to Gomeb at the conservancy office, most of the invaders are “weekend farmers”, professionals such as doctors, lawyers, a magistrate, and high-ranking police and army officers.
The San communities spoken to concurred with Gomeb, adding that most are Aawambo who, at the behest of and under the protection of Chief Arnold, assume occupation of land.
Arnold has allegedly pledged her allegiance solely to founding President Sam Nujoma, and was promoted to army captain as soon as she was given the position of !Kung chief.
It is claimed that Arnold’s father as far back as 2006 started to sell off large tracts of land to not only Aawambo but also Herero-speaking Namibians for as little as N$10 000 apiece.
“Chief Arnold is not concerned over the interests of her own people. She is only for the Owambos and says that she only supports the founding father. She says she has nothing to do with anyone else,” one source said.
“We do not have a problem with the fact that Owambos and Hereros come into the area. What we are concerned about is the fact that nothing is being communicated to us,” said Eino.
A cause of concern is that none of the prescribed procedures for land allocation are being followed.
Gomeb says the correct procedure would be to apply for customary land rights at the traditional authority. On its part the traditional authority ought to consult with the conservancy office. It is also obligatory to get a letter of consent from the communities before the regional land board can approve land allocations.
While none of these steps are allegedly followed, fences go up all over the conservancy area and no government institution is taking steps to prevent it.
This leaves the local communities with the impression that there is silent consent from such institutions because it is primarily high-ranking Oshiwambo government officials benefitting from the illegal land deals.
Clashes and conflicts
With much of the San’s existence still dependent on the use of natural resources in their environment, clashes and conflicts with the illegal settlers have become inevitable.
The illegal settlers continue to push in thousands of heads of cattle into the area causing overgrazing and depletion of ‘veldkos’ and medicinal plants like the devil’s claw, which is also harvested commercially.
The illegal invaders are also accused of chopping off thousands of protected trees like the camelthorn and teak trees, which they use for their fences.
The settlers have reportedly also taken over control of the boreholes, which the San say are being overused.
“People are being beaten up and get death threats because we go into the fenced-off areas to gather food and firewood,” said Eino.
A hunting concession holder, the South African-based Tourmaline, is also considering legal steps against the conservancy for a breach of contract because commercial hunting is hampered by the fences and wildlife that has disappeared from the area that is being trampled by cattle.
“I do not know what these land grabs will mean to the local communities. There has never been reports of foot-and-mouth disease in this area but now we fear that it might break out because cattle are brought in through the Kavango area without going through the veterinary cordon,” said Issaskar Suob, an official at the !Kung customary court.
“What we want,” said Amon Petrus on behalf of the San community in the Omatako area, “is to choose our own chief. The chief and those councillors selling off land illegally must go. We want leaders who work with the community.”
Catherine Sasman