Aroab farmers want land 0 A Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) lawyer called //Karas Region governor Lucia Basson''s assertion that people with South African ancestry cannot apply for ancestral land, hogwash.Basson told Namibian Sun that the 25 small-scale farmers from Aroab who have applied for resettlement since 1994 need to appeal to a traditional authority for land.
The group of farmers who farm on a 1 700-hectare town land in Aroab has since camped inside the government farm Dickbush, some 45 km from Aroab, in protest at what they term “poor land delivery”.
“What makes their situation more problematic is the fact that their ancestors are from South Africa. Many people in Aroab do not even have national documents,” said Basson.
She has also admitted that she did not recommend anyone from Aroab for resettlement to the regional resettlement committee.
According to her, many Oshiwambo-speaking farmers in the region applied for land through local traditional authorities.
She also rejected the group''s complaint that she had refused to receive their petition, saying she is not such a “low person.”
According to her, the group should have delivered the petition to her instead of expecting her to attend a meeting they had with the ombudsman''s representative in the region.
“Since when should I go to you to get your petition? You are the one with the problem, so you must bring it to me,” she said.
Hogwash
The LAC lawyer, Peter Watson said people in Namibia are not obliged to join a traditional authority for resettlement land.
“Resettlement farms are private farms purchased by the government and is not communal land and has therefore no bearing on customary rights,” he said.
He also laughed off her comments about the group''s South African ancestry saying it has nothing to do with land claims.
“The fact is we have a Constitution and it protects everybody. I mean all of us only became Namibian citizens in 1990 when the country became independent,” he said.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the group, Gertjie Witbooi, said traditional authorities are only there to serve their own people.
“It is discrimination. Why can they not have a representative from Aroab that can play the role of the traditional authority? This is simply discrimination. They must just come and tell us where we are from,” said Witbooi.
JEMIMA BEUKES