Twaloloka - The People are Tired
More than 1 000 people were left homeless recently in Walvis Bay's Twaloloka informal settlement. TheTwaloloka Fire was a massive fire that swept through township homes in the Twaloloka informal settlement in the Namibian coastal town of Walvis Bay on Sunday 26 July 2020 destroying shacks and leaving hundreds homeless.
The disaster sparked political debate with many accusing the ruling SWAPO party of having "neglected the plights of the poor.
Walvis Bay is Namibi's harbour town at the West Coast Atlantic ocean.
The fire destroyed about 200 shacks at the settlement, which is already battling rising cases of Covid-19 and high unemployment.
Twaloloka is home to about 2 500 residents of whom 600 are said to be children. The informal settlement was a temporary space for residents who were accommodated in 241 shacks.
Now I'm not a politician but anyone can see that The Namibian government has failed its people when it comes to decent housing for all Namibians.
Yes we inheritated many ills from the old Apartheid system that had made sure that black people remained poor.
But that was 30 years ago and our government had enough time to pull all of Namibia's 2,3 million people out of poverty into prosperity.
The so called fishrot corruption scandal is just the tip of the iceberg that has laid bare the deep rooted levels of corruption by the elites, at the expensive of The Namibian citizen.
Many fisher men in Walvis Bay lost their livelihoods to due to the fishrot scandal and ironically many of those fishermen live in Twaloloka informal settlement.
A few even committed suicide as they could not cope with the fact that they can't provide for their families.
Our Namibian government felt embarrassed when The Namibian public stepped up and united to donate food, tents, mattresses, clothes and other basic essentials in aid of the residents of Twaloloka.
Thats when Government decided to donate and take charge by directing where all donations should be collected and then only donated through an organised effort.
Meanwhile, Mandla Nafimane, the father to the little boy, Phillipus, who perished in the fire, depends on hands out from friends and the public.
I wonder whom he will be voting for in the next elections.
The inhabitants of Twaloloka will in the meantime be relocated and the Namibian government promises to provide them with building material to rebuild their destroyed homes.
Like I mentioned before, I'm not a politician but I feel that many people feel that bad governance has hit the ceiling and enough is enough. Decent housing and shelter is a basic human right and in an independent Namibia it is time that our Government provides the poor with a Basic Income Grant.
Its now time for our Government to step up or ship out.
OTwaloloka - We are tired!!!