Farm workers who have been camping along the corridors of the Okahandja and Grootfontein Districts since 2022 are calling on the government to relocate them as a matter of urgency.

The group, which was evicted from commercial farms in the area, says they are losing livestock due to a lack of grazing land and fodder.

Some of the group were born on the farms from which they have now been evicted when their parents had previously worked there.

However, when their employer died, the farm changed ownership, and they were left stranded.

Those faced with the worst-case scenario were evicted as their services were deemed no longer necessary.

One option was to move to a nearby town, though that proved a challenge as they had livestock to consider.

Our news team last year visited 70-year-old Priskilla Dauses, who then had more than 59 goats.

To date, this number has been reduced to 45.

The same applies to horses, donkeys, sheep, and other farm animals.

"I don't know whether it's due to the cold or the limited space they have to keep in, like the goats. They love their freedom to roam around, but it's not possible now. Water is also an issue; as of last Friday, those animals did not have any water, and they will obviously die. Thirst is the main issue, especially for the goats. I bought them dozens of times so that we could vaccinate them with my pension money, and that means that this month we won't have food to eat. Until when should I continue to live like this?" asked Dauses.

She was evicted from Cando Farm in the Omatako Constituency, and the farm owner relocated them next to the road, though still on his premises.

It has now been two years and three months, with no hope of them getting into any resettlement farms anytime soon.

The farm owner has stopped providing them with water and has given them until the end of August to leave his premises.

"When this winter ends in August, I need to get out of here; I need to get out of his farm. He helped me, and I stayed on the other side of his farm. Now I am on this side of his farm again. Now we are in the middle of another year, yet nobody from the government came to see us and tell us the way forward. I am scared of approaching the farm owner to tell him the way forward. Should I go and lie to him?"

Dauses is distressed and left in total perplexity, as every time the farm owner passes by, they are worried that they will end up being thrown off the property.

Another group, consisting of five senior citizens, was evicted from Farm Arcadia, a resettlement farm in the Grootfontein District, last October.

They hope to be returned to the farm from which they were evicted.

"The first challenge we've had since we've been in the corridors is water; even our animals look bad now. It's sad because even the woman we used to ask for water from is now chasing us away. We had a little machine for pumping water, but it is broken," said Gabriel Hoeseb.

The pensioners say they are disappointed by the lack of interaction from those in leadership positions, noting that they have been left to their own devices for nine months without any concern shown by political leaders.

They are pleading with the government to intervene before they act on their planned return to the farm they were removed from.