Residents of the Sun City Informal Settlement at Rundu have reiterated their demand for compensation for their crop fields the town council allegedly allocated to the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture.

The crop fields are situated within the town boundaries, but residents claim the town encroached on their ancestral land.

The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture has requested the plot to upgrade the Sikandoko Primary School, which has become too small to accommodate the growing number of learners.

When our news team arrived at the scene, we found a group of residents exchanging angry words with the Rundu Town Council officials who were assessing the plot.

The residents want a proper consultation and compensation before they allow the development to continue.

They also accuse the headwoman representing the Shambyu Traditional Authority of selling land to the highest bidder at their expense.

"The owners of crop fields are not against development. All they are asking for is consultation, to be consulted and to see how they can be compensated. Even if there are those who are willing to give their field for a school because we are in dire need of a school in this area, we can do so officially instead of just seeing people selling plots or selling erven in this area." 

"If you look at Nkurenkuru, it is a new town, but they are compensating crop field owners. We saw people receiving money for their crop fields, but here at Rundu, we are just pushed out like that."

The Headwoman, Masandu Siremo, denied the accusations, noting that the community identified the plot themselves five years ago for the expansion of the school.

"We came with many community members here to identify this plot. I was not alone. We were more than 100 people, and we agreed that people must not plough here anymore because this plot now belongs to the school. We agreed that the development is for our children and grandchildren."

She rejected suggestions that she was involved in shady land allocations, noting that the power to allocate land rests with the Town Council.

Rundu Town Council Chief Executive Officer Olavi Nathaniel says the Shambyu Traditional Authority has confirmed that no one was allocated the land in question.

Nathaniel says the land is within the proclaimed local authority area; therefore, anyone laying claim to it must provide substantive documents to that effect.