The Tsumkwe Constituency Councillor Petrus Mutji has affirmed his commitment to respond to the plight of homeless residents at the settlement.
Mutji was reacting to queries from the NBC News team on how his office intends to deal with the situation, which has been ongoing for years.
Homeless San residents in the Tsumkwe settlement continue to sleep under trees despite years of asking for assistance. Three years ago, the NBC News team reported on the same group of homeless residents, many of whom have found shelter under trees at the settlement.
Recently, a visit by our team to the residents revealed that not much has changed in their situation. The residents say they are still sleeping under trees, have not received any assistance, and that no government official has visited them since the previous report.
The homeless residents say they have been living without shelter since their parents passed away.
They said that after their parents' deaths, an uncle sold the house where they had been living, leaving them with nowhere else to stay.
"This is how we survive. We have to wake up early in the morning and go into the bush to collect firewood to sell or go to people's houses to do cleaning jobs. Then we come back here to sleep. We have been going through the winter season sleeping under the trees for years," explained Kxao G|ao.
Mutji recently visited the site and said he was initially unaware of the group's living conditions prior to the query by the NBC team.
During his visit to the site the family now calls home, the councillor could not meet with the homeless residents, as they had already left early that morning to collect firewood in the bush.
They sell the firewood for a living and make the trek into the woods daily.
Mutji called on government institutions, businesses, and other stakeholders to work together with his office to develop a plan to provide shelter and improve the living conditions of the affected residents.
"This is their house as we are standing; you can see there is nothing, literally nothing, and wintertime in Tsumkwe became so cold, so I'm really calling upon stakeholders, whether it's in Tsumkwe or elsewhere. Please feel free to call me so we can develop a plan to obtain zinc sheets that will help these people have a proper shack, a suitable structure, or even tents for assistance.