THE Swakopmund Residents’ Association (SRA) is objecting to the Swakopmund Town Council’s “dubious decision” to sell an erf to the Swapo Party.

Ten years ago, Swapo leased Erf 3486 in Swakopmund at a total rental of N$10 per year, for the apparent purpose to develop and maintain a self-help training centre for construction workers and artisans.
“This never came off the ground, but instead, offices were built for the Swapo Party as well as for various unions,” a letter of objection which was recently handed to Swakopmund CEO, Eckart Demasius, and the Minister of Regional, Local Government and Housing and Rural development, stated.
In May 2010, Swapo applied to buy the erf of about 3 400 square metres. The council resolved to sell it to the party as an ‘Industrial Erf’ for N$250 per square metre.
“This clearly contradicts council’s policy in the past for such transactions, where average valuations of independent valuators (in this case N$450 per m2), were the rule for such transactions,” read the objection by SRA Chairman, Wilfried Groenewald.
At the last council meeting held end February 2011,it was resolved that the erf be rezoned to ‘Institutional’ and then be sold to the Swapo for N$ 30 000.
According to the SRA, this would bring the purchase price of the erf down to N$6,88 per square metre and the erf would be rezoned “at council’s expense, leaving the Swapo party to pay for the rezoning only (the rezoning will apparently cost N$30 000 or more), and get an erf for free”.
“The SRA strongly objects against this resolution,” the SRA stated.
The objection is based on suggestions that the Swakopmund Town planning regulations defines the term ‘Institutional Building’ as “old-age home, crèche, public or private school, community hall, religious or charitable institution and/or the administration thereof, and includes a hospital, clinic or dispensary, whether private or public, used in connection therewith”.
“This certainly does not include a political party and therefore falls out of this category,” the SRA lashed out.
The SRA referred to a council meeting of 2009, in which the Swakopmund council apparently quoted from its Property Policy that: “The Purchase price of an erf shall not be less than development cost at council’s discretion”.
It was furthermore resolved, that the Private School Swakopmund must pay for an institutional erf the development costs plus price escalation, resulting in a total price of about N$107 per m2.
“How can council now sell an erf for an amount of N$6,88 per m2 to an organisation which can clearly not be defined as ‘Institutional’? Why should a political party get more preference in land transactions than a real institution like a school? Swapo actually gets the erf for free, as council will pay for the rezoning, the cost of which is more than the purchase price! How can such reckless transaction be justified morally and ethically? Where does corruption start?” the SRA asked.
It said Swapo members on the town council should have “declared a conflict of interest” in the decision and “should have left council chamber for this resolution”.
“It is quite clear, that one cannot approve any matter of own interest. This whole resolution must therefore be reversed and taken back to the original application!” the SRA demanded.