In this inaugural edition of the Namibian Journal of Social Justice we focus on the festering problem of inequitable access to urban housing in Namibia. We place housing justice in the context of social justice and the realisation of social, economic, and cultural rights. As is the case with other socio-economic issues, the way we frame the housing crisis will determine the solutions we find for it. This edition presents different perspectives and narratives on housing with the aim of stimulating academic, political and policy discourse on this deep social crisis that has its roots in Namibia’s colonial past. We pose various questions in the hope of engendering debate about how we understand the housing crisis and how we can solve it. This volume combines scholarly articles, local and international case studies, opinion pieces as well as visual and creative discourses. A central question that emerges from many of the articles is whether we can afford to continue treating housing as a commodity when this commodification has clearly failed to deliver housing justice. While the focus of the volume is on housing, the volume also contains a current affairs section on gender-based violence.
Uploaded date: 07 March, 2025
The right to adequate housing is guaranteed under international human rights law. However, like many other economic, social, and cultural rights, this right is not expressly recognized in the Namibian Constitution. Despite this, Namibia has ratified several major human rights instruments that affirm the right to adequate housing. Notably, the Namibian Constitution adopts an international law-friendly approach, allowing for the automatic incorporation of binding international agreements into the national legal framework. This means that the right to adequate housing is effectively part of Namibia’s legal order. However, in practice, this right remains one of the most blatantly violated rights in the country.
present situation. ChatGPT said: New narratives are shedding light on the stark contrast between Namibia's current housing crisis and the potential for inclusive urban development. This article argues that the housing crisis is not merely a contemporary issue but has deep historical roots. Urban development in Namibia was shaped by colonial dispossession and apartheid-era policies that enforced uneven growth. While independence in 1990 brought some changes, many of the structural inequalities that defined the past have persisted and expanded. This article employs two theoretical frameworks to analyze the historical and present dynamics of Namibia’s housing crisis.
Namibia's troubled history of segregation continues to shape its urban landscapes, leaving a lasting impact on housing accessibility and social justice. The legacy of colonial-era spatial segregation remains evident in contemporary urbanization patterns, where rapid population growth has outpaced the provision of adequate housing. Since the mid-1980s, following the lifting of influx control measures, Namibian cities have faced unsustainable urban expansion, exacerbating the housing crisis. This has significant social justice implications, particularly concerning the right to shelter. Archival research reveals how historical patterns of exclusion persist, underscoring the need for a deeper understanding of colonial urban planning to drive meaningful and equitable transformation of Namibia's urban spaces.
This article explores the challenges of land, housing, and access to basic municipal services in Windhoek’s precarious urban fringes. It examines how residents perceive their living conditions and articulate their demands for improved access. Beyond the immediate concerns of shelter and infrastructure, the article highlights how these struggles reflect broader issues of urban and national citizenship, social equity, and redistribution. Formal access to land, housing, and essential services—such as water, electricity, and sanitation—is largely determined by one's financial capacity to participate in the housing market. This dynamic reinforces existing inequalities, limiting opportunities for those in informal settlements to secure dignified living conditions.
This study examines the intersection of gender and housing access in Namibia, focusing on case studies from Katutura, Groot Aub, and Otjiwarongo. It explores the lived experiences of women in these communities, highlighting the challenges they face in securing adequate housing and accessing essential services. The findings reveal systemic barriers, including economic constraints, bureaucratic hurdles, and social inequalities that disproportionately impact women. Additionally, the study considers how historical and structural factors contribute to housing insecurity and evaluates the role of local governance in addressing these issues. By shedding light on these experiences, the study calls for gender-responsive housing policies that prioritize affordability, security of tenure, and equitable access to basic services.
In Namibia, access to urban land and housing remains a complex and contentious subject. On the one hand, the pressure on urban land is becoming increasingly acute; on the other, the demand for serviced land and adequate affordable housing is exceeding supply. This paper explores the relationship between gender and access to housing in urban areas and its implications for human rights and gender justice. This article draws on secondary data from research reports, official statistics, governmental reports, and newspaper articles to analyze women’s access to land and affordable housing. The lack of gender-disaggregated data was the greatest limitation to the research. This research uses an Intersectional Feminist approach to housing.
This section explores alternative approaches to urban housing provision for low-income communities through international case studies. It examines Botswana’s efforts in Kasane to address housing challenges for the poor, Uruguay’s model of housing cooperatives as a means to move beyond market-driven solutions, and Venezuela’s housing struggles within the context of an emancipatory project. Additionally, the Mount Frere Extension 6 Affordable Housing Project is analyzed as a case study of practical interventions for providing affordable housing. These case studies offer valuable insights into diverse strategies for addressing housing inequality and fostering inclusive urban development.
According to former Deputy Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Derek Klazen, Namibia’s housing backlog currently stands at 300,000 units. This is a significant figure, considering that this mineral-rich country has a population of only two and a half million and has experienced 30 years of neo-colonialism. In other words, the housing crisis has only deepened over the past three decades under Swapo rule, leaving the vast majority of Namibians without access to decent housing. Therefore, when it comes to housing, the Swapo government has been a massive failure.
A large proportion of the urban population in developing countries lives in informal settlements, largely due to rapid population growth and widespread poverty. In Namibia, this reality was accelerated by the abolition of the contract labor system, which previously prevented movement to urban centers unless the migrant had secured a job in advance. The rapid urbanization process, exacerbated in part by the attainment of independence in 1990, has led many Namibians to shift from rural to urban areas in search of a better life that independence itself promised to usher in. This trend caught both legislation and institutions off guard.
Six months after Namibia celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of her independence from South Africa in March 2020, the country is on fire. Hundreds of Namibian activists, students, working youth, and artists have taken to the streets of Windhoek and other towns. The protests started on 7 October 2020 after the body of a young woman was found murdered in the port city of Walvis Bay. Twenty-two-year-old Shannon Wasserfall had been missing since April of 2020.
This incomplete and process-based photo essay is an exhibition of selected photographs representing recent protest performances in Windhoek and Lüderitz. I make use of Performative Writing as a method of embodying the work that these protests do, which is to mobilize dialogic action and movement formation. The performativity of these photographs points towards alternative notions of Publicness, critical visualities, and spatial processes, particularly in Namibian urban centres. This essay posits that this protest action and their photographic remnants mobilize Praxis that is required for decolonial futures.
This first issue of NJSJ has housing as its focus of discussion. However, since land and housing are inextricably linked (you cannot have a house without land to put it on), it is necessary to give some key facts about the Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Claims of Ancestral Land Rights, which was released into the public domain on April 21, 2021. The report is a 780-page document, now available on the website of the Office of the Prime Minister (https://opm.gov.na).
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