Feature: Suburb dwellers in Windhoek opt for slums amid soaring rental fares

As rental prices for residential accommodation in Namibian capital Windhoek soars, city dwellers residing in suburbs are opting to settle in slums, citing unaffordability and inability to maintain the grand lodging.

Enias Shetu, 32, once rented an upmarket apartment in the capital's Khomasdal suburb. Earning 424 U.S. dollars monthly, he once sacrificed to pay 162 dollars monthly for a bachelor flat.

"The rent kept increasing every other month until it eventually increased to 325 dollars. That's when I decided to seek possible places where rental fees are not as exorbitant," Shetu said.

Thwarted by high rental fees, Shetu made the bold decision and moved to Havana, an informal settlement in the mountainous area on the outskirts of Windhoek.

"It was not an easy decision to make. Having rented at an ostentatious place and now having decided to move to shack, I was afraid of being laughed at by my friends. But I set that aside the pride and thought of my financial situation. I moved," he told Xinhua.

Shetu said it was not easy adjusting to the new environment, especially in a slum after three years of staying in a suburb.

"I now bath outdoors, as opposed to my former apartment. I also have to walk a distance of over 3km to get to my home from work as the taxi drop-off zone ends where the tarred road ends, which is far from here," he said.

Not just that. Sanitation facilities are none existent, he lamented. Six months later, he now has however adapted to the environment.

Amidst the transition, supporting the family and saving remain his key priorities.

"Supporting my family is the reason I moved. I wasn't saving anymore. I was always broke. I could not even send as much money back home due to exorbitant rental fees," he said.

Shetu is not alone.

"A month ago I welcomed my neighbour Kaleipo. In fact, this morning we welcomed a new neighbour, a lady, who set up the shack overnight," he told Xinhua Tuesday.

His neighbour Jackson Kaleipo too moved from renting in one of the suburbs in Windhoek. He said the high rental fees are drying his coffers.

"If I keep renting in the suburbs I will die a poor man. Not only is that, but there is a severe drought back home in the northern region. My children have minimal food. They need me to send more money, thus I moved to save," said the 40-year-old.

On average, a house in Windhoek cost between 48,700 dollars to 324, 675 dollars. Statistics from the Ministry of Rural and Urban Development show that the country has a housing backlog of 100,000 units.

As a result, the scarcity of serviced land coupled with inadequate affordable housing has escalated over the years in the capital, which has led to the mushrooming of informal settlements.

Visibly, surrounding Havana Informal settlement are structures made out of corrugated iron zinc as more people opt to settle in the area, farther west into the mountainous areas.

Of the 325,858 people living in Windhoek, over 110,000 are living in informal settlements, with an estimated close to 100,000 living in wood and zinc structures in Havana alone, according to recent records by Namibia Statistics Agency.

Suffering the same squalor as their informal settlement counterparts, the dwellers in Havana are making the most out of their inhabitation.

"I also found a lucrative market here. I run a home shop, selling basic items in the neighbourhood that people would have to walk long distances for," said Shetu.

But hope for owning a house in the city is not all lost for Shetu and his neighbours. "I save the money I would have paid for rent and channel it towards the purchase of own house in the near future. That's my plan," he said.

Kaleipo too is hopeful.

"I am hoping to benefit from the mass housing project under the Ministry of Rural and Urban Development as I am a low-income earner. I hope I won't have to wait for too long," said Kaleipo.

The mass housing initiative was launched by former Namibian President, Hifikepunye Pohamna in 2013, with the objective to build 185,000 low-cost houses in the next 17 years through National Housing Enterprises.

The new leadership has also made a commitment to the initiative under the mandate of the Ministry of Rural and Urban Development.

"Through the urban mass land servicing and Mass housing programs, Namibia is tackling the prime cause of price escalation in the housing sector," said Calle Schlettwein, Minister of Finance during the 2016/17 budget motivation early this year. Endit