By John Ekongo
24 May 2011
Swakopmund — Governor of the Erongo Region, Cleophas Mutjavikua is worried that Swakopmund might soon have a second informal settlement, as the town struggles to cope with the influx of job-seekers lured by employment opportunities that are expected to arise from the mining boom, particularly uranium mining.
Mutjavikua said he foresees a second informal settlement to the Democratic Resettlement Community (DRC) in Swakopmund because of the sheer numbers of people migrating to Swakopmund and Walvis Bay in search of jobs.
DRC is located north-east of Mondesa, a high density residential area of Swakopmund.
The Governor made the startling admission during consultations with a joint Parliamentary Standing Committee on Constitutional, Legal Affairs and the Committee on Gender and Family Affairs yesterday.
The committees are on a weeklong visit to the region to consult stakeholders on access to state legal services, gender, family affairs and socio-economy and living standards. Mutjavikua said the two towns are finding it extremely difficult to cope with the influx.
“Walvis Bay on average services only about 300 stands annually but actually needs to service around 2000 erven annually to handle the number of people in need of land for houses or structures.”
He said Swakopmund is also affected, but not on the same scale as Walvis Bay.
Swakopmund is currently thriving due to the uranium mining rush, with figures released by the industry indicating that in the past six years, since uranium prospecting, licensing, construction and early production phase, 2500 new businesses have been created in Swakopmund alone.
Figures released by Rössing at a recent public presentation on unemployment and the role of the mining industry in combating high national unemployment, show that the mines in the region are expected to create 10270 jobs directly and indirectly.
Many of the jobs, say experts, are to be credited to a multiplier effect – largely in the procurement or service rendered industry to the mines.
Currently, close to 4300 people in permanent and temporary positions are employed on mines in the region.
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