Namibia country report

Only two beneficiaries in the whole sample were previous fighters in the People’s LiberationArmy of Namibia (PLAN). Mathew was 55 years of age. He was born in Caprivi and is ofSubiya decent. In 1975 he went into exile to become a PLAN fighter. After returning tothe country in 1989, he spent four years looking for a livelihood. He was not able to findany employment and so joined a group farming project on a government farm with a largedam close to Mariental. The project came to an end as the dam dried up. Eventually, at theage of 41 and having applied for settlement, he secured a place at Mara. He arrived on thefarm at the end of May 1993 with nothing. Farming with Mathew on Mara was Petrus, bornin 1949 in then Owamboland. He had worked for the Department of Water Affairs beforegoing into exile in Angola in 1976. He served as a PLAN fighter in the liberation struggle,and thereafter went to Grootfontein in south-western Namibia, but was involved in a caraccident. Due to injuries sustained in the accident, he was unable to find a job. Governmentthen offered him a place at the same government farm project which Mathew had joinednear Mariental. After the dam dried up and the project ended, he came to Mara togetherwith Mathew. He received a pension of N$375 per month.5.1.2 Motivation for resettlementThe majority of FURS beneficiaries applied to be resettled in order to farm with livestock.Most of them did not want to farm in communal areas as they had previously suffered lossesthere due to stock theft, this being a consequence of farmers not being able to control theirlivestock in communal areas. They hoped that by obtaining their own piece of land, theywould be able to control their livestock, build up their herds and improve their livelihoods.Lazarus spent the first part of his childhood in the Epukiro communal area. He left forWindhoek in 1956 to complete Standard 8. Thereafter he was employed, but was fired in1977 due to his political activities. He went back to his relatives in Epukiro where he stayeduntil being settled on the farm Skoonheid in Omaheke in 1993. He used part of the moneyhe had earned to buy livestock which he entrusted to his relatives in the communal area.After Independence he decided to leave the communal area simply because he was notable to control his livestock there. His first choice for resettlement was the remote area ofGam, which was also on communal land but not populated at the time. His application to besettled there failed, but he was offered the alternative of Skoonheid. Despite having livedthere since 1993, he was conscious of the fact that he was settled there only on a temporarybasis because the entire farm of Skoonheid was earmarked for San people. Despite hislocation being ‘temporary’, Lazarus expected to become wealthy by farming with cattle onSkoonheid. He had a bull and expected that his cows would be properly serviced and hewould be able to build himself up.Maria had settled in the Otjinene communal area in Omaheke in 1972. After her husbandpassed away she continued to farm on her own. However, stock theft was rampant in thearea, and without her husband she found that she was more vulnerable to theft. She thereforedecided to apply for a place on a resettlement farm. She had owned 200 head of cattle andover 300 goats, but stock theft had left her with only 50 and 30 respectively. She suspectedthat the stolen stock had been sold to a white farmer in the region. She expected to be able90 ● Livelihoods after land reform: Namibia country report (2010)