Landless People’s Movement (LPM) City of Windhoek councillor Ivan Skrywer has defended the Mariental municipality for writing off senior citizens’ debt of over N$1.2 million.
Skrywer came to the defence of the Mariental municipality after Hardap governor Riaan McNab took to his social media page last week to say the write-off is not true.
A notice dated 3 October by the Mariental municipality indicates that 249 pensioners who had arrears on their municipal bills were written off to a tune of N$1.28 million following a resolution by the council at a meeting held on 1 September.
McNab states that such approval is only granted by minister of urban and rural development James Sankwasa, adding that no municipality or LPM can write-off debts.
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He says he knows this due to his background as a former councillor.
“It is definitely not true unless you show me a letter of approval from the minister,” he says.
Skrywer argues that McNab has not learned anything during his time as a councillor, stating that the first legal lesson he should have grasped is the statutory mandate of local authorities as enshrined in the Local Authorities Act 23 of 1992.
“Municipal councils are not tea clubs. They are the first line of defence for the daily struggles of ordinary people. They are vested with powers to pass bylaws, adopt resolutions and make decisions that safeguard the well-being of their communities. That is their job,” Skrywer told The Namibian on Friday.
He described the governor and minister as unelected ‘water boys’ of the president.
While councillors are democratically elected representatives of the sovereignty, Skrywer explained that previously, institutions did not challenge one another because they functioned as “Swapo-to-Swapo tea clubs,” where the laws were not being interpreted against each other.
“Some governors to this day think they are the head of regions which is not true, the chairperson of the regional council is the administrative head. Only the chairperson can legally call a meeting in the region, whether it is with councillors and stakeholders,” he said.
He said the debt write-off is a good thing for the people and in accordance with the LPM motion in parliament that was adopted and passed unopposed.
He questioned why the governor is angry about debt write-off.
According to him, Swapo is openly against the writing off pensioners’ debts.
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“How can an initiative designed to bring dignity and relief to our most vulnerable citizens make you uncomfortable, itching even. Why? Is it bcause it exposes the misaligned and misplaced priorities of a party long divorced from the people,” he said.
