UN-HABITAT

United Nations Settlements Programme

DRAFT WALVIS BAYURBAN SECTOR PROFILE

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Table of Contents

1. Foreword

2. Executive Summary

3. Introduction

4. Urban/City Governance5. Gender and HIV/AIDS Issues6. Slums/Informal Settlement and Shelter7. Land Ownership & Utilization8. Local Economic Development Basic Urban Services9. Environment & Climate Change10. Cultural Heritage11. References

Foreword

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As more and more people seek a better life in towns and cities, the urban slum population in Walvis Bay is projected to double every 10 years in a process known as the urbanization of poverty. It is projected that the population growth rate of Walvis Bay will be more 13% per annum, higher than all the cities in Namibia.

The Cities and Towns are thus confronted with the problem of accommodating the rapidly growing urban populations, providing them with adequate shelter and basic urban services, while ensuring environmental sustainability, as well as enhancing economic growth and development.

UN-HABITAT is the leading agency for implementation the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7, Target 10 (reducing by half the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water), and Target 11 (achieving significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020).

In 2010, UN-HABITAT’s Regional Office for Africa through local UN-Habitat office in Windhoek and Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, took the initiative to arrange a workshop to capacitate four cities and town in Namibia about the Rapid Urban Sector Profiling for Sustainability (RUSPS).

The idea behind RUSPS is to help formulate urban poverty reduction policies at the local, national and regional levels through a rapid, participatory, crosscutting, holistic and action- orientated assessment of needs. It is also aimed at enhancing dialogue, awareness of opportunities and challenges aiming at identifying response mechanisms as a contribution to the implementation of the MDGs.

The RUSPS will address four main themes: governance, slums, gender and HIV/AIDS as well as environment. The Municipality of Walvis Bay takes challenges within the above themes seriously. That’s why the Municipal Council of Walvis Bay has partnered with UN Habitat to address these challenges.

The profile offers an overview of the urban situation in Walvis Bay, where individual challenges and potential are reflected. The profile at all levels supports the formation of city strategies and policy development.

We are grateful for the expertise and assistance provided by UN Habitat, and Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development to enable us to participate in this programme.

I would like to wish all stakeholders who have participated in and supported this initiative every success in its implementation.

Derek KlazenHis Worship the MayorCity of Walvis Bay

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Executive Summary

Introduction

The Rapid Urban Sector Profiling for Sustainability (RUSPS) is an accelerated and action-oriented urban assessment of needs and capacity-building gaps at city level. The RUSPS methodology consists of three phases:

a rapid participatory urban profiling, at national and local levels, focusing on governance, slums, gender and HIV/AIDS, environment, and proposed interventions;

detailed priority proposals; and Project implementation.

Walvis Bay, Namibia is benefiting from this initiative and participated with a high level delegation to the joint UN-HABITAT Workshop held in Walvis Bay in June 2010, where the themes and methodology of RUSPS were discussed. This is the Walvis Bay report and it constitutes a generic background, a synthesis of the four pre-selected themes (governance, slums, gender and HIV/AIDS, Environment).

Background

Description of Walvis Bay

This Chapter provides a general brief introduction to Namibia and the city of Walvis Bay.

Map of Namibia showing Walvis Bay

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History

Walvis Bay, meaning “Whale Bay” in Afrikaans, has had a chequered history. In fact, the Topnaars were the first settlers within Walvis Bay since the early Stone Age. The Topnaars belong to the Nama group of people. For centuries the Topnaars have lived off the oasis created by the Kuiseb River and Delta.

Without doubt, the Topnaars are among the oldest inhabitants of Namibia. They trace their origins back before 1652, when Jan van Riebeeck established a European settlement on the Southern African soil. Records from 1677 recount a barter trade system between Topnaars and European sailors, which suggest that the Topnaars were among the first traders in Namibia. Beef, lamb, milk, !Nara plants and fresh water were exchanged for groceries, clothes and weapons.

The bulk of their subsistence activities is the recovery of !Nara seeds and some goat herding. The ground water abstraction and the lowering of the water table indirectly affect these activities. The Topnaar community is also expanding into tourism development in the Namib Naukluft Park, which will spill over to the Walvis Bay area.

Although Walvis Bay had already been discovered by Diaz, a Portuguese explorer as early as 1487, it was only founded in 1793 by the Cape Dutch. Two years later it was annexed by the British. In 1910, Walvis Bay became - like the entire Cape Colony of the present day South Africa - part of the South African Union. Walvis Bay, the only deep sea harbour on the Namibian coast, remained under South African rule after Namibia's independence and only in 1994 did the former South African president F.W. de Klerk agree to return the former enclave to Namibia.

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!Nara (Acanthosicyos horridas) is endemic to the Namib Desert and grows in sandy places wherever its long tap roots can reach down to water. The !Nara is

the most important plant to the indigenous Topnaar people.

Social and Economic ActivitiesToday, Walvis Bay has about ±65,000 citizens and is a buzzing business, industrial and tourism centre. Most people are employed at the modern harbour terminal, in the booming fishing industry and the processing of sea salt. The salt fields to the south of Walvis Bay cover an area of 4,500 hectares and annually produce 650,000 metric tonnes of high quality salt.

Walvis Bay is linked to Namibia’s rail, air and road network, making the port ideally situated to service most of its landlocked SADC neighbours. The deep-sea harbour in Walvis Bay caters for fishing and cargo vessels and provides facilities for smaller boats and yachts. Walvis Bay has a high standard airport that is being upgraded for direct international flights. Various cruise liners make Walvis Bay one of their regular port of calls. This location is an ideal connection for north-south Namibian travelers and links directly to the pristine expanse of the Namib-Naukluft/Sossusvlei tourist attractions to the south.

Also worth seeing in Walvis Bay, is the local museum in the Civic Centre, the Birdlife Information Centre and the wooden Rhenish mission church established in 1880. The city has numerous good restaurants, cafes and bars as well as comfortable hotels and guest houses on offer. Walvis Bay also offers a variety of sports and recreation facilities for those who enjoy an active outdoor lifestyle including golf, tennis, bowls, surfing, swimming, angling and sailing.

A special attraction of Walvis Bay is the huge natural lagoon with its overwhelming abundance of water birds. They are joined by 200,000 migratory birds annually. The famous "Dune 7" at the outskirts of town is the highest sand dune in the area and once you have climbed to the top, you can enjoy a stunning view. During summer, when temperatures in the interior of Namibia become extreme, Walvis Bay is a cool sunny haven for those seeking refuge against the inland heat, as the weather remains moderate. The Namib is considered to be the oldest desert in the world, and has the world’s largest desert dunes. The ancient central Namib Desert, the uniquely desolate coastline and an idyllic climate, which prevails almost throughout the year makes Walvis Bay an attractive option for entrepreneurs, residents and tourists alike and thus having a positive impact on the local economy.

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Walvis Bay Civic Centre (Municipal Head Offices)

The landscapes of the Walvis Bay biodiversity areas are a result of river, marine, wind, and man-induced processes. The city’s biodiversity is divided into four main different areas namely (1) The Walvis Bay Ramsar Site; (2) The Kuiseb Delta; (3) The Dune Belt Area and (4) The Walvis Bay Coastline. Each of these main areas is further divided into functional zones.

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The Map below shows different Biodiversity Zones in Walvis Bay

Fast Facts about the Country and City:Location: The City of Walvis Bay (1,124 km² in size) is situated between the Namib Desert and

Atlantic Ocean, on the west coast of the Republic of Namibia. The country is bordered by South Africa, Angola and Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Latitude: 22.95°S

Longitude: 14.50°E

Population: Walvis Bay 65,000 (2007 municipal figures), Namibia 1, 83 million (2001 national census)

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Climate: Walvis Bay - Arid with temperate weather, average 10 to 25 degrees Centigrade, rest of the country - arid, and sub-tropic.

Languages: Official language: English

Other major languages: Afrikaans, Oshiwambo, German, Otjiherero, Khoekhoegowab, Damara-Nama, Lozi, Kwangali, Tswana, Portuguese, Spanish

Time: Winter is GMT + 1 Hour (1st Sunday in April to 1st Sunday in September), while summer is GMT + 2 Hours (September to April)

Currency: Namibia Dollar (N$) = RSA Rand

Principal

Exports: Diamonds, Minerals, Fish, Livestock & it’s by-products

Principal

Imports: Food & Beverages, Vehicles, Machinery

Main Export

Destinations: UK, South Africa, Spain, France, Switzerland

Main Import

Origins: South Africa, Germany, USA, France

Literacy: 81.4%

Natural

Resources: Diamonds, Uranium, Livestock, Fish, Wildlife, Marine Resources

9Aerial view of Walvis Bay

Urban/City Governance

Local Government ResponsibilitiesSince Namibia’s independence from South Africa in 1990 and the reintegration of the port of Walvis Bay back into Namibia in 1994, substantial changes in legislation and policy have influenced the modalities of governing. A case in point is the empowerment of third-tier, Local government representatives, the Local Authorities, by way of decentralization of certain primary government function.

Currently, the Local Authorities Act, 1992 (No. 23 of 1992) distinguishes between five types of local government in Namibia: Part 1 Municipalities, Part II Municipalities, Towns, Villages and Settlement Areas. Municipalities are generally the most develop urban areas, as well as being the most autonomous by law, both administratively and financially.

Therefore, Municipality of Walvis Bay as Part I Municipality is responsible for providing and managing urban services such as supplying water and electricity, establishing sewerage and drainage systems and determining land uses.

The Municipality of Walvis Bay and its Council were established under the provisions of the Local Authorities Act No. 23 of 1992 delegating power from the national level to local authorities to administer municipal areas. This includes the responsibility to manage natural resources. Municipal by-laws and policies with regard to housing, environmental health, town planning, public participation and littering, amongst others, “Walvis Bay – Your Oasis of Opportunities” is the vision of the Municipality of Walvis Bay. The Walvis Bay Municipality recognizes that to develop and maintain this Oasis it has a major responsibility to manage both its natural and human-made urban environments. The Mission Statement of the WBM thus reads:

“To continuously broaden the scope and improve the quality of municipal services rendered to all our customers with due regard for the environment.”

Recognizing its responsibility to safeguard Walvis Bay’s natural resources and biodiversity, one of the WBM’s core values is:

“We adhere to the principles of the conservation of the environment.”

One of the municipality’s eight focus areas follows on this core value:

“To continuously enhance and sustain our resource base, with a view to self-sufficiency.”

Assuring the prosperity of Walvis Bay’s people and reducing what are high levels of poverty depends strongly on good management of the environmental assets of the city and its surrounding biodiversity.

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Civic ResponsibilitiesWalvis Bay is home to many interest groups and institutions such as churches, sports and social clubs, schools, old age homes, voluntary organizations and industry associations, amongst many others. The Walvis Bay Municipality is strongly committed to working among the different municipal departments and in partnership with all the relevant stakeholders. Another Walvis Bay Municipality core value expresses this as follows:

“We promote teamwork and stakeholder involvement.”

The Walvis Bay Municipality will thus take a leading role in formulating, promoting and enforcing environmental Public Private Partnerships (PPP). But residents and their institutions, and visitors, will play an equally active role in supporting and ensuring the implementation of the Walvis Bay Urban Profile Project in real partnership with Walvis Bay Municipality. Accordingly, all inhabitants of and visitors to Walvis Bay are to be collectively held responsible for the management of the unique environment of the city and its surroundings as an interaction between nature, society and economy.

Resource Mobilization

The Municipality of Walvis Bay’s main source of income stems from rates and taxes, service charges and the sale of land.

The Government contributes to this income in form of development loans and subsidized road construction, traffic control and fire brigade.

Slums/Informal Settlement and Shelter

Housing is a major challenge to all urban areas in Namibia and Walvis Bay is no exception. Since its reintegration, Walvis Bay has been included in the national Housing policy that requires local authorities and private sector to become involve in providing housing and promoting private ownership.

Various stakeholders are involved in the provision of housing in Walvis Bay. First among them is the government, which plays the role of arbiter, facilitator and supervisor of various housing operations through its Ministry.

The second major stakeholder is the Municipality of Walvis Bay. The Municipality is responsible for providing land, service and unservice to various stakeholders. The Municipality also performs the function of administering the Decentralized Build Together Programme on behalf of the Central Government.

The third group of stakeholders is private developers. The private sector is the principal supplier of housing in the middle and higher-income groups. Both small scale developers and private financial institution are granted certain privileges in the National Housing Policy, which stipulates that municipal housing programmes should not compete with those of the private sector.

The last group of stakeholders is the shack dwellers under National Housing Action Group. This group played a major role in provision of shelter for low and ultra low income groups. They have also become much more involve in building houses for slum owners.

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Tenure and Security SystemsThe Municipality of Walvis Bay is the main housing supplier for the poorest sector of the townspeople. With the exception of non-governmental organizations, the private sector is not interested in supplying housing to the low income categories. The government therefore has increasingly transferred low cost housing programmes to the Local Authorities through the “Build Together” Programme.

Like in all other towns in Namibia and worldwide Walvis Bay town is not exception from informal settlements. The slum/informal settlements situation in Walvis Bay is different than the ones in the in land or other towns in Namibia. Walvis Bay consists of backyard shacks and one settlement area called Tutaleni. Tutaleni is more controlled with all services available. (Streets, Water, Electricity, Refuse Removal and all other municipal services).

The Municipality has alienated old township houses and titles were given to people that were renting the houses. The old migrant accommodations units were also renovated and family units established. However, all these initiatives are still not enough to curb the large backlog in meeting the demand for housing in Walvis Bay.

Resource Mobilization The Government is funding the low cost housing initiative for the poorest of the poor

through Decentralized Build Together Programme and Shack Dwellers Federation Programme.

These initiatives are not enough to cater for the urban poor and revenue constrains prohibits Local Authorities to provide affordable service land to urban inhabitants.

Gender and HIV/AIDS Issues

The 20 years since independence have seen a number of significant legal developments for women. Affirmative action provisions in the Local Authorities Act have resulted in strong representation for women at the local level, and the Affirmative Action (Employment) Act is seeking to improve the representation of women in the formal workforce.

Labour legislation, including both the Labour Act and the Social Security Act, have addressed gender issues such as maternity protection and sexual harassment. There is a new legal framework for violence against women and children which includes the Combating of Rape Act, the Combating of Domestic Violence Act and amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act designed to protect vulnerable witnesses.

Family law reforms have been more limited -- the Married Persons Equality Act dealing with certain aspects of inequality between husbands and wives, the Communal Land Reform Act which provides for secure land tenure for widows and the Maintenance Act which is intended to advance women’s economic independence through a more workable system for obtaining child maintenance.

There is much work still to be done in this field including law reform on customary marriage, civil and customary divorce, marital property, inheritance and cohabitation.

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In many countries, women and girls are today bearing a heavier burden than men when it comes to HIV infection. Gender inequalities limit women's access to HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support, including antiretroviral therapies. HIV positive women face stigmatization and are more likely than men to be blamed, stigmatized and abandoned by their families.

Women who are known or suspected to be HIV positive are especially vulnerable to violence. They face the possibility of being abused, abandoned or even killed. During conflict and political instability women and girls may face systematic rape and other war crimes which put women at risk of HIV infection.

The Municipal Council of Walvis Bay facilitates the design and implementation of appropriate HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support programmes in the workplace. Council promotes and facilitates the development of HIV/AIDS wellness Policies and training and re-training of Peer Educators. The distribution of HIV/AIDS information/material and condoms are regarded as priority. The Municipal Council of Walvis Bay further facilitates and promotes the following:-

Access to Voluntary Counselling and Testing services; Home Based Care services for employees; Provide information and promote services on treatment and care options; Evaluate and Supervise workplace interventions for quality assurance; Conduct HIV/AIDS Awareness sessions within the organization and member companies.

Resource Mobilization

The Municipality of Walvis Bay allocates resources out of its own funds for gender mainstreaming and combating of HIV/AIDS issues.

Ministry of Health and Social Services avails free counseling/testing for HIV/AIDS and other related services to the community through government budget.

Land Ownership & Utilization

The ownership of urban land is regulated by various Acts and the Municipality of Walvis Bay controls the land use as per the Walvis Bay Town Planning Scheme. The 1997 scheme provides for 18 different uses of land. Although the conventional zoning specifies the type of land use for a demarcated area, combined land use is also permitted. For example, the business activities that exist in the light and heavy industrial areas are able to operate there on condition that they meet requirements set by the 1997 scheme.

Combine land use zoning currently enjoys a considerable degree of attention as demand for land increases, especially in the former townships.

The residential zoning, a residential density policy strictly controls the concentration of the town’s inhabitants. Nonetheless, some flexibility in mixing densities has also been observed.

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Local Economic Development Basic Urban Services

Employment is an important indicator of the prosperity of a town, especially for Walvis Bay where two thirds of the population is economically active. The economic activity in Walvis Bay is strongly linked to the secondary sector, namely industry. The fishing, manufacturing, mining and construction sectors account for registered job’s in Walvis Bay. The manufacturing sector has been boosted by the fishing industry (by way of food processing, packaging and canning).

The Uranium rush to Erongo Region has resulted in mines opening around Walvis Bay and they employ large number of skilled workers. The tertiary sector consists mostly of commercial activities, primarily retail. The tourism sector, rendering accommodation and catering services, has expanded rapidly during the last 5 – 6 years in Walvis Bay and is expected to continue to do so.

The informal sector plays a considerable role in the town. The informal business activities, such as those conducted by the self-employed, are define as units in the household sector which are unincorporated enterprises or which do not maintain a complete set of accounts. The informal sector includes home-based general dealers, hawkers and informal traders. This sector becomes a notable part of economic progress in our town although it is not easy to evaluate its contribution.

The majority of Walvis Bay residents are employed in the fish processing industry. Notably, the sectors that account for most of the employment figures are strongly linked to the geographical distribution of population of Walvis Bay. The sectors like government, the Municipality, transport, the habour and the service industries seem less influenced by where the population lives.

The Municipality of Walvis Bay provides all urban services to the community. There is no area in Walvis Bay that’s not provided with essential services such as water, refuse removal, electricity and sanitations services.

Environment & Climate Change

Walvis Bay is situated in the most arid part of the hyper-arid Namib Desert having high coastal sand dunes and a coastal climate that is strongly moderated by the cold-water upwelling of the Benguela system. The area is characterised by mild summers and cool winters and fog is a regular feature throughout the year. Long-term mean annual rainfall is less than 20 mm, while totals may range from 0 to over 100 mm per year. Wind is the single most important physical agent in the area affecting wave action, transport of sediments onto the shoreline and then further inland, and the shape and movement of surrounding sand dunes. The winds are characterised by high velocity, high frequency south to south-westerly winds in summer and high velocity, low frequency east to north-westerly winds in winter.

The desert meets the sea at Walvis Bay. The municipal area is approximately 1,124 km2 in size and is situated on the south western coast of Africa and flanked by 60 kilometers of the cold, nutrient rich South Atlantic Ocean’s coastline. It lies between the Swakop River in the north and the Namib Desert’s sand dunes and gravel plains to the east with its boundary extending to the Namib Naukluft Park. To the south are the 12 600 hectare Walvis Bay wetlands, with the WB

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wetlands listed as a Ramsar Site in 1995, and the adjoining delta of the ephemeral Kuiseb River in the south.

The Walvis Bay area is characterised by a complex and dynamic environment. The landscapes of the Walvis Bay biodiversity areas are a result of river, marine, wind, and man-induced processes and feature some of the most interesting geological, soils, hydrological and biological features as well as different land uses. It is further characterised by a rare ecological interaction between a coastal wetland and the desert, under the influence of a very unusual climate dominated by the presence of cold sea currents. Only 1% of Namibia’s shoreline offers a sheltered, shallow area connected to the sea such as is found at Walvis Bay. Here a collection of species can usually be found that either do not occur or occur less plentifully on the open shore. Walvis Bay thus provides a rich habitat for marine fauna and flora and also accommodates the largest harbour along Namibia’s coast.

It is for these reasons that the city’s biodiversity is divided into four main areas: (1) The Walvis Bay Ramsar Site; (2) The Kuiseb Delta; (3) The Dune Belt Area and (4) The Walvis Bay Coastline. Each of these main areas is further divided into functional zones.

Environmental Risks and Vulnerability

Recently Walvis Bay has been experiencing harsh environmental conditions such as very strong and unusually wind, breaching of the Donkey Bay at Pelican Point (sand spit). Although Walvis Bay has not experienced adverse effects of climate change to present this does not mean it is not at risk, like all other coastal towns Walvis Bay is also at very high risk of climate change impacts due to global warming, thus Walvis Bay and other coastal towns in Namibia are likely to experience the impacts of climate change with Walvis Bay being the most vulnerable one due to its geographical location, below are some of the potential climate change Impacts which Walvis Bay is likely to experience:

Changed in local precipitation and temperature patterns. Increased numbers of extreme weather events. Average sea levels are likely to rise. Increased health problems due to heat stress, a serious problem for the very young, very

old, and those who work outdoors. Decreased water availability due to decreased recharge of aquifers where we extract our

water from. Loss of biodiversity and ecosystems due to loss of climate sensitive indigenous species,

erosion, floods, sea level rise, and increased growth of invasive alien species. Damage to infrastructure, residences, key industries, and economic activity in low lying

areas due to sea level rise and increased flooding. Coastal erosion

Current Climate Change Response and Resilience

The environmental section is currently involved in a long term environmental monitoring which include taking records of Water Level & Temperature, these data are collected on monthly basis and they are stored in the data base, they will be used in the future study to predict if there is any changes in the sea level rising rate.

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Potential Activities within CCCI

Study of the sea level rise into details by recording data and analysis of available data. Provide information to public on Climate Change though Educational Awareness and

flyers.

Resource Mobilization

The Municipality of Walvis Bay allocates resources for environmental mainstreaming, or combating negative environmental impacts through own resources.

The development partners fund some of the programmes under CCCI for Sea Level Rise and Climate Change.

Cultural Heritage

Namibia is blessed with a diversity of culture and Walvis Bay consists of different cultures rating from Topnaars, Hereros, Oshiwambo, Damara/Nama, Portuguese, Germany and many other cultures. They speak different languages and practice different traditional norms and briefs.

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References

1.Walvis Bay Biodiversity Report,2008

2. Local Authorities Act 1992 (No. 23 of 1992 as amended)

3.Walvis Bay Structure Plan

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