Old Embassy houses remain 25 years after re-integration

On Friday, Walvis Bay will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of re-integration. On 1 March 1994 South Africa officially relinquished its occupation of the Enclave of Walvis Bay and the area and harbour town was returned as territory of the Republic of Namibia.

With two and a half decades since this historic moment, there seems to be one issue that remains a thorny one: three of the six South African government houses which continue to be an eye- and head sore to residents of Walvis Bay. In particular, three specific houses, two situated in Walvis Bay’s Meersig- and the other in the Lagoon suburb remain big issues.
Both houses over the years were stripped of all valuable items like copper wire, water geysers, light fittings and all other items which sell as scrap. In addition, these empty houses are used by fringe groups in the community for drug abuse. The content of graffiti to the walls reveal the mind-set of these individuals.
With the formation of neighbourhood watch units in these suburbs, and stepped-up disciplinary measures, these houses were in the meantime cleaned by volunteers. Christian-faith crosses were erected at the entries, in response to the fact that many of the individuals paying ill-intended visits to these empty houses seem to be impressed by occultism and pagan orientations.
“There were six houses all together. Two were sold and one is currently leased to tenants who look after it. Three of the houses are still not sold and we don’t know what the South African government will do about it”, an estate agent familiar with the matter explained on Monday.