By: Daniel Ndumba

Khorixas constituency Regional Councillor Sebastian !Gobs says a lack of big projects in the town to create employment for residents has led to some moving out pf the area.

According to financial services company, First Capital Namibia, Khorixas’ urban population is increasing at a rate lower than both the national urban and regional urban populations annual growth rates of 4.2% and 3.3%.

The company said the regional proportion of the Khorixas population decreased from 14,5% to 12.4% between 2011 and 2022, in contrast to the national proportion decrease of 1.4% in 2011 to 1% in 2022.

First Capital attributes this to a lack of employment opportunities and economic activities in the town.

The town has an estimated population of 11 000, which comprises 3,213 households.

!Gobs believes those who are moving out will eventually return back to Khorixas because there’s a mine that is going to be opened soon around the area of Khorixas if everything goes well.

The councillor, however, admitted that the population cannot grow if there is nothing that is triggering it, such as job opportunities.

“People that are used to the area will stay, but others that are eager to do something are going out of the area,” !Gobs told The Villager.

He said said they, as the current leadership, are trying to come up with projects that people can benefit from.

He also said residents are always the ones that get to complain, but they refuse to attend meetings that are organised by the Town Council.

“If you tell them to submit proposals or to come to the meetings where all these are established, they do not pitch up. People are not coming up with the needs and desires that they are having, and that at the end of the day they are still the same people who complain.”

According to the First Capital report, 19% of the population in Khorixas depend on old age pensions, 9% on cash remittances, and 8% on businesses in the town for income. At the same time, only 12% of households in Khorixas derive their income from farming activities, said the report.

The report also noted that Khorixas has a higher proportion of individuals involved in livestock farming (33%) in comparison to the whole country (25%). Furthermore, a small percentage of households in Khorixas is involved in poultry and horticulture, accounting for 2% of each.

“Khorixas town is dependent on tourism. It is surrounded by major tourist attraction sites such as Petrified Forest, with tree trunks over 300 million years old situated about 40 kilometers west of Khorixas, Twyfelfontein with its famous rock engravings (a World Heritage site since 2007),” the report stated.