Namibia, you stripped us naked

MARLIES ALPERS GABRIEL WRITES:What was going on in my beloved birth town? What is happening? Why were we not warned to be far more street wise as these crimes have been in practice for the last 8 weeks?This is far beyond the pocket thefts. This is organized crime and very violent.There are lucrative markets to stock cameras, drones and weapons. What for? Is there a connection to the brutal poaching that has shaken Western, Central and Eastern Africa for the last years and now found its way to Southern Africa? Or are the drones used to spy on houses for potential robbery?FROM TANZANIAWe live in an African country smaller than Namibia but with nearly 20 times more inhabitants than Namibia. We do not feel as unsafe in Tanzania as we felt during our recent visits to my home town.There was this strange and unhappy feeling during the last week of planning for our long safari coming from Tanzania to Namibia and a bit of South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia - is this karma? A warning from universeOr simply going back home and dreading to sort out some family related stuff following my brothers fatal accident on January, 29th 2016 when a double engine Cessna crashed next to Hosea Kutako and took the life of three very fine and experienced Namibian pilots.There was no pre-announcement of our arrival to family, friends and colleagues. We simply arrived. Booked at a BnB to stay independent and to cater for our special diets especially during breakfast. The BnB has excellent ratings and the concept worked for us in Hamburg as well as Berlin.The Eros suburb around Medi City looks welcoming. The host was very hospitable and very helpful. All in all we felt welcome.SHORTLIVED SAFETYMy husband took the long route to Namibia and instead of catching a flight like my son and I, he decided to drive through sub-Saharan Africa down to Windhoek. He got delayed on his journey and couldn't make it in time to welcome us off the plane.Our dear Windhoek friend took care of this and we felt happy, safe and well looked after.Due to hubbies delay we got stuck on the first day and decided to call a cab company to take us around town to sort out the official stuff for our visit. They were enormously unreliable and kept us waiting for 40 minutes twice. (Note: we did book 20 hours in advance.)The frustration led to the decision to take a normal registered Windhoek taxi which you can grab off the road at every corner in the city. I was assured by reliable sources that this isn't a problem, that it's very safe and reliable and it's basically the new way to commute around Windhoek as a foreigner without a tour company or car hire. Note: we do drive taxis in Tanzania and therefore it wasn't that strange for us to give it a go although for Windhoek it was definitely a new thing for me to do.REFUGEESThe driver of the first taxi we took off the road was from Rwanda. We communicated in Swahili and thought of this as a fun experience in Windhoek, my home town. He dropped us at the Ministry of Home Affairs which took a while. He did point out that his vehicle is broken and that he needs to repair it whilst we were finishing our stuff at Home Affairs.We called once we were done and he sent his brother to do the pickup in a non-registered taxi. The brother wore his Kanzu being from Burundi and of Muslim religion.Weird. What was going on in Windhoek all of a sudden? East African taxi drivers communicating in Swahili and showing me their Refugee ID.Apparently there is a big refugee camp up at Osire, of which I and many others with whom I shared the story were not aware. Both these taxi drivers had no work permit.The Burundi taxi driver dropped us home after shopping at Maerua Mall. He got changed from Kanzu to western clothes during our time spent at the mall. The Rwandan kept phoning during our time spent at the mall to say that his brother is ready, waiting for us.I recall getting very irritated about their persistence and nearly cancelled this taxi arrangements – but didn't.On our way home I did mention that we don't need their services as my husband is arriving from Tanzania in the evening, which he did. Upon his arrival we carried all of the aluminium boxes into the house, those which are used by film companies. There must have been observers watching what we were doing as their informers alert Windhoek's crime syndicate with focus on cameras, drones and weapons.OUR EXPERIENCEIn the early morning hours from Friday, the 31st of March to Saturday, the 1st of April and while in bed sleeping, the robbers broke into the BnB guest house in Eros and stole all of my husband's camera equipment and Macintosh computer laptops worth US$ 11,500. In addition to this, large cash sums of Namibian dollars, South African Rands and especially American dollars and euros were taken.They did not enter our sleeping rooms. We do believe that they used a spray as our son did sleep extremely long that morning.We discovered the break-in upon waking up in the morning, wanting to grab a cup of tea.The City Police came an hour after we called and were the first on the crime scene. They explained to us a bit about the current crime syndicate shaking Windhoek causing sleepless nights.The sergeant from the Namibian Police came an hour later to explain a bit more about the syndicate making use of the refugee taxi drivers as informers. A dangerous task for them to stay in the job / country and earn an income.The sergeant took all details including the numbers of both taxi drivers though he didn't let us call both to request their services simply to catch them on the spot.He tried this two days later. The Burundi was caught and interrogated though nothing came out of this action.We tried everything in our power to mobilize people and authorities.LOSING HOPEThe night we got robbed there were two other break-ins in Eros and another in Luxury Hill.The night after our robbery a family friend and his daughter were robbed and violently beaten.What was going on in my beloved birth town? What is happening?My initial impression of Windhoek is a thriving capital city. However my personal experience and that of my friends leaves it to question.Is its growth balanced or are we leaving part of the community behind? And those sections left behind are finding themselves embroiled in criminal activity frequently brutal in nature.Namibia stripped us naked of our belongings, which are replaceable, but far more profound is my sense that my hometown Windhoek is losing hope.

Namibia, you stripped us naked

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