Otjomuise is a township in north-western Windhoek

Windhoek

Windhoek is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level. The 2001 census determined Windhoek's population was 233,529...

, Namibia.

Otjomuise is also one of the two traditional names of the town Windhoek. It references the hot springs near today's city centre. In May 2005, Democratic Turnhalle Alliance leader Katuutire Kaura

Katuutire Kaura

Katuutire Kaura is a Namibian politician. He has been President of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance since 1998 and was Leader of the Official Opposition from 2000 to 2005.Kaura was born in Ombujondjupa, Otjozondjupa Region...

 introduced a motion into the National Assembly

National Assembly of Namibia

The National Assembly of Namibia is the lower chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament. It has a total of 78 members. 72 members are directly elected through a system of party-list proportional representation and serve five-year terms. Six additional members are appointed by the President.The...

 which would have changed Windhoek's official name to Otjomuise as part of a national Africanization

Africanization

Africanization or Africanisation has been applied in various contexts, notably in naming and in the composition of staff.-Africanization of names:...

 of major towns and cities.

8ste Laan

8ste Laan (Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

, 8th street) is an unincorporated informal settlement adjacent to the Otjomuise residential area. The City of Windhoek claims that the land is meant for recreational purposes and not for housing. It served the shack

Shack

A shack is a type of small house, usually in a state of disrepair. The word may derive from the Nahuatl word xacalli or "adobe house" by way of Mexican Spanish xacal/jacal, which has the same meaning as "shack". It was a common usage among people of Mexican ancestry throughout the U.S...

 owners with evictions because the occupation of erf

ERF

Erf may refer to:* Error function, a function used in mathematics and statistics* An erf , in anglophone southern African terminology, is a small piece of land as listed in the municipality's cadastreERF may refer to:...

 4421 on which the 8ste Laan's shacks have been erected was not authorized by them.

Despite all this controversy the 8ste Laan community has gardening project that supplies Khomasdal

Khomasdal

Khomasdal is a suburb of Namibia's capital of Windhoek in the Khomas Region. Founded as Windhoek's residential area for Coloured people, Khomasdal still is primarily composed of Coloured people....

 soup kitchens with vegetables. This gardening project was launched by the founding father of Namibia, Dr Sam Nujoma

Sam Nujoma

Samuel Daniel Shafiishuna Nujoma is a Namibian politician who was the first President of Namibia from 1990 to 2005. He led the South-West Africa People's Organisation in its long struggle against South African rule and took office as President when Namibia obtained independence on 21 March 1990...

, to stop people from depending on the government.