Windhoek

11 MAY 2023

In a side street in Oshikango, you can find an assortment of minibuses that ply the road to Windhoek leaving around 12:00 each day. I bought a 300N ticket from one driver who looked like his vehicle might have a near full cohort of passengers, and waited.

We set off and went to get fuel. The fuel was obtained from a hut in the township of Oshikango where many Angolans live. The driver and his assistant were living here. Next we set off to stop at each nearby village along the road to collect passengers and goods.

I sat next to a guy called Nanda (nick named Sky) who spoke English and was willing to answer my questions and provide information along the way. He explained that all the other 15 passengers, were young Angolan men travelling to Windhoek to try to find work. He pointed out the Chinese owned B2Gold mine and the big new South Africa owned cement factory explaining how difficult it is for people like him to get work there. Instead, he is trying to make a living selling aluminium and glass to construction companies in Oshikango.

We got stopped by the police twice on route. Once, to be told one of the tyres on the trailer had a slow puncture and needed changing, and once to have IDs checked at the check point before Windhoek. The passengers said this was normal and they just had to hope that they wouldn't have to pay anything or be held up for too long. We ended up reaching Windhoek at midnight.