The Hai||om community on Farm Tsumore near Lake Oshikoto faces relocation from the land they have called home for years.

Having spent their entire lives there, community members say they cannot imagine calling anywhere else home.

But their future on the land is now uncertain, as they face possible relocation from an area they regard as their ancestral home.

For generations, the Hai||om community has called this place home.

Resident Michael |Guiseb says their connection to the area goes back long before the arrival of German colonial rule.

He says the area was discovered and inhabited by the Hai||om people and was historically known as ||Geisis, before it was renamed Lake Oshikoto.

"||Geisis was found by six Hai||om ladies, who were busy gathering because Hai||om are known as hunters and gatherers, so on their gathering they found the place, and they said this place is too ugly; that's the name ||Geisis."

The community says their forefathers brought them to the area, leaving behind a history that continues to shape their lives today.

Tsumeb Aitsama Madan Development Project Chairperson Lizel Nanis says the farm carries that history, with their forefathers also buried on the land.

"Our dignity is being violated, our rights to property are being denied, and our equality is being ignored. How can the government resettle other people on Oshikoto Lake while the original people, the Hai||om, are told to leave?"

But that deep connection to the land is now being tested.

According to the community, the previous owner, who has since died, was on good terms with them and allowed them to remain on the land.

However, they say his daughter, who took over the property, does not want them to remain there.

For the Hai||om, the problem goes beyond the possibility of losing their homes.

"This is the only home we know. You cannot evict people from their graves; you cannot evict people from their identity. We love our country, but we also love our ancestors. We will not abandon them."

For now, the Hai||om community remains hopeful that a solution can be found – one that recognises their historical connection to the near Lake Oshikoto farm while giving them security to remain and build proper homes.