Rosh Pinah
Security guards deployed at Rosh Pinah are accusing their employer, Nkasa Security Services, of not having paid their salaries for the past two months. Two guards stationed at a clinic in Tutungeni informal settlement claim they have not been paid since they started working and for two months now they have worked without pay.
They visited the Oranjemund Constituency Councillor Lazarus Nangolo to brief him on their situation and asked for his assistance in the matter, saying they cannot survive without an income, as they also have people to take care of. A visibly disturbed Nangolo assured the two security guards that he would contact the company on their behalf to seek solution to the matter.
Nangolo said such cases demonstrate that certain companies do not respect Namibian labour laws, saying it is inhumane to make someone work for two months without paying them, adding that this illustrates how some employers take their employees for granted. “Imagine you’re working for two months and you’re not paid, it’s total exploitation of workers,” he said.
Nangolo called on labour inspectors to sensitise companies to the labour laws of the country to avoid the ongoing maltreatment of workers.
Manager of Nkasa Eben Masule, however, refuted all allegations as he pointed the finger at the workers, stating that it is the workers’ fault, because they did not send in their attendance sheets on time and their salaries are calculated based on the number of hours they have worked.
He explained that there is no way the company would delay salary payments to its employees without a valid reason and in this case the workers themselves caused the delays. “It’s not our fault. It’s their fault because they sent us their time sheets late,” he said.
Masule further said the issue has now been sorted out, as the company is done processing the payments of the said workers and all would receive their full salaries by the end of April, plus the outstanding amount for the months they had not been paid.
Security guards working for well-established firms have on numerous occasions accused their employers of not paying their salaries for months on end, despite these companies securing lucrative government tenders on the basis they will treat their workers fairly.