Iuze Mukube
Former employees of Air Namibia, which ceased operations and was liquidated in 2021, handed a petition to the Supreme Court yesterday.
The petition is requesting the Apex Court to either expedite an appeal application lodged by the airline liquidators or dismiss the case altogether.
The appeal application was lodged by Air Namibia liquidators, the late David John Bruni and Ian Robert McLaren, challenging a High Court order which instructed them to pay severance payments to the employees in full. The spokesperson of the 637 former employees, Renier Bougard stated that, in 2021, they all signed under oath for their severance pay.
However, they only received half of the severance pay.
They lodged an application, which they won in the High Court in 2024, where the liquidators were ordered to recalculate all entitlements and payments of any outstanding amounts from December 2022. However, the order was appealed by the liquidators to the Supreme Court. Handing in the petition on behalf of the employees yesterday, Bougard said it has been five years since the liquidation of the former national airline.
He added that it has also been five years since hundreds of loyal employees lost their livelihoods and are waiting for severance payments that are legally and rightfully theirs.
He said they have exhausted all legal avenues before coming to the Supreme Court. “This is not a political matter. It is a matter of dignity. It is a matter of justice. It is a matter of survival,” he said. Expressing frustration, Bougard said families have suffered severe financial hardship.
He stated that some have lost homes and others have lost stability. Bougard noted that the impact has been severe, with many unable to secure new employment and others having died, some by suicide. An ex-employee in the same situation received a full sum of the severance payment through an order by the labour court in February 2026.
He said this demonstrates that the funds are available and that the matter can move forward.
Bougard stated it strengthened their resolve that the appeal application should either be dismissed or urgently set down for hearing and finalisation.
“We are not asking for favours. We are asking for what ours is lawfully after years of service to our national airline and our country,” he said. Although cognizant of the challenges plaguing the country’s Judiciary, he said they had no choice but to turn to the court for relief out of desperation after everything else failed. Deputy Registrar of the Office of the Judiciary Sebastiaan Kandunda received the petition.
A letter was written to the employees to make use of their lawyers to expedite the matter in court, which Bougard stated yesterday that they will do.
He said, if one of the former employees could get a full severance payment through a lower court order, the same can happen with the rest.
Meanwhile, the government announced a new national airline, Namibia Air, last year, with a launch expected between June and December. NBC reported that the airline will be built on a model designed to ensure sustainability and avoid the financial pitfalls that led to the collapse of Air Namibia.
Photo: Heather Erdmann