By Helvy Shaanika
ONGWEDIVA – Namibia Building Workers Union (Nabwu) secretary general Victor Hamunyela has accused the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Doreen Sioka, of turning a blind eye to labour squabbles involving Chinese nationals in the country.
However, Sioka did not take lightly to the accusation and asked if she is responsible for bringing Chinese people into Namibia.
“I have never brought anybody into this country, nor do I work for the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration, or what? Does he (Hamunyela) even know the actions I take in my office? Does he want me to kill somebody? Did he want me to crucify somebody during these incidents he’s talking about? These accusations are not fine,” fumed Sioka.
When reacting to the recent incident where a bricklayer was allegedly assaulted by a gang of his Chinese colleagues, including his bosses, Hamunyela accused “the current minister of labour [Doreen Sioka] of allowing the abuse towards Namibians by their Chinese employers -not only in the building industry but in all other industries in the country.”
Hamunyela claims that so far the only known action taken was in an incident in Otjiwarongo, where a Chinese national was deported for ordering employees to carry out faeces.
“Overall our people are abused and government must intervene in this thing and call the Chinese to order because what will happen is bloodshed,” said Hamunyela.
Hamunyela said the labour ministry officials fuelled the recent incident by advising the management of Namibia Cleaning Chemical Solutions (NCCS), a construction company owned by Chinese nationals, to have employees sign seven-day contracts, which is illegal.
“When I went to the ministry of labour, no labour inspector was at liberty (sic) to accept they gave such advice,” said Hamunyela.
Hamunyela further accused labour officials of being unwilling to work together with unions.
If there were a healthy relationship between the union and the line ministry, both parties “would go together, or meet at the employment sites”, he said. However, labour inspectors are not willing, he added.
But Sioka maintained that if Hamunyela had serious concern about labour issues, he could have reported them personally to her.
“If he was a wise person he could have taken a phone and called me personally. To personalise things is not right.
“At the moment I do not have a clue about that specific incident because the junior staff [did not] report it to me. I don’t report to the junior staff. Even he was supposed to report that incident to me or to the nearest regional office,” said Sioka.