By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK The Trade Union Congress of Namibia (TUCNA) has welcomed the new legislation on labour hiring companies, which seeks to ban such entities. TUCNA says the legislation is a step in the right direction and feels any people who collaborated with these companies should be regarded as workers’ enemies. The executive committee of the union held a press conference under the chairmanship of its president, Hango Paulus, in Khomasdal. “We are aware of the fact that there is some individual working around the clock to mislead some government officials in order for the government to duly recognize such labour-hiring companies. This person persists in efforts to do just that, despite the fact that these labour companies do not create employment, but hire workers to companies that do create jobs,” said Paulus. TUCNA also expressed the hope that lawmakers will stick to their guns and will not allow anyone to mislead them to recognize these companies. “The union is also very much concerned about the working conditions of security guards. The present fee of N$2,09 per hour to security guards, who have to work day and night to protect property, is unacceptable to the union,” said Paulus, who also claimed that some companies do not even pay their workers the minimum wage of N$2,09 per hour. In his opinion the work conditions of petrol attendants, domestic workers, farm workers and people employed by local Chinese companies need to be improved. “The best way to resolve the low-pay issues is that a national minimum wage be introduced. If such a minimum wage is not introduced as a matter of urgency, Namibian workers will continuously be exploited by their employers,” he said. The union also described the possible forced eviction of 3,000 residents in the Mix Camp near Brakwater as a human rights violation. “The practice of forced evictions involves the involuntary removal of persons from their homes, which they have been living in for years. We therefore request the government to expropriate the farm on which Mix Camp is situated to avoid mass evictions,” Paulus said. The union boss pointed out the implications of such an apparent eminent eviction. “The lives of these people will be negatively impacted and their livelihoods will be affected, causing social impoverishment, homelessness, growth of new slums, future insecurity, mental and physical trauma, the onset of disease, loss of livelihoods, worsened housing conditions, the removal of children from schools, destruction of property and tension,” he concluded.