KEETMANSHOOP – Workers of the African Tantalum Company said retrenchments effected on them was unfair and have left them deserted
David Nghishoono, spokesperson for the group, raised this concern to New Era as a means to have their voices heard since no solution could be found for their dilemma.
“Their claim that we have become redundant is unjustified as there are still ongoing projects where we, as Namibians can do handyman jobs as general workers,” he explained.
Nghishoono elaborated that their employer is about to build new operational plants for tantalite and palladium exploration as well as new workshops which will require unskilled labour, hence their suitability for these positions.
“The main reason why these guys got rid of us is because we want to join the mine workers union to address our grievances,” he added. He also said they have to work until night time without getting overtime or nighttime allowances.
“In addition, we never received safety gear whilst there is also no safety officer present at the site,” he remarked. He, furthermore, alleged that the mine manager’s only qualification is the fact that he is old and white.
“The board of directors at the company also does not want to listen or address our concerns, only caring about themselves,” he said. Nghishoono also said as permanent workers, they never received employee benefits such as medical aid, housing or pension. He said it is disheartening that the community of Warmbad, in which land the company is mining, is not getting any benefits in return, they are even not employed as general workers.
“After being retrenched working five months for African Tantalum Company, we did not received any severance payments,” he complained.
The spokesperson also bemoans the fact that the management of the mine consists only of white people whilst the company hired a third party to do the blasting at the mine who are supposed to inspect the explosive magazines regularly, but failed to do so, thus creating a safety risk for those staying on the site.
“If our grievances are not addressed timeously, we as the concerned group will call for the intervention of the Minister of Mines and Energy and President Hage Geingob,” he concluded.
Responding to the grievances and allegations, African Tantalum Company’s human resources manager, Willie De Klerk said the jobs of the retrenched employees became redundant as operations at the plants came to a stop.
“African Tantalum (Aftan) had a contract previously with DJ Drilling to deliver 4 000kg of tantalite at 25% per month, but could not meet the target, hence the decision to terminate the contract,” he explained to this publication.
He added that the production could not reach the targeted levels as the plant was outdated and operating against a loss, leading to the retrenchments.
“The board afterwards decided to stop operations at the plant in August this year and started making plans to construct a new one,” said De Klerk.
He also said Seena labour consultants, the Mineworkers Union of Namibia and affected workers were all present and involved in the retrenchment process.
“In terms of the Namibian Labour Act, you are entitled to one week’s severance pay for every year of employment, but these guys only worked for a few months,” De Klerk explained.
The manager continued that general plant workers at the time of being employed received a basic monthly salary of N$3 500, free housing and meals on the site as well as free transport every weekend from Warmbad to Karasburg to visit their families.
“We also have proof that overtime worked and night shift allowances were paid accordingly,” De Klerk said, refuting Nghishoono’s counter claim. He also said the company cannot just create jobs to keep employees on the mine and furthermore that all of them signed for protective gear received whilst working at the site. The HR manager added that management at the main consisted of Namibians, irrespective of race and colour.
“The company has worked really hard to comply with the Namibian law and its contractual obligations to its employees, going above and beyond its formal obligations,” De Klerk concluded.