Disgruntled Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) employees have called on President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to urgently intervene in the institution’s recent reintegration process into the education ministry. Because of the re-integration some staff now face massive salary cuts up of to 100%. 

For instance, the new Fund director will earn close to N$800 000, a massive drop from the current salary of close to N$2 million currently earned by the NSFAF CEO.

The affected employees feel “ignored and betrayed” amid growing tension over the institution’s reintegration into the ministry.

In an email seen by New Era, the employees accuse education minister Sanet Steenkamp of boycotting a scheduled meeting, where staff had hoped to raise concerns about alleged unfair treatment, lack of consultation and what they describe as autocratic decisions by the NSFAF board of directors.

Staff warn that unless the President steps in, dissatisfaction could threaten the smooth implementation of the subsidised education programme that thousands of students depend on.

“We are not against the reintegration. However, we just wanted transparency, fairness and justice in the whole process,” the staff member wrote.

They said they have been writing to the board and Steenkamp since June 2025.

Their cries, they claim, fell on deaf ears.

“We just got offer letters which were not negotiated upon with an autocratic option to either take, or if you don’t want, you must go home,” the employee said.

Staff further claim the board avoided face-to-face meetings and instead engaged them virtually.

“They appointed a lawyer to give us offers, and he seems to have no experience in labour matters, as he can’t answer any single question we put to him,” the employees charged.

Tensions reached a peak on Friday when staff expected to meet the minister directly. 

Instead, they were informed that the meeting was cancelled.

“We got a tip-off that the minister is also boycotting the staff meeting. What is scary is that a whole minister is running away from staff members,” the email reads.

While they waited for Steenkamp with bated breath, the board and minister held a separate handover meeting at the Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management.

There, official NSFAF reintegration documents were handed over to Steenkamp and her team.

“As NSFAF staff members, we are still the ones who are currently busy implementing the subsidised education. We are implementing the whole model that they formulated. However, they are treating us this way,” the staff members wrote.

They added that the majority of staff, including acting CEO Kennedy Kandume, resigned on Friday because transfer conditions to the ministry were “in no way favourable”.

Through their union, the Namibia Financial Institutions Union, employees wrote to the labour commissioner to investigate concerns, particularly relating to benefits and compliance with labour laws.

Not true

Yesterday, however, Steenkamp strongly rejected all allegations.

In a written response, she said the meeting in question “was not cancelled”.

“A meeting was scheduled for handover to take place between the NSFAF board and the MEIYSAC management. This meeting took place with the relevant staff,” she said.

She added that further engagements have already taken place, including induction sessions with human resources and introductions with the assigned deputy executive director.

“Further engagements are scheduled for the coming weeks, where staff will have an opportunity to engage with the executive director and me,” she stated.

On consultations around reintegration, Steenkamp said “extensive consultation processes took place and were led by the NSFAF board”.

She said these talks included engagements with employees and union representatives.

Addressing claims that offer letters were issued on a “take it or leave it” basis, she said employees were given an opportunity to raise concerns through the board.

“An experienced consultant with a strong legal background was hired to manage the process, and all legal provisions were followed,” she said.

She added: “There has been no ‘autocratic decision-making’ nor failure to respond to staff correspondence. All matters raised by the staff were responded to and addressed by the NSFAF board in collaboration with MEIYSAC and in line with the relevant laws”. Despite the growing tension, Steenkamp maintained service delivery will not be affected.

“The NSFAF staff members are highly committed to their work, and despite the challenging change process they are undergoing, they remain committed to executing their duties diligently. We do not anticipate a disruption to the implementation of the STEFM arising from the reintegration process,” she said.

She confirmed that the NSFAF building will remain a State facility and continue to be used by the department within the ministry.

However, staff insist that, unless their concerns are addressed at the highest level, the unrest will continue.

– ljason@nepc.com.na