John Matsi, the Chief Labour Relations Officer at the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation’s International Relations and Advice Division, is one of only a few civil servants with a disability.

Matsi, a public servant for the past 13 years, made an impassioned plea to government to look into the prospect of employing more people with disabilities, particularly those with visual impairments. 

“It is a bit disappointing that people with disabilities, visually impaired in particular, are very few in the public service. I, therefore, implore managers to look into employing them as they are also people with livelihoods to support and some of them have gone to school and are expected to provide,” Matsi said. 

Humble beginnings

Matsi is a native of Ontananga village, in the Oshikoto region and was educated at Eluwa Special School in Ongwediva, from 1991 to 2001, where he attended grades one to 10. 

“Due to the fact that I became visually impaired at a very tender age, I could not be enrolled at a local, mainstream school. So, I was enrolled at Eluwa Special School, which is over 40 kilometres away from home. But it is a boarding school,” Matsi said, as he settled down for the interview.

He further revealed due to his impairment, he missed the ordinary school starting age and started late. He schooled at Eluwa, before proceeding to the Gabriel Taapopi Senior Secondary School, which integrated learners with visual impairments into the mainstream, for grades 11 and 12.

“Upon my matriculation, I proceeded to the University of Namibia, in pursuit of a degree in Psychology and Sociology - with which I graduated in 2008,” Matsi said. Inspirationally, Matsi also told the newspaper that he later went back to the university to pursue a Master’s Degree in Gender and Development Studies, that he successfully completed and graduated in 2018.

He joined the civil service around March 2009. But unlike some who would wax lyrical about having had a dream to work for the government, Matsi maintained that he joined the public service purely as a source of income. 

He is, however, quick to indicate that, as soon as he started work at the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation, which was his first ever job, his heart was captured as he fell in love with his work.  

“That is when I experienced the joy of serving in the public service and I felt the environment. I am enjoying the public service,” Matsi said.

Matsi served as a senior labour relations officer from 2009 until 2016. In 2017, he was promoted to his current position of chief labour relations officer.

He works for the Division: International Relations and Advice. This division, he said, primarily provides secretarial services to the Labour Advisory Council. 

“The Labour Advisory Council is a statutory body, established in terms of the Labour Act no 11 of 2007. This Act stipulates the establishment of the Labour Advisory Council, which is a tripartite body made up of employers, workers as well as state representatives whom all serve on a part-time basis,” Matsi revealed, further clarifying his division’s role.

“We convene their meetings, take their minutes, write their reports, conduct their research and perform any other function that the council deems necessary,” Matsi said. 

Challenges

Matsi did not shy away from revealing that, as a visually impaired person, he faces several challenges in executing his work.

“I do encounter some challenges related to my impairment. For instance, sometimes it is a challenge for my employer to provide me with all the necessary assistive devices that will enable me to carry out all the functions that are required of me as they are mostly just sourced outside the country and are costly. 

Another challenge has to do with some council members absenteeism to meetings and not being committed to their work as they are not being responsive or timely when their input is required for a particular aspect of our work,” Matsi said. 

But despite the challenges, his job comes with its share of rewards at a personal level and in his case, he said, is the knowledge he has gained since the first day that he stepped into this ministry.  

“I have learned a lot and gained a lot of experience in the labour and employment-related sector, and I appreciate the knowledge that I have gained, particularly in social dialogue, the Labour Act itself and all its sub-sections. In short, the reward from this job is knowledge and broad experience in labour-related affairs,” Matsi said. 

According to Matsi, the perception that government employees are lazy is a myth that needs to be rejected. According to him, the fact that government work requires broad coordination between colleagues and at times outside stakeholders is the reason why certain projects and tasks take longer to complete leading to people creating such beliefs.  

“Sometimes feedback may take longer to be received and other times it may be required that time is taken to ensure that the result is properly executed. Most often people are impatient, and they end up alleging that government workers are not doing their work properly - which is not the case,” Matsi said.

Going forward

Having served the ministry of labour and the civil service for 13 years, Matsi revealed that he has gained a lot, and is now keeping his options open for other opportunities, being it in the public service or private sector.

“I believe that the more you work for various institutions, the more you gain knowledge in an array of sectors,” he said.

He further expressed hope that the economy will improve in order for the ministry to employ more people, which he said will make the ministry much more effective and improve the public perception of the institution.