A war of words erupted after a nervous Namibia Agricultural Union called in the Omaheke Police to observe what Steinhausen Regional Councillor, Kilus Nguvauva, termed a simple handover of cattle to a dismissed farmworker at Farm Otjimanga.

In a second incident, a family who lived at Farm Arcadia North, in the same constituency, was served with an eviction order after the owner sold the farm to a Germany-based farmer.

NAU President Raimar von Hase confirmed that his union notified the Police about demonstrations staged at farms Otjimanga and Arcadia North on Friday.

He said both farmers, Karl Heimstadt (for Arcadia North) and Danie Delport (Otjimanga), had tried to follow proper labour procedures.

Heimstadt of farm Arcadia North allegedly tried to negotiate a settlement with the Kamutjemo family for almost a year before Nguvauva, according to Von Hase, interfered and disrupted the negotiations.

The farmer sold the farm to a German who wants to raise wild animals and wants the Kamutjemo family, there since 1957, off the land.

Von Hase said Nguvauva's interference led to the farmer getting a court order to evict the family.

"This eviction order does not refer to a farmworker but to illegal occupants of a portion of the farm," Von Hase said.

Swapo Regional Co-ordinator Festus Ueitele said he requested Nguvauva to intervene as councillor of the Steinhausen Constituency.

"His duty is to see that farmworkers are treated well.

NAU only responds when steps are taken against their members, not when their members chase people off the land," Ueitele claimed to The Namibian yesterday.

He said he and Nguvauva turned up at farm Arcadia on Friday to tell the farmer that he was acting incorrectly and were surprised to see five Police vans with around 15 armed officers.

"In our view, the presence of the Police was unnecessary and a wastage of resources.

NAU overreacted by contacting the Police and there was no need for them to arrive there armed with machine guns and tear gas.

To do what?," Ueitele asked.

He said Swapo regional structures would recommend that Government expropriate farm Arcadia North because of the way the owner treated the workers.

"Tjiri, tjiri (truly, truly).

We have no mercy for him.

Government must just expropriate that farm.

We can't tolerate his behaviour any longer.

We could have solved the dispute in a better way but they are forcing us to recommend that," he charged.

NAU President Von Hase said Ueitele and Nguvauva politicised a labour dispute for personal gain and to stir up emotions.

"It seems as if the deliberate delay of solving cases is used to garner political support," he claimed.

Ueitele countered that the farmers were never willing to discuss issues with them.

He said they went to the other farm (Otjimanga) for a handover ceremony that was organised together with the lawyers of the two parties - Martinus Scholtz for farm owner Danie Delport and Jefta Tjitemisa for dismissed worker Bernhard Muetulundila.

Delport said he dismissed Muetulundila after he drove his vehicle without authorisation and had an accident with it.

After the farmer paid out the severance package to the worker he retained 11 of his farmworker's cattle because Muetulundila refused to pay for damages to the vehicle and instead approached Nguvauva for help to retrieve the animals.

Nguvauva contacted the Ministry of Justice and Tjitemisa was roped in to negotiate with Delport's lawyer Scholtz.

Delport ultimately agreed to return nine of the 11 cattle to Muetulundila at a ceremony on Friday.

Ueitele said the ceremony, not a demonstration, was peaceful and they were surprised that NAU had asked for the Police to be present.

However, Von Hase said the group demonstrated, although peacefully.

"In the absence of clearcut guidelines and policies on the expropriation of farmland, certain actions are used by political opportunists in the hope that it will lead to undue expropriation," the NAU leader said.

He said his organisation strongly rejected the claims made by both Ueitele and Nguvauva that Government expropriate more commercial farm land.

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