In a press release, RFA Chief Executive Officer Penda Kiiyala charged that accusations levelled by the Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union (Manwu) in a recent media report were unfounded.

Manwu's Regional Organiser for Karas, Raymond Koopman, blamed the RFA for outsourcing the management of the cross-border charges system to contractors that employed workers only on a temporary basis.

This, Koopman said, robbed workers of benefits such as medical aid, a pension scheme and housing allowances.

He demanded that the RFA immediately stop the contract system and place the contract workers on its payroll as permanent workers.

Koopman also alleged a conflict of interest in granting the tenders to contractors, adding that the union did not want "another Avid saga".

Kiiyala said the RFA had considered the possibility of managing the collection of cross-border charges at border posts on its own.

However, it found that it would be cheaper to outsource this function and concentrate on its core business - providing services to road users, he said.

Kiiyala also objected to the union making comparisons to the Avid corruption saga.

He said that the RFA's policies and procedures for awarding contracts were transparent and competitive.

"The spirit within which such contracts are awarded is in line with the country's overall economic development goals," he said.

Kiiyala said that the RFA was not in any way obliged to concern itself with the employment conditions of people working for sub-contractors.

"The RFA, as stipulated in the CBC contract, only deals with the main contractor - in this case Africon Namibia," he said.

The contract was awarded on the basis of black economic empowerment initiatives, something that would receive much more emphasis in future contracts, he added.

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