Cheap Zambian labour in Zambezi a double-edged sword

Katima Mulilo residents and leaders are divided over whether employing Zambian nationals for domestic work fuels the Zambezi region’s high unemployment rate.

The region’s current unemployment rate stands at 43.7%, with its youth unemployment rate at 49.6%, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency.

Katima Mulilo resident Simasiku Mulijani says locals are capable of being cattle herders, babysitters, domestic workers or shop assistants, yet these jobs are often given to Zambians.

He says residents mostly hire Zambians because they do not want to pay the minimum wage for domestic workers as required by the law.

“Jobs are scarce as it is, therefore, locals must start hiring Namibians,” he says.

Mulijani says Zambians should rather be investors or suppliers of products and services that are not locally available.

Katima Mulilo Urban constituency councillor Kennedy Simasiku says as much as it is true that locals employ Zambians to clean their houses, the sad reality is that locals are not willing to do these jobs.

“These Zambian nationals are walking away with about N$5 000 and more on a monthly basis because they do these piece jobs for five or more households.

“However, us locals have come to teach our children to live the soft life of asking money from parents and living in their parents’ homes forever.

“Our young people don’t want this, except for a few who have been raised well,” he says.

Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations spokesperson Maria Hedimbi says dealing with cheap labour and exploitation is challenging, because the ministry’s policies do not cover undocumented workers.

“As a result, illegal migrant workers normally suffer in silence and put themselves at risk of exploitation and cheap labour as they are normally scared to approach our office to have their labour disputes resolved,” she says.

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