Court interpreters set Jan 10 deadline

JANUARY 10 is D-Day, according to court interpreters who last year threatened to go on a national strike because of the Government’s failure to re-grade them.

A spokesperson for the court interpreters told The Namibian that they were waiting for the return to office of Cabinet secretary Frans Kapofi on January 10. “If we don’t get a favourable reply on January 10, we will take further action.We submitted a written proposal in December and think that the Government has already delayed the process,” he said.A likely strike was averted in early December after a meeting between representatives of the court interpreters, the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Prime Minister.The Public Service Management requested the court interpreters to submit a proposal with a motivation why Government should put full-time court interpreters on par with legal clerks in the Ministry of Justice.They did that and a follow-up meeting took place between the Secretary General of the Namibia Public Workers’ Union, Peter Nevonga, and Kapofi.Kapofi is the leader of the Government’s negotiating team.Nevonga refused to divulge information on his negotiations with Kapofi, saying it was “too early to do so”.Court interpreters claim that the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Ludwina Shapwa, agreed with their proposal to be re-graded but that the Department of Public Service Management in the Office of the Prime Minister was dragging its feet.The court interpreters have threatened to strike if they are not put on par with legal clerks in the Ministry of Justice, saying that they spend over 90 per cent of their time doing clerical work rather than interpreting in courts.The Ministry uses mainly part-time interpreters in courtrooms, while the permanently employed interpreters, especially at the High Court, concentrate on paperwork.However, the Public Service Commission has refused to adjust the job grades of full-time interpreters, prompting the Namibia Public Workers’ Union to inform the Ministry of Justice that they would stop doing clerical work.A return to courtrooms by full-time interpreters would force the Ministry of Justice to lay off the part-time workers.”If we don’t get a favourable reply on January 10, we will take further action.We submitted a written proposal in December and think that the Government has already delayed the process,” he said.A likely strike was averted in early December after a meeting between representatives of the court interpreters, the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Prime Minister.The Public Service Management requested the court interpreters to submit a proposal with a motivation why Government should put full-time court interpreters on par with legal clerks in the Ministry of Justice.They did that and a follow-up meeting took place between the Secretary General of the Namibia Public Workers’ Union, Peter Nevonga, and Kapofi.Kapofi is the leader of the Government’s negotiating team.Nevonga refused to divulge information on his negotiations with Kapofi, saying it was “too early to do so”.Court interpreters claim that the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Ludwina Shapwa, agreed with their proposal to be re-graded but that the Department of Public Service Management in the Office of the Prime Minister was dragging its feet.The court interpreters have threatened to strike if they are not put on par with legal clerks in the Ministry of Justice, saying that they spend over 90 per cent of their time doing clerical work rather than interpreting in courts.The Ministry uses mainly part-time interpreters in courtrooms, while the permanently employed interpreters, especially at the High Court, concentrate on paperwork.However, the Public Service Commission has refused to adjust the job grades of full-time interpreters, prompting the Namibia Public Workers’ Union to inform the Ministry of Justice that they would stop doing clerical work.A return to courtrooms by full-time interpreters would force the Ministry of Justice to lay off the part-time workers.