It’s go this time, warns Nafwu

Vows to act next week

THE Namibia Farmworkers Union (Nafwu) has vowed to resettle six evicted farmworkers and their families at Ongombo West next Monday. The farmworkers were recently sacked after differences with their employers, the Wiese family, but stayed put on the land until they were evicted by the Messenger of the Court who dumped their belongings on a roadside near the farm.Nafwu General Secretary Alfred Angula told The Namibian that the union planned to resettle the farmworkers on a tract of land at Ongombo West because they had nowhere else to go.”We have given the owners 10 days to respond to our demand of taking back the people and, if the days lapse, it will be the first farm on which evicted farmworkers will be resettled,” Angula warned.”That is it, there is no turning back”.The union announced similar plans in November but Government moved fast to stop it by vowing to send in Special Field Force members.Angula later announced that the union had postponed its planned action to give commercial farmers time to come up with its own proposal on land resettlement.He has now said that the farmers failed to resolve the burning issue in time and Ongombo West was one example of of how they exploited the protection extended them by Government.”This year there will be fewer media conferences and all those statements.I am serious this year.The Government has the duty to protect its interest and we have the duty to protect the workers,” Angula said.He took a swipe at the Government, claiming that it protected farm owners with no interest in promoting good labour relations.”The Government is making a big, big mistake.Some farmers are too provocative.They want us to take over their farms but that is not in our interest.We just want to resettle the people they dumped,” he said.The union said it was working out how the farmworkers would “share” the Ongombo West farm with the owners and appealed to the security agencies to keep out of Monday’s resettlement exercise.”Apparently they (farm owners) have small boys [security] patrolling the premises for 24 hours.They think we are just bluffing.They deserve to get what will come but it will all be peaceful,” Angula said.Management has hired a security firm to guard the Ongombo West farm, which is situated 50 kilometres north of Windhoek.The farm management fired Cornelia Rooinasie, Elias //Hoeb, Immanuel //Hoebeb, Wilfred //Hoebeb, Erik !Ganeb and Ben !Ganeb after saying they had deserted the workplace without permission. Andreas Wiese, son of the owners, claimed that the workers had threatened him with a knife.The Wiese family gave the workers until the end of October to leave the premises and, after waiting two-and-a-half months, obtained a court order to evict them.The six claim they were dismissed after declining to sign some documents during a meeting with their employers and Ministry of Labour officials.Their unwillingness to sign the documents was, they said, because they had no idea of their contents, and no Nafwu representatives were present.In the third week of December, the group were camped by a river under two big trees.They set up makeshift houses with plastic bags and tents and piled tree trunks on the road leading to the famous Midgard resort and Steinhausen area.Some members of the group said they had put the tree trunks down to slow passing vehicles because their children were playing on the road.Others said they did it to demonstrate their plight to tourists and other passers-by.After extensive negotiations with the SFF members from Windhoek, the group removed the barricade.The farmworkers were recently sacked after differences with their employers, the Wiese family, but stayed put on the land until they were evicted by the Messenger of the Court who dumped their belongings on a roadside near the farm. Nafwu General Secretary Alfred Angula told The Namibian that the union planned to resettle the farmworkers on a tract of land at Ongombo West because they had nowhere else to go. “We have given the owners 10 days to respond to our demand of taking back the people and, if the days lapse, it will be the first farm on which evicted farmworkers will be resettled,” Angula warned. “That is it, there is no turning back”. The union announced similar plans in November but Government moved fast to stop it by vowing to send in Special Field Force members. Angula later announced that the union had postponed its planned action to give commercial farmers time to come up with its own proposal on land resettlement. He has now said that the farmers failed to resolve the burning issue in time and Ongombo West was one example of of how they exploited the protection extended them by Government. “This year there will be fewer media conferences and all those statements. I am serious this year. The Government has the duty to protect its interest and we have the duty to protect the workers,” Angula said. He took a swipe at the Government, claiming that it protected farm owners with no interest in promoting good labour relations. “The Government is making a big, big mistake. Some farmers are too provocative. They want us to take over their farms but that is not in our interest. We just want to resettle the people they dumped,” he said. The union said it was working out how the farmworkers would “share” the Ongombo West farm with the owners and appealed to the security agencies to keep out of Monday’s resettlement exercise. “Apparently they (farm owners) have small boys [security] patrolling the premises for 24 hours. They think we are just bluffing. They deserve to get what will come but it will all be peaceful,” Angula said. Management has hired a security firm to guard the Ongombo West farm, which is situated 50 kilometres north of Windhoek. The farm management fired Cornelia Rooinasie, Elias //Hoeb, Immanuel //Hoebeb, Wilfred //Hoebeb, Erik !Ganeb and Ben !Ganeb after saying they had deserted the workplace without permission. Andreas Wiese, son of the owners, claimed that the workers had threatened him with a knife. The Wiese family gave the workers until the end of October to leave the premises and, after waiting two-and-a-half months, obtained a court order to evict them. The six claim they were dismissed after declining to sign some documents during a meeting with their employers and Ministry of Labour officials. Their unwillingness to sign the documents was, they said, because they had no idea of their contents, and no Nafwu representatives were present. In the third week of December, the group were camped by a river under two big trees. They set up makeshift houses with plastic bags and tents and piled tree trunks on the road leading to the famous Midgard resort and Steinhausen area. Some members of the group said they had put the tree trunks down to slow passing vehicles because their children were playing on the road. Others said they did it to demonstrate their plight to tourists and other passers-by. After extensive negotiations with the SFF members from Windhoek, the group removed the barricade.