Lodge workers claim illegal eviction

FOUR workers at a lodge near Omaruru were refused entry to the premises after their former employer dropped their belongings at the entrance.

Petrus Coetzee, who has been employed at the Onduruquer Game Lodge for nine years, said the eviction is illegal and the correct procedures were not followed. He told The Namibian that he and his colleagues, Alariki Alweendo, Constancia Oxurus and Hulda Goagoses, were shopping in Omaruru on Friday when Frank Eichhorn, who rented and managed the lodge for the past 10 years, handed a notice to one of them.The notice, which was certified by the Police as a copy of an original, reads that Eichhorn’s rental agreement with the owner of the lodge had expired on November 30.Eichhorn, a managing member of the Southern Game Trackers, had signed a new lease agreement to run the Swartfontein Guest Lodge in the Solitaire area, starting on December 1.According to the notice, which was copied to the Police, Eichhorn gave the workers the option to move to the Swartfontein Guest Lodge and continue working for him.He said: “They refused and decided to terminate the work relation without notice.”He said the workers refused to vacate their accommodation.To honour his rental agreement, Eichhorn said, he was forced to remove the workers’ belongings from their rooms and drop it at the security building near the entrance.According to Coetzee, they then hitch-hiked back to the lodge, some 20 kilometres from Omaruru, where they found their possessions at the security booth.Each of them were handed a copy of the notice.Coetzee and his colleagues argue that the notice was not an eviction order and that Eichhorn was not authorised to remove their belongings.When approached by The Namibian, Aron Seibeb from the Ministry of Labour merely said: “There has been no eviction.The case is dealt with,” before he hung up.Coetzee said he reported the case to the Namibian Farm Workers Union (Nafwu) and is waiting for their reply.He told The Namibian that he and his colleagues, Alariki Alweendo, Constancia Oxurus and Hulda Goagoses, were shopping in Omaruru on Friday when Frank Eichhorn, who rented and managed the lodge for the past 10 years, handed a notice to one of them.The notice, which was certified by the Police as a copy of an original, reads that Eichhorn’s rental agreement with the owner of the lodge had expired on November 30.Eichhorn, a managing member of the Southern Game Trackers, had signed a new lease agreement to run the Swartfontein Guest Lodge in the Solitaire area, starting on December 1.According to the notice, which was copied to the Police, Eichhorn gave the workers the option to move to the Swartfontein Guest Lodge and continue working for him.He said: “They refused and decided to terminate the work relation without notice.”He said the workers refused to vacate their accommodation.To honour his rental agreement, Eichhorn said, he was forced to remove the workers’ belongings from their rooms and drop it at the security building near the entrance.According to Coetzee, they then hitch-hiked back to the lodge, some 20 kilometres from Omaruru, where they found their possessions at the security booth.Each of them were handed a copy of the notice.Coetzee and his colleagues argue that the notice was not an eviction order and that Eichhorn was not authorised to remove their belongings.When approached by The Namibian, Aron Seibeb from the Ministry of Labour merely said: “There has been no eviction.The case is dealt with,” before he hung up.Coetzee said he reported the case to the Namibian Farm Workers Union (Nafwu) and is waiting for their reply.