Minister of labour, industrial relations and employment creation Utoni Nujoma has urged parties in the Kombat Mine dispute to meet and resolve the matter without waiting for a hearing before the labour commissioner.
The minister wrote to Fanie Müller, the vice president for operations at the Trigon Metals-owned Kombat Mine, and Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) secretary general Fillepus Ampweya on 7 February.
“Deputy minister Hafeni Ndemula met representatives of MUN earlier this week, in my absence, and I met the representatives of Trigon on Friday, 7 February.
“Having learned the respective viewpoints and concerns of both parties, I have reason to believe that you may be able to find a way to resolve the dispute between yourselves.”
Nujoma said he believed such an approach would afford a good opportunity to address the present concerns of the affected employees and to lay the basis for the successful operation of the company in the long run.
Commenting on the issue on Tuesday, Müller said he would be meeting worker representatives yesterday. He said he would issue a company statement after the meeting.
Ampweya said he was in a meeting when contacted for comment yesterday.
The union later issued a statement welcoming Kombat Mine’s decision to engage in an orderly collective bargaining process.
“By agreeing to engage, Kombat Mine opens the door for the union, on behalf of the workers and its members, to negotiate the conditions under which these terminations will occur,” the statement says.
These discussions will focus on essential aspects such as severance packages, post-termination medical check-ups and relocation benefits.
The dispute arose when the company announced the closure of Kombat Mine for between six and nine months and the retrenchment of workers as of 31 January because the mine was flooded due to a dewatering pump failure.
The company said only 28 out of about 500 workers would remain doing essential duties.
MUN and the workers rejected this and accused Trigon of breaching the Labour Act.
The parties met on 30 January and agreed to stop the mine closure until they have negotiated the terms of retrenchment.
However, the following day, management closed the workers out of the mine and MUN approached the minister for intervention.
“We urgently request an audience with you to discuss the ongoing labour violations at Trigon Metals’ Kombat Mine, particularly the unlawful retrenchments and subsequent lockout of over 500 Namibian workers under the directive of vice president for operations, Stephanus MUuller,” Ampweya wrote to Nujoma.
Subsequently, an arbitration hearing was scheduled at the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation at Otavi before presiding officer Julia Mutenda at 09h00 on 26 February.
According to a notice of arbitration hearing issued by the Office of the Labour Commissioner in Windhoek, the matter is between Nelson Tjiriange and 330 others (applicants) and Trigon Mining (Namibia) as the respondents.
Trigon Metals is the Canadian company that owns Kombat Mine near Otavi and its Namibian partner is businessman Knowledge Katti.
– email: matthew@namibian.com.na
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