NUNW slams Govt stance on evictions of farmworkers

THE National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) has criticised Government’s approach to the eviction of farmworkers, saying Government did not recognise it as a national emergency.

NUNW Deputy Secretary General Evalistus Kaaronda told a press conference in Windhoek yesterday that NUNW regarded the eviction of farmworkers as part of the bigger problem of landlessness and therefore an economic problem. “Government has yet to embark on a comprehensive agrarian transformation programme.Reform as we have witnessed has not done us much good,” said Kaaronda.He said the mistreatment of farm workers was no longer a race issue – of white farmers evicting black workers – but a class issue, because the black elite had become part of the “capitalist hegemony”.”Clearly, some Government leaders, as farm owners, have a class interest and their solidarity is not with the working class,” Kaaronda claimed.He cited the example of the farm Otjiku, about 90 km from Okahandja, where a black farm owner has applied for an eviction order against workers.Kaaronda called on Government to set up structures to help evicted farmworkers and their families, especially to keep their children in school.He further said Government should give priority to evicted farmworkers when it acquires land for resettlement.”Government has yet to embark on a comprehensive agrarian transformation programme.Reform as we have witnessed has not done us much good,” said Kaaronda.He said the mistreatment of farm workers was no longer a race issue – of white farmers evicting black workers – but a class issue, because the black elite had become part of the “capitalist hegemony”.”Clearly, some Government leaders, as farm owners, have a class interest and their solidarity is not with the working class,” Kaaronda claimed.He cited the example of the farm Otjiku, about 90 km from Okahandja, where a black farm owner has applied for an eviction order against workers.Kaaronda called on Government to set up structures to help evicted farmworkers and their families, especially to keep their children in school.He further said Government should give priority to evicted farmworkers when it acquires land for resettlement.