Omaruru fire engine saved at last minute

A short-notice order to stop the auction yesterday of Omaruru’s only fire engine and grader is considered as ‘suspicious’ by labour practitioner Robin Raines.

Raines represents a former acting CEO of Omaruru Municipality, Frans Gaoseb, who claimed that the municipality still owed him N$61 285.The Omaruru Magistrate ruled in favour of Gaoseb.In a notice of sale in execution, the Omaruru Magistrate’s Court ordered on August 18 that the municipality’s Fiat Hitachi grader and Unimog fire engine be sold to the highest bidder at the municipal office.This was initially scheduled to happen yesterday.Yesterday morning, shortly before the auction, Raines was informed by the messenger of the court that there had been an application to stay the execution.’Neither my office, nor my client, was served this application to stay – only the messenger of the court,’ Raines told The Namibian an hour after the auction was scheduled to take place.’I also went to the registrar of the High Court today [yesterday], and was told that no such application had ever been lodged with them.’Raine charged that the application to stay the execution was suspicious because it quoted an old district labour court number instead of a labour court number.’District labour court matters cannot be dealt with in the labour court,’ he said.The municipality’s lawyer, Shafemana Ueitele, told The Namibian last week already that they had appealed the matter in the High Court and were awaiting judgement.’It’s a labour case where an employee of the municipality has taken the municipality to court. He got judgement. We have appealed against the judgement. The application is with the High Court. There’s nothing that can be done until the High Court has taken a decision,’ Ueitele told The Namibian.The Namibian learned yesterday that the case has been handed over to Jaco Boltman of GF Kopplinger Legal Practitioners because it is going to be challenged in the High Court.As a labour practitioner, Raines does not have the jurisdiction to represent his client in the High Court.