Two Okahandja-based security guards claim a local property site owner recently assaulted them, sparking police investigations and calls for better worker protection.
The men say they were assaulted while on duty at night.
Hendrik Haulamba says he had been patrolling the property on the night of 25 June before briefly sitting down inside an unused building to keep warm.
“That day it was cold. I had been patrolling outside, then I went inside and sat for a bit,” he says.
Haulamba says the owner of Human Drilling Contractors CC, Pieter Human, entered the building and attacked him without warning.
“He did not talk to me or ask me anything.
He just started beating me with a stick and said he was disciplining me,” he says.
The stick broke after he was struck three times, Haulamba says.
“Then he started beating me with his hands. He only spoke to me after I ran away,” he says.
Haulamba further claims Human tried to push him into a nearby hole.
Medical records from Okahandja State Hospital, dated 26 June, show Haulamba sought treatment a day after the alleged assault for bruises, swelling and pain in his face, chest, neck, back, shoulder, arm and groin.
He says Human only later asked whether he had been sleeping on duty after reviewing security camera footage.
A few days later, Haulamba received a notice to attend a disciplinary hearing.
Documents The Namibian has seen show Xpert Security Services issued him with a notice to appear before a disciplinary hearing dated 29 June.
The hearing was scheduled for 5 July at the company’s Okahandja offices.
The notice shows Haulamba faces three charges: sleeping on duty on 25 June, failing to carry out his duties and responsibilities on the same day, and being absent without leave on 27 June.
Haulamba says he has reported the matter to the police.
“The police came to the office and spoke to my boss first before they called me inside,” he says, adding he was asked whether he wanted to pursue a case against Human.
A second security guard, Fertus Kamanya, says he was also assaulted while on duty at the same site at Okahandja.
He says Human assaulted him during a night shift on 8 July while he was guarding another drilling site.
“It was around 23h00. I was standing on duty, because the police patrol was coming,” he says.
Kamanya says he later reported the incident to his employer.
He says a criminal case against Human is under investigation.
Xpert Security Services owner Muller Theron has confirmed that the company is aware of the allegations.
“They are employees of mine, so I am aware of this,” he says.
He has confirmed that both guards have been removed from the site.
Theron, however, rejects claims that Haulamba’s disciplinary hearing was linked to the alleged assault.
“The guy who was put through a disciplinary hearing has nothing to do with that case. He was put through a disciplinary hearing because he was absent without leave. That’s a whole different thing.”
Okahandja Concerned Group chairperson Seth Gariseb has called on security companies to do more to protect their employees.
“We don’t want our people to be bullied. Security guards must be respected. It cannot be acceptable for someone to assault a guard while the employer fails to protect that worker,” he says.
Human did not respond to a request for comment by the time of going to print.
Police inspector Titus Lupale at Okahandja’s Crime Investigations Unit yesterday promised to confirm the case, but had not done so by the time of going to print.
