Roynam catering loses Rosh Pinah mine feeding contract

Approximately 30 catering workers employed at the Exxaro mine at Rosh Pinah are currently without work after their employer, Roynam Catering Services, were given the boot.

The mine sent the workers home on Tuesday, after the company apparently failed to honour its agreement in supplying food to mining staff over the weekend.
This comes just two days after Roynam convinced the Ministry of Health and Social Services to forgive the same failure at Windhoek’s two state hospitals late last week.
Roynam workers were sent home on Tuesday afternoon, just a day before the company’s contract with the mine expired at midday yesterday.
According to workers, the mine, just like the Health Ministry a few days earlier, was left to scramble itself for a way to feed its workers, after Roynam could not manage.
Suppliers already stopped allowing the catering company to buy on credit last year, after they apparently slipped up on payments on a number of occasions.
Workers spoken to said Roynam chairpersons, Titus Haimbili and Isaac Kaulinge, met with Exxaro management in May, in an effort to appease the unhappy mine management.
‘Its a legal thing. Its been handled through our lawyers. We’ve terminated our contract with them, and have made interim arrangements,’ Exxaro mine manager Christo Aspeling said when contacted yesterday.
He said that Roynam had on a number of occasions failed to comply with its agreement with the mine, the most recent incident being this past weekend.
Since dismissing Roynam, the mine has pulled in rival company Catering Contracts Management (CCM), he said, at least in the interim.
The mine has ‘a few options’ open to it, but will most likely put its catering contract back on tender, Aspeling said.
Roynam chairperson and recently reinstated Transnamib CEO Titus Haimbili refused to speak to the newspaper yesterday, referring the newspaper instead to area manager Larry Gonteb.
Gonteb could not be reached as he was said to be out of office throughout the day.
Staff at Roynam’s Windhoek office said he gave instruction for them not to divulge his mobile number.
Distressed Roynam workers yesterday consulted with the Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau), after apparently themselves failing to reach their bosses in Windhoek.
Nafau president Abel Kazondunge said yesterday afternoon that the union had themselves failed to get in contact with Roynam management, save for legal documentation from the company’s legal team.
Roynam is said to be fighting their dismissal from Exxaro on the grounds that the termination was done illegally.
Before the company’s settling with the ministry of Health on Monday, the ministry had apparently been in the process of applying to the Tender Board in an effort to terminate its contract with the caterer.
The ministry’s last contract with Roynam expired last Wednesday, and has since been renewed.