Security boss denies accusations

AFTER being accused of unfair labour practices by a number of his employees two weeks ago, HAMS Security owner Andries De Jager this week issued a lengthy statement defending his company’s way of doing business.

During a demonstration in front of the company headquarters earlier this month, around 50 HAMS employees, mainly security guards, levelled a host of allegations against De Jager. These include a charge that he bribed an officer from the Labour Commissioner’s office not to intervene in alleged corrupt practices at his company, and a charge that he had at one point insulted employees by calling them baboons.Other allegations include charges of unfair dismissals, refusal to grant leave, and an unfair hire-and-fire system.In a statement delivered to workers and the Namibia Transport and Allied Workers Union (Natau) on Tuesday afternoon, De Jager dared his accusers to come up with concrete evidence of their charges, and urged them to then take whatever action was deemed adequate under the law in such cases.”The allegations of victimisation, intimidation and discrimination are far fetched and the company awaits reports of specific cases stating dates, names and incidents in order for the allegations to be investigated.No action can be taken from the side of the company on mere allegations and hearsay,” he said.Due to the serious nature of some of the allegations, De Jager said he has requested the Ministry of Labour to conduct an in-depth inspection of the company’s records to ensure that no criminal activities have taken place and that payment of employees is being done strictly in accordance with the law.On his alleged insulting of employees, De Jager dedicated half a page of his statement to explain the circumstances under which this occurred.”At no stage ever in the history of the company was any employee or group of employees called baboons,” he said.”Months ago an unknown person used the two-way company radio to play music, holding the communication button down as soon as someone tried to use the radio, making vital communication with the control room impossible, and thus possibly endangering employees trying to call for assistance in case of emergency,” he stated.He said the control operator at head office tried to get whoever was responsible to stop by warning them over the air, but this was apparently to no avail.”I personally took charge of the situation with the hope that the guilty party or parties would feel insulted and lodge a complaint at our office, at which time action could be taken against him or her for obstructing communication.”My exact words were ‘Bobbejaan, stop jou nonsens sodat ander mense die radio kan gebruik’ (Baboon, stop your nonsense so others can use the radio),” he explained.This still had no effect on the guilty party, he says, and no one has yet come forward to lay a complaint over the insult.Contacted for comment yesterday, Natau branch organiser Daniel Van Zyl said that the company’s response still did not answer a number of questions raised in the workers’ petition.”Their response is not clear enough.Our petition has not been answered,” he said, adding that the union will meet with workers today to discuss the way forward.The union was writing a letter to De Jager, in which the issues they feel have not been properly addressed will be highlighted, Van Zyl said.These include a charge that he bribed an officer from the Labour Commissioner’s office not to intervene in alleged corrupt practices at his company, and a charge that he had at one point insulted employees by calling them baboons.Other allegations include charges of unfair dismissals, refusal to grant leave, and an unfair hire-and-fire system.In a statement delivered to workers and the Namibia Transport and Allied Workers Union (Natau) on Tuesday afternoon, De Jager dared his accusers to come up with concrete evidence of their charges, and urged them to then take whatever action was deemed adequate under the law in such cases.”The allegations of victimisation, intimidation and discrimination are far fetched and the company awaits reports of specific cases stating dates, names and incidents in order for the allegations to be investigated.No action can be taken from the side of the company on mere allegations and hearsay,” he said.Due to the serious nature of some of the allegations, De Jager said he has requested the Ministry of Labour to conduct an in-depth inspection of the company’s records to ensure that no criminal activities have taken place and that payment of employees is being done strictly in accordance with the law.On his alleged insulting of employees, De Jager dedicated half a page of his statement to explain the circumstances under which this occurred.”At no stage ever in the history of the company was any employee or group of employees called baboons,” he said.”Months ago an unknown person used the two-way company radio to play music, holding the communication button down as soon as someone tried to use the radio, making vital communication with the control room impossible, and thus possibly endangering employees trying to call for assistance in case of emergency,” he stated.He said the control operator at head office tried to get whoever was responsible to stop by warning them over the air, but this was apparently to no avail.”I personally took charge of the situation with the hope that the guilty party or parties would feel insulted and lodge a complaint at our office, at which time action could be taken against him or her for obstructing communication.”My exact words were ‘Bobbejaan, stop jou nonsens sodat ander mense die radio kan gebruik’ (Baboon, stop your nonsense so others can use the radio),” he explained.This still had no effect on the guilty party, he says, and no one has yet come forward to lay a complaint over the insult.Contacted for comment yesterday, Natau branch organiser Daniel Van Zyl said that the company’s response still did not answer a number of questions raised in the workers’ petition. “Their response is not clear enough.Our petition has not been answered,” he said, adding that the union will meet with workers today to discuss the way forward.The union was writing a letter to De Jager, in which the issues they feel have not been properly addressed will be highlighted, Van Zyl said.