Workers ‘living in hope’

THE six Ongombo West workers who have lived in a riverbed near the farm since December told The Namibian last week that they were hoping for action after a statement by President Sam Nujoma on May Day.

At May Day celebrations at Karibib, Nujoma promised that the farm would be expropriated, as would others where farm owners continued to maltreat their workers. He also called farm manager Andreas Wiese a ‘criminal’ and vowed to deal with him.When The Namibian visited the farm, the six employees – Cornelia Rooinasie, Elias //Hoeb, Immanuel //Hoebeb, Wilfred //Hoebeb, Erik !Ganeb and Ben !Ganeb – were at work but their belongings and families were still in the river.The relatives said life was difficult and they feared the worst with winter just around the corner.Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) President Jan de Wet condemned the maltreatment of farmworkers and appealed to commercial farmers to refrain from taking the law into their own hands.”The NAU management urges farmers to [exercise] reason before taking any steps against their workers.These steps have to be in consultation under the Act, they have to be fair and humane so that they cannot serve as ammunition for the unions and certain politicians,” De Wet said in a statement posted on the NAU website.He called on Nafwu not to generalise and accuse all white farmers of mistreating or maltreating their workers.Before the expropriation notice was issued, the Namibia Farm Workers Union (Nafwu) had said it would lay charges of contempt of court against the owners of the Ongombo West Farm.Magistrate Uaatjo Uanivi had ordered that six workers be re-employed with all the benefits they had previously enjoyed.Although they were re-employed they continued to live in the river where they had been dumped by the Sheriff, who was carrying out an eviction order, in December.The union claimed that the farmer was making life difficult for the six workers in a bid to force them to resign.He also called farm manager Andreas Wiese a ‘criminal’ and vowed to deal with him.When The Namibian visited the farm, the six employees – Cornelia Rooinasie, Elias //Hoeb, Immanuel //Hoebeb, Wilfred //Hoebeb, Erik !Ganeb and Ben !Ganeb – were at work but their belongings and families were still in the river.The relatives said life was difficult and they feared the worst with winter just around the corner.Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) President Jan de Wet condemned the maltreatment of farmworkers and appealed to commercial farmers to refrain from taking the law into their own hands.”The NAU management urges farmers to [exercise] reason before taking any steps against their workers.These steps have to be in consultation under the Act, they have to be fair and humane so that they cannot serve as ammunition for the unions and certain politicians,” De Wet said in a statement posted on the NAU website.He called on Nafwu not to generalise and accuse all white farmers of mistreating or maltreating their workers.Before the expropriation notice was issued, the Namibia Farm Workers Union (Nafwu) had said it would lay charges of contempt of court against the owners of the Ongombo West Farm.Magistrate Uaatjo Uanivi had ordered that six workers be re-employed with all the benefits they had previously enjoyed.Although they were re-employed they continued to live in the river where they had been dumped by the Sheriff, who was carrying out an eviction order, in December.The union claimed that the farmer was making life difficult for the six workers in a bid to force them to resign.