25/09/2022
Witvlei charcoal company employees to face disciplinary hearings
Business Reporter
ABOUT five employees employed by Namchar, a charcoal producing company, may lose their jobs next week Friday after they exposed the company's alleged exploitative practices.
The Informanté this week ran an article in which workers accused Namchar of paying them poor wages as low as N$500 and not giving them proper protective gear.
Five of the workers who appeared in pictures of the Informanté's article were allegedly summoned into the office of the management and informed that they would face disciplinary hearings.
"I'm getting rid of you, take your papers," were the words used by management at the time of handing out the disciplinary hearing notice letters.
The workers were further accused by management of smearing themselves with charcoal to make the company look bad.
This information was shared by Reginald K**k, the representative of the Public Service Union of Namibia (PSUN), which represents private and public sector workers.
K**k noted that these developments are very worrisome and that the union plans to visit the troubled charcoal factory with labour inspectors from the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation.
The unionist further urged political leaders as well as the Charcoal Association of Namibia to step in to help the workers, whose rights, he stated, are being violated.
K**k further stated that Namchar applies South African labour laws although it operates in Namibia and only accepts sick leave letters that are authored by doctors and not nurses.
"The managing director of Namchar stated that I should come visit him at this office, I will be coming with labour inspectors to ensure that all is in order," K**k shared.
NAMCHAR WORKERS: Some of the Namchar employees. Photo: Reginald K**k.