Farm workers unhappy
There is a lack of transport at the ranch and when someone falls ill and has to be taken to hospital, they have to arrange transport themselves.
Workers at the Mangetti Cattle Ranch in the Kavango west constituency held a demonstration, alleging that they are subjected to poor working conditions.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Kasingana Kasingana said they have been writing letters in this regard to the management of the Namibia Industrial Development Agency (NIDA), which manages the ranch, since April 2020 but the problems have not been addressed.
One of the main concerns is that there has been no salary increase since 2018. “The workers are also unhappy that there is only one person employed per cattle post,” he said.
Kasingana said the cattle posts are situated approximately 10.3 kilometres apart and workers feel it is not safe for only one person to be stationed at a post.
They also claimed that there is a lack of transport at the ranch and when someone falls ill and has to be taken to hospital, they have to arrange transport themselves.
Other issues the workers complained about are alleged unfair dismissals and long working hours without overtime payment.
They further called on the Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the alleged illegal sale of government cattle by board members and managers, saying they would previously be informed of the destination when cattle are loaded into trucks, but that practice has stopped.
“All we see is trucks coming to load cattle and managers withholding information on where this particular truck is headed to,” he said. According to Kasingana, the ranch in 2016 had around 21 000 cattle, which now stands at 14 000.
The Mangetti Cattle Ranch is approximately 168 900 hectares in size and comprised of over 40 individual farms used primarily for livestock production.
The workers threatened to not return to work until NIDA executive director Uparura Kuvare and section manager John Alughodhi step down. Attempts to get comment from Kuvare and Alughodhi were fruitless. – Nampa
Speaking on behalf of the group, Kasingana Kasingana said they have been writing letters in this regard to the management of the Namibia Industrial Development Agency (NIDA), which manages the ranch, since April 2020 but the problems have not been addressed.
One of the main concerns is that there has been no salary increase since 2018. “The workers are also unhappy that there is only one person employed per cattle post,” he said.
Kasingana said the cattle posts are situated approximately 10.3 kilometres apart and workers feel it is not safe for only one person to be stationed at a post.
They also claimed that there is a lack of transport at the ranch and when someone falls ill and has to be taken to hospital, they have to arrange transport themselves.
Other issues the workers complained about are alleged unfair dismissals and long working hours without overtime payment.
They further called on the Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the alleged illegal sale of government cattle by board members and managers, saying they would previously be informed of the destination when cattle are loaded into trucks, but that practice has stopped.
“All we see is trucks coming to load cattle and managers withholding information on where this particular truck is headed to,” he said. According to Kasingana, the ranch in 2016 had around 21 000 cattle, which now stands at 14 000.
The Mangetti Cattle Ranch is approximately 168 900 hectares in size and comprised of over 40 individual farms used primarily for livestock production.
The workers threatened to not return to work until NIDA executive director Uparura Kuvare and section manager John Alughodhi step down. Attempts to get comment from Kuvare and Alughodhi were fruitless. – Nampa
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