Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation, Utoni Nujoma, has instructed the ministry’s labour inspectorate structures to take appropriate action following the alleged beating of employees by their employer for loans.

Nujoma said this on Monday during the ministry’s general staff meeting, following reports in a local newspaper on Monday that employees of a service station in Rundu are allegedly whipped by their employer when they want to borrow money from him.

Nujoma said the ministry condemns such actions by employers in the strongest terms.

“I call on our labour inspectorate structures to immediately dispatch an inspection team to get to the bottom of these allegations and to take appropriate action,” he said.

He added that one of the principal objectives of Namibia’s struggle for independence, which was led by workers, was to end the abuse and exploitation of Namibian workers. Therefore, the Namibian Constitution contains strong provisions that recognise the dignity of workers and that aim to ensure social justice, Nujoma said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency