Windhoek: Rani Group director Ali Dharani has declined to comment in detail on the findings by Parliament's Standing Committee on Poverty Eradication, Labour and Industrial Relations, saying some of the issues raised are already before the courts. The committee announced on Wednesday that it had uncovered systemic labour and tax compliance failures affecting more than 2,000 workers following an oversight visit to the head office of Rani Retail and Wholesale Group in Oshakati last week.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the committee, chaired by labour unionist-turned member of Parliament, Justina Jonas, found that Rani Group directly employs only its managers and outsources all other staff through Employee Placement Services of Namibia (EPSN), with zero oversight from onsite management to ensure compliance with minimum wage, overtime, and legal working hours.

The committee further alleges that thousands of outsourced employees are paid strictly in cash, a practice which it said prevents the Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) from tracking tax compliance while also leaving workers without bank statements needed to access loans, housing, and other essential services.

Responding to the findings, Dharani said in an interview with Nampa that he had not yet seen the committee's notice, adding that the company is already involved in court proceedings with the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations. 'We are already in court for certain things with the Ministry of Labour, so I'm not going to divulge further on that. These are court proceedings pending, so I cannot talk to you further on those specific matters. The Ministry of Labour must clarify further on it,' he said.

Addressing questions about the outsourcing arrangement, Dharani maintained that Rani Group is not the employer of the outsourced workers. 'You are interviewing the wrong company. You are not interviewing the employer. The employer is someone else and they're supposed to interview them about what the arrangement is between them and the workers,' he said.

Asked why the company outsources most of its workforce instead of employing workers directly, Dharani questioned whether there was anything unlawful about the practice. 'Is there any prohibition on that? Is there anything illegal that I'm doing, which I will rectify? We have worked with the same service provider for between 20 and 25 years. We didn't feel it needed to be changed. So it's basically like they are our HR company and we're working fine,' Dharani said.