Meatco opens Meatma shop in Walvis Bay

“Wedon'twantWalvisBaytoonlybeknownforfish”saidMeatco CEO, Mwilima Mushokabanji during the opening of theirbrandnew Meatma shop, which took place on the 31st March, at Darra Court,Shop4,MbabanestreetintheKoeldrankfonteinArea,Kuisebmond,WalvisBay.

Mineworkers Union expresses dissatisfaction

exploiting Namibians through the draconian Contract Labour System that we fought for during and after independence. How could permanentemploymentrolesbeoutsourced?”

Ampweya mentioned this would mean, if by 2026 management has not attracted sufficient employees who elect to accept the Voluntary Separation Packages, Rössing would then initiate the forced retrenchment process that would ultimately see the envisaged 400 employees directly losing their employment.

Ampweya said, “the Trade Union (MUN) rejects this draconian approach by Rössing of which the majority shareholders is Chinese (CNUC) The mandate of Rössing Management is hellbound on promoting precarious work and employing draconian tactics aimed at ultimately exploiting Namibianworkers.”

Thestatementalsoreads:“TheMineWorkers' Union being the sole bargaining agent at Rössing Uranium Mine demands for the immediate cessation of the illegal process of soliciting selected employees to accept the voluntary separation packages without the Union's involvement The Union further demands that the Retrenchment agreement takes precedence and that such provisions be unconditionally adhered to We further demand an audience with the Chinese senior management of CNUC with the view of ascertaining that if indeed Rössing intends to initiate retrenchments it should do so in line with set procedures as outlined in the Labour Act and all existing relevant collective agreementsinplace.”

Responding to MUN's statement, Rössing Uranium's Managing Director Johan Coetzee said Rössing Uranium views any unfounded and unverified allegations against the companyinaveryseriouslight.

Coetzee further said, “following the recent announcement of Rössing Uranium's Life of Mine Extension from 2026 to 2036 as approved by the Board of Directors on 22 February 2023, the company embarked on an extensivestakeholderengagementprogramme which included meetings held with the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Ministry of Labor, NaCC, MUN national leadership, MediaaswellasRössingemployeesincluding the MUN BEC Rössing Branch. During these sessions, the company allegedly maintained and has guaranteed job security for their employees until December 2026 and no retrenchments are envisaged within the next threeyears.

Coetzeesaid,“wetakenoteofclause4.2Cand clause5.3,andrespectivelydisagreethatthese clauses obligate the Company to negotiate on the Voluntary Separation Process (VSP) currently taking place. The reasons being: that therearecurrentlynoconcernsofjoblosses,nor any interest and aspirations of employees that have been negatively affected. We further reiteratethatavoluntaryseparationprocessisnot the same as a dismissal or retrenchment. However,avoluntaryseparationprocessiswhere anemployeehastherighttoenquireonhisorher package,iftheemployeetakesupthepackage,it isavoluntarydecisiontomutuallyseparatefrom the Company for whatever reason, such as i.e., newemploymentopportunities,earlyretirement, butNOTduetoretrenchmentorredundancy.”

According to Coetzee, although the package is the same or similar to what was used for calculating previous retrenchment packages, it does not mean that the employee has been retrenched in terms of section 34 of the Labour Act2007.Thecompanycanatitsowndiscretion determine the voluntary separation package on offer and in this case, the Rössing Board approvedasimilarpackage,whichtheybelieveis fair and above market trends in the industry

According to Coetzee, dismissals in terms of Section 34 are concluded by a letter from the employer giving the employees and Ministry of Labour notice of termination of employment. In thiscase,theCompanyhasnotissuedanyletterto thateffectandhasthereforenotactivatedsection 34.Aspersection34,theemployerisrequiredto give notice at least 4 weeks in advance before intended dismissals. Filing a notice now is prematureandnotrequiredorobligatedatall,as no retrenchment process is being considered at thisstage.Anysuchnoticewillbeconsideredin thelastquarterof2026.

The Company maintains that compulsory retrenchmentsisonlyenvisagedin2027,andthe company, together with the Union, will engage and comply with section 34 of the Labour Act (2007)ascommunicatedtobothMUNandBEC. Adequateopportunitywillbeprovidedforduring 2026 when compulsory retrenchment is inevitable, and section 34 will have to be compliedwith.TheCompanywillremaininfull compliancewiththeLabourAct.

Coetzee said, since opening of the Voluntary Separation process started on 01 March many Rössing employees have applied and have been approvedforvoluntaryseparation.

“Rössing Uranium employees are not being retrenched; however, the recommended LoME operatingmodelwillhaveanimpactonsomeof therolesafter2027.LoMEdoesnotguaranteethe continuation of all current jobs beyond 2026, as the operating model and workforce structure required for LoME is different. The contractor miningsolutionforLoMEisregardedasthemost appropriatebased on the most resilientfinancial option and is the only non-value destructive option,” saidCoetzee.

Shiwana Ndeunyema who serves as a nonExecutive Director on the MeatCo board stated, “the opening of thisretailoutletispartof a forward intervention strategy by the corporation to not only procure, process and sell cattleintheformofraw material. But also, to setup retail outlets such as this as part of a socioeconomic agenda to create jobs and facilitate value addition.”

Also revealing that the products which will be sold at this particular outletwillbecattleprocured from the northern communal areas, thus creating an additional opportunity for the normal northern communal farmers to participate in the local market.

The Namib times asked Marketing Manager, Martina Kröller why this location to which she replied, “even though this part of Kuisebmondisnotaspopular we are sure that we can cater for this community by bringing our affordable products to them.”

Ndeunyema also pointedoutthateventhough they're not expecting to get the same returns from the local markets as they do from the international markets “Wefeltasanentitythat it is important to have Namibians benefit from

Land ownership

the taste of Namibian beef. By ensuring that we have those raw materials processed locally,consumedlocally and the revenue is retained in the country.”

Also revealing that the products which will be sold at this particular outletwillbecattleprocuredfromthenorthern communal areas, thus creating an additional opportunityforthenormal northern communal farmers to participateinthelocalmarket.

The first customers at the opening of the Meatma shop opening showed great excitement not only for the popular brand that's come to town, but also forthepricesoftheproducts.

Continued from page 1 commence after this. Invitations will be sent out to the beneficiaries. The handoverfortheWagdaarisscheduledforMay

ThedecisiontoelectrifytheDRCInformalSettlementcomesafteraManagement Committee Meeting held in February this year During that meeting, councilresolvedthatthemanagementcommitteeapprovesatotalofN$2550 000tobeassignedtotheelectricalsupplyconnectionsfortheinformaldwellingsintheDemocraticResettlementCommunity(DRC)ProperProject. Themanagementcommitteehasalsoapprovedtheimplementationplanforthe electricalsupplyconnectionfortheinformaldwellingsintheDRCpropertobe carriedoutinphases.

In a statement last month, the Public Relations Officer of the Swakopmund Municipality, Linda Mupupa, said due to the financial implications for all parties and to meet the council halfway, the beneficiaries will be given two optionstomaketheircontributiontowardstheelectricalsupplyconnection. The first option is for beneficiaries who can afford to fully pay the electrical supplyconnectioncontributionofN$2500,theycandosoonceoff.Thesecond optionisforbeneficiariestopayofftheelectricalsupplyconnectioncontributionofN$2500 inmonthlyinstalments.