The Executive Director in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology says every effort was made to avoid the May 2021 strike at the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation.

Dr. Audrin Mathe appeared before the public hearing of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources on the nbc strike.

Of particular concern to the Standing Committee was how the strike deductions affected individual employees who took part in the nearly month-long strike.

Dr. Mathe informed the committee that the employees, through their union, had signed the strike rules, which explicitly stipulated the 'no work, no pay' rule, saying the money was deducted over five months to lessen the impact on the employees. 

He said the ministry, together with its counterpart, the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises, provided additional funds to the nbc amounting to N$100 million for a once-off payment, which was not acceptable to the workforce.

He further explained that the national broadcaster was not in a position to increase salaries because of its financial position at the time.