President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah says Namibia is violating its own labour laws by allowing foreign nationals to occupy positions that qualified Namibians can fill.
She says authorities issuing work permits must take responsibility when foreigners are employed in jobs where local skills are available.
For years, Namibians have expressed concerns over being overlooked while foreign nationals occupy jobs that local workers can perform.
This was again raised by a Swakopmund resident, Tuhafeni Petrus, who questioned the recruitment of Chinese nationals to operate heavy machinery and a South African safety officer at a company in Uis.
S/B TUHAFENI PETRUS
"President, affirmative action, how I understand it, and we're supposed to normally import foreigners that have special skills that Namibians don't have. But as we speak currently now, there are Chinese who came here who are operating front-end loaders and excavators while our residents remain unemployed."
Petrus also questioned why Namclay in Uis had to recruit a safety officer from South Africa when Namibia has professionals who could perform the job.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah responded and explained that the issue is not affirmative action but the violation of labour regulations that restrict foreign recruitment to skills unavailable in the country.
"In fact, this is not necessarily affirmative action. It is skills that are clear to say you can only bring non-Namibians to perform the work that is not available in the country. But we ourselves are violating our own laws."
The president also questioned why Namibian authorities continue issuing work permits when the law clearly stipulates the conditions under which foreign nationals can be employed.
She says the responsibility lies with Namibia to enforce its own regulations, regardless of whether the foreign workers come from China or South Africa.
"If our law is saying only where you don't have a Namibian, you allow foreigners. Why do those of us who are responsible allow that? That's a big problem, whether it's Chinese or South Africans. So we have to change our fellow Namibians."
The President responded to these and a number of other concerns raised by the residents of the Erongo region during the town hall engagement over the weekend.