Minister of Justice and Labour Relations Wise Immanuel met with striking employees from the City of Windhoek's Solid Waste Management Division to address grievances over low wages, alleged poor working conditions, and lack of benefits.

The meeting follows a strike that began on 9 October, with about 400 workers taking part while roughly 100 remain on duty. 

The employees claim the city is contravening the National Minimum Wage Order by paying them N$14 per hour instead of the prescribed N$18 per hour. They demand wage increases and access to benefits they say all city employees are entitled to.

Immanuel assured workers that he directed ministry officials to engage the City of Windhoek on allegations of non-compliance with the minimum wage order, which took effect on 1 January 2025.

Immanuel described the dispute as twofold: a dispute of right and a dispute of interest.

"The essence is that when I receive consent from workers, I must make sure that the ministry officials attend to that consent promptly or where there is an intervention of the minister, or if the minister is the available resource, because officers or officials are attending to some other task. I should make sure that I attend to those concerns promptly. And by attending to the concerns promptly, it does not always constitute a resolution of a consent or a dispute, but a mere rendering of the audience to the workers."

The employees had referred the matter to the Labour Commissioner, but the dispute remained unresolved, resulting in a Certificate of Unresolved Dispute.

This certificate signifies the end of the conciliation process and allows either party to pursue further lawful actions, such as a strike.  

Immanuel explained government intervention.

"Government, therefore, does not actively and primarily intervene in disputes of interest, you know, for the autonomy of social partners and the independence of social dialogues. You follow? Pursuit of interest is dependent on several variables. Such that both workers will put up their proposals, and those proposals need to be evaluated and assessed. The employer needs to consider its financial position to determine if it can afford the proposals. And that is in force."

The striking workers were given a chance to pose questions directly to the minister, who addressed their concern