Members of the Namibia Security Workers Union (NASWU) held a demonstration at Rundu, demanding national minimum wage compliance from employers.
The security guards submitted a petition to the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations' regional head, Michael Kabwata.
The minimum wage for the security guards is currently N$13.50 per hour. However, some companies do not cooperate with the labour laws but rather pay the workers as little as N$6 per hour.
In their petition, the security guards shared that, for many years, they have been denied economic advancement and social development.
Johannes Shingo, a shop steward for NASWU, said, "In our hometown of Rundu, clients are not considering complying with the national wage order but rather opt to neglect it for their own enrichment. Most of the sites are given to companies that are tendering low with the intention of exploiting workers in our town. In other towns, the same company is paying employees well, but not here. Today, we stood up in solidarity to oppose this practice and called for the intervention of relevant law enforcement agencies to enforce the law immediately."
The petition stated that, despite repeated complaints, employers had not complied.
Their demands are as follows: "1. Immediate implementation of the minimum wage within the January 2026 cycle. 2. Hire companies that are complying with the National Minimum Wage, or else permanently close the sites of clients in Rundu that are not complying. 3. Clients should work with service provider employees to ensure compliance, as this can be demanding, and check payslips for salary rates, deductions, and incentives. 4. Ministries, companies, and agencies should pay invoices from the companies on time to prevent a delay in the payment of security guards' salaries. 5. All ministry tenders should be through the Central Procurement Board of Namibia for thorough compliance with the attached recommendation letter from the recognised Security Trade Union."
By January of next year, the minimum wage will increase to N$16 per hour.
Mikka Joseph, the Secretary General of the Namibia Security Workers Union, expressed concern about potential non-adherence to the new minimum wage.
"We found that the security industry is facing challenges because clients are terminating tenders for security services and requesting adjustments to their invoices. When clients request invoices, a company with a lower tender will take over, which we cannot tolerate because the security sector will face a wage of N$16 per hour starting January 1, 2026. What if now it's very difficult to pay N$13? Are they going to manage to pay N$16? And those companies that are complying are losing tenders, and they are retrenching employees."
Members of the Namibia Security Workers Union are giving employers until February 1 to comply with the labour laws.
The petition was received by the regional head of the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations, Michael Kabwata, who promised to study it and provide feedback promptly.