The Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations, and Employment Creation said one of the mandates of his ministry is to ensure that workers are paid a living wage to maintain a decent living standard.
Utoni Nujoma said this at the Cabinet Committee briefing at the Government Information Centre in Windhoek, where he highlighted some of the important activities the ministry has been engaged in.
National Council MPs have called on the Ministry of Labour to take the necessary steps against any form of exploitation of workers.
They expressed concern over the ineffectiveness of labor unions in representing workers, which they said leads to retrenchment without protection. MPs urged labor unions to do more to safeguard the interests of workers.
The MPs also highlighted the importance of creating more job opportunities in the country.
The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation has collected about N$2.5 million from labour disputes on behalf of complainants, during the 2021 - 2022 financial year.
Minister Utoni Nujoma revealed this when he addressed his staff.
He says the money was been paid to the complainants.
In his address, Nujoma also spoke about the challenges Namibia faced during the past years.
The more than 600 fishermen who allegedly resigned from the Cavema Joint Venture at Walvis Bay have appealed to the government to give them active employment instead of a monthly allowance.
The Ministries of Fisheries and Labour, together with the joint venture, reached an agreement in 2020 to employ the fishermen in exchange for quotas.
The workers were responding to Derek Klazen, the Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister, who urged them to withdraw their alleged resignation from Cavema.
