The hopes of a group of taxpayers who approached the High Court to temporarily stop the Namibia Revenue Agency from deducting money from their salaries have been dashed.

Close to 1,000 employees are believed to be involved in a tax refund scam running into millions of dollars.

The applicants wanted the High Court to temporarily stop deducting their funds and to pay back what had already been deducted.

The applicants also lodged a constitutional challenge over the validity of certain provisions of the Income Tax Act of 1981.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has arrested two Landless People's Movement (LPM) councillors and a senior employee of the Karasburg Town Council over alleged graft charges.

ACC Spokesperson Josefina Nghituwamata confirmed the arrests of the trio.

She, however, said the graft watchdog is unable to provide details on the matter.

The suspects are scheduled to appear in court soon.

Employees at the Namibia Press Agency's (NAMPA) head office in Windhoek held a demonstration against unfair labour practises within the agency.

The aggrieved employees are demonstrating against what they regard as unfair internal promotions, no corporate governance from management, and management negotiating in bad faith in a toxic working environment.

They further say that employee grievances are seen as a threat, and they cannot raise their voice on their issues.

They demand better working conditions and a salary increment.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources and Community Development held a consultative meeting this week with the former employees of Air Namibia.

The meeting was in response to the two petitions submitted by the disgruntled employees of the now-liquidated airline to the National Assembly.

The former employees appealed to the committee to summon stakeholders to explain the delays in the payment of their severance packages.

Following a disagreement over salary increments between Netbank Namibia and its employees on Thursday, leading to a demonstration by the employees, the Namibia Financial Institutions Union (NAFINU) and Nedbank Namibia have finally reached an agreement after a roundtable discussion.

Both parties have agreed to further discuss the employees' demands regarding salary increments and other obstacles they have raised.

The former workers of Air Namibia expressed their frustration regarding the lengthy delay in receiving their severance packages.

"We didn't know what was going on. We lost our colleagues because of stress. People have debts, and people have children that go to school. We never expected to lose our jobs like this. We were just told that there is no more work for us; we need our money so that we can take care of ourselves," said Susan Mpinge.

The former workers of Air Namibia are continuing their fight to receive their severance packages.

A group of 638 demonstrators is reiterating their dependency on this remaining severance money as their primary source of support.

In December 2022, the former workers received a partial payment of their severance packages, but this amount was deducted without their consent.

Renier Bougard, the chairperson of the workers union, emphasised the urgency of addressing the situation while handing over a petition to the Ministry of Justice.

More than 500 employees at Nam Dock Walvis Bay went on strike in an effort to compel management and the board of directors to address their grievances.

The workers are discontented with alleged salary discrepancies and racism at the company, among other issues.

As early as seven in the morning on Wednesday, more than 500 Nam Dock employees took to the streets of Walvis Bay and obstructed the entrance to the dry dock and ship repair yard.

The non-payment of conservancy employees' salaries is one of the similar concerns discovered by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources in many areas.

The committee, which visited Salambala Conservancy on Monday, was informed that employees have not received their salaries since February this year due to the absence of a management committee, which is supposed to sign off on various administrative issues.

The Revolutionary Union (RU) has made allegations against Rent-a-Drum management, claiming that workers were being retrenched in retaliation for joining the union in Swakopmund.

However, Johan Louw, the Regional Manager of Rent-a-Drum, has denied these allegations. According to him, the retrenchments are a result of a decrease in revenue and are not related to union membership.

Close to 20 workers at Rent-a-Drum Swakopmund were informed that they would be retrenched.

The workers employed at this recycling company are not happy with the decision.