Denver Isaacs
12 November 2008
THE National Housing Enterprise (NHE) board of directors has become the latest target in a three-year legal battle between the parastatal and a group of retrenched workers who recently won a labour case against it.
An appeal by the company against an approximately N$10 million decision in the District Labour Court last month is being rejected by the 11 embattled employees on the grounds that the company apparently has no legal board of directors to approve its move for an appeal.
The workers say the current NHE board had already exceeded its term in April when it was granted an extension until an amendment to the State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Act regarding the appointment of board members was completed.
This amendment became law on October 22, and the workers argue that the board's term expired when the amendment was published in the Government Gazette.
Added to their affidavit is a letter written by then Presidential Affairs Minister Albert Kawana to Attorney General Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana in April, requesting the extension of the board's term.
"I am directed ... to inform you that Cabinet today endorsed the extension of the NHE Board members until such time that the (SOE) Act is amended to regularise the appointment of the board members," Kawana wrote in the letter dated April 29 2008.
This argument will be considered by Judge Kato van Niekerk before she rules on the NHE's case.
Speaking to The Namibian from South Africa on Monday, NHE Board Chairperson Professor Gerhard Toetemeyer said that, as far as the board is concerned, the extension of their term earlier this year is valid until December.
"Right now that's all in the hands of our lawyers.
They know all about that argument.
What I can tell you is that we received an extension letter from the ministry which is valid until the end of this year," Toetemeyer said.
On Friday, the NHE informed the High Court that it wished to withdraw the appeal it launched against Magistrate Leah Shaanika's judgement last week.
The Magistrate last month ordered the company to reinstate eight of the 11 workers who took it to court in 2006 on charges of unfair dismissal, excluding three who announced that they were about to retire.
The total cost of the back pay and severance packages the company is to pay over to the 11 workers amounts to between N$8 million and N$11 million.
When the company appealed Shaanika's judgement, however, it had not yet received a full written account of the judgement, leading to an inability to proceed with the matter last week.
The company has in the meantime reinstated the group.
According to the workers, company management informed them that, pending the outcome of its appeal, it will only pay out workers who can give "acceptable security for repayment" in the case that the appeal succeeds.
NHE CEO Vincent Hailulu declined to comment on the situation on Monday, saying the case remained sub judice.
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