SELLING the property of Ehafo Trust to generate cash to build a small new facility, is the only option the Ehafo Board of Trustees can opt for. Calls to give the trust to Government, will never be considered.

This was said by the Ehafo Board of Trustees, and their lawyers, in Windhoek yesterday.

"Ehafo is a trust and not a Pty, more related to a foundation, and its activities are governed by the Board of Trustees," Ehafo lawyer Andreas Vaatz, from Andreas Vaatz and Partners, told journalists.

He said it would be improper for an organisation, founded with donor money, to be given to the state. Founded in 1951, Vaatz said the original idea for forming Ehafo was to train, and give jobs, to handicapped people.

Said Vaatz, if they so wish - the Ehafo Board of Trustees may sell the Ehafo properties, relocate and a build a small facility in an effort to revive the project and continue helping handicapped people.

"There must be a meaningful transaction. If Government wants to buy Ehafo property, it must make a market-related offer," he said, adding that, the problem here is really cash flow.

But he was quick to add, that a number of things have to be considered before a final decision will be possible.

Ehafo ran into financial problems, in 2007, when Government stopped buying school furniture from its furniture factory, claiming they were too expensive, and decided to buy furniture from South Africa, where it is cheaper.

Vaatz said it was wrong for Ehafo workers, who are now being paid by Government, to say they want Ehafo to be given to Government, as Ehafo's constitution does not allow it.

He said these people were also not Ehafo employees anymore, but Government employees.

The chairman of the Ehafo Board of Trustees, Andrew Matjila, said when financial problems became a problem for Ehafo, they started looking for financial help, to keep the project going but, no one came to their rescue..

At that time, said Matjila, Ehafo owed their creditors. Ehafo had a Vocational Training Centre (which was subsidised by Government), a sewing department and a furniture factory.

Matjila said, for the factory to continue, it needed to generate N$6 million annually. "But we were only getting N$800 000 to N$1 million a year," said Matjila.

Although some Chinese are now renting some land for gardening at Ehafo, these initiatives are not generating enough money. He said at some point, the board asked Government to give them a loan to establish a fish farm, but Government said it was not necessary as they (Government), were already running the Vocational Training Centre.

Asked how much the Ehafo property will cost at the moment, Matjila could not say, but he said the assessment done in 2006 put the value of Ehafo property at N$16 million.

Matjila is being accused, by former Ehafo workers, for refusing to sign the Deed of Transfer so that Ehafo properties can be transferred to Government, as he has already signed a resolution that Ehafo should be placed under Government in 2007.

Yesterday, Matjila agreed that he did sign the resolution but said he was forced to do so.

But, he said, Ehafo's constitution does not allow Trust properties to be given to Government, and thus, the resolution "means nothing".

After production came to a stand-still at Ehafo, Government has been paying the workers, including management, although they were not doing any work.

The workers claimed that Government wants to give them jobs but, according them, Matjila does not want it, by refusing to sign. Ehafo has about 83 workers. Meanwhile, representatives of the Namibia Public Workers Union (NAPWU), the Ministry of Education and representatives of the Ehafo Workers Committee, met last Friday to discuss the Ehafo issue.

Immanuel Willy of NAPWU's Windhoek Branch said the meeting took a resolution to engage the Office of the Prime Minister, to help in the fight for Ehafo to become Government property.