TEACHERS at Opuwo yesterday joined the illegal strike that started in the Khomas Region two weeks ago.

More than 50 teachers are camping at the town’s football field and have vowed to stay put until their grievances are heard.

The teachers claim that Education Minister Abraham Iyambo doesn’t want to listen to teachers and that Joshua Hoëbeb, the governor the Kunene Region, refused to receive their petition because he was instructed by the Prime Minister’s Office not to do so.

Hoëbeb apparently said he saw no need for accepting the petition, as the case was already before the courts.

This, according to the teachers, was a clear indication that the Namibian government doesn’t care about teachers and their wellbeing.

“If all the teachers were to go, where will the government get teachers from,” one of the strikers wanted to know. Another teacher said that since Iyambo became a minister he decided to go on the warpath with teachers.

Asked about their relationship with the Namibia National Teachers Union, which has negotiated an eight percent salary increase for them, the teachers said the strike was a concerted effort by teachers countrywide and thus there was no need for a middleman.

They said Nantu had failed them.