Africa-Press – Namibia. President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah called on employers to create the type of employment that gives incentives to employees, and that will, ultimately, take them out of poverty and to live better lives.
“Appreciate workers, a worker who is taken care of is productive and motivated,” she said as she launched the Staff Housing Project of the Namibia Grape Company (NGC) at Aussenkehr on Monday.
Aussenkehr has long been beset by problems caused by the lack of housing for farmworkers on the vast grape lands. Many live in self-constructed reed houses that struggle against the elements, resulting in the loss of several lives over the years through floods and fires.
“We want people to be better housed,” said Nandi-Ndaitwah, whilst giving credit to the NGC for starting the process of constructing houses for their permanent workers. The company is a joint partnership since 2024 between the National Youth Service (51%) and global fruit company, Capespan (49%), on a 20- year basis.
NGC laid the foundation of several houses for staff on land allocated by the ||Kharas Regional Council after it was donated by the owner of Aussenkehr farms, Dusan Vasiljevic.
Nandi-Ndaitwah, alongside Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture Sanet Steenkamp, Minister of Finance Ericah Shafuda, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform Inge Zaamwani and Deputy Minister of Industries, Mines and Energy Gaudentia Kröhne, also toured the vineyards and packer facilities of the company.
She reiterated that the number one priority of her eighth administration is agriculture, because “it remains the backbone of development for many countries around the world; every strong country begins with agriculture, Namibia is no exception.”
Agriculture, she stressed, is the key to livelihood and sustainable development and called on the workers to do their part in the country’s battle with high unemployment. The Head of State also said that her government believes firmly in public-private partnerships, challenging Namibian businesspeople that “the more we produce, the more jobs can be created.”
According to Capespan Group managing director, Charl du Bois, Namibia Grape Company has 450 permanent employees and thousands of seasonal workers in Namibia.
Noting in his presentation that Namibia can be the leader in producing the best early-season grapes in the world, he said that “We are very happy about this partnership and look forward to expansion.”
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