Namibia’s Minister of Works and Transport, John Mutorwa has rejected a decision by the Namibia Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to extend the employment contract of the company’s interim executive director, Reinhard Gärtner.
According to namibian.com.na, the board recently took this decision without consulting Mutorwa as per the Aviation Act of 2016.
“The alleged extension of the interim executive director’s employment contract, Mr Reinhard Gärtner, is thus neither endorsed nor approved by the minister of works and transport. Thus, the minister cannot and may not give his concurrence, at all, to the alleged extension of the interim executive director,” the minister said in a statement dated 4 June 2020.
The board advertised the position in December 2019, yet six months later, the position has not been filled.
Mutorwa ordered the board to finalise the appointment of a substantive executive director of the NCAA before the end of this month.
He also queried whether two South African nationals who are employed as the NCAA’s heads of air navigation services, Peter Marais and Harry Roberts, have legal work permits.
The minister said the positions of Marais and Roberts are considered vacant, although the two managers’ employment contracts have not expired.
Mutorwa yesterday said the matter is being dealt with and he would issue a statement today.
Kosmos Egumbo, chairperson of the NCAA board of directors, did not respond when contacted for comment yesterday.
In his response to Mutorwa’s letter, however, he said the board’s decision to extend Gärtner’s employment contract was in line with the law.
He said Marais’ work permit expired last year and renewing the permit posed a challenge.
“The unforeseen Covid-19 situation as from mid-March 2020 in the country somewhat delayed follow-up actions in relation to Mr Marais’ continued employment by the NCAA. Mr Marais is currently on a visitor visa and is still on the NCAA payroll pending the outcome of his work permit application,” Egumbo said.
Marais was headhunted in 2017 and appointed as head of navigation services for two years, from 17 June 2017 to 16 July 2019, but the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security rejected his application for a new permit.
The board directed at a meeting on 29 April that his contract be renewed for an additional two years until 16 July 2021.
Egumbo said Roberts did not have a work permit as he was advised to work remotely from South Africa to provide his services.
“He is currently remunerated accordingly,” he said.
Swapo party youth league secretary Efraim Nekongo on Friday issued a press statement condemning the suspension of three young women at the NCAA without due process allegedly being followed by Gärtner.
He said since the inception of the NCAA in 2016, the Swapo youth league has learnt about various grievances of NCAA staff members, which have not been resolved.
Grievances include discrimination on the basis of gender and race, unfair and inconsistent salary grades, illegal recruitment processes, and an unfit, improper and unethical human resource manager, Nekongo said.
He urged the Ministry of Works and Transport, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Employment Equity Commission, and the home affairs, labour and public enterprises ministries to intervene and bring the NCAA to order.
Source: namibian.com.na