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Let me come to parliament so I tell the truth – Shilimela


SHILIMELA Security Services boss Banda Shilimela says he wants to be invited to parliament so he can tell MPs the truth about allegations levelled against him in the National Assembly.

“Let the government pay our money first rather than making false allegations in parliament. They must call me to parliament so that I tell them the truth. We do not provide security to the labour ministry even,” a defiant Shimilela said.

This comes after deputy minister of labour, industrial relations and employment creation Ndemula Ludwigh said Shilimela Security deducts a monthly fee from its guards as a Social Security Commission (SSC) contribution, yet employees are not registered with the SSC.

Ludwigh said this while delivering a ministerial response to questions submitted to the ministry by Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) member Inna Hengari last week.

“This becomes an unauthorised deduction and contravenes section 12 of the Labour Act 11 of 2007.”

Ludwigh said the security company also deducts an unjustified amount of N$300 or more, which is reportedly penalties for infractions such as sleeping on duty, coming to work late or being drunk on duty.

Shilimela described the allegations by the deputy minister as false and contradictory.

He said there is no truth to the allegations, and claimed that the government owes the company a lot of money.

According to Shilimela, labour minister Utoni Nujoma is aware that the government owes the company money.

“Utoni Nujoma was here. I showed him all the evidence. Even the ministry of agriculture admitted that they owe us.

“Now, where is the deputy minister finding that information from? Is there transparency there? There is no truth at all,” Shilimela said.

However, Ludwigh said last week: “Shilimela Security dismisses employees in contravention of section 33 of the Labour Act without valid reasons and without following the procedures as set in section 34 of the Labour Act.”

The ministry conducted an inspection at Shilimela Security between January 2021 and March 2022 and it was founded that the company was not in compliance with labour law provisions.

“So disappointingly, the compliance level was found to be at 40%. It was established by the labour inspector that Shilimela was in contravention of section 11 of the Labour Act that deals with payments of remuneration,” Ludwigh said.

He said at times security guards can go three months or more without receiving their monthly salaries.

“In many cases, management at Shilimela Security gives excuses that their client did not pay for their services thus affecting the company’s financial position to afford to pay employees on time.”

He said that the ministry attempted to verify the reasons given by Shilimela Security by calling their clients, however, the clients provided the ministry with proof of payment indicating that they have no outstanding payments.

“This proved that even though their clients are up to date with their payments, for whatever reasons, Shilimela opted not to pay employees on time,” he said.

Asked when the ministry will engage Shilimela Security, Ludwigh said the ministry through the labour inspector on several occasions tried to meet the company management, but unfortunately they did not respond to the summons by the labour office.

“The ministry is and will continue by all means possible to ensure that workers are treated with dignity by their employers. However, it should be noted that the ministry can only do what is in its power,” Ludwigh said.





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