HANDOVER … Delegates at the SSC N$400 000 cheque handover to the Dare to Care initiative. Photo: Nampa.
SOCIAL Security Commission chief executive officer Milka Mungunda says farm workers are at risk of losing their jobs, because of the drought.
Mungunda said this at the Social Security Commission (SSC) headquarters in Windhoek on Tuesday, where she handed over a cheque of N$400 000 to the Dare to Care initiative through the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation.
She said the SSC wants to live up to its mandate of meeting the government halfway by looking after workers’ welfare, and thus finds it appropriate to donate funds towards drought relief to help farmers save their livestock, while at the same time saving the jobs of farm workers.
If farmers are not producing anything, then workers will be retrenched, and this would worsen the already high unemployment rate in the country.
“The drought situation is affecting everyone, whether you are a farmer or not, and it is affecting us at the SSC as well because farm workers are our members,” added Mungunda.
She thus urged everyone to donate anything they have towards the Dare to Care initiative, and help farmers who are affected by the drought.
“Come through with the little you have; you don’t have to be a millionaire to contribute, as anything will be appreciated. This donation is not a lot, even though it will make a difference, it is almost like a drop in the ocean,” emphasised Mungunda.
Deputy minister of labour Tommy Nambahu said he was at the village recently and spoke to elders in their 80s and 90s who say they have never experienced a drought like this before.
He said this year’s drought is regarded as the worst in the history of the country as only a few areas received average rainfall, while most did not receive any at all.
“This means workers in the agriculture sector, which is the primary industry of the domestic economy with a large number of workers, are consequently at risk of losing their jobs,” stressed Nambahu.
Dare to Care is an initiative of the Agricultural Union of Namibia and the Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers Union, aimed at soliciting donations to assist farmers acquire livestock feed.
SOURCE: The Namibian