NAMDEB FACES WORKERS' STRIKE OVER PAY

Workers at Namdeb, a 50-50 joint mining venture between De Beers and the Namibian government, plan to strike from Monday over pay, the company said.

According to the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN), the majority of its 1,107 members at Namdeb has rejected the company's latest offer of a 10 percent pay increase, reports Reuters. The workers are asking for a 13 percent rise and an increase in other allowances.

"The MUN has informed Namdeb of its members' intention to strike... the notice received indicates that industrial action will commence on 12 July," Namdeb said.

Last year, Namdeb awarded employees received a 12 percent bonus on their annual wages, despite the impact of the economic crisis on the company, Namdeb said in a statement.

"We are operating in times characterised by a worldwide economic downturn, which has adversely affected our industry," said Namdeb Managing Director Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi in the company statement. "We were forced, during the past two difficult years, to expect from our employees to bear with us as we battled for the very survival of our company."

Zaamwani-Kamwi added that Namdeb's doors continue to remain open to achieve an amicable solution to the current situation. "What Namdeb needs the most now are employees and other stakeholders that work and pull together to achieve our vision for the future, which is a profitable Namdeb beyond 2050," the managing director said.