Marula clarifies allegations of retrenchment

By Tracy Tafirenyika

MARULA Game Ranch near Dordabis has clarified allegations regarding a group of former farmworkers who were dismissed as a result of being found guilty after formal hearings were held in terms of the labour rules and regulations.

The dismissed five have been claiming and speculating unfair labour practices and human rights abuses. The establishment this week sought to clarify the matter, saying the five were dismissed after being found in the wrong, but that the company had not retrenched any other employees.

Ranch representative Oylanda Hagen told Confidente: “It is also worth noting that despite the hard economic times adversely affecting the hospitality and tourism industry, Marula Game Ranch at the direction of Rashid Sardarov has managed to keep its staff complement of over 60 employees. We have realised that reducing their salaries or retrenching them would have serious social economic impact on themselves and their families.

“Marula Game Ranch ensured that no retrenchments took place throughout this pandemic,” she said.

Hagen further explained that the company’s main objective remains to employ only Namibians now and in the future, since the establishment of Marula Game Ranch, had not only invested in the lodge but also into various local companies.

“We are currently holding a staff complement of 60 permanent employees who are mostly accommodated in a well-structured staff accommodation plus their staff shop and meat allowance weekly, which enables our staff to support their family and children in a consistent manner (sic),” she elaborated

Hagen added that the owner of the Marula Game Ranch, businessman Rashid Sardarov was passionate about the conservation of the land and its wildlife, and would therefore “do his best in sustaining and uplifting the community by creating new employment opportunities for the Namibian people”.