SOS housemothers fed up

Unhappy housemothers at SOS Children's Villages Namibia in Windhoek, Tsumeb and Ondangwa handed over a petition to their respective offices yesterday morning, detailing a litany of complaints, which they say have been ignored by management.In Windhoek, the petition, handed over by Christina Nowases to the centre's director Rodney Cloete, states that their complaints have been brought to the attention of management several times, but they have never received any response and neither have any of the complaints been addressed.The housemothers say they work 24 hours a day, in contravention of the Labour Act of 2007.“Even though it is said that children sleep at night, and thus there is little to no work, it is a fact that mothers work throughout the night. If a child falls ill, the mother must take the child to hospital, and if a child fails a grade, the mother is held responsible. We demand that SOS immediately complies with the labour law.” According to the petition, housemothers are not allowed to receive visitors and are forced to stay in the SOS village.“On 11 May 2016, we sent a letter to the board, which stated that SOS facilities may receive visitors daily between 19:00 and 21:00. This is not a good time, as we are busy with the children during those hours. We are cooking, helping with homework and readying the children for bed. The board indicated that we can select our own visiting times, but this has not been implemented. Visitors are chased away.” Furthermore, the mothers say in the past, they were able to take the children away for a weekend or for holidays without having to put in for leave. Management, however, has instituted a new rule, which the mothers say was not discussed with them, that any person who takes a child out has to apply for leave.“This has discouraged us to take them out and it has a negative effect on the children. We demand that housemothers can take children out without having to apply for leave.” The workers have also demanded that the board be introduced to them, and say further that they are not permitted to register with the Social Security Commission immediately after being employed. They also allege that contributions to medical aid and pension funds are not made on time. They further say their position held and available leave days are also not indicated on their payslips. “Children with disabilities are placed in our care and we have not been trained to work with these children. This places them in danger and we demand training in this regard,” the workers said.The housemothers say they have brought these grievances to the attention of the national director of SOS Children's Villages Namibia, Simonee Shihepo Mulamata, but nothing has been done.They demand that Mulamata respond by 12:00 on 15 February or further steps will be taken.TANJA BAUSE

SOS housemothers fed up

Comments

Namibian Sun 2026-06-16

Please login to leave a comment

SOS housemothers fed up

Comments

Namibian Sun 2026-06-16

Please login to leave a comment

Subscription Required to Access Content ×

Login

Subscription Required to Access Content