THE NEW WORKER

My name is Immanuel Abraham. I was born in the northern part of Namibia Omusati region in the village called Aurore village. Life was very difficult in the village and our family moved from the North to the Otjozondjupa region town of Grootfontein. This is where I started attending my school until grade 6.

Because my living conditions were very difficult, I started working at the very young age of between 15 and 16 years as a farm worker. This was in 1987 when Namibia was still occupied by apartheid South Africa. I needed to work to assist my parents and siblings with food and other needs since my parents could not afford these.

At the farm, I used to live in a small sink in one room, since my father passed on. I had to work full time to cater to my family for a small salary of 5 rand per month. We used to get food such as 5kg maize meal, 4 Tins of fish and a small container of fat every week. We had to survive on that back in the days when things were cheap but life was not easy at all.

In 1992, after Namibia’s independence, I was promoted as a supervisor and a tractor driver. My wage was increased to R110 for work and R110 for food. So, my total earnings were R220 per month, which is still very low.

At that time my thought was that I had no other option, as a young man, but to work on a farm. Yet, we workers were making the rich richer while we remained poor. I worked for 37 years at the farm and got married in 2011 to the mother of my seven kids. I did not achieve much as a farm worker.

I joined the Namibia Farmworkers' Union, NAFWU in 1995. We used to work overtime without being paid. It was only in 2015 that one of my union's national organisers, Frans Kamati, started educating me about my rights as a farm worker and how to register disputes with the Labour Commissioner's office. All these years I didn’t know anything until I met Frans. But after joining the union and going through training on our rights, I learned how to represent workers.

Currently, I am a shopsteward and the chairperson of the Oshikoto and Otjozondjupa regions for the union. Now that I know my rights, I am willing to protect my fellow workers on private farms from exploitation and discrimination by employers towards the working class.

I am no stranger to the stories of violence and discrimination that many farm workers are experiencing. I have had my share too. In every farm worker’s life, there comes a point in time when an unforgettable event will occur.

My income is still insufficient. Whatever occurs on farms is happening to so many workers. It is a pity that we as farm workers and domestic workers on farms are uneducated and employers are taking advantage of many farm workers !!!!!!!! Nothing about Us Without Us.

Category: THE NEW WORKER | WORKERS' STORIES