Disgruntled former employees of defunct Air Namibia (Windhoek International) have petitioned the Supreme Court of Namibia to expedite a hearing in a longstanding dispute with the state carrier's liquidators over unpaid severance packages.
The group is asking the court to set a date to hear their case (SA 126/2024) or to dismiss an appeal filed by the airline's joint liquidators against an August 2025 order by the Namibian High Court. That order directed the liquidators to recalculate the former employees' entitlements, and pay outstanding amounts dated to December 2022.
What sparked the petition is the liquidators' alleged decision to pay one former employee, with interest, after he won a separate case against them earlier this month in the Namibian Labour Court, said former senior cabin controller Renier Bougard, who is representing the ex-workers.
"We were 638 employees at Air Namibia, and they decided to pay out one person. He actually won his case at the labour tribunal, which is a lower court than the High Court. We are asking the Supreme Court to either set a date for a hearing or to dismiss the liquidators' appeal because they have already admitted guilt by paying this gentleman the full amount," he said.
As reported previously, the former employees are owed about NAD105 million Namibian dollars (USD6.5 million). They have staged several protests in Windhoek last year over the continued delays in payment.
When Air Namibia’s liquidation in 2021 triggered automatic dismissals, a dispute emerged over whether employer contributions to pensions, social security, and medical aid should be included in severance calculations.
In August 2024, Bougard and 80 other ex-staffers won a ruling in the High Court that severance must be based on employees’ full costs to the company, including salary, allowances, and employer contributions.
