ESJT Namibia

Editorial newsroom

Field reporting / Public record

Analysis, investigations and public-interest dispatches.

Read ESJT reporting on inequality, land, labour, climate, corruption and policy choices shaping Namibia.

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Selling Our Ocean

Analysis

Selling Our Ocean

Rinaani Musutua writes in first person about the broken promise of fishing rights redistribution. Describes how thousands of poor black Namibians spent money registering companies after Minister Bernard Esau promised preference in 96 new fishing rights al

Nov 21, 2019 4 min read
Namibia's Own State Capture?

Analysis

Namibia's Own State Capture?

Jauch and Gaweseb draw parallels between South Africa's Gupta-Zuma scandal and Namibia, warning that a private businessman has cultivated direct links to the President to push approval for marine phosphate mining. Argues this constitutes state capture, wh

Sep 19, 2019 4 min read
Namibia's Labour Act Undermines the Right to Strike

Analysis

Namibia's Labour Act Undermines the Right to Strike

Herbert Jauch analyses how the Labour Act's procedural requirements effectively weaken the right to strike by allowing 'free riders' and failing to penalise employers who use replacement workers. Uses the 2018 UNAM strike as a case study and calls for leg

Nov 29, 2018 4 min read
Justice for Shoprite Workers: A Call for Solidarity and Action

Analysis

Justice for Shoprite Workers: A Call for Solidarity and Action

Detailed background document chronicling Shoprite's anti-union conduct from 2014–2015: refusal to bargain, selective wage increases used to punish union members, mass dismissals in Rundu (110 workers) and Gobabis (66 workers), and multiple Labour Act viol

May 16, 2017 4 min read
Poverty Eradication and the Basic Income Grant (BIG)

Analysis

Poverty Eradication and the Basic Income Grant (BIG)

Herbert Jauch makes the case for BIG as the cornerstone of Namibia's poverty eradication strategy. Reviews Otjivero pilot results, rebuts critics who claim BIG promotes laziness, and argues it must be paired with changes in economic ownership and elite ac

Oct 15, 2015 4 min read