'Where are the black liquidators?'
Deputy minister of works and Swapo member of parliament Veikko Nekundi has questioned why the country has no black liquidators, saying there is a need for transformation in that sector.
David Bruni and Ian McLaren, who are in charge of Air Namibia’s liquidation process, are the country’s best known liquidators. The Master of the High Court appointed them to provisionally liquidate the SME Bank, another public enterprise, in 2017.
They were also appointed as curators to manage the assets of some of the men implicated in the Fishrot scandal.
Nekundi did not specifically make reference to Bruni and McLaren when he agonised about the lack of transformation in the liquidation space.
His remarks were made during a debate on the Trust Administration Bill currently under discussion in the National Assembly.
He challenged government to explain why black people are never appointed as liquidators of state institutions.
Systemic racism
“The past 33 years of independence, there continues to be serious systemic and institutional racism and one cannot wish it away. The Bill we are talking about speaks of the Master of the High Court and the trusts,” he said.
“The very same Master of the High Court appoints liquidators and 33 years after independence, no black person is a liquidator. The Master of the High Court, I don’t know if it is the same person since independence, and I view this person as human with intellect and appreciation of our discrimination history and background and what extent our people have suffered under discriminatory practices and laws,” the deputy minister remarked.
Tearing into the Master of the High Court, he said: “I want to shed some tears that a person instructed to run such a fundamental office has never thought that - 33 years after independence - they did not feel anything should be done. It is very painful.”
Nekundi added that a perception has been perpetuated that a black person driving a car is corrupt, while the same won't be assumed of a white person driving a car, and perhaps that is why black people are overlooked for these types of jobs.
Millions
“If we think how much these liquidators - I think they are only two - have made on the SME Bank, and up to now they are not yet finished; they are still submitting invoices. Their bill is already over N$30 million,” he said.
“At Air Namibia alone, the people are not even paid. People went on the street, they are eating out of dustbins and liquidators are making millions. And the Master of the High Court does not appreciate the racial imbalances that have been perpetuated by the colonial regime.
“I am calling upon you to explain how you will ensure the next Master of the High Court who appoints liquidators looks at safeguards against racial discrimination,” he said.
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David Bruni and Ian McLaren, who are in charge of Air Namibia’s liquidation process, are the country’s best known liquidators. The Master of the High Court appointed them to provisionally liquidate the SME Bank, another public enterprise, in 2017.
They were also appointed as curators to manage the assets of some of the men implicated in the Fishrot scandal.
Nekundi did not specifically make reference to Bruni and McLaren when he agonised about the lack of transformation in the liquidation space.
His remarks were made during a debate on the Trust Administration Bill currently under discussion in the National Assembly.
He challenged government to explain why black people are never appointed as liquidators of state institutions.
Systemic racism
“The past 33 years of independence, there continues to be serious systemic and institutional racism and one cannot wish it away. The Bill we are talking about speaks of the Master of the High Court and the trusts,” he said.
“The very same Master of the High Court appoints liquidators and 33 years after independence, no black person is a liquidator. The Master of the High Court, I don’t know if it is the same person since independence, and I view this person as human with intellect and appreciation of our discrimination history and background and what extent our people have suffered under discriminatory practices and laws,” the deputy minister remarked.
Tearing into the Master of the High Court, he said: “I want to shed some tears that a person instructed to run such a fundamental office has never thought that - 33 years after independence - they did not feel anything should be done. It is very painful.”
Nekundi added that a perception has been perpetuated that a black person driving a car is corrupt, while the same won't be assumed of a white person driving a car, and perhaps that is why black people are overlooked for these types of jobs.
Millions
“If we think how much these liquidators - I think they are only two - have made on the SME Bank, and up to now they are not yet finished; they are still submitting invoices. Their bill is already over N$30 million,” he said.
“At Air Namibia alone, the people are not even paid. People went on the street, they are eating out of dustbins and liquidators are making millions. And the Master of the High Court does not appreciate the racial imbalances that have been perpetuated by the colonial regime.
“I am calling upon you to explain how you will ensure the next Master of the High Court who appoints liquidators looks at safeguards against racial discrimination,” he said.
[email protected]
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