A former Tsumeb Municipality firefighter assistant remains without a job or compensation after the municipality challenged a Labour Commissioner's ruling ordering his reinstatement and payment of N$108 000 in outstanding wages.

Timotheus Wangolo was awarded reinstatement and 12 months' remuneration after Labour Commissioner arbitrator Alexina Mazinza Mabakeng found that his dismissal was procedurally unfair.

The arbitrator ordered the municipality to reinstate Wangolo from 1 May 2026 on the same terms and conditions of employment and pay him N$108 000 for loss of earnings.

Wangolo told The Namibian he received the ruling through the Office of the Labour Commissioner and was informed that the municipality had also been served with the outcome.

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"They also gave the letter to the municipality and then they told them that I must go and start working on 1 May and they must pay that money on 28 May," he says.

However, Wangolo says the municipality did not reinstate him or make the payment.

He says the municipality later informed him that it intended to challenge the Labour Commissioner's decision.

"They told me that they are going to appeal to the High Court," Wangolo says.

The municipality previously applied for rescission of the arbitration award, arguing that the award was made in its absence.

The rescission application was dismissed by Mabakeng, who found that the municipality had been properly notified about the arbitration hearing scheduled for 24 and 25 February 2026.

In her ruling, Mabakeng said the municipality had received the notice of set down and that its Human Resources manager Monique Akrong had confirmed receipt of the notice on 22 January.

She found that there was no formal application for postponement submitted by the municipality.

"It is therefore evident that they choose the workshop attendance and totally disregard the hearing at the office of the Labour Commissioner," Mabakeng states.

She says the municipality failed to prove that the award was "erroneously made in their absence" and dismissed the rescission application.

Wangolo says the delay has affected him financially because he has been without a salary while the matter continues.

He is now engaging his union, the Namibia Local Authority Workers Union, for further action.

"I was talking to the union guy, and then he said he is going to write another letter," Wangolo says.

The arbitration ruling stated that Wangolo had challenged only the procedural fairness of his dismissal and not the substantive reasons for the dismissal.

The municipality has maintained that it believes there were errors in the arbitration process and has approached the Labour Court to challenge the award.

Acting Tsumeb Municipality chief executive officer Frans Enkali declined to comment on the matter.

"The matter is sub judice. We cannot comment," Enkali says.