The Employer Wage Subsidy Program for the hard hit industries under three (3) sectors of aviation, tourism and construction. This program is designed to save jobs. The program is driven by the following characteristics: a. Employers of affected industries will receive a subsidy based on their total wage bill, driven by an SSC contribution waiver and a cash injection from the state. The aim is to give employers a cash subsidy of 17% of their total wage bill and SSC contribution holiday, or both for a period of three months. b.

GroundUp (29.04.2020) Introducing the new “Covid-19 grant” announced by President Cyril Ramphosa will pose a huge challenge. But South Africa can learn from Namibia, which introduced an emergency grant at the beginning of April and within three weeks had paid out nearly 580,000 people. The Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant of R350 per month, together with the R500 per month supplement to each Child Support Grant (CSG) recipient, provides for the first time a social safety net for able-bodied working-age adults.

 New Era Live (20.09.2019) The new draft social protection policy of the Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare provides a background to social protection in Namibia and an assessment of the current social protection programmes.

New Era Live (11.07.2019) Zephania Kameeta, Minister of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare this when officially opening a regional consultative workshop on the Social Protection Policy Draft at Keetmanshoop earlier this week. The parliamentarian then explained that this draft aims specifically to address vulnerabilities, tackle social exclusion and eradicate poverty.

The Southern Times (02.04.2019) Over the past five years, half of the Namibian budget was allocated for social expenditure, which includes education, health and welfare services, indicating that Namibia could be considered a welfare nation with high public spending.

allAfrica (01.12.2018) The first ever Draft Policy on Social Protection that is expected to create a comprehensive social protection system, which is efficient and effective in addressing risks and vulnerabilities that people face at different stages of their lives, is ready for public input

New Era (17.03.2016) The Social Security Commission (SSC) has announced an increase in its member benefits under the maternity, sick leave and death benefits fund.

The Namibian (07.02.2016) The government will investigate the possibility of reducing the retirement age within the civil service from 55 to 50 years to contain the wage bill but a labour expert has said this might backfire.