Staff Reporter
THE Minister of Finance, Erica Shafudah, has denied being in contempt of a court order which directed the finance minister to desist from interfering in the loading of new deductions onto the Payroll Deduction Management System (PDMS) and from issuing instructions that no new deductions may be loaded onto the PDMS.
This follows an application brought by Entrépo Finance, in which it sought relief from the High Court, claiming that the finance minister did not follow a court order prohibiting interference with the payroll deduction system.
The deduction codes that the finance ministry had planned to discontinue by the end of November 2025 allow microlenders like Entrépo to have repayments of loans granted by them deducted directly from the salaries of government employees and paid to the lenders. The ministry would save about N$11.5 million monthly if it no longer had to pay Avril Payroll Deduction Management.
Shafudah, however, claimed that the court order simply authorises the continued operation of the PDMS (with or without Avril Payroll Deduction Management (Pty) Ltd. (Avril)) as at 29 August 2025, pending the determination of the main relief.
Shafudah added that Entrépo is the author of the relief granted by the court, except that the court made clear that the continued operation of the PDMS is authorised, with or without Avril.
“In other words, the PDMS may continue without the use of the system provided by Avril. Entrépo is thus to blame for any defect in the relief which was granted. The court deferred providing reasons for the orders it made. My legal practitioners are, for this reason, unable to advise me whether the court had the necessary jurisdiction to grant the relief or whether it is otherwise lawful. This is more so because I have been advised, and it was submitted on my behalf in court, that the effect of the interim relief will be to suspend the operation of section 12(1)(a) of the Labour Act, 2007, and section 23 of the Payment System Management Act, 2023, which the court does not have the power to do,” Shafudah said.
She added that she has no intention to, and did not, interfere in the loading of new deductions onto the PDMS.
“I have also not issued any instructions to anyone that no new deductions may be loaded onto the PDMS. I have accordingly complied with order 1.2.1. As indicated in my answering affidavit, the PDMS reports directly under the authority of the Executive Director (ED), Michael Humavindu, in his capacity as the Accounting Officer of the Ministry of Finance. To my knowledge, since the court order was issued, and even before, the ED has been working tirelessly with his team of officials to facilitate that the deduction code holders can load new deductions on the PDMS,” Shafudah said.
She also questioned how the Payroll Deduction Management System (PDMS) could continue making use of the Avril system when Avril’s procurement contract ended on 31 November 2025, arguing that the courts do not have the power to suspend procurement provisions.
“Entrépo’s inability stems from the fact that the agreement which the Ministry of Finance had with Avril has expired and was not renewed. There is no court order which enjoins me to renew that agreement. Rather, the court order authorises the continued operation of the PDMS (with or without Avril Payroll Deduction Management (Pty) Ltd (Avril)) as at 17:00 on 29 August 2025, pending the determination of the relief set out in Part B of the Notice of Motion dated 30 September 2025. The court order does not say that the agreement with Avril must be renewed, nor who must carry out the obligation to renew that agreement,” Shafudah argued.
Photo: Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations
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