The labour ministry’s executive director Lydia Indombo said the ministry conducted 547 workplace inspections to evaluate adherence to fundamental employment requirements.
Out of the workplaces investigated, 445 showed adherence to established criteria, while 102 were determined to be non-compliant.
“These inspections were specifically focused on the wholesale, fuel, mining and fishing sectors, revealing sector-wise compliance rates of 80% in wholesale, 89% in fuel, 100% in mining and 67% in the fishing sector,” Indombo stated.
Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) commissioner Sam Shivute last year expressed disappointment with how little the fishing sector is contributing to the country’s total revenue. “The fishing sector is only contributing less than 2% to the total revenue. You have fish being exported from the country on a weekly basis to lucrative markets like Spain and Italy. Also, 12% of fish consumed in Africa come from Namibia. That’s regardless of it being considered as one of the top five export sectors for Namibia,” he stated at the time.
The concerned commissioner added that looking at the sector’s contribution, “it’s not even a billion Namibia dollars; it cannot be. We need to pay special attention to this sector”.
Meanwhile, industry experts agree the fishing sector is facing severe obstacles which require strategic adaptability. The industry’s dedication to sustainable practices was put to the test by an ongoing problem of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The viability of the industry was also seriously threatened by the unrelenting rise in gasoline prices, which called for creative problem-solving to get through difficult financial times.
Labour cases
The labour commissioner’s office handled 1 634 labour cases in total in the third quarter of 2023, which is 414 less instances than the previous quarter.
“Unresolved cases still prove to be a challenge, as 816 (50%) cases have been indicated as pending this quarter. 818 cases (50%) were resolved successfully, of which 504 (62%) were resolved through conciliation, while 314 (38%) were resolved through arbitration,” stated a report released by the ministry last week.
Meanwhile, Indombo pointed out that this suggested that conciliation is a better option for resolving disputes than arbitration.
In relation to labour concerns, the ministry handled 1 185 complaints nationwide. Of these, 1 035 complaints were successfully settled, 97 were formally classified as disputes and sent to the Labour Commissioner’s Office for mediation or arbitration, and 53 cases are still pending resolution.
These complaints led to the ministry collecting over N$547 000 in total on behalf of the impacted employees, which has already been disbursed to them.
Indombo then called for urgent attention to modernise technology, enhance infrastructure, and address resources shortages to uphold the ministry’s mandate.