SWAKOPMUND – Justice and Labour Relations Minister Wise Immanuel has called for a complete overhaul in terms of labour cases that put workers at the receiving end.
He said arbitration awards from the labour commissioner take too long, resulting in employees falling into hardships.
He made these remarks in Swakopmund on Wednesday at a workshop being attended by senior leaders of the ministry, who are working towards formulating a new five-year strategic plan.
While encouraging officials to take ownership in their duties, Immanuel said that it is imperative that they map clear directions, take own initiatives and be proactive in addressing issues concerning those seeking services from the ministry.
“The turnaround time in terms of how long it takes us to formulate a law and the turnaround time in terms of how long it takes us to give an award is way too long. It cannot be correct. It cannot be that we have employees who have been waiting for months for awards. This is very disruptive, and puts their families and dependents in the worst position financially and emotionally,” the minister said.
He raised concern over the increasing number of labour transgressions reported on social media.
“The ministry cannot continue operating in a reactive manner, especially when it comes to handling complaints and matters affecting the public. It cannot be that we only respond to issues picked up on social media and wait for supervisors to instruct us to act. We need to empower our teams to function as autonomous and accountable units,” the minister said.
He stressed that the current conditions in certain departments, such as the Labour Inspectorate, are unacceptable.
The minister pointed out the importance of business re-engineering across all departments, encouraging leaders to map out and review their processes thoroughly.
“Whatever does not work is simply not good enough. Other ministries should want to benchmark our ministry. But for that to happen, we must take ownership of our work and not fear being held accountable,” he appealed.
He urged the directorates within the ministry to clearly identify and articulate their value proposition for every customer segment they serve.
“I am eager to familiarise myself with what has been achieved so far so that as we finalise our strategic plan. We are clear on the value we are offering to the public. This is not just a planning exercise. It is about delivering results,” Immanuel noted.
He said managers and leaders have a collective responsibility to ensure that this strategy is finalised within the shortest possible time.
“From today, let’s agree that uncertainty will become our strategic advantage. Let’s leverage vulnerability, uncertainty and agility in our leadership approach,” he said.