On Tuesday, Member of Parliament Hidipo Hamata introduced a motion in the National Assembly calling for the implementation of a comprehensive monitoring system to track compliance with laws and regulations by Namibian companies, as well as swift consequences for those found to be in violation of these standards.

“Labour conditions and collective bargaining rights have worsened in Namibia in the last few years. Many workers have no choice but to take poor quality jobs, lacking security, decent pay and social protection,” said the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) parliamentarian.

He further asked for the motion to be referred to the relevant Parliament standing committee.

Compliance

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 in a report this month. 

Labour cases

On average, the office of the labour commissioner receives around 95 cases per month.

However, unresolved cases dating back to as far as 2019 still haunt the labour commissioner.

Back in 2019, 4 514 cases were handled, out of which 2 267 were resolved, while 2 261 were not finalised. The following year, 5 830 cases were registered, out of which 2 918 were resolved, while 2 914 remained pending. 

At the height of the deadly Covid-19 outbreak in 2021, which halted economic activity and prompted many enterprises to lay off employees, 4 603 cases were handled, 2 127 resolved, and 2 476 were outstanding.

Acting labour commissioner Kyllikki Sihlahla recently told New Era that there was another spike in 2022, as 5 745 cases were registered with the labour commissioner’s office. Of this figure, only 2 904 were resolved, while 2 844 were unresolved.

This figure surged in 2023. They handled 7 172 cases, with 3 448 concluded and 3 724 still outstanding. That equals a 48.39% success rate.

According to the office's records, they processed 1 560 instances between 1 January and 31 March of last year. Three hundred and ninety-nine of these were resolved through conciliation, and 240 through arbitration. 930 cases are still pending. 

-mndjavera@nepc.com.na