Staff Reporter
THE Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation this week held a stakeholder engagement consultative meeting on the possibility and probability of establishing the independence and autonomy of the Office of the Labour Commissioner in the Republic of Namibia.
Lydia Indombo, Executive Director within the labour ministry, explained that Namibia wishes to be where some SADC countries like the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of South Africa, and the United Republic of Tanzania are.
“These SADC countries are where the Autonomous Dispute Resolution bodies have been established to perform conciliation, mediation, and arbitration. In their case, reviews and appeals lie with the labour court. The ministry responsible for labour is not involved in any labour dispute resolution, and its jurisdiction is mainly to enforce statutory compliance through the labour inspectors. Ministers responsible for labour and employment, along with the social partners in SADC, wish to see all countries in SADC moving to this stage,” Indombo said.
She added that the officers in charge of the Labour Commissioner and labour experts will lead discussions on technical conversations.
“This conversation today may be a solution to most of the challenges faced with labour-related matters and the Office of the Labour Commissioner specifically, not only in Windhoek but countrywide. Your input will guide the Labour Commissioner and her team on how to proceed from here,” Indombo concluded.