Labour Policy In Namibia: Assessing Its Implementation With Regard To Agricultural Wage Labourers

ABSTRACT

Immediately after independence the Namibian government adopted a National Policy on Labour and “Manpower” Development. In terms of this policy trade unions were prioritised as main stakeholders for change in labour matters. Furthermore all labour matters were to be dealt with on a tri-partite basis.

To realise the policy objectives of the Labour Policy the government enacted the Labour Act (1992), the Social Security Act (1994) and the Affirmative Action Act (1998). The implications of the latter Act will not be explored in this paper, as its definition of a “relevant employer” which is defined as employing a minimum of fifty employees does not apply to the majority of farmers in Namibia who by average employ only eight permanent workers.

This study will examine the implementation of the objectives of the Labour Policy as encapsulated in both the Labour Act and the Social Security Act in order to discover reasons why the various provisions aimed at protecting the most marginal group in the labour market, that is agricultural wage labourers, are not being enforced. Secondary analysis of the available data will be conducted for this purpose.

The paper will examine the factors that prevent the agricultural labourers and their representative organisation NAFWU from taking full advantage of the operation of a progressive collective bargaining framework in Namibia. After an examination of the implementation dilemmas, the paper will endeavour to advance recommendations with a view to eliminating identified shortcomings.