Office of the Labour Commissioner to become autonomous

The Office of the Labour Commissioner (OLC) is set to break away from the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation.

In preparation for the move to new premises, the OLC hosted a stakeholder consultation in Windhoek on Monday.

“By granting the office autonomy and independence, we aim to bolster its capacity to fulfill its mandate free from external influences, speaking to the notion that justice must not only be done, but also be seen to be done,” deputy minister Hafeni Ndemula said in his keynote address.

Labour executive director Lydia Indombo also attended the consultation event, as well as labour commissioner Kyllikki Sihlahla, and other experts.

The event followed consultations held in July and August.
The decision to make the OLC autonomous was made in accordance with a Southern African Development Community framework on dispute resolution systems agreed on last October, as well as recommendations from the International Labour Organisation.

South Africa’s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration will serve as the benchmark for the autonomous OLC.

Sihlahla highlighted that the services of the OLC will remain free, and said its future board of directors will be made up of representatives from the government, employers and employee associations.

She said the autonomous OLC will no longer form part of the public service to avoid conflicts of interest in arbitrating between the government and trade unions.

While Sihlahla did not give specific dates in terms of the pace of developments, she said: “The time frame for us is now. This is long overdue.”