A group of Labour Advisory Councils and new members of the Employment Equity Commission inducted on their responsibilities, roles, good governance and leadership skills in order to provide urgent service to the public with utmost attention.
Justice and Labour Relations Minister Wise Immanuel has called for urgent action to address Namibia's pressing labour disputes.
Speaking at a two-day induction workshop in Gobabis, the minister stressed that the ministry must ramp up its efforts and urged newly appointed officials to actively assist citizens in resolving employment challenges nationwide.
"The labour advisory council must, and its parental language must, on an annual basis conduct an investigation into a number of issues, investigations into collecting bargaining, investigations into the wealth, safety and welfare at workplaces and carry out those assessments."
The labour minister says that he will require active participation from all involved members given a demanding responsibility required to perform optimally.
The Chairperson of the Labour Advisory Council, Dr. Michael Akuupa, emphasised that labour-related matters require tripartite efforts from all involved stakeholders in order to get a desired outcome at the end of the day.
"We must not be working in silos, as the platform economy is synonymous with the informal economy because of the disregard of the labour standard, and so how are we going to deal with that in our country? And I know there are two reports of the informal economy at the moment, as one was done by the Ministry of Labour in 1992, the other one in 2016, and the other one last year."
On his part, Advocate Otniel Podewitz pointed out that the commission will play an integral part in shaping the labour- and equity-related activities in the country with the aim of addressing economic emancipation within societies.
"I'm not overstating when I'm saying we have a tall order, a very heavy responsibility on you as newly appointed members, as the minister has been clear as your call upon to serve for what you are appointed for without any fear and favour."