Namibia is experiencing a shortage of arbitrators while labour cases continue to pile up on a daily basis. 

Labour Commissioner Kyllikki Sihlahla says a staff retreat at Swakopmund is underway to re-engineer the Labour Commission's business strategy and address the challenges.

All arbitrators have gathered at Swakopmund to share success stories and challenges experienced.

The Labour Commissioner highlighted the main challenge, which is the influx of labour dispute cases and the shortage of arbitrators.

"We have only 30 full-time arbitrators covering the whole country. And the cases are coming in daily from Monday to Friday, and they are not waiting for us to resolve the shortage of arbitrators. They just keep coming because we deal with human rights matters; we are talking about bread-and-butter issues. So the cases come, and they do not wait for us to fix our shortage challenges."

To overcome the challenge, the commissioner explained that arbitrators with fewer cases are sent to regions such as Erongo, where the number of cases is extremely high.

"Windhoek has a few arbitrators, so sometimes they go and assist. We recently sent someone from Katima Mulilo - because we have fewer cases there - to assist in the ||Karas Region, as we have only one arbitrator covering the entire region. We are expecting to recruit more so that we are able to resolve these matters."

Sihlahla emphasised that labour dispute cases are not only lodged by workers but by employers as well, which contributes to the high number of cases.

"During this retreat, we are going to discuss business process change initiatives so that we can look at the low-hanging fruits. We will also come up with an implementation plan for the business process re-engineering. And as the financial year comes to an end, we normally ask the arbitrators to give us a list of all cases carried over from previous financial years so that we can expedite and prioritise them," she emphasised. 

Governor for the Erongo Region, Natalia |Goagoses, says, "Let this retreat inspire renewed commitment, innovative solutions, and a shared vision for a labour system that serves both workers and employers with fairness and integrity, without fear or favour."

According to the Justice and Labour Ministry, there are currently 475 unresolved labour arbitration cases in the country.