A comparative study on the regulation of labour brokers in South Africa and Namibia in light of recent legislative developments

Abstract

In an attempt to remedy the lack of proper regulation of labour brokers, the South African government has amended the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, especially s 198. The amendments have now reached a point where they has the potential to provide better protection for the parties involved, and to provide a higher degree of legal certainty. Meanwhile the Namibian Labour Amendment Act of 2012 introduced provisions for the regulation of labour brokers in a redrafted s 128. This is a drastic change from the total ban of labour broking in the previous version of s 128 of the Namibian Labour Act of 2007. This article undertakes a comparison between the amendments to the South African legal position on labour brokers and the regulations currently contained in the new Namibian Labour Amendment Act of 2012. It investigates to what extent these respective instruments differ from each other, and how the provisions in the Namibian Labour Amendment Act could have influenced the regulation of labour brokers in South Africa.