The ever increasing regional and global trade competition has manifested itself in a growing
number of non-standard forms of employment including the increasing use of "temporary
employment services" (or “labour brokers” as commonly referred to). Labour brokers enter
into employment relationships as third parties with client companies to supply employees
through a commercial contract. These labour services usually fall outside the regular twoparty
contract of employment defined under existing labour laws and thus the employees are
not covered by that law. Labour brokers have been labelled as “the re-emergence of new
apartheid strategy” and “modern slavery” by some quarters in labour sectors of Namibia and
South Africa. Trade unions, particularly, have led the most vocal resistance against labour
brokers in both countries. They argue that, like previous apartheid contract labour systems,
labour brokers today erode standards for decent working conditions and weaken union
representations in the workplace. Thus unions have repeatedly sent strong calls to
lawmakers to amend existing labour laws and „forever put labour broking in its grave where it
belong?1
. On the other hand, employers have argued that recent forces of globalisation
demand flexible employment strategies and banning labour brokers will make it more difficult
for local businesses compete profitably globally via flexible short term employments and can
lead to losses of many job opportunities.
2

It is against this background that I will argue that current labour laws should be amended to
define and regulate labour brokers more closely and compel them to recognise workers
rights and conditions as equal as those of standard employees. But first, I will highlight some
socio-economic indicators influencing the labour markets in South Africa and Namibia,
including the history of worker?s rights under the contract labour systems in both countries.
Second, I will look at some of the expressed exploitive conditions resulting from the use of
labour brokers and also look at some reasons why businesses engage labour brokers.
Thereafter I will point out some of the reasons why trade unions have called for a total ban
on labour brokers. I will then discuss the difficulty of banning labour brokers, including the
constitutional challenge in the landmark case of African Personnel Services v Government of
the Republic of Namibia3
. Lastly i will expand on the ruling by the Namibian Supreme Court
of Appeal (NSA) recommending a regulatory approach in line with the International Labour
Organisation?s (ILO) conventions on third-party employments.