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Item Labour law in Namibia(University of Namibia Press, 2012) Parker, CollinsLabour law or employment law – the two terms can be used interchangeably – may be described as that branch of law that is concerned with persons in the employment relationship. Tebutt, JA put it succinctly in this way: ‘Briefly speaking Labour Law is to be understood as the common law of master and servant as expanded and otherwise modified by Industrial Legislation.’1 Put simply, labour law governs the contractual relationship between an employer and an employee. Flowing from that relationship, employers and employees have certain rights, obligations and liabilities under the law. Principles of other branches of law are deeply embedded in labour law. Chief among these are principles of the law of contract, law of delict, criminal law, statute law, administrative law, constitutional law and human rights law. Central to labour law, as already mentioned, is the contractual relationship between an employer and an employee. Therefore, principles of the law of contract are applied to explain the nature and consequences of the employment relationship. The law of delict is also employed to determine the civil liability of employees, employers and third parties in employment situations. Many countries have eschewed penal sanctions in labour relations, although criminal law still plays an important role in labour relations, especially with regard to unlawful strike, lockout, or picket, and the employment of minors. For example, it is an offence under s. 3(6) of the Labour Act 20073 for a person to employ, or require or permit, a child who is under the age of fourteen years to work in any circumstances prohibited by the Act. An employer found guilty of this offence is liable to a fi ne not exceeding N$20,000.00, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding four years, or to both.Item Namibia and Germany negotiating the past(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Kossler, ReinhartEver since Namibia attained Independence in 1990,, her relations with Germany have been marked by intensity, close cooperation and heated debate. The latter revolves largely around the 30 year period from 1884 up to 1915, when today’s Namibia was known as the colony of German South West Africa. For the last decade, an asymmetrical debate on colonial mass crime has been a prominent feature of memory politics. In this debate, the first genocide of the 20th Century, committed by German colonial troops during the Namibian War of 1903–081, forms the central axis. The debate about the genocide and the consequences of German colonialism is asymmetrical in various ways. First, it relates to the colonial relationship of violence and domination and to a racist ideology that denied acknowledgement of true humanness to the colonised – an ideological prerequisite for denying them the right to exist and for pursuing exterminatory measures against them. Asymmetry also prevails in the underlying power relations in the present. The means available to the descendants of the genocide victims to give voice to their cause are seriously inferior to the possibilities open to the German Government simply to ignore the victims or deal superficially with their demands. Namibia musters much less attention within the German public sphere than issues relating to Germany receive in the Namibian media. The issue is confounded further by the presence of a small, but economically powerful and vociferous community of German speakers in Namibia.Item Customary law ascertained(University of Namibia Press, 2016) Hinz, Manfred O.; Gairiseb, AlexThe Namibian legal system is premised on the principle of legality. One of the essential elements of the principle of legality is that the law must be specific and clear. This presupposes that the law must be drafted clearly and in such a way that a person may ascertain the legality of a particular course of conduct. Implicit therein is also the requirement that the law should be accessible and foreseeable. These requirements, needless to say, equally apply to customary law given the pluralistic nature of our legal system. The Customary Law Ascertainment Project, as mentioned elsewhere, is not aimed at codifying customary law in Namibia. That task is the preserve and prerogative of the Executive. The global objective of this Project seeks to assist in giving meaning and effect to the principle of specificity as it relates to the customary laws applicable in Namibia. The principle of legality in all its facets is inextricably linked to human rights. The major international and regional human rights instruments all expressly and implicitly guarantee and protect this principle. For instance, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms all guarantee and protect this important legal principle. During the workshops on good governance with Traditional Authorities in 2001 and 2002, sponsored by the Office of High Commission for Human Rights, Geneva, the traditional leaders strongly recommended that the Human Rights and Documentation Centre at the University of Namibia, assist in documenting their customary laws to enable current and future generations to become aware of their customary laws. It is against this backdrop that the Human Rights and Documentation Centre of the Law Faculty of the University of Namibia takes particular pride and joy in being associated with this epoch-making project. With this work we are not only seeking to contribute towards ascertaining and making customary law accessible to its users; through this project we are also trying to ensure that traditional and informal justice systems in our country evolve towards serving justice in full respect of international human rights standards.Item Re-viewing resistance in Namibian history(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Silvester, JeremyOver two decades have passed since the last battles of Namibia’s liberation struggle took place in April, 1989 and Namibia finally obtained its independence from South Africa on 21 March, 1990. Today over half of Namibia’s population is under the age of 25.1 When I first taught history at the University of Namibia in the 1990s the majority of my students had strong (and traumatic) childhood memories of the war.2 Today the majority of students at the university are ‘born frees’ who do not remember the independence celebrations of 1990, let alone the long, twenty-three year, guerilla war that preceded it. The majority of the population no longer has strong memories of the liberation struggle, but relies increasingly on the construction of a history of resistance that is reflected in written texts, but more pervasively in the spoken word through public speeches, the radio and TV, in public projects of memorialisation and commemorative public holidays. History was one of the early conscripts to the nationalist struggle with SWAPO’s To Be Born a Nation creating a highly influential narrative that interpreted all acts of resistance to German and South African rule as nationalist. In his Foreword to the publication Prof. Peter Katjavivi highlighted the way in which a ‘history of resistance’ could play a role in nation-building. ‘The title is taken from a saying of the Mozambican liberation struggle – “to die a tribe and be born a nation”. It encapsulates the drive for unity and the bonds forged through common endeavour and sacrifice that are such vital elements of the national liberation struggle’ (SWAPO, 1980, p. iii). The book traced the roots of ‘popular resistance’ as far back as 1670 and the first meeting between indigenous residents and European travellers on the banks of the Kuiseb River (SWAPO, 1980, p. 151). Independence was thus the culmination of over three hundred years of struggle. Whilst the necessity of discipline and unity was evident during the course of a guerilla campaign against a militarily stronger opponent, this reading of the past reduces the dynamics of struggle to a simple dichotomy in which characters are presented as either ‘Freedom Fighters’ or ‘Puppets’. The danger is that agency is reduced and the complex political dynamics around issues such as generational conflict, ethnicity, traditional authorities and gender are ignored (Van Walraven and Abbink, 2003, p. 3). The Archives of Anti-Colonial Resistance and the Liberation Struggle incorporated the nationalist narrative within its lengthy title.Item Indigenous knowledge of Namibia(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Chinsembu, Kazhila C.; Cheikhyoussef, Ahmad; Mumbengegwi, Davis R.; Kandawa-Schulz, M.; Kasanda, Choshi D.; Kazembe, Lawrence N.Why this book, Indigenous Knowledge of Namibia? Nowadays, indigenous knowledge has gained prominence and attracted public interest due to its numerous applications in science and innovation: biotechnology, health, bioprospecting, pharmaceuticals, medicinal plants, agriculture, food preparation, mathematics, natural resource management, climate change and astronomy. There are many niche players in the field of indigenous knowledge in Namibia and many studies being carried out. Thus, although not all aspects of Namibia's indigenous knowledge are covered in this book, most readers from various walks of life - laypersons, scholars and policy makers - will find this book a very useful companion. The content of this book serves as a good starting point, because 'we cannot go further into the future without looking deeper into the past' (anonymous). Through their laboratory and scientific studies, the authors of this book server as guides through the journey to discover and record the indigenous knowledge of Namibia society. More importantly, their individual and collective works endevour to add value to Namibia's indigenous knowledge. The voyage and value addition are aimed at bringing greater clarity to some of the most perplexing aspects of indigenous knowledge in Namibia. Authors are aware of local communities need to benefit from their indigenous knowledge. That being said, the aim of this book is not to appropriate the indigenous knowledge of local communities, as most indigenous knowledge is already in the public domain.