Abstract

MOKOFE, William Manga. The international labour organisation in pursuit of decent work in Southern Africa: an appraisal. Obiter [online]. 2020, vol.41, n.3, pp.573-592. ISSN 2709-555X.

This article examines the role of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), regional standards, and the "decent work agenda" in addressing challenges facing nonstandard workers in southern Africa. Employees in traditional full-time employment are well protected in some southern African states, but the regulation currently available is largely unable to protect non-standard workers, and in numerous instances workers are regarded as "non-standard", on the basis of a narrow interpretation of the term "employee". Casualisation and externalisation have resulted in the exclusion of numerous workers from the protection provided by labour legislation, and union cover for non-standard workers is very low. The article further discusses the relationship between non-standard employment and labour migration in southern Africa. Light is also shed on regional standards, the challenges of unemployment, poverty, and income inequality, and labour-market transitions in southern Africa.

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