justice minister scorns homosexuality as 'criminal'

By Lindsay Dentlinger (The Namibian)

May 7, 2004: HOMOSEXUALITY is "illegal and criminal" in Namibia, Justice Minister Albert Kawana said in the National Assembly yesterday, snubbing a request by the DTA to include a provision in the new Labour Bill that would prevent discrimination against employees based on their sexual orientation.

During the Committee Stage of the debate on the legislation, which is set to replace the current Labour Act of 1992, the DTA's Johan de Waal requested that Labour Minister Marco Hausiku retain a provision in the current Act that prohibits sexual iscrimination.

But, instead, it was Kawana who chose to respond to his demand.

"In Namibia, sexual orientation is not really accepted in any Namibian law or in any policy.

The Supreme Court has found homosexuality and such things as illegal and criminal acts in Namibia."

The House was notably silent at this point, but Kawana did not cite the case in which this ruling was made.

De Waal then made it expressly clear that he was unhappy that this provision was being removed from the new Bill and said that "if we were the Government, we would want that it be in there".

He said Government was likely to come into conflict with international labour legislation and human rights conventions it had acceded to if it did away with the provision.
According to clause 107 of the current Act, an employee may approach the labour court if he or she is discriminated against on a number of grounds, including sexual orientation.

However, in the new legislation's clause 5 (2), which deals with discrimination in any employment practice directly or indirectly, sexual orientation is not included as a ground for such legal redress.

With much resistance from De Waal on numerous aspects of the Bill - mostly related to the interpretation of terms used - the Bill was eventually passed.

Hausiku put most queries down to misunderstanding of the legalese contained in the Bill.

"The Bill is being drafted in a concise manner and language.

Therefore we have interpretation of laws.

The [labour] law is based on give and take.

It is not based on what someone wants," he said.

De Waal maintained that there were many matters which had to be more clearly articulated and predicted that the Bill would return to the House for amendment on several occasions in future.

To this Hausiku responded:"I am not afraid of coming back for improvements.
These are living laws."

After the House had spent nearly an hour and a half commenting on various provisions of the Bill, the Deputy Chairperson of the Whole House Committee, Doreen Sioka, appeared to hasten proceedings along, reminding MPs that they would have to return to the House on Friday morning [not customary practice] to approve the national Budget, if they lingered much longer over the Bill.

But, taking issue with provisions related to labour hire, Minister without Portfolio Ngarikutuke Tjiriange complained: "I don't think it is fair to be rushed into something without expressing ourselves.

We are making laws here."

After De Waal had raised his umpteenth concern, this time on the leave accorded to casual workers who work for more than one employee, he caused Minister of Higher Education, Training and Employment Creation Nahas Anagula to ask:"Are you cross with the Minister because he won't agree to your sexual orientation thing?" De Waal took particular issue with a radical new change to provisions on maternity leave, which will require employers to pay pregnant employees in full [including all benefits] during maternity leave.

They will then be allowed to claim back only the basic salary paid to their employee from the Social Security Commission (SSC).

De Waal questioned whether this was fair on employers, but Hausiku said the new Bill sought to make things easier for employees who sometimes had to wait up to seven months before they received a pay-out from the SSC.

Hausiku replied that an employee should not stand to lose the benefit of her employment because she was pregnant.