Tragédie humaine et crime que l'on préfère croire d'un autre temps, l'esclavage n'a jamais été aussi prospère que depuis la proclamation officielle de son abolition. Dès lors, son éradication se heurte à un manque flagrant de juridictionnalisation et à l'absence de mise en oeuvre de politiques publiques concrètes. Dans le même temps, l'intervention vigoureuse des forces de l'ordre est entravée, ce qui permet aux trafiquants de jouir d'une relative impunité. De prime abord, il peut paraître simple de définir ce qu'est l'esclavage tant la notion semble entendue et le sujet d'actualité. Mais au-delà de cette image d'Epinal véhiculée par la traite transatlantique négrière, l'esclavage perdure et ses avatars modernes se superposent à ses formes anciennes. La nature transnationale de ce crime, l'anonymat de ces auteurs facilité par l'évolution des technologies et la difficulté d'en identifier ses victimes amènent à se demander si la sphère internationale n'est finalement pas la plus à même de lutter contre les pratiques esclavagistes. De plus, faire respecter l'interdiction des pratiques esclavagistes passe aujourd'hui par une approche multidisciplinaire du phénomène qui doit être réalisée à l'échelle internationale de manière à saisir pleinement l'envergure de ce qu'est réellement l'esclavage, mais implique toutefois une coopération des Etats. En effet, bien plus qu'une simple problématique juridique, fut-elle d'envergure internationale, la lutte contre l'esclavage contemporain implique également une prise de conscience de la sphère politique et un engagement de la société civile sans lesquelles aucunes mesures ne pourraient être efficacement appliquées. / Human tragedy and crime that we prefer to think of another time, slavery has never been so prosperous since the official announcement of its abolition. Therefore, its eradication is facing a serious lack of jurisdictionalisation and a lack of enforcement of specific public policies. At the same time, the vigorous intervention of the authorities is obstructed that which allow a relative impunity to the traffickers.Prima facie it may seem easy to define slavery as the concept seems to heard and the current topic. But beyond this idyllic picture conveyed by the transatlantic slave trade, slavery persists and its modern avatars overlap with its ancient forms. The transnational nature of this crime, the anonymity of the authors facilitated by technological developments and the difficulty of identifying his victims, lead us to wonder if the international sphere is not actually the best able to fight against slavery. Furthermore, enforcing the prohibition of slavery going on today by a multidisciplinary approach to the phenomenon which must be done internationally in order to fully grasp the scale of what slavery really is, but involves, however, cooperation of States. Indeed more than a simple legal question, even with an international scope, the fight against contemporary slavery also involves an awareness of the political sphere and a commitment of the civil society without which no measures could be effectively applied.

The purpose of this research is to explore the need for, and the legal implications of, harmonising labour laws in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Chapter One highlights a number of factors that call for the harmonisation of labour laws in the SADC region and discusses some of the reasons why labour laws are not well developed in the region. The influence of globalisation on labour standards in southern Africa and the influence of regionalism on the harmonisation of labour laws are discussed at length. The inference that could be drawn from this discussion is that for a regionalisation process in southern Africa to be successful, there is an urgent need to harmonise the region’s labour law system. This thesis confirms that Southern Africa has many lessons to learn from the regional harmonisation of labour law in the European Economic Community and the current European Union. The implementation of international labour standards in southern Africa is investigated. The main areas examined include (1) freedom of association, (2) collective bargaining, (3) forced labour and (4) discrimination. The findings of this investigation show that there is no uniformity in the implementation of International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards in the SADC region and, therefore, it is recommended labour law should be harmonised in terms of ILO standards. In respect of the benefits to be derived from the harmonisation process, an empirical investigation was conducted in the SADC region and the following is recommended: the harmonisation of labour law in the SADC region will help with the implementation of ILO standards, protection of workers against the economic power of employers in the workplace and maintaining similar benefits for migrants in the region. / Mercantile law / LL.D.

The purpose of this research is to explore the need for, and the legal implications of, harmonising labour laws in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Chapter One highlights a number of factors that call for the harmonisation of labour laws in the SADC region and discusses some of the reasons why labour laws are not well developed in the region. The influence of globalisation on labour standards in southern Africa and the influence of regionalism on the harmonisation of labour laws are discussed at length. The inference that could be drawn from this discussion is that for a regionalisation process in southern Africa to be successful, there is an urgent need to harmonise the region’s labour law system. This thesis confirms that Southern Africa has many lessons to learn from the regional harmonisation of labour law in the European Economic Community and the current European Union. The implementation of international labour standards in southern Africa is investigated. The main areas examined include (1) freedom of association, (2) collective bargaining, (3) forced labour and (4) discrimination. The findings of this investigation show that there is no uniformity in the implementation of International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards in the SADC region and, therefore, it is recommended labour law should be harmonised in terms of ILO standards. In respect of the benefits to be derived from the harmonisation process, an empirical investigation was conducted in the SADC region and the following is recommended: the harmonisation of labour law in the SADC region will help with the implementation of ILO standards, protection of workers against the economic power of employers in the workplace and maintaining similar benefits for migrants in the region. / Mercantile law / LL. D.