The State s efforts to control these alternative institutions through the establishment of advisory boards, urban and community councils and town councils proved unsuccessful. More recently, attempts have however been made by a number of NGO s to introduce more appropriate forms of dispute resolution to communities. These initiatives have met with mixed degrees of success. 2.16 Commercial arbitration has long been part of the dispute resolution framework in South 8 Africa and in other Western countries. It is well established in South Africa.
Similar initiatives exist in the field of engineering and construction.
As stated in par 1.2 above, commercial arbitration will be discussed in a separate Working Paper. The success of this initiative has been borne out by the extensive reliance on mediation and arbitration in the new Labour Relations Act and by the establishment of the CCMA to carry out these functions. Respondents are specifically invited to consider the successes and failures of these and similar endeavours.