Presentation to the Annual NEDLAC Organised Labour School 29 January 2018 “The role of social dialogue in achieving social justice”
KEY QUESTIONS 1. Is NEDLAC successful in addressing labour market challenges? 2. What must be put in place to ensure that NEDLAC enhances its role in the process of facilitating social dialogue? 2
INTRODUCTION • The advent of democracy in 1994 brought new paradigm in resolving political as well as workplace conflict. • South Africa is not only dealing with the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality, but also wrestles with the legacy of colonialism and apartheid which is the foundation of these challenges. • South Africa acknowledged social dialogue as a key instrument to address social and economic challenges since 1994. • NEDLAC was therefore established to promote and facilitate social dialogue. 3
CONSTITUTIONAL & LEGISLATIVE MANDATE • Nedlac’s mandate is derived from the following: • The Nedlac Act No. 35 of 1994 • Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 • Founding Declaration • Nedlac Constitution • Nedlac Protocols 4
FOUNDING DECLARATION Defining challenges facing our democracy were identified as: • Sustainable economic growth • Greater society equity • Increased participants Meeting these challenges underpins the success of the National Democratic Revolution 5
LEGAL MANDATE • Strive to promote the goals of economic growth through participation in economic decision-making. • Seek to reach consensus and conclude agreements pertaining to social and economic policy. • Consider all proposed Labour legislation relating to labour market policy before being introduced in Parliament. • Consider all significant changes to social and economic policy before implementation or introduced in Parliament. • Encourage and promote the formulation of coordinated policy on social and economic matters. • Resolving socio-economic disputes (Section 77) 6
STRUCTURE & GOVERNANCE 7
Is NEDLAC successful in addressing labour market challenges?
NEDLAC WORK • Major Labour Market Policy and Legislation processed meticulously since 1995 e.g. LRA, BCEA and Financial Sector Summit of 2002 • Cutting edge research e.g The Code of Good Practice, Collective Bargaining Industrial Action and Picketing • Consistently achieve above 80% performance of stated targets. • Punch above our weight in pioneering legislation i.e. National Minimum Wage, Comprehensive Social Security and the NHI which is prevalent in developed countries 9
TASK TEAMS 1. National Minimum Wage and Basic Conditions of Employment Amendments Bills Task Team 2. Comprehensive Social Security Task Team 3. Energy Task Team 4. Sovereign Downgrade Task Team 5. Financial Sector Summit Task Team 6. National Health Insurance Task Team 7. Governance Task Team 10
What must be put in place to ensure that NEDLAC enhances its role in the process of facilitating social dialogue?
-The struggle for liberation was primarily about restoring the dignity of the oppressed and dispossessed which is intrinsically linked to the attainment of equality for all and that to be entrenched to last eternity. These direct words may never have been used but they're implied in the intention of the liberation struggle which began with the arrival of the employees of the Dutch East India Company on the shores of the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, to re-supply their company’s ships on their journey to East Asia. - 12
STRATEGIC PILLARS OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION There are arguably four strategic pillars of the National Democratic Revolution, namely: • Political freedom , which is the attainment of universal suffrage, based on the principle of one person one vote for all. Status: Political freedom and universal suffrage was achieved in 1994, because we can never achieve perfection in the first attempt it is work in progress and everyone is reasonably satisfied with how the nation has progressed. The system is twigged every now and then to approximate perfection and accommodate the changing dynamics of society. 13
Addressing the land question • Redistribution of land to correct the legacy of colonialism first and apartheid second. This legacy left the majority of South Africans with a mere 13% of the total land ownership of the country of their birth and 87% ownership in the hands of the 9% of the population, which comprised of the ruling class. Status: : We have achieved 7% of land restitution to the previously disadvantaged in 24 years, this translates into 20% for this group, the target is arguably 70%. If the present pace is sustained it will take 171 years to achieve this target. 14
The commanding heights of the economy • Ownership of the means of production and the commanding heights of the economy to reflect the demographics of the Republic. At the point of the democratic breakthrough in 1994, ownership by black people of companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was nonexistent. Status : The ownership of means of production and the commanding heights of the economy stand at 3% based on the JSE figures. If the realistic target could be set at 51% it would take 352 years to achieve. This is about same the time our nation endured colonialism and apartheid combined. 15
Transformation of society • To reflect the character and nature of our people. That's leadership in all spheres of the economy, which would mean 60% representation of black people in leadership and management of all sectors of the economy and the civil service as well as in all strata of society. Put differently given the epoch we are in, our society needs to address the triple challenges of unemployment, inequality and poverty, this is what the National Development Plan seeks to achieve. Status :The Employment Equity Commission reports that the total managerial contingent of black people in industry and commerce is 20%, however, at top management level it is 10%. The realistic target of 60% will only be achieved in both categories in 48 years and 120 years respectively. These figures exclude the civil service which has by and large achieved the target of representivity as envisaged in this strategic pillar of struggle. 16
POINTS TO PONDER • Urgent evaluation of policy implementation and design of consequence management for failure to perform. • Formulation or amendment of legislation to ensure achievement of targets 17
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS • Meticulous identification of relevant / applicable convention ( e.g. ILO’s Employment Policy Convention: C122) • Prioritise those pertinent to current programmes and immediate interventions for ratification. 18
NEDLAC OPERATIONS • Need to consider the structure and operations for improved efficiency • Review of founding documents ( NEDLAC Founding Declaration, NEDLAC Act, NEDLAC Constitution, NEDLAC Protocols ) to make them more responsive to current challenges and expectations • Governance Task Team already established to consider these matters • Seriously tackle innovative forward looking interventions e.g land question, transformation and ownership of commanding heights of the economy 19
RESEARCH & MONITORING • Build NEDLAC’s research capacity in line with the ILO recommendations • Explore more research collaboration opportunities • Monitoring collaboration with the Department of Monitoring and Evaluation(DPME) through continued engagements for better incorporation of the SEIAS into processes into our protocols and feedback mechanism to DPME to better equip it in monitoring role 20
Conclusion These interventions go to the heart of delivering on the pillars of the National Democratic Revolution and debunk the contrived narrative that says NEDLAC is dead or a talk shop. 21
THANK YOU
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