Minister of Labour 2013 Budget Speech and Response by DA

Minister of Labour, Ms Mildred Oliphant, gave her Budget Vote Speech on the 22 May 2013

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Theme: 'Working towards a peaceful environment in labour relations and collective bargaining.'

House chair
Colleagues and compatriots
Fellow South Africans.

Firstly house chair allow me to join millions of our compatriots in paying tribute to one of our best broadcasters Vuyo Mbuli who passed on last weekend. May his soul rest in peace.

Let me remind this house about the clarion call made by the real Congress of the People that met in 1955: Peace and friendship amongst all our people shall be secured by upholding the equal rights, opportunities and status of all South Africa shall strive to maintain world peace and the settlement of all disputes by negotiation – not war.

This budget vote takes place at a time when South Africa enters the critical moment of the collective bargaining season. It is also true that we have experienced greater turbulence in industrial relations in our young nation.

These challenges in the area of labour relations and collective bargaining in the year under review have also provided vital insight and lessons going forward and will be noted in history as necessary painful steps in building our young nation.

Precisely because mining has been and remains a key pillar of our economy, its troubles echo all over the country and affect many industries in its wake. So it was that when ructions occurred recently in the mining sector – especially in the platinum belt, it left in its wake not only dead or maimed compatriots, but a changed collective bargaining framework and a considerable dent in the economy – the effects of which will be felt well into the future.

Added to this, the strikes in the road freight sector and the protest action by farmworkers in the Western Cape reminded us of just how important the responsible exercise of labour relations to the country and to the economy is.

We do want to appeal to citizens not to despair and throw hands in the air on the basis of the challenges we are facing. After all, the very foundation of this nation is based on significantly worse challenges that we overcame. We rise with the morning sun time and time again and rededicate ourselves to the ideal of a better life for all. We do so as part of the human effort and endeavour to create a society on the basis of equality, fairness and justice.

Our country is steeped in the art of negotiation and dispute resolution and for this reason, the Department of Labour in concert with other affected departments, has engaged organised labour and organised business in concluding a peace and stability framework for the mining sector. Talks are also continuing about the character of a new centralised bargaining arrangement in the platinum sector.

In the light of the challenges in the collective bargaining front, and attendant developments, the department will host a labour relations indaba, an event that will see stakeholders and role-players engaged in a conversation on the future of collective bargaining and social dialogue. We want to generate greater interests and concerns of social partners in respect of labour relations conflict, and identify measures to strengthen labour relations and dialogue in order to achieve labour market stability and peace. To achieve this, DoL is working closely with NEDLAC and the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). Out of the pain of Marikana and other hotspots, a nation united in the view of how it wants to deal with challenges of industrial relations will rise.

As part of the learning’s from our troubled year, we have also tabled for discussion the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy report that guided us in the setting of the sectoral determination for farmworkers earlier this year at Nedlac. This is to help us see how some of its recommendations can be incorporated into other policy considerations going forward.

The Minister will be engaging the leadership of the Labour movement to discuss the adversarial nature of our Industrial relations and to explore various ways to arrest the potential threat to our system of collective bargaining. The department will also explore areas that present partnership possibilities such as capacity building and communication. For the collective bargaining institutions to work we need strong and sophisticated union organisations and strong employer bodies. The bulk of the troubles in the collective bargaining processes mirror the state of organisation in the parties that are involved.

As you may well be aware, the department has always deployed either my office or the institutions under my watch to assist parties in disputes and so far, this has worked well. But this defeats the purpose as collective bargaining institutions were created in order to free government from becoming involved in work place issues. You will agree with me that to expect the Minister to become involved in every dispute carry the risk of undermining the very institutions that were set up to do this work and besides, it is not sustainable nor feasible.

House chair,

It is worth repeating that the Department of Labour is alive to its mandate of ensuring that there is decent work pursued under conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity – the ideals that drove our people to create a blueprint called the Freedom Charter.

Our mandate directs us: “To regulate the labour market through policies and programmes developed in consultation with social partners, which are aimed at: improved economic efficiency and productivity; employment creation; sound labour relations; eliminating inequality and discrimination in the workplace; alleviating poverty in employment; enhancing occupational health and safety awareness and compliance in the workplace; as well as nurturing the culture of acceptance that worker rights are human rights.”

As members are well aware, there are bills before Parliament in which we seek to address all of the above. I would like to urge the members to ensure that these bills are passed into law as speedily as possible so that workers can benefit from an improved legislative platform and protections in line with International Labour Organisation standards. The amendments will see an enhanced regime of legal and social protection to deal with current realities in our labour market.

This is in keeping with the promises made in the African National Congress election manifesto in 2009 which promised that: “In order to avoid exploitation of workers and ensure decent work for all workers as well as to protect the employment relationship, (we will) introduce laws to regulate contract work, subcontracting and out- sourcing, address the problem of labour broking and prohibit certain abusive practices.

Provisions will be introduced to facilitate unionisation of workers and conclusion of sectoral collective agreements to cover vulnerable workers in these different legal relationships and ensure the right to permanent employment for affected workers.”

These commitments have the genesis in the Freedom Charter which committed the state to ensure that:

• All who work shall be free to form trade unions, to elect their officers and to make wage agreements with their employers;
• The state shall recognise the right and duty of all to work, and to draw full unemployment benefits;
• Men and women of all races shall receive equal pay for equal work;
• There shall be a forty-hour working week, a national minimum wage, paid annual leave, and sick leave for all workers, and maternity leave on full pay for all working mothers;
• Miners, domestic workers, farm workers and civil servants shall have the same rights as all others who work;
• Child labour, compound labour, the tot system and contract labour shall be abolished.

Allow me house chair to acknowledge in our presence one of the stalwarts that took part in that historic gathering in Kliptown in 1955 – Leon Levy who continues in the effort of attaining a peaceful environment in labour relations as a senior CCMA commissioner. Mr Levy, who in the 1950s and 60s served as President of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), the first non-racial trade union federation in South Africa which advocated for unionisation of workers across the colour bar under the theme “Organise or starve” as well as promotion of One Union One Industry principle.

Let me also pay tribute to another stalwart – in her absence – who was also present at the real Congress of the People in Kliptown. Umama Emma Mashinini who was one of the founding members of the Garment Workers Union and later went on to be elected General Secretary of the Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union of South Africa.

Here in the hallowed corridors is Honourable Eric Mtshali, popularly known as “Stalin” who also served with great integrity especially with SACTU and continues to inspire and lead. It is stalwarts such as these that showed extraordinary courage and determination, thus contributing to the improvement of working conditions and the formation of strong trade unions for South Africa’s workers.

House chair,

The democratic state post 1994 sought to translate these wishes of thousands that gathered in Kliptown into a reality.

Bringing change to a system so pervasive and systemic like the state-sanctioned discrimination is not an event but a process. We continue therefore to fine-tune the process and evolving our jurisprudence to keep up with changing conditions. We reported to this chamber last year that we had instituted wide-ranging legislative reforms. These reforms include the very effort of curbing the abusive practices visited on workers everyday by the system of labour broking. The fact that both business and labour are up in arms with regard to some of the proposed changes, tells us that we are doing something right.

We promised to continue protecting vulnerable workers as enjoined in the Freedom Charter where it says miners, domestic workers, farmworkers and civil servants shall have the same rights as all others who work.

One of the most effective tools the department employs in protecting the vulnerable sectors of our society are sectoral determinations which regulate the minimum wage that workers can earn in a given industry. Let me repeat. Sectoral determinations regulate the bare minimum wage. To this end, in the past financial year, the department has amended and reviewed the determinations in the Hospitality, Contract cleaning, Civil engineering, Private security; Taxi, Wholesale and Retail and Farm workers sectors.

We are proposing the following changes to the Unemployment Insurance Act.

• Increased benefits to beneficiaries
• Benefits period from eight months to 12 months, which means workers will be paid over a longer period without additional contributions.
• The inclusion of domestic workers on maternity benefits
• In addition a woman who goes on maternity leave will be paid at an income replacement rate from 38% to 66%.
• Workers will be given adequate time to claim UIF up from six months to 18 months for death benefits and 12 months for other benefits.

This is an attestation ladies and gentlemen to a prudent and correct management of the funds by the Unemployment Insurance Fund which has made it possible for the state of affairs where we add to the benefits possible.

After all, bringing those in need under the protective blanket is a function and purpose of developing our young state, as Amartya Sen, in his seminal book Development as Freedom asserts: “Protective security is needed to provide a social safety net for preventing the affected population from being reduced to abject misery, and in some cases, even starvation and death. The domain of protective security includes fixed institutional arrangements such as unemployment benefits and statutory income supplements to the indigent as well as ad hoc arrangements such as famine relief or emergency public employment to generate income for destitutes.”

The proposed changes to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act will see domestic workers and farmworkers covered by these protective measures. We continue fighting the scourge of child labour, compound labour, the tot system and contract labour as stated in the Charter.

In June, we will be hosting the Child Labour day in Mpumalanga after successfully doing so in Limpopo last year. We are well aware that children are made to do work not suitable for their age especially in the agricultural sector.

Alongside our sister departments, we realise the shortage of skills in our economy and are working to make a difference in this field. To this end, we have partnered with the South African Maritime Safety Association to enable them to tap into our system for the cadets they want to put through the paces of training. We have also agreed to work with the Department for Higher Education and Training to have these cadets placed at FET colleges. As you will hear later, we have also partnered with SETAs to provide training for youth and unemployed people.

I would also like to take this opportunity in congratulating the 2013 class of The Workers College Natal who were awarded diplomas by the University of KwaZulu-Natal in fields like labour studies and labour economics. This college which is partly funded by the Department of Labour provides capacity building for union officials of the three federations’ affiliates to obtain a national academic qualification.

It may very well be that we would be approaching the fiscus in the next medium term budgetary framework to explore whether this noble concept could not be replicated to other provinces as well.

But we also continue lending weight to other efforts to build capacity through our support of Ditsela which is involved in building capacity by training union officials the funding which has been in place since 1996. For the next three years, R30.4-million has been allocated for this purpose.

Colleagues and compatriots,

As you well know, the Department of Labour is comprised of critical branches and allow me to give an update on the different entities.

Unemployment Insurance Fund

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) continues to play a pivotal role in the area of job creation, ably guided by its board. During the 2012/13 financial year, the UIF and Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) continued their collaboration through the issuance of an additional bond of R2 billion which has increased the total bond to R4 billion. The IDC utilises these funds to lend out to businesses that aim to create or save jobs. Through this partnership, 21 234 new jobs were created and 20 161 saved for the period up to 31 March 2013.

For the 2013/14 financial year, this investment has increased from 5% to 10% of the total investment portfolio. That means well over R8 billion will be made available for investment in manufacturing, mining beneficiation, agriculture and tourism. We have allocated R3.2 billion to the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) to plough into job creation projects, over and above the amount allocated to IDC. We are establishing an Advisory Committee at UIF to ensure that the money invested by the PIC on our behalf creates and lead to job retention.

In addition, the UIF will continue funding Productivity South Africa’s Turnaround Solutions – a three year R39-million a year agreement to assist companies in distress to save jobs and keep people in employment.

The department will also continue re-skilling beneficiaries who lost their jobs for re-integration into the labour market through its “Training of the Unemployed” initiative in collaboration with various government training institutions. An amount of R210 million has been set aside for the current financial year and R1 billion over the three year rolling period. In the 2012/13 financial year, three training initiatives were rolled out involving: 1000 UIF beneficiaries and unemployed youth on various ICT related programmes in collaboration with the MICT SETA, 1000 on mining related artisan programmes in collaboration with the Mining Qualification Authority and 1 500 in various artisan trades in collaboration with the MERSETA.

The UIF has maintained its commitment of R1,2 billion made towards the funding of the Training Layoff Scheme. A total of R105 million has been budgeted for the 2013/14 financial year and R400 million over the three year rolling period.

In all this, the UIF has remained true to its core mandate of collecting contributions from employers and paying benefits to employees who qualify. During the 2012/13 financial year, the collection of revenue increased by 9,8% from R12,3 billion to R13,5 billion against the payment of benefits of R6 billion to 500 000 persons. The projected revenue to be collected is R13,9 billion.

The UIF continues to look for ways to improve accessibility for its services. During the last two years, the UIF has been enhancing the uFiling system to include an online claims portal. The system is being piloted among the few accredited employers with a plan to fully launch it during this financial year. The uFiling system will also continue to provide employers with a platform to register employees and pay contributions online. By the end of March 2013, 42 287 employers utilised the uFiling system.

Inspection and enforcement services

House chair,

In the last financial year, we lost one of our members; the DDG responsible for IES Siyanda Zondeki Nxawe. May her soul rest in peace.

In terms of the work of this branch, during the past year, the department adopted a more targeted approach to inspection and enforcement. It did so by adopting a targeted approach to deal with the most problematic sectors as well as the high risk sectors where levels of non- compliance and injuries on duty are more pronounced as evidenced by our claims history at the Compensation fund.

In the 2012/13 financial year we have conducted 141,744 inspections in these sectors alone. Of these, 112, 672 were in what we term the problematic sectors and 28, 803 in high risk sectors. Over the same period we have seen compliance levels in the problematic sector stabilising at around 64% whilst for the high risk sector we have seen a decline in compliance levels to around 54 percent. The focus on these sectors will continue going forward.

Given this level of compliance, it is necessary for me to remind our social partners that they share a responsibility for ensuring that employers and employees comply with the labour laws of this country. We have jointly formulated our legal framework through social dialogue and we need to work together to ensure an improved level of compliance in our labour market.
 
Labour inspection services play a key role in ensuring enhanced productivity, respect for national laws and protection of worker’s rights. Labour inspection services promote compliance with labour law and aims to enhance the smooth functioning of the labour market. In other words, labour inspection services are an indispensable institution of social policy and sound labour market governance.

Our Roving Inspection Team as well as our Employment Equity team has seen some measure of success during the last financial year. We have requested these teams to follow up on a number of inspections that they have conducted and specifically for the Roving Team we have seen at least 14 cases referred to the justice system for non-compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The Employment Equity Team for the year under review has completed 269 DG Reviews in terms of the Employment Equity Act. The overwhelming majority of companies reviewed - 254 to be exact were found to be non-compliant. We will vigorously pursue compliance going forward.

The department is committed to continuing with its efforts to strengthen the inspectorate. To this end we have devised a number of initiatives over the last financial year that would inform our approach going forward.

At a policy level, we have completed the work in preparation for our ratification of the International Labour Organisation Convention (Convention 81) on labour inspection. It is our aim to register South Africa’s ratification of Convention 81 at the ILO during the course of this year.

We will also seek to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act to ensure that it not only responds to the needs of a changing economy but also to strengthen powers of our Occupational Health and Safety inspectors.

We are indeed beginning to bite and a number of employers have in this financial year felt the strength of our teeth. As promised in the new financial year, we are going to intensify our efforts to ensure that those who don’t comply with our labour market policies do not sit easy.

Public employment services

In June 2012, the department officially launched the Jobs Fairs and Summits that were conducted in all nine provinces. These fairs were intended to provide an opportunity for work-seekers to meet prospective employers, in both private and public sectors, and other organisations that can assist with placement in different forms of employment or in learning opportunities.

The immediate effect of the Jobs Fairs was as follows:

• 23 726 work seekers were registered in an electronic database;
• 14 253 work seekers received employment counselling to assist them in career choices;
• 8 051 job opportunities were registered by employers accompanied by pledges of real and immediate job opportunities from employers.

The Jobs Fairs were an important start in the process of raising awareness of the public employment service. It is clear that the department will need partnerships with employers and employer organisations if we are to increase the placement rate and a proper meaningful service to the many job seekers in the labour market.

Honourable chairperson,

It is a pleasure to welcome to the House today a number of employers who participated in our Job Fairs and who have made use of the department’s employment service. With them are young, first time entrants to the labour market who have been placed in jobs through our service.

During the last financial year, our employment services managed to register 600 259 work seekers. These are persons who register with the Labour Centres of the department throughout the country. Many of the work seekers that we register, however, come to our offices to claim Unemployment Insurance benefits. The service managed to provide career counselling to 264,068 work seekers, while 16,171 were placed in job opportunities.

Last year, I reported that the Sheltered Employment Factories that fall under the department and that employ more than 1 000 persons with disabilities had started a turnaround strategy. I can now report that the Business Case for the factories has been finalised, as well as an options analysis and implementation plan.

Compensation Fund

The Compensation Fund is responsible for managing the COID Act which deals with compensation for injuries and diseases contracted in the work environment. The Fund has experienced challenges in the last financial. The challenges experienced have been brought to the attention of the Portfolio Committee In our last budget we also made a commitment on the implementation of a turnaround. This has been partly implemented.

We indicated last year that the Fund will launch an online submission of Return of Earnings System. This system was launched in May 2012. To date, close to 200 000 employers switched from manual to an online submission system and the fund was able to collect over R7.3 billion in revenue as a result thereof.

In the period under review, the Compensation Fund paid out over R775 million Rand in pensions to over 295 000 pensioners. We also indicated last year that special attention will be given to improving claims management system. I am glad to say that there have been some improvements on this front, but more still needs to be done. We have managed to process 934 000 invoices in Medical Payments amounting to R1.5 billion Rand, a remarkable improvement indeed.

I have directed the Commissioner and the Director General to initiate a process of piloting the Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) claim system as a matter of urgency and provide me with regular feedback. We will also be amending the Compensation Fund Act to introduce an enabling provision for Rehabilitation and Early return to work for the injured and diseased workers. The Draft Amendment Bill has been signed-off by the Board and it is going through the internal legal processes.

The Fund has funded a total of 21 Social Civil Society job creation projects and the discussions with the PIC to allocate R3.5 billion investible income for job creation and infrastructure development projects.

Labour Relations

In the area of labour relations, the past year has raised a number of challenges. The department will continue to work with our social partners to stabilise areas where there is conflict in labour relations.

I also want to acknowledge the important work that is being carried out by the CCMA in mediating and conciliating disputes and providing other support, including to platinum mining companies. It is crucial that employers and trade unions do whatever they can to stabilise incidents of unrest wherever they occur.

Regarding our obligations to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), South Africa has been in the forefront of ratifying the different conventions. Recently Parliament ratified the following:

Maritime Labour Convention of 2006: To provide for a modern system of improved conditions of decent work in the maritime sector together with an enforcement regime.

Convention concerning Work in the Fishing Sector of 2007 (No. 188) – To ensure that employees on fishing vessels will have decent conditions of work, including food and accommodation, occupational safety and health, medical care and social security.

Labour Inspection Convention of 1947 (No. 81): To provide useful guidance for designing and monitoring an improved labour inspection system, and

Domestic Worker Convention of 2011 (No. 189): To enhance the protection of domestic work worldwide. In any event, nearly all issues in this convention are already entrenched in the Sectoral Determination for Domestic Workers. There are, however, a few issues that still need to be addressed, such as coverage for domestic workers under the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA).

The HIV and AIDS Code and Technical Assistance Guidelines have been reviewed and aligned with the ILO’s Recommendation 200 concerning HIV and AIDS and the world of work has also been adopted.

The department also hosted a successful Employment Equity Indaba which sought to place back in the public discourse the issue of workplace transformation. This is especially more urgent now to begin to take stock of the impact of the changes that the democratic government has made.

The Commission for Employment Equity’s latest report shows that there is still a long way to go. Employment Equity is not a compliance issue. It is not about ticking boxes. It is a moral and human rights imperative; it is a pre-condition for the achievement of sustainable development, economic growth and equality in the country, which should be supported by decent work initiatives. Pro-active measures are required by organisations to develop and harness an inclusive and diverse workforce that is free from unfair discrimination and is reasonably demographically representative.

Earlier in the year we reviewed the sectoral determination of farmworkers. A number of farmers indicated that they could not meet the determination at R105 a day. We made it clear that subject to certain conditions, it was possible for temporary exemptions to be granted.

Let me now turn to the priorities of the Department of Labour for the remainder of the current year.

Department of Labour strategic priorities, 2013/14

For the 2013/14 financial year, an appropriation of R2, 415 billion has been awarded to the department. This appropriation is duly reflected in the Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) 2013. The increase of R276 million when compared to the 2012/13 adjusted appropriation can mainly be attributed to the following:

• R23,2 million in respect salary adjustments;
• R50 million in respect of the Sheltered Employment Factories for implementation of the business case;
• R85 million in respect of the CCMA’s roll-out of the web-based case management system.

The spending focus over the medium term will continue to be on protecting vulnerable workers, reintegrating work seekers into the labour market and ensuring decent work.

While we need to strengthen the role of all labour market institutions, it should be noted that in times of high unemployment, the workload for the Department of Labour also increases as there are growing pressures in the labour market. Unfortunately, our budget allocations have not provided much room for expanding services and extending direct support to job seekers, in particular.

In this financial year, the department has an opportunity to:

• Manage for the first time in 10 years its own IT services.
• Improve in to the functioning of the Compensation Fund will be effected. In particular, the claims backlog will be substantially reduced and the turnaround times on claims and employer services improved.

In relation to our legislative and policy environment, we will be focussing on:

• Amendment of the Unemployment Insurance Act.
• Amendment of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act
• Amendment of the Occupational Health and Safety Act
• Amendments to other labour legislation including the promulgation Employment Services Bill that are currently before Parliament.
• This financial year, we are going to up skill 1000 domestic workers as well as train farmworkers in terms of the BCEA, LRA and sectoral determinations.
• The current year should be one in which the Department can focus on promulgation and implementation to improve worker protection and employment security.

Our first priority in the coming year should, however, be to work together to achieve a peaceful environment in labour relations and collective bargaining. This is not a task for government alone. It is one that requires all employers, employees and their organisations to renew our common loyalty to our country and our commitment to its future. As people who live and work in South Africa, we need to take our destiny into our own hands and to find long-term solutions to the challenges that face the future of labour relations and collective bargaining.

We call upon members of this house to join the human effort which seek to stabilise the development of our nation and the creation of a society wherein there shall be work and security for all. As our forebears said, “we will continue to fight for these freedoms side by side, throughout our lives, until we have achieved a better life of South Africans”.

Allow me then members to thank the chairperson and members of the portfolio committee for their work, in keeping us on our toes. We also thank our social partners, organised labour and business for their support. Lastly but most importantly, I want to thank all department officials led by the Director General for their support. I would particularly like to thank the staff in the Ministry whom I sometimes give a hard time.

I would like to finally commend the budget of the Department of Labour to the honourable members of this house.

I thank you.

Speech by Hon Elleck Nchabeleng during the Budget Vote Debate on Labour

Honourable Minister
Honourable Members of Parliament,
Director General and the Officials of the Department
Social Partners; Business, Community and Labour
Captains of Industry and Commerce
Distinguished Guests
Members of Media
Ladies and Gentlemen

The ANC government inherited a terminally ill economy in 1994 characterised by unemployment, economic stagnation and repressive labour laws. The pre 1994 Labour laws of this country were used by the apartheid regime, not only to suppress workers in the work place but as part of social engineering on a bigger scale.

Wages that were paid to workers dictated the societal patterns that we see in this country. The low levels of wages determined inter alia; who would qualify for a housing loan, which hospital to go to, which schools to send your children to, where to buy your groceries and essentials, what food to eat, the entire socialisation of the society was to a large extent dictated to by the labour market polices of the day.

The advent of the new Labour relations regime in 1996 changed the labour policy and Industrial relations landscape dramatically and the ANC is proud of that. The new labour dispensation attracted accolades beyond our borders and the world over. Having said that, it would be naïve to forget that historically the Labour laws regime in South Africa has always been a contested terrain and it will be for some years to come. The difference today though is that we have put in place institutions to deal and manage the inherent conflict in our labour sector. Despite varied outcomes, our institutions remain the best we have.

Honourable members;

South Africa`s response to the 2008/9 Global economic crisis was facilitated by the Labour Market institutions. Whilst the South African economy is advancing, it has not fully recovered from the devastating 2008/9 global economic recession. Whilst South Africa dragged itself out of recession quicker than most countries could, there are still many countries that remain trapped in the aftermath of the 2008 global economic recession. The undeniable truth is that some of these countries are major trading partners of South Africa; therefore their challenges will unavoidably have an impact on our economic growth patterns.

The Minister of Labour has, in pursuit of the ruling party vision, tabled four Bills in parliament. The Bills in our view, seek to address the gaps that have emerged since the last amendments, alignment with the country`s international obligations, alignment with the relevant jurisprudence and most importantly strengthen the protection of vulnerable workers. There is agreement among all social partners that these are the right things to do, where parties differ is on the HOW. As the old saying goes "Angels lurks in the periphery, but the devil is in the detail."

Government cannot abdicate its responsibility to protect its citizens likewise cannot turn a blind eye to rampant abuse of vulnerable workers. The UN is resolute that Workers rights are Human rights too. Honourable members;

The Sectoral Determination dispensation is one of the instruments at government`s disposal to deal with protection of vulnerable workers. The recent farmworkers strike in the Western Cape has surfaced a new and growing trend in the farming sector. That is; anecdotally, the make-up of the work force is dominated by foreign nationals. Our Constitution and our labour laws extend protection to all workers including documented and non-documented foreign nationals. The challenge in the farming sector is the rampant exploitation of foreign nationals, and in some cases they are the most preferred from the locals and they are often paid way below the prescribed minimum wages. When the Minister of Labour gazetted the new Sectoral Determination for farm workers, two trends happened:

1. An unprecedented large number of Employers applied for exemptions and
2. The Employers started recruiting large numbers of foreign nationals.

If it is true that our labour laws are inflexible, close to a million workers would not have lost their jobs as a result of the Global Economic recession of 2008, CCMA wouldn`t be inundated with notices for retrenchments, the mining sector wouldn`t even be talking about possible retrenchments and the Employers would not be able to apply for exemptions.

For this reasons I want to argue that our Labour Laws are relatively flexible. If you give a four year old boy a hammer, everything in front of him looks like a nail to be hammered. It seems that in the eyes of the Employers, the labour laws of this country look like a nail that needs to be hammered at every opportunity.

Protecting workers rights is a constitutional obligation and the ANC has done an excellent job in ensuring that there are institutions to advance this noble and human right objective.

Honourable members I am sure that you will agree with me that; There is no Labour Market System that is perfect, and the ANC does profess, for one moment, that our Labour Market policy framework is perfect but it is a compromise that was negotiated by the social partners at Nedlac as far back as 1996. Just last week, I was watching a television debate about wage negotiation season or strike season as others would choose to call it. What surprised me was the notion the decline in union membership in the country must be celebrated. This is absurd. The empirical evidence points to the fact that non-unionised workers are the most vulnerable; this can`t be a cause for celebration.

Honourable Members;

Some of these challenges are shaking the very foundation laid to transform the economy and social conditions of the majority of South Africans. The current picture contradicts what we envisaged to be the post-apartheid South Africa. In light of these challenges, we welcome the 2013/14 budget increase to R2.4 billion, especially given the resource challenges that the Department faces. We welcome efforts to increase the budget in order to improve the inspectors` remuneration to ensure their retention and creating new specialist labour inspector posts. This goes a long way in addressing some of the challenges that were raised by the labour inspectors during our oversight visits. Some of these challenges include understaffing and insufficient tools of trade such as vehicles to travel to inspection sites.

The budget allocation for the current financial year is expected to increase the number of personnel in the Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement sub-programme from 1 434 in 2011/12 to 1 457 posts in 2015/16. In the current financial year, the Department is going to increase the capacity of the Inspectorate with an additional 90 inspector posts. This will increase the number of inspections conducted per annum. The larger portion of the Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement sub-programme`s goods and services budget goes to travelling and fleet services costs for inspections. We hope that this will contribute towards the alleviation of transport related challenges raised by inspectors during oversight visits. Honourable Minister, we hope that this budget will also address some of the challenges that have been raised by Professor FL Geminiani and Professor John Smallwood`s research outcomes when they investigated the effectiveness of the Department of Labour`s occupational health and safety inspections services in the construction sector. Their research concluded that there is a need for the South African inspectorate services to improve the manner in which inspections are conducted in this sector. However, voluntary compliance by companies is also encouraged.

Honourable Chairperson;

We also welcome additional budget allocations to the CCMA of R80 million in 2013/14, R140 million in 2014/15 and R160 million in 2015/16 financial years to deal with additional caseload arising from amendments to labour legislation and the rollout of the web based management system, a new office in the Vaal and Welkom areas, and a dedicated job saving unit for the training lay-off scheme. We commend the Department for the role it had played through the CCMA in the resolution of disputes of national importance such as the Marikana-Lonmin and the De Doorns farms disputes.

This budget is most welcome, especially considering the challenges that we face. Somehow, while we acknowledge the validity of these challenges, there are times when some of the comments and actions could be interpreted as a direct attack to the 1994 gains. Labour market institutions such as the CCMA and NEDLAC continue to play a role in stabilising the labour market through negotiation and finding consensus among labour market role players. Strengthening labour market institutions is critical in finding `social compact` as proposed in the National Development Plan (NDP) to find solutions to deal with unemployment, poverty and inequality. Without such consensus, we all know, there would be anarchy.

Honourable Members;

Every person and every family needs protection from risks and the resulting insecurities. Some sectors are more prone to these insecurities than others. For example, the agricultural sector is vulnerable to shocks of any kind. In addition to occupational hazards in this sector, risks of unemployment, irregularity and instability of income are significant. Hence a need to build comprehensive social security funds to cushion workers during difficult periods. During 2011/12 financial year, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) paid benefits of R5.6 billion to 706 000 people. The UIF`s administration has considerably improved over the years.

As the Committee, we also acknowledge that there are still numerous challenges facing the Compensation Fund today. At present, effective compensation services are compromised by administrative difficulties within the Compensation Fund and the Compensation Commissioner for Occupational Diseases. On the 13th of February this year, the Committee met with the Commission to discuss its challenges. While there is improvement in some areas, it is relatively slow given the significance of the type of services the Fund has to provide to the workers of this country. Compared with the previous consecutive disclaimers, the Fund has now received a qualified audit report.

However, poor human resources performances, IT challenges, fraud, have all led to non payment of medical practitioners. In some instances, these practitioners have refused to work with cases of injury on duty. Unfortunately, these challenges have a direct adverse impact on the health and lives of workers who have to endure pain from untreated injuries and illnesses. Due to the serious nature of this very issue, my office has been receiving calls regarding compensation cases and numerous stakeholders reporting shocking stories of clients who had to suffer numerous amputation procedures as a result of non-payment of doctors and medical equipment for these workers. The Committee therefore undertakes to closely monitor the Compensation Fund, particularly through regular meetings with the Auditor General`s Office. We have also requested that the turn-around strategy project team should report regularly to the Committee. Honourable Minister, in order to improve the Fund`s administrative challenges, we request a hands-on approach from the DG and your office.

Furthermore Honourable Members;

The Public Employment Services Programme received a total of R400.1 million during the 2013/14 financial year, compared with the previous year`s R334.3 million. The Programme includes sub-programmes namely, Management and Support Services, Work Seeker Services, Employer Services, Designated Groups Special Services, Sheltered Employment Factories and Subsidies to Designated Workshops, Productivity South Africa, Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Compensation Fund. The Department`s expenditure focus will be on enhancing the Department`s capacity to implement the Employment Services Bill and the public employment service projects once the bill is promulgated, and on managing the implementation of the turnaround strategy of the Sheltered Employment Factories. Ultimately, the Sheltered Employment Factories seek to provide on-the-job training of employees, increase the number of workers, partnerships with government departments and private manufacturers for open employment opportunities, as well as assist private employers to provide conditions conducive to absorbing workers trained in the Sheltered Employment Factories.

Honourable Members;

High unemployment is one of the most pressing challenges facing our country. The Budget Review reported that there are 4.5 million jobless South Africans and another 2.3 million people categorised as "discouraged" who are no longer actively seeking employment, raising the broad unemployment rate to 33.2 per cent. The government`s response to this challenge as contained in the National Development Plan includes training, skills development, labour market activation and short-term public employment.

Honourable Members;

The challenges we face force us to introspectively address weaknesses in our statute and policy and find new solutions to new challenges posed by globalisation and the unique nature of our society. At the core of such introspective exercise, is the need to address leadership challenges to deal with these disparities in the labour market. One such example is the need for companies to address poor managerial practices, which in turn lead to tensions in the workplace. Hence a need for companies to invest in skills training for labour relations managers to acquire negotiation skills and a general understanding of the South African labour relations landscape.

Honourable Members, the African National Congress supports this budget.

Speech by Hon Buti Manamela during the National Assembly Debate on Labour Budget Vote

Hon House Chairperson,
Hon Minister of Labour
Fellow Members of Parliament
Members of the public in the gallery

As we deliberate on the budget for the Department of Labour for the current financial year, we should pause and ponder the significance and role of the department in the current political, economic and social conditions that millions of workers, business and civil society in general are faced with.

This budget should therefore, in our view, be seen in a context. It must be a budget that will locate the department of labour as an important role player in social cohesion, economic stability, promoting and supporting entrepreneurs, saving existing jobs and helping in creating new ones, conciliating and arbitrating in labour relations disputes and profiling workers rights as human rights.

In that context, thus, the ANC remembers Marikana and hopes that the current chapter of that tragedy will be concluded and justice will be done for the and that the lives of the 54 people who died then will not be in vein.

The farmworkers in the Western Cape, in particular De Doorns, did what this Committee anticipated when we went on oversight and witnessed their apalling working and living conditions: they took to the streets in demand for a better life and better wages.

Due to the ripple effects of the global economic crises, and what has been referred to as a double-deep recession, we have also witnessed more strikes in support of wage demands and lock-outs as workers and bosses deadlocked in negotiations.

As some may hasten to condemn the trade union movement for what you refer as unreasonable demands, we hope that you will also remember and join in condemnation the massive pays in bonuses and shares pocketed by CEO`s and shareholders of those companies.

The impatience displayed by the workers and the poor on the slow progress in change of the quality of their lives and the urgent task we need to undertake to change their livelihoods have resulted in some of the violent strikes we have seen in the past few years.

This year, various sectors of the economy, including mining and manufacturing, will be engaged into wage negotiations with unions already having submitted their wage demands.

Rising unemployment, especially youth unemployment, has dominated the social discourse and is regarded as a ticking time bomb.

Again, with the Labour Force Survey reporting a decline in real employment with the rate of unemployment having risen from 24.9% to 25.2%, every government department, including this one, has to be united in action to restore the hopes of millions that democracy can only work if they also at work.

Hon Chairperson

In our engagement as political parties in the portfolio committee of labour, we were in unison in our recommendation that the challenges facing our country, of inequality, poverty and unemployment and the role that the department and its agencies have to play requires more injection of resources in the coming Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

We will use the powers that we gave through the Budgetary Review process and the newly formed budget office to ensure that the department is resourced in order to fulfill its role in the challenges that face our country.

To be specific, we have recommended that the Labour Centres of the department needs to add as part of its responsibilities the connection of unemployed people with available jobs.

In many cases, people with the requisite skills are not placed in proper jobs because they do not have information about the availability of these jobs.

Many entrepreneurs disinvest from the productive sector arguing that there is a skills shortage, whilst thousands of young and old hold qualifications from SETA`s, FET colleges, prior learning and Universities and cannot be connected with these entrepreneurs.

During an oversight visit I asked a young person in the Labour Centre in the province of KwaZulu Natal who was there to fill in a form that captures information about his skills as to what we can do to ensure that we help facilitate his employment, he strikingly mentioned the

(i) cost of searching for a job,
(ii) which starts with buying newspapers daily to search in the jobs section,
(iii) the travel to get application forms,
(iv) postal costs to send these forms,
(v) travel costs to interviews and the stress they go through waiting to hear whether they have been employed or not are some of the challenges that skilled and unemployed people face.

These are real challenges that faces unemployed young people and requires some levels of intervention by Labour Centres in our communities. This means that we have expand the presence of labour centres as many of these are located in cities, far from were the unemployed are.

We also have to ensure that we resource these centres with proper IT to enable jobs searcgh, distribution of information regarding available jobs, facilities for them to post, fax or email their job applications so as they help young people to be empoyed.

Already, more employers and employees are relying on the department so as they connect with each other, and therefore, with the expansion of access to labour centres and the improvement of the quality of work, a lot more can and will be done.

Hon Chairperson

There has been a lot of talk around the transformation of the South African Labour Market, and the need to ensure its flexibility as a means to create more jobs and absorb first time entrants into the labour market.

The essence of the submissions has been that we need to make it easier to hire and fire new entrants into the labour market. If our logic is to create more jobs and ensure that we absorb more young people into the labour market, why should we legislate exploitation and super exploitation.

Our mandate as legislators is to make it easier for employers to hire new entrants, not to fire them. Our constitutions, which is the cornerstone of our labour laws, serves as a guarantor for all South Africans to enjoy fair labour practice and despite its defects, has been hailed as one of the best in the world.

As the ANC, we have no intention to deviate from the spirit and latter that inspired those who worked tirelessly to ensure that we have a transformed labour market systems and labour relations.

Hon Chairperson

There has been widespread criticism on the role played by NEDLAC in building social cohesion and facilitating dialogue amongst major stakeholders in society.

NEDLCAC remains a critical institution for social dialogue between civil society, business, labour and government. In the past, major legislation and negotiations on various policy and socio-economic issues were dealt with at NEDLAC and build the social cohesion and common vision that many are today talking about.

This labour laws that many have subjected to undue criticism, were as a result of the sterling work that NEDLAC has done in ensuring that all chambers are agreed on the basic tenets of the protection of workers rights and the regulation of the labour market.

There has been calls from various quarters for an inclusive economic CODESA that will assess our progress in transforming economic ownership and control since 1994, and what better place for such an economic CODESA than at NEDLAC.

It is important that all stakeholders do take their legislated responsibilities at NEDLAC more seriously and commit to deal with as much detail where there are differences as possible.

The manner in which labour disputes have turned violent and somewhat displayed lack of interest in engagement by its social partners is indicative of the need to revive dialogue amongst major stakeholders in society, with NEDLAC playing a central role.

We want to submit as the ANC that NEDLAC cannot be able to fulfill its founding mandate with the meager resources that it has been allocated, and thus, the need to review this budget element through further allocation by Treasury and the adjustment of allocated resources from other agencies to NEDLAC.

Speech by Hon Sharon Makhubela-Mashele during the National Assembly Budget Vote on Labour

Topic:
Dealing with inequalities, unfair discrimination and accelerating amendments to Labour Legislations before parliament and their impact on the labour market. The role of the Department of Labour in worker rights education, and in collaboration with trade unions and NGO`s. Reaching out to domestic and farm workers, and building capacity of the trade-union movement whilst dealing with rogue (fly-by-night trade unions.

Honourable Chair
Minister and Honourable members,
Ladies and Gentlemen : Greetings!

"Central to building the economy is the question of worker rights. Past policies of labour exploitation and repression must be redressed and the imbalances of power between employers and workers must be corrected.

The basic rights to organise and to strike must be entrenched. And negotiations and participative structures at national, industry and workplace level must be created to ensure that labour plays an effective role in the reconstruction and development of the Country.

South Africa operates in a Mixed Economy, which is well regulated to foster and promote Economic Growth and Protect the Worker and Most importantly the Most Vulnerable Worker.

This regulation does not only protect the workers, it creates a conducive environment for business to grow and expand.

National Economic Development and Labour Council -(Nedlac) which is a statutory body that is governed and mandated by the NEDLAC ACT- (Act 35 of 1994).

IS A BODY THAT:

strive to promote goals of economic growth, participation in economic decision-making and social security;
seek to reach consensus and conclude agreements pertaining to social and economic policy;
consider all proposed labour legislation relating to labour market policy before introduction in Parliament; and
encourage and promote the formulation of coordinated policy on social and economic matters.
It is the standard practice in the department that each time a new labour law is introduced or in the event of the existing law being amended, a comprehensive awareness campaign is launched immediately after it becomes law.

The Department must support a number of initiatives to build capacity of the workers to understand their rights. Some of the initiatives includes;

Support for Ditsela and the Workers College institutions set up specifically to train workers and their respective trade unions;
Labour centres include labour rights awareness in their outreach programmes;
The Department runs awareness campaigns on various aspects of the labour legislations alongside the historical and symbolic public holidays.
We Welcome the Work of The Department , on rolling out a programme to clean up the Trade Union Registry of all bogus unions and the criteria to register trade unions has been tightened up.

We are also pleased with The Minister on engaging the Leadership of the South African Domestic Workers Union and agreement that the Department will facilitate the participation of its members on trade union training programmes.

The Minister has also developed a National programme that focuses on known-your-rights for farm workers and the domestic workers for 2013/14.

Its Good Work that should be acknowledged. When a worker knows his or her right they will be better placed to bargain for progress and benefits in their Employment.

We in the ANC will make sure that The gains of the Workers in their majority are protected and Defended at all cost.

Workers had to fight and protest to have Labour Legislations that recognises that Workers Rights are Human Rights.

In driving and Promoting the Decent Work Agenda, Our Labour Laws play a pivotal and important role.

It is therefore of Paramount importance for the Labour Amendment Bills before Our Committee to speak to this Agenda of Decent Work.

"Decent work is the foundation of the fight against poverty and inequality and its promotion should be the cornerstone of all our efforts.

Decent work embraces both the need for more jobs and for better quality jobs. The creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods will be central to the ANC government`s agenda.

The ANC government will make the creation of decent work opportunities and sustainable livelihoods the primary focus of our economic policies."

On Employment Equity

At the dawn of our democracy, we committed ourselves to the eradication of social and economic inequalities, especially those that are systemic in nature, which were generated in our history by colonialism, apartheid and patriarchy, and which brought pain and suffering to the great majority of our people.

South Africa has international obligations under binding treaties and customary international law especially human rights, which promote equality and prohibit unfair discrimination.

Among these obligations are those specified in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The country is also obliged to comply with International Labour Standards for ratified conventions.

Of particular note is the ILO Convention No. 100 on Equal Remuneration, which deals with Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value and Convention No. 111 on Discrimination which is concerned with the Elimination of Unfair Discrimination in the Workplace. ILO member states are required to take active measures to guarantee these rights.

In the National Assembly We have recently recommended a report of the ILO on the recommendation on HIV/AIDS in the Work Place.

The international labour standard on HIV and AIDS (Recommendation No. 200) establishes principles concerning HIV and AIDS and the world of work, Recognises that:-

The majority of the people living with HIV are in their most productive years.

Strengthening efforts to prevent HIV infections in working population is critical.

Many are forced out of employment because of stigma and discrimination.

Workplaces can also enhance access to treatment, care and support to enable workers living with HIV a dignified productive life.

The Report Further states That:

There should be no discrimination or stigmatisation of workers on grounds or real or perceived status;
Workplaces should facilitate access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support;
Privacy and confidentially should be ensured with regard to HIV status;
There should be no mandatory HIV testing or screening for employment purposes;
The workplace response should be a part of national policies and programmes including those related to labour, education, social protection and health.
We are also pleased that the:

DOMESTIC WORKERS` CONVENTION 189: PROGRESS

ILO Convention 189 Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers radically changes how domestic workers, the vast majority of whom are women and their work inside the home are valued, recognised and protected.

Its desperately needed and long overdue protections shake deeply entrenched gender discrimination in social and legal norms.

According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, there is a total of 1 151 million domestic workers in South Africa.

In South Africa, domestic workers already enjoy legislative protection such as regulated working hours, minimum wages, overtime payment, daily and weekly rest periods, social security and maternity leave.

Whilst domestic workers have a range of statutory protection, there is still a huge challenge in terms of non-compliance by employers.

What Does the Convention Entail?

Reasonable hours of work
Weekly rest
A limit on in-kind payment
Clear information on terms of employment
Right to join trade unions and collective bargaining
Regulation of recruitment agencies
Investigation of complaints
Labour rights on par with other workers
Elimination of child labour and all forms of forced or compulsory labour
Protection of migrant domestic workers
Health and safety for domestic workers
Access to dispute resolution mechanisms
Chairperson, Conclude by Supporting the Budget of the DEPARTMENT
Sejamothopo Motau, Shadow Minister of Labour
22 May 2013
As we remember those who have perished during recent labour related violence, the DA would like to start off by pleading for a strike and violence free environment during the coming wage negotiation period in the mining and other sectors of the economy. We must also ensure that this period does not result in any further job-losses similar to those announced by Amplats last week.

As admitted my Finance Minister Gordhan yesterday, rising tensions in the Platinum belt require urgent attention. I trust the Honourable Minister Oliphant will today inform us of government’s exact plans to create a calm environment for negotiations to take place. No worker should die for belonging to a trade union or for taking part in legitimate collective bargaining processes.

Moments are very rare and far between when South Africans across the political spectrum seem to agree on anything. Unemployment - and particularly youth unemployment and its debilitating impacts on the economy of the country – is one such issue. From President Jacob Zuma, to the National Planning Commission (NPC), there is absolute agreement that unemployment is the greatest challenge threatening the stability of our young democracy.

In its 2012 – 2017 Strategic Plan the Department of Labour declared: “The first challenge facing us is unemployment and under-employment.” The statement remains valid today.

In his State of the Nation Address on 14 February, President Jacob Zuma described youth unemployment as a crisis. The DA agrees. The NPC’s Diagnostic Report states the problem bluntly: “Too few people work (in the country).”

The DA agrees with the National Development Plan (NDP) that sustainable economic growth is the only answer to tackling and beating unemployment. 
For the NDP to succeed, says the Commission, business and labour need to endorse a shared vision. The DA agrees. We also agree with the NDP that, “Difficult choices will have to be made. And that, (to) promote large scale job creation, the functioning of the labour market will have to improve.”

Indeed, while we can argue about the degree of flexibility or rigidity of the South African labour market and the impact on job creation, there can be no argument about the fact that our sluggish job creation and high unemployment rate can be attributed to the consequences of some of the country’s labour laws that generally protect the employed at the expense of the growing number of unemployed citizens.

The DA is thus very disappointed and remains deeply concerned that the Department of Labour (DoL) has stubbornly refused to heed our appeals to commission an updated Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) of the three labour law amendment bills and the new Public Services Bill currently going through the parliamentary process.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) conducted in 2010 suggested that the jobs of 2.13 million temporarily employed South Africans would be jeopardised if the bills were implemented in their original form. Important changes were subsequently made but the current bills are yet to be subjected to an RIA.Without an updated RIA we have no idea what the potential negative impacts the amended acts, if passed, are likely to have on job creation and unemployment. This is a risk we should not be taking.

Talking of labour laws, Honourable Chairperson, during his department’s budget vote debate, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande made a blatantly untrue statement that “the DA opposes affirmative action.” I challenge the Honourable Minister to produce a DA policy document stating that the DA opposes affirmative action.

For the edification of Honourable Nzimande, the DA supports the Constitutional provisions for affirmative action and the objectives of the Employment Equity Act to promote redress in the South African labour market. Furthermore, we are currently reviewing our labour and other policies and the Honourable Minister should look out for the outcomes.
Chairperson, in his speech on 11 February 2010, President Zuma told the nation:
“The most urgent focus of policy change must be interventions to create jobs for young people. Unemployment rates for young people are substantially higher than the average. Proposals will be tabled to subsidise the cost of hiring younger workers to encourage firms to take on inexperienced staff.”

Subsequently, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, informed the nation that the government had set aside R5 billion for the implementation of a Youth Wage Subsidy to encourage employers to take on inexperienced first time job-seekers aged between 18 and 29. Regrettably, implementation has been blocked by the ANC’s alliance partner, Cosatu. 
The DA calls for the immediate implementation of the Youth Wage Subsidy through the Youth Employment Tax Incentive as once again announced by the Finance Minister during his budget speech earlier this year.

In this regard, despite our strong reservations, the DA accepts the “Social Accord on Youth Employment” as a fait accompli and call on the Minister of Labour and government to ensure that the projects that will be launched are administered fairly and on non-partisan basis. Poverty and unemployment do not carry a political party membership card.

We have noted the remarks by Minister Patel during a radio talk show on Monday that the thrust of some of the projects will be to develop entrepreneurship among the youth and assist them to start their own small businesses. If this is indeed the case, the Minister will find the DA to be an ardent supporter of such programmes.

We do, however, have valid cause for our doubts on this commitment from the Honourable Minister. Only if the interventions are aligned to the NDP will they be likely to succeed in creating an environment where is its easier, cheaper and faster for small businesses to set up, grow and create employment opportunities.

Chairperson, while the Department of Labour maintained an unqualified audit opinion for the 2011/2012 financial year, the Auditor General was not happy with the department’s performance on several important fronts: I will highlight just one.

With regard to reliability of information, the AG found that a total of 47 percent of the actual reported performance relevant to the selected programmes was not valid, accurate or complete when compared with the source information. This was due to lack of monitoring, review, standard operating procedures and information systems for the recording of actual achievements by senior management.

We hope that the Minister will ensure that, this and the other concerns by the AG, is rectified and will not recur in this year’s AG’s Report. 
Minister, I would now like to turn to one of the problem entities in your portfolio – the Compensation Fund (CF). Earlier in the year, appalled by the dismal performance of CF, we requested that you put the entity under Treasury Administration.

Thank you for responding to my request, Minister. In denying my proposal, you indicated that you had recently initiated an action plan to address the core of my concerns and that you were confident that the plan was capable of delivering the desired results within a very short space of time. 
We do not feel as confident as you do that things will improve soon at the Fund. I believe you need to personally intervene if you are not to be disappointed by the outcome – as I believe you will be.
  
The DA is convinced that things will continue to deteriorate at the Fund until the IT system has been modernised and the place is staffed with appropriately qualified officials, particularly in the financial management section.

Furthermore, during the 2011/2012 financial year, the Compensation Fund logged R12.9 million (2011: R2.1 million) in fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

Minister, a quick calculation shows that the Department could have employed 65 highly needed specialist labour inspectors at a salary of R200 000 per annum for a year with the money wasted purely because certain officials did not or cannot do their job. The department cannot afford to keep such people.

Scores of frustrated people, angry at the department because of poor or lack of service at CF, turn to the DA for help out of desperation. The DA now has a full time employee, Ms Gaynor Lucas, who assists me and my colleague, Honourable Van der Westhuizen, to field and facilitate labour related complaints - mostly concerning the Compensation Fund. This is a service our office would not have to provide if CF was doing its job properly.

Minister, I would like to draw your attention to concerns regarding some labour centres. In Gauteng, the Sebokeng Labour Centre was closed earlier this year allegedly for non-payment of rent. This is unacceptable. If true, heads must roll. In KZN, the Park Rynie Visiting Point had been shut for months for non-payment when the Labour Portfolio Committee did an oversight visit at the end of January this year.
  
With regard to National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), Minister, the DA believes you need to get the entity to earn its keep and regain its fast waning integrity. Some well-placed critics of the council believe that it has outlived its usefulness and should be scrapped. The DA believes the body needs a very serious shake-up to become the effective national social dialogue forum that the law envisages it to be. 
On the other hand, the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) continues to do quite well under very trying conditions and deserves the additional bit of money to its budget allocation. The DA is, however, concerned that the workload of the entity will increase exponentially when the effects of the labour laws being amended begin to manifest in the labour market.

Minister, it is heartening that the strategic plans and budgets of the department and its entities for 2013 – 2018 have been aligned to the objectives of the National Development Plan to support specific labour market interventions that we hope will ultimately reduce unemployment, poverty and inequality. The DA welcomes this thrust as we believe that if we can achieve most of the goals set out in the NDP we can propel South Africa in an upward path to sustainable economic growth and job creation.