Minister of Labour Budget Speech & Responses by DA and IFP

Minister of Labour, Ms Mildred Oliphant, gave her Budget Vote Speech on the 15 July 2014

______________________________________________________________________

Honourable Chairperson
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Leaders of our Social partners,
Honourable members,
Distinguished guests
Fellow South Africans,

Honourable Chairperson, it is indeed an honour for me to address you this afternoon as we present the budget vote to the fifth democratic Parliament of the Republic of South Africa. I am also grateful to President Jacob Zuma for giving me yet another opportunity to continue with implementing the many initiatives that we started in the previous Administration. I am also very pleased and thankful about the appointment of the Deputy Minister in the Department of Labour; an extra pair of hands will indeed come in handy as we grapple with the unfinished business of the Department. This will no doubt go a long way in accelerating service delivery; Hon Nkosi Patekile Holomisa, it’s good to have you on board Mhlekazi.

Let me also extend our deepest condolences on the sad passing of many of our distinguished citizens during this period including but not limited to;

• The Secretary of Parliament, Mr Michael Coetzee.
• Mama Epainette Mbeki and the Mbeki Family
• The Former National Council of Provinces Chief Whip Ms Ntwanambi,
• Nadine Gordimer Nobel Laureate who passed-on on Sunday, and
• Many others who have passed-on in the recent past.

Your invaluable contribution to the struggle for freedom and democracy will never be forgotten. May your Souls Rest in Peace.

Our democracy is alive and well, judging from the recent outcomes of the General Elections. Our constitution remains among the best in the world and defending it, is what we should all do, even handedly though.

Honourable Chairperson

The transition from Apartheid to democracy has not been easy, translating the values and the letter of our constitution into tangible outcomes continue to be the source of our inspiration and the point of departure for everything that we do. Progress is evident but there is still a long way to go. The President made a call in the recent state of the nation address, I quote, “As we enter the second phase of our transition from apartheid to a national democratic society, we have to embark on radical socio-economic transformation to push back the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. Change will not come about without some far-reaching interventions.” Close quote. We concur as the Department of Labour and there is no room for complacency.

It is therefore remarkable that this democracy has lasted this long and signs are there for all to see that it will be here for many decades to come. Many of those who left the country have also come back as their fears turned out that they were unfounded.

The preamble of our constitution states, I quote,

• “We, the people of South Africa; recognise the injustices of our past;
• Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land
• Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and
• Believe South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity” Close quote;

I believe that our constitution and the resilience of this beautiful nation is the reason that the world often refer to the Democratic South Africa as a miracle. Indeed it fits that characterisation on all counts. The people of this country have proven beyond reasonable doubt that they love their country and protecting its values is what they will do.

Thank you fellow South African for your patriotism and for your continued commitment to protect the hard fought gains of many years of the struggle for freedom. Your resolve to defend the revolutionary gains cannot be questioned as you proved it beyond any doubt on 7 May 2014 when you re-installed the ANC as the ruling party.

You understood that the ANC needs time to finish what it started in 1912 and that transformation of the South African society remains very much the unfinished business.

Honourable Chairperson;
Honourable members;

The Brief synopsis of the Labour Market world of work indicates that;

The new administration has hit the road running and South Africa, a country under construction, is truly open for business. South Africa's labour market has undergone transformation since 1994, with an emphasis being placed on strategies to eliminate the inequalities of the past and improve the working conditions for all South Africans. The introduction of new labour legislation as far back as 1995, has had a profound impact on the SA labour market, notably in terms of the Labour Relations Act (LRA), the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), the Employment Equity Act (EEA) and the Skills Development Act (SDA).

You will recall that one of the instruments used by the apartheid government was the repressive labour laws and cheap labour. The introduction of the new sets of labour laws was, first of all, a constitutional requirement and secondly a duty to redress these undesirable elements of the old dispensation. These legislative interventions have had mixed levels of success but there are still many challenges ahead.

The South African Labour Market institutional framework remains sound and for those who have short memories, the labour laws of this country are heralded as among the best in the world. What we must all accept is that the labour market environment is dynamic and a highly contested policy terrain the world over. It is more so in South Africa given our terrible apartheid past and how repressive labour market policy instruments were used. The adversarialism that creeps in from time to time must be understood from that broader context. The continued inequalities in the work place, poverty among the employed and the ever increasing wage gap are not helping the course whatsoever. Therefore the need to tackle the wage gap between top executives and ordinary workers has become urgent as failure to do so carry the biggest risk to the workings of our labour market institutional framework.

Whilst the department of labour is about, first and foremost, the protection of workers in general and vulnerable workers in particular, it will be important to find the delicate balance between protection and not stifling development. This is particularly important in the light of government having placed the economy at the Centre of its programme in the next five years. Going forward, we will be guided by the ruling Party’s Manifesto, the National Development Plan, the Industrial Policy Action Plan and the New Growth Path among others.

The Hon President Zuma in his State of the Nation Address on 17 June 2014 stated, I quote, “It remains our strong belief that the most effective weapon in the campaign against poverty, is the creation of decent work, and that creating work requires faster economic growth”. Given the impact of the untenable labour relations environment on the economy, it is critical for social partners to meet and deliberate on the violent nature and duration of the strikes.” Close quote.

This is another clear indication of this Government’s resolve to fast track transformation of the work place and the need to address the new challenges that have emerged?

Honourable Chairperson;
Honourable members;

The Growth in the population has a direct link to employment patterns and labour absorption rate;

The population growth constantly exceeds the growth in employment demand and this has compounded the low labour absorption rate, loss of jobs in the formal sector, as the country’s economy moves away from labour-intensive to capital-intensive operations.

Employment in the private sector has declined while public sector employment has grown.

Honourable Chairperson;

Let me give a high level account of some of the key achievements of the department to date and some indicative activities going forward.

1. Financial management has improved remarkably in the last three years. For example the appropriation for the department in the 2013/14 financial year amounted to R2, 4 billion and the expenditure stood at R2, 371 billion.

For the past three years, the department received favourable un-qualified Audit Reports from the office of the Auditor-General.

The department is again expecting an unqualified audit opinion for 2013/14.

2. The department has made some progress on the ICT front and the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) will soon be appointing an IT service provider on behalf of the department by the end of August 2014.

3. As part of our contribution to Outcome 5 on Decent Employment through inclusive growth and our strategic goal on Protecting vulnerable workers, the Inspection and Enforcement Service has during the 2013/14 financial year visited and inspected 164 868 workplaces. Of these workplaces, 75 percent were found to be compliant whereas 25 percent or 41 217 were not. 82% of the non-compliant workplaces were dealt with through the issuing of notices or referrals to court. Whilst this represents an improvement from the previous years, there is still room for improvement.

4. South Africa continues to participate in various strategic international platforms primarily to influence and shape the debates and outcomes on issues that may have an impact, not only on South Africa but the African Continent at large. The for a on which the Department of Labour participates actively include;

i. International Labour Organisations (ILO)
ii. G20
iii. SADC
iv. ARLAC, and
v. Some BRICS activities

I am pleased to report that the Deputy Minister has in the very short space of time in his new portfolio, already played an important role on the international front.

We are very pleased of the support and the urgency with which all the ILO Conventions that are tabled for consideration and ratification are dealt with swiftly and we hope that the fifth Parliament will continue to support this important work.

It is worth celebrating the fact that to date South Africa has ratified 23 critical ILO Conventions of which 20 are active. In June 2013 the 4th Parliament timely ratified the following important Conventions;

• Maritime Labour Convention of 2006;
• Convention concerning Work in the Fishing Sector of 2007 (No. 188)
• Labour Inspection Convention of 1947 (No. 81)
• Domestic Worker Convention of 2011 (No. 189).

To strengthen Inspection and Enforcement and to fall in line with the International best practice, Convention 81 on Labour Inspection provides useful guidance for designing and monitoring a labour inspection system. In the coming years, the department will be working within the framework of the Convention to make improvements to the functioning of the inspectorate and to monitoring compliance with our labour legislation. The Chief Inspector has also engaged with social partners on the activities of the inspectorate and will continue to do so within the framework of the Convention.

Honourable Chairperson;
Honourable Members

5. During 2013, the department commenced a process of professionalising the inspectorate so that it can improve our enforcement capabilities but also respond to the needs of the different sectors that the department is responsible. I am pleased to announce that we have completed the first phase of this process and the department will be commencing with the second phase. A detailed plan will be presented to the Portfolio Committee for Labour.

The ANC Manifesto calls for the improvement in the enforcement of our labour laws. Strengthening the enforcement capabilities will assist in achieving the objective of protecting the vulnerable workers and strengthening social protection is therefore part of the government key priorities going forward.

6. Not so long ago the country watched with horror the collapse of the Coega Bridge in Port Elizabeth killing two people and injuring 13 people. More recently in Tongaat, a mall that was under construction collapsed fatally injuring 2 people and causing serious injuries to a further 29 workers. As was the case in the Coega incident, the Department conducted an enquiry into the collapse of the Tongaat mall.

In the Coega incident, the construction company pleaded guilty and paid R100 000.00 admission of guilt fine which is the maximum penalty provided for in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
7. The Inspection and Enforcement Services branch started the investigation of the Tongaat Mall collapse. Given the seriousness of the matter the Department escalated the investigation into a formal inquiry in order to thoroughly identify the cause of the collapse, prevent re-occurrence of this type of incidents and also to institute criminal proceeding against any party that may have transgressed the provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Construction Regulations.

8. The Department has in the last financial year worked together with the social partners in the construction industry to stem the tide of incidents. The collaboration with stakeholders under the guidance of the Advisory Council for Occupational Health and Safety (ACOHS) resulted in the promulgation of new Construction Regulations.

9. A new provision in the Construction Regulation 2014 is the registration of the Construction Health and Safety Practitioners. This is our first step towards the regulation of the occupational health and safety profession. This in our view will go a long way in contributing towards the reduction of incidents in the construction industry.

10 The Employment Services Bill was passed by the National Assembly in 2013 and was assented to and gazetted in April 2014 (Act no 4 of 2014). This is important in that it brings legislative basis on which the department will champion placement of work seekers to job opportunities. The Deputy Minister will further elaborate on this.

Honourable Chairperson
Honourable Members

11. Unemployment Insurance, as a social security mechanism, is an important pillar of the Anti-poverty Strategy aimed at ensuring a “better life,” and is a key component of the Decent Work agenda of Government.

The UIF has continued to fund poverty alleviation schemes and in the last financial year, nine training initiatives were launched and R300 million was committed for training of the unemployed UIF beneficiaries on various skills programmes which include artisan, Information Communication and Technology skills.

The UIF and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) partnership continue to contribute to the mandate of job creation. Since the inception of this partnership in 2009, jobs have been saved and new jobs created. Jobs created and saved are across all nine provinces of the Republic in different industries.

The UIF’s allocation of investment portfolio invested in socially responsible investment (SRI) is 10% of the total investment portfolio, which as at end of May 2014 was R9,7 billion. These Funds are available for investment in initiatives that have large job creation capacity.

During the 2013/14 financial year, A R3 billion UIF SRI Fund was created with the Public Investment Corporation, which will focus on investments in priority sectors, SMME development and social infrastructure. Considerable effort has gone into pursuing the job creation objectives of the SRI Fund. As part of the SRI Fund, the UIF has invested R500 million in an Agriculture Fund, which focuses on investments in farm land and farm infrastructure.

In the 2014/15 financial year, we will create the second UIF SRI Fund to the value of R2,7 billion to amplify the work we are doing to contribute to job creation.

In addition to its socially responsible investment strategy, the UIF will continue its funding of Productivity South Africa’s Turnaround Solutions. The UIF will allocate R58 million towards the Turnaround Solutions during this financial year. Over the MTEF 2014 period, the UIF has budgeted R1, 9 billion for implementation of Training Layoff Schemes, Training of the Unemployed beneficiaries and for the funding of Turnaround Solutions.

The payment of unemployment insurance and related benefits has increased During the 2013/14 financial year, the UIF paid claims to 762,654 beneficiaries. Over the MTEF 2014 period, the UIF has budgeted R11 billion for 2015, R12,5 billion by the end of 2016 and R13,4 billion in 2017 in anticipation of the approval and implementation of the Unemployment Insurance Amendment Bill.

Honourable Members;

Together let us move South Africa forward.

12. South Africa, like most countries has experienced a rise in unemployment created by the financial and economic crisis which in turn has caused hardship to many workers, families and communities, and worsened poverty.

The Active Labour Market Policies’ aim is to influence the employment prospects of the unemployed by encouraging or mandating participation in specific programmes. The primary aim is to bring the unemployed back to work by improving the functioning of the labour market in various ways and include programs such as public employment services, labour market training and subsidised employment.

Through the Unemployment Insurance Fund, we have established a Labour Activation Programme as one of the active labour market intervention. The Programme seeks to engage and promote activities that preserve and create jobs.

The labour activation programme is underpinned by the existing national government interventions therefore it does not seek to re-invent the wheel.

It derives its approach from;

i. The National Development Plan which calls for greater labour absorption
ii. The New Growth Path which is looking at an integrated approach in identification of key job drivers
iii. The National Skills Accord which calls for expansion of the level of training using existing facilities meaningfully.

The Labour Activation Programme focuses on four interventions to achieve its objectives;

i. Targeted Training of the unemployed
ii. Partnership with companies in distress
iii. Partnership with other government departments, and
iv. Support employment creation initiatives

Honourable Chairperson;

The National training partnership programme is making progress in various sectors. There are thousands of learners who are currently participating in the programme. The programme aims to cover at least 8000 participants.

Some of the partnership programmes currently underway include; partnership with (MICT SETA), 2000 Learners targeted for this partnership are to be trained on End-User Computing. These trainees will be spread throughout the provinces to enable the Fund to cover as much employers as possible.

Partnership with (CHIETA), 1500 Learners targeted for this partnership will be trained on CHIETA Apprenticeship programmes to qualify them as Artisans for employment or self-employment;

Partnership with (TETA), 777 Learners targeted for this partnership will be trained on TETA Apprenticeship and Learnership programmes to qualify them as Artisans for employment or self-employment.

Partnership with (TETA-SAMSA (SCUBA DIVING), this partnership will facilitate the entry of women into the Scuba Diving fraternity which is still being dominated by men, specifically white men. The Fund will partner with SAMSA to eradicate this stereotyping and to offer young unemployed South Africans the opportunity of being skilled in a trade of Scuba diving.

This programme will particularly focus on training and placing at least 100 black people who despite the advent and advances of our democratic dispensation are still faced with discrimination in many areas of their lives.

Partnership with (TETA-SAMSA target 600 learners on various skills disciplines and these include;

This partnership will facilitate the participation in the local maritime industry such as the ports, in shore and offshore patrol, support and mining vessels have a large demand for Ratings (“Rating” means a member of a ship's crew other than the master or a deck officer or a marine engineer officer). The key local stakeholders in that regard are Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), PetroSA, Smit Amandla, the government fleet, and the mining operators.

Partnership with (TETA-AFRICAN COLLEGE OF AVIATION) The main objective is to provide aviation training to previously disadvantaged individuals in South Africa. The programme targets at least 20 learners.

13. Hosting Jobs fairs cum Jobs Summits as a platform that brings together public and private sector employers and the unemployed proved to be one of the most effective ways of identifying employment and training opportunities for those in need. The department hosted Jobs Fairs and Jobs summit in all the provinces a year ago. Feedback from the work seekers and employers recommended very strongly that the department must consider hosting the jobs fairs as part of its annual activities.

The department will be continuing with these initiatives during this period.

Honourable Chairperson
Honourable Members

During the last year considerable strides were made to reduce the service delivery challenges experienced by the Compensation Fund and its clients. The Fund has worked hard to improve services to beneficiaries and to improve communication with its stakeholders. The claims backlog should be substantially reduced and the turnaround time on claims and employer services improved.

The Fund will continue to keep the Portfolio Committee fully briefed on progress and those areas that may still remain challenges.

The COID Amendment Bill is at its final draft stage and the Policy Framework will have to go through all other due processes including consultations with our stakeholders. We will keep Parliament posted on the state of readiness for the Bill to be tabled.

With respect the employment of people with disabilities, the department reached the 2.5% level of representation. Whilst this represents progress there is still some way to go.

14. The Amendments to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act will greatly enhance our Inspection and enforcement work, and we look forward to working the all our stakeholders in this regard. The Deputy Minister will give our perspective on this important area of our work.

The Employment Equity Act has been assented by the President, the Regulations have been finalised and the process to publish them for general information is underway. The deputy Minister will further elaborate on this.

Department of Labour strategic priorities, 2014/15

For the 2014/15 financial year, an appropriation of R2, 527 billion has been awarded to the department. The increase of R82 million when compared to the 2013/14 adjusted appropriation can mainly be attributed to the carry-through effect of the salary adjustments.

Some of the key priority areas going forward include:

i. Strengthening the inspection and enforcement services

ii. Raising awareness of the Amended labour laws in order to encourage Compliance

iii. Working with the State Information Technology Agency to stabilise our Information Technology work stream.

iv. Strengthening the role of Public Employment Services

v. Initiating high level dialogue on the key challenges in our labour Market Environment

vi. Addressing the challenges at the compensation Fund

vii. Repositioning and strengthening the Supported Employment Enterprises.

viii. Addressing the challenge of the infrastructure with respect to the Labour centres.

ix. Improving Communication and outreach programmes.

x. Commence the due processes with respect to the appointment of the Director General of the department and the filling of all vacant senior Management positions.

xi. Investigate the modality for the introduction of a national minimum wage as one of the key mechanisms to reduce income inequality.

With respect to the legislative and policy environment, we plan to make progress in relation to the following key areas:

• Amendment of the Unemployment Insurance Act – these changes relate to improvements of benefits and administrative changes regarding submission of information by employers to the Fund.
• Amendment of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act are required to develop a rehabilitation, re-integration and return to work policy for injured workers and workers affected by occupational diseases.
• Amendment of the Occupational Health and Safety Act – although the OHS Act has placed responsibility for creating a healthy and safe working environment on employers, there are shortcomings in the way that health and safety is being regulated in the workplace.

Honourable Chairperson, July is the International Mandela month and this year will be the first time in the fifth year since the United Nations declared that 18 July - the International Mandela Day will be celebrated without the struggle icon. This makes the day even more powerful in that we have to continue to do things that keeps his legacy alive.

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

I thank you

________________________________________________________________

Responses by DA and IFP

Debate on Vote 18 - Labour by Hon. MA Mncwango MP (IFP)
 
Honourable Chairperson,
 
I would like to state that the IFP supports the budget.
 
The department must step up its processes so as to effectively ensure that the labour market interventions can actually reduce unemployment, poverty and inequality. However, these can only effectively take place if actual job creation, not just opportunities, is pursued and SMMEs are given more opportunities to be more competitive.
 
The rural areas are especially vulnerable and the need for the establishment of mobile labour centres, in areas such as Nongoma, is imperative. Many young people in these areas do not have access to skills development centres and opportunities which the department can assist with. Being far from the city centres poses a great challenge of access and high cost if they are to travel to the main offices. Having satellite offices will ensure that they also get resources from the department
 
The department has to be more visible where the people are.
 
Our labour market is flooded with imported goods, which undermine the goods and services produced locally. Consequently, our efforts at job creation and reducing unemployment are actually jeopardised because these imports force the employers to retrench workers as profits dwindle.
 
Markets must be made available for local goods to flourish, to allow for a better labour force and active reduction of unemployment.
 
Sheltered Employment factories also need to be expanded and a market for their produce needs to be found, to ensure that the livelihood of many people, including the disabled and youth, is not compromised. We constantly see unions encouraging their members to embark on strike action in the pursuit of better wages. However, these can turn into protracted industrial action, which not only costs the employees their wages, but also has a detrimental effect on the economy.
 
Workers have a constitutional right to strike in order to bring their grievances to light. The CCMA needs to be capacitated further to ensure that it can deal with and help resolve protracted strike action, which will help reduce tensions and violent acts in the labour market.
 
We never want to see a repeat of the Marikana massacre.
 
The department has to find a way to deal with the unions in a way that ensures economic growth and not allow them to hold the country hostage. Such action not only compromises the department's aim for job creation, but also discourages investment in our country, when it is needed the most.
 
I Thank You

__________________________________________________________________

Jobs – Government must cut the red tape Derrick America (DA)

The challenge facing South Africa today is that too few people are employed. The Democratic Alliance believes that high barriers to enter the labour market exclude millions of South Africans from  accessing employment opportunities.
 
Hon Speaker, the National Development Plan’s 2030 vision for employment and growth includes:
 
A fall in the strict unemployment rate from 25% to 14% in 2020 and to 6% in 2030;
A rise in the labour force participation rate to 65%; and
About 11 million additional jobs by 2030.
To achieve these targets, amongst others, the NDP suggest that there needs to be social cohesion, because if South Africa registers progress in de-racialising ownership and control of the economy, without reducing poverty and inequality, transformation will be superficial. 
 
Similarly, if poverty and inequality are reduced without demonstrably changing the ownership patterns in the economy, the country’s progress will be turbulent and tenuous.
 
Therefore, Hon Speaker, our labour policy on its own will not be sufficient to create enough jobs so as to create the inclusive society envisaged by the NDP.
 
Appropriate labour regulation must be accompanied by an economic policy that supports and stimulates growth. Our labour policy needs to balance the rights of workers, with the need to build greater flexibility into our labour market, making it easier for business to create jobs and contribute to economic growth.
 
Our current labour policy is not achieving this balance; it protects the employed at the expense of the unemployed.
 
Honourable Speaker, when international rating agencies downgrade our economy, it consistently highlights our labour relations regime as a key concern. Consequently, we need to realign our labour laws to support, rather than inhibit job creation.
 
Hon Speaker, the UIF has grown from R65.9 billion at the end of 2011/12 to R81.8 billion at the end of 2012/13.  Annual collections of approximately R13, 6 billion are offset by expenditure of only R7.7 billion.
 
This means that the fund grew by a tidy sum of R5.9bn. in the  2012/13 book year, resulting in a surplus growth from R47.9bn in 2011/12 to R62bn in 2012/13 . The expected contributions for 2014 are R15 billion and benefits expenditure is estimated to be R7 billion.
 
Therefore, Hon Speaker, we propose that UIF contributions made by both the employer and employee should be provisionally half (from 1% to .05%) until the capital base of the fund reaches  a predetermined benchmark.  
 
Hon Speaker, this will reduce the cost of hiring workers and stimulate economic activity, by increasing the net wage of workers and increasing their spending power.
 
If there are concerns about the fiscal risks that this may present, it can be mitigated by reinstating the 1% contributions determined by the Unemployment Insurance Fund Act, if the capital base contract beyond the predetermined benchmark.
 
Hon Speaker, the NDP envisions that by 2030, 90% of jobs would be provided by Small Business.  It is this sector that is particularly hard hit by our rigid labour laws that drive up the cost of employment. 
 
We can ease the regulatory burden of Small Businesses by introducing amongst others:
 
A special Code of Good Practice for Small Business that seeks to provide guidelines on substantive and procedural fairness for dismissals, taking into account the unique relationship between employer and employees and the capacity of the employer; 
Exempting small business from the cumbersome procedure as laid down is Section 189 of the LRA, insofar, as procedural fairness, for operational requirement dismissals;
Amending the definition of a "big employer" so as to apply to those employers employing more than 250 employees. Thus reducing the administrative burden faced by SMME’s, thereby encouraging them to employ more people.
In conclusion Hon Speaker, unemployment contributes to serious socio-economic challenges, including unacceptably high levels of poverty and inequality.
 
To create jobs, our economy must grow and be globally competitive, in order to deliver more opportunities over time.
 
We can choose to create an enabling environment for growth and job creation, as envisioned by the NDP, or continue to set up a regulatory framework that protect big unions, big business and act as an inhibitor for the expansion of economic opportunities.
 
The question is: are we going to follow the high road of the NDP that seeks to promote job creation, or continue to follow the current path of the National Democratic Revolution, that will inevitably achieve the opposite? 


Tripartite Alliance: labour regulations crippling small business

Michael Bagraim, Shadow Deputy Minister of Labour (DA)
 

Madam Chair thank you for the opportunity.
 I will be addressing you on OHSA, the CCMA and some of the glaring inefficiencies of our labour law.
The DA has set their agenda for the Fifth Parliament as the jobs parliament.
 
Unfortunately it has become patently clear that the ANC cannot create jobs and nor can our government.
 
In order to promote the right conditions for job creation the DA would have to fight this battle on every front.  It is incredibly difficult today to start a small business and the ANC is insistent on passing more and more onerous legislation coupled with horrific regulations.  
 
The DA has supported the National Development Plan and so has the President, however, it is that the ANC supports the National Development Plan in word only and not deed.  
 
The alliance between the communist party Cosatu and the ANC has reduced the ANC to become a lap dog to the demands of trade unions who are destroying the South African economy. The ranks of the unemployed are merely growing in leaps and bounds.
 
Even the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) have said that it had become “largely toothless in the face of politically tinged union militancy”.  Nerine Kahn the director of the CCMA said that other countries allowed agencies such as hers to force parties to stop striking for a period to allow for mediation, she categorically said “we don’t have that right”.
 
Even our immigration law has created an impossible situation.
 
The labour laws deem an immigrant without a work permit to be an employee and this immigrant has rights and terms of The Labour Relations Act, however, the Immigration Act makes it a criminal offence to employ an illegal foreigner.
 
Section 49 makes it punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to a year to do so.
 
The Compensation Fund is a shining example of inefficiency and inability although the Department of Labour is trying to roll out an on line claims case management system which hopefully will cater for electronic submission of medical reports and medical invoices, we have a history of destruction both to those who have been injured on duty and to the medical profession.
 
I have conducted research through Drs Behrman and Lison and through the organisation Qualicare which is incredibly damming.
 
I have found that payments to the medical profession were fairly good up until the mid 90’s and it fell apart in 2004.  Medical professionals tried over the years to contact the OHSA Commissioner but with no response.
 
Doctors are writing off enormous sums of money with serious financial implications.  One could say that the medical profession was almost brought to its knees because of the OHSA system.
 
The real problem arose when the medical profession did not take the risk any longer and tried their utmost to avoid seeing WCA cases. This backlash left thousands of patients without medical help and hundreds of small businesses suffered as they just never received payments which they had to make for their staff.
 
Doctors have had to resort to using an agency to facilitate payments to them, the agency charges plus minus fifteen percent of the claim value and is also struggling to get the payments.  We’ve had reports from Doctors who have accounts in the hundreds of thousands of rands over 150 days old.
 
In many instances the doctors will not see OHSA patients on credit anymore, an interesting report came from a doctor who had waited over six years after the incident.  No remittance statements from the Compensation Commissioner are received.
 
We need to hold the Commissioner to account to sort out back pay within 60 days and to ensure that the new reliable.  We urge the Department of Labour to follow up immediately and to report back to Parliament the clean bill of health within the sixty days.
 
The CCMA is an independent organisation established by the LRA has been a resounding success; the last three financial years have witnessed an unbelievable increase in the work load.  Our Parliament  must assist them with encouragement and finance to ensure that they can exercise their mandate.
 
It would be beneficial to both the business community and the complainants to the CCMA if the management could be introduced whereby each complaint is specifically assessed in order to ascertain whether there is any voracity to the complaint or not.
 
This superficial assessment could probably save both the trade unions and the business community many hours of aggravation and downtime when it is shown that there is no substance to the complaint.  My experience has been that almost 20% of the cases have no substance.  
 
That being said, the CCMA has led to much enhanced labour peace and the international community has recognised the value of one of the world’s leading dispute resolution bodies.
 
It is clear that one of South Africa’s greatest disappointments has been the government’s failure to create the environment to create jobs.  The unemployment rate on a broader definition is over 30%.  Under the age of twenty four the proportion is higher.  Despite this, we are still talking about the basic minimum wage and the extension bargaining council agreements to non parties. 
 
The true voice for the unemployed is the Democratic Alliance who will keep bringing this to the world’s attention.  The ANC’s definition of decent work is vastly different to that of the ILO definition which is work that is productive, secure, respects labour rights in line with our labour law.
 
We lag behind the rest of the developed world, we are the seventh worst country out of one hundred and thirty nine countries and have the highest unemployment rate in the world.
 
 Our collective bargaining is problematic we have massive strikes which are incredibly destructive and our dismissal protections have a direct influence on our low productivity rate.  Because the labour market is so politically sensitive because of the Tri-apartheid Alliance any form of liberalisation of the labour market is viewed with suspicion.
 
Our labour laws cause unemployment.  In reality jobs do exist but employers don’t want to fill them.  It is said that mass unemployment in South Africa is unavoidable because of a combination of lack of skills, poor education of our labour laws.   Small business creates jobs.  It is estimated that 68% of all jobs in South Africa are provided by small and medium sized firms.  
 
The labour law needs to make provision for variation in employment conditions that will allow small employers to hire those who would otherwise be unemployed. One of the worst examples of small business retardation is the extension of bargaining council agreements to non-parties.
 
Our Minister of Labour needs to step in and annul this immediately.  
 
Small firms need to be exempted from some of the most onerous requirements contained in the LRA and the BCEA.  These small firms need access to simpler and cheaper dispute resolution.  Small firms should be exempted from legislation that interferes with their rights to negotiate their own terms and conditions with their employees.
 
For instance; chapter 2 of The Basic Conditions of Employment Act cannot in any way be flexible enough for small business.  Owner managers work harder and longer hours and there is a different culture in the firms they run.  
The small business environment is the fishing boat of our economy, they perform vital and often unglamorous roles.  They employ the largest percentage of the working population and they are the job laboratories of our nation.  
 
These small employers should be given everything they need to encourage them to take chances on employing unemployed, the young and the disadvantaged.


The ANC fails the employed and unemployed equally: Ian Ollis (DA)

The ANC can’t create jobs. Since 2009, The South African economy has lost 1.8 million jobs as the ANC doesn’t know how to create jobs or grow an economy.  
Those EPWP opportunities are not a long term solution - Poor people will take them because there is nothing else. EPWP jobs amount to 60 days of earning R60 per day and then everyone is back on the street: unemployed! The ANC can’t even create the economic environment for the private sector to create real jobs as we have witnessed in horror over the past 5 years of President Zumas Administration.
 
What the ANC has created is an environment in which struggling workers are pitted against struggling companies in a race to the bottom, resulting in the collapse of the mining and manufacturing industries. That is the ANC’s jobs legacy.
 
Revelations by the CCMA in Parliament show that labour instability in the mining sector should be attributed to systemic failure by the ANC government. 
 
The Social wage has collapsed. Where are the RDP houses and good schools in mining communities? Where is the access to water, electricity, sanitation and access to social amenities for the families of mine workers? Where are the roads in the rural areas? 
 
Wage disputes and community social demands are coalescing. The basic minimum wage will no longer suffice because low paid workers have to pay the social wage themselves after the ANC government has failed to deliver services in those communities that need it most.
 
SA labour relations are back in the 1980’s where workers campaigned, with progressive employers, to remove the government, and not just for a salary increase. The honeymoon years of the late 90’s and early 2000’s are over. Nedlac, Bargaining Councils and the CCMA are not enough, Minister Oliphant, the ANC has to deliver basic services, health and education too. 
 
Workers become angry when they see others reaping the rewards of corruption and connections with the ANC government and they, the workers, cannot afford transport home from Marikana to rural Pondoland or pay the family medical bills or food for their families who are struggling under the scourge of HIV and AIDS. 
 
As Afzul Soodebaar of the CCMA put it, “Even the R12500 minimum wage will not make the problem go away”.
 
The violence around Marikana and the strike in the platinum sector was not a labour dispute, but in fact socio-economic frustration with this ANC government, which found a fault line in an employment relationship resulting in a labour dispute about wages.
 
Against this background, it makes workers even more angry to discover that the ANC Deputy President, who had shares in those mines, apparently encouraged the police to use force, that the ANC aligned NUM shop stewards awarded themselves extras that rock drilllers and other workers were not entitled to and that the new ANC Minister of Mineral Resources, according to the media, also has millions of Rands in shares in platinum mines, while mine workers can’t get R12500 because the world economy is slow and platinum prices are not high enough.
 
Just remember when you blame mine owners, that a number of them sit in the ANC cabinet! Workers are giving the ANC a bloody nose because the ANC has not delivered properly on the social wage. Speaker, the ANC doesn’t know how to create jobs and they are ruining the few jobs that we do have. 
 
Just in case the EFF thinks that the ANC are the only corrupt ones, let’s realise that Hon Malema and his party fare no better.  Dear EFF we see your R250 000 Breitling watches under your red overalls… the R2500 shirts, the Armani suits and the Gucci shoes! 
 
Using the poor to fund EFF high flying life styles, with your kids in private schools, the luxury BMW’s and the R16 million houses in Sandton are not the trappings of Nationalisation nor a sign of care for the poor. They are the signs of an up and coming connected elite who want to rule in place of the current corrupt Elite. Why is it that Honorable Malema needs other people to pay his tax to SARS, while he lives the high life with such expensive clothes? How much are EFF MP’s being forced to pay on Hon Juju’s unpaid taxes? Speaker the Economic Freedom Fighters are the ultimate racial nationalists using workers aprons as a fig leaf to hide their conspicuous consumption while the blood of workers dries on the hillside of Marikana. Let’s stop the pretence.
 
However, when we look at this budget of the Labour Department, we cannot see the ANC caring for workers or the unemployed either. The budget for the Inspection and Enforcement Services is down by R59.5 million or 13.6%. That means less petrol in the cars to take labour inspectors to check safety conditions in the work place; less enforcement of the country’s labour laws. 
 
Instead the money has  gone into a massive IT contract to replace the disastrous contract with Siemens which never worked properly. After about R2.2 billion we had to dig our way out of that contract. Now according to the Mail & Guardian, the Minister has entered into a new IT contract with Accenture for R1.9billion the full details of which remain as murky as a swamp. 
 
This tender became a closed tender which was negotiated with only 1 company and the only company in the room negotiating was one which had a close relative of the Minister as a director, a fact the minister failed to disclose according to media reports. Now minister, even if the public protector can’t actually find the smoking gun, how can workers any longer trust the ANC to be morally above board when this kind of thing is going on? 
 
To make things worse, that new IT system is still not working more than a year later with the Compensation Fund now declaring delays in its launch. In 2009 the IT system was not working, In 2010 there were delays in the implementation of the IT system. In 2011 there were IT problems in the Compensation Fund and the rural labour centres. In 2012, in 2013 and now in 2014, after billions of Rands have been spent, the IT system is not working yet again.
 
The Auditor-General noted this and gave the  Compensation Fund a disclaimer of opinion – the worst possible audit outcome – from the AG.
 
The Training Layoff Scheme is not working for workers either, Minister. Billions are lying idle in this fund because it’s too cumbersome to approve training. As a result, very few companies apply for the funding and even fewer get their approval. In the past year, when Mercedes Benz shut down for 8 months for retooling, the economy of East London, in Buffallo City, almost shut down entirely, because all the supplier companies could not get the Training Layoff Scheme approved for their workers in time.  This meant 8 large companies, collectively the backbone of the East London economy almost had to lay off their entire staff for 8 months while Mercedes was retooling. 
 
But that’s not where the problems in this bumbling department end. The Nedlac Audit Committee had to perform a special Audit investigation of Nedlac 2011/2012 financial year after many cases of irregular spending occurred. The figures involved are reportedly over R1 Million for an entity with a very small budget. The audit itself reportedly cost R160 000 and was handed to the Minister in September 2012. 
 
The minister definitely had the report since August 2013 but it appears to have gone to doggy heaven – we’ve never heard of it again! 
 
It details alleged widespread irregular spending during the term of CEO Herbert Mkhize. But minister why have you been hiding the report? Why did everyone on the investigation have to sign confidentiality agreements and why are you not making the findings known? What does Nedlac and the minister have to hide? Did staff illegally charge flights and travel claims to Nedlac? Did the CEO at the time pay himself bonuses without approval? Were vehicle costs improperly charged to Nedlac? Were leave entitlements improperly paid out in cash? If there is nothing to hide, and the allegations against Mr. Mkhize are false, why not just release the report and exonerate everyone involved? Is the fact that Mr. Mkhize is now the Minister’s personal advisor after leaving Nedlac, the reason that Minister Oliphant is covering up this damning audit?
 
While we are on the subject of special advisors to the minister, we have yet another case very close to the Minister. Minister, why is your Chief Director in Legal Services, Advocate N. Pasha, still on suspension, costing the taxpayer millions? He was first suspended on 24th October 2011. If there were allegations against him, why have they not been investigated? Why no disciplinary action? If there is no case, why has Advocate Pasha not been cleared and re-instated? Why must poor people’s tax money continue to fund the salary of someone on permanent suspension if there is no case to answer? 
 
In fact minister, is it not true that your department is in serious trouble with the Auditor General again and is it not true that he is about to declare 10's of millions of Rands in fruitless and wasteful expenditure in your department, this year, spent on these kinds of messes?
 
Speaker the DA has a better way. After cleaning up the mismanagement and corruption in this department, the DA would create the environment for rapid Job creation that the ANC cannot provide and bring an end to the violence during strikes and pickets. South Africa needs an environment that would encourage investment and economic growth.
The DA would completely redraft the ridiculous Employment Equity Regulations, which are currently so bad that they are unimplementable and unconstitutional. Instead of “Jimmy Manyi”-style insults to Coloured and Indian South Africans, we need regulations, which are simple to implement, encourage transformation without enforced national demographics and will pass constitutional muster;
We would cut the red tape for SMME’s by implementing thresholds below which micro enterprises would be exempt from skills levies, the SETA programmes and onerous bargaining council requirements;
The DA would and reintroduce secret balloting and a standard threshold for union recognition across all industries that cannot be manipulated by majority unions or employers. Even the President in his budget speech pointed out the need to review strike legislation;
We would review Visa regulations to make it easier to attract scarce skills, as the NDP asks us to do. The latest visa requirements have damaged South Africa’s credibility as a hub of economic growth;
The DA will introduce amendments to the Labour relations act and the Gatherings act to make unions and political parties liable for strike and picket violence;
We would implement the full-scale youth wage subsidy, and not the government’s watered down version; and
And finally, the DA would simplify dismissal procedures for non-performance and misconduct – especially for smaller firms – NDP requires it for the country’s success.
Speaker the DA knows how to create jobs and grow this economy. The ANC doesn’t, and in the end, that’s what really matters.
 
I thank you.