Question NW2088 to the Minister of Employment and Labour
17 July 2023 - NW2088
Ngcobo, Mr SL to ask the Minister of Employment and Labour
With reference to the road and freight industry being dominated by foreign nations despite his acknowledgement that there is no shortage of skilled truck drivers in the Republic, as a result the inter-ministerial committee, consisting of the Ministries of Employment and Labour, Transport, Home Affairs and the Police, together with relevant stakeholders have come up with an action plan to address the grievances of local truck drivers who have continued to block national roads, what (a) is the time frame and/or number of years of implementation of the 11-stages action plan signed by the Road and Freight InterMinisterial Committee and the road and freight industry stakeholders, (b) total amount of investment has already been made to the plan and (c) are the details of the progress made to date in its implementation?
Reply:
Hon. Ngcobo, the Inter-Ministerial Committee continues to be hard at work into resolving issues around road freight industry. As you are perfectly aware, because part of what you have stated in your question is that indeed we have multiple stages of implementations.
These will always be in various stages of progress. There are some that would be progressing quite well and there would be those that will continue to need a lot of engagement time with all the stake-holders. Negotiations with the relevant stakeholders, especially those who see stakes being too high, would always be a bit sticky and riddled with manifold intricacies. This is the reason why it would not be possible to then say on this particular time and date all will be well and good.
The other issue which is connected with this is that we are avoiding the issue of piecemeal publication of progress that we are making, when some of these areas are intertwined. But having stated that, in the area of persuading different groupings who ordinarily ought to be a single one, given their common interests, there is much focus in it. Yes, sometimes, the progress can easily be seen as the back and forth one, in the sense that, one time there is an agreement, in the next time others define themselves outside of what you would have thought has been dispensed with.
In the area of Employment and Labour, we are also pushing very strongly for the holistic resolution into the matter. Yes, we are very much aware that some of the challenges that we face as the country is economy that is not rising, in cases where it does, it is not necessarily inclusive. Remember, economic growth will lead to employment. So, hence we are pushing for the Labour Migration Policy, which is one leg of the Employment Policy. But even there, it is not in our plans to push a policy that may be quickly be found to be inconsistent with the country’s constitution – that is one. But, two, the one that is full of unintended consequences. And three, the one that adding to the challenges than solving them. So, we are so focused, meticulous and diligent in the work that we do.