Questions and Replies

Reply:

Honourable Dr Cardo, we admit at the onset and remain worried about the impact of load shedding on our labour markets, and by extension the whole economy including the sectors you have mentioned,

That been the case I want to bring to your attention that despite this challenge the fourth quarter labour force survey report reflect about 860 000 people employed in primary agriculture (down 1% year on year), which is well above the long-term agricultural employment of 780 000. It is also important to note that this report also speaks about an increase in employment in private households by 54 000.

On your specific question about Government strategies to challenges posed by load shedding let me confirm that indeed Government is addressing the concern of energy security and supply.

You will know already that the Minister of Electricity is hard at work looking at potential measures to implement to avert load shedding.

This includes the extension of the use of coal fired earmarked for decommissioning. This we believe will contribute to stabilising the energy supply.

With regards to agriculture, be advised that the Department of Agriculture is working on the Master Plan for the sector. The intention of this plan is to trigger growth by improving both imports and exports for the sector.

END

Reply:

It is important to highlight that thus far, there is no empirical evidence to indicate that the employment equity amendments in relation of regulation of sector EE targets might have unintended consequences on employment or in encouraging employers to change their operations to pursue restructuring or computerise and /or mechanise operations. Noteworthy is that, investors and all employers operating within the Republic are required to comply with national labour laws.

END

Reply:

(a) In the previous three financial years the department has conducted a total number of 128 inspections and prosecuted 10 employers (see Annexure 2 and 3 - Employers inspected and prosecuted)

Financial Year	Inspections Conducted	Employers referred for prosecution
2020/21	61	05
2021/22	32	03
2022/23	35	02
Total	128	10

There are also inspections that were conducted with ICOREF which is a multi-disciplinary Committee led by KZN Department of Economic Development.

On the 01/02/2023 SAPS cluster meeting was held to plan joint inspections that incorporates Department of Employment and Labour, Department of Home Affairs and SAPS iLembe cluster. During the meeting SAPS confirmed their powers to break in if an employer refuse to open the gates, since most of Chinese deny entry of Labour inspectors and when reporting to SAPS Nyoni police station, we were advised that it is not their jurisdiction.

On the 08/02/2023 the first joint Inspection was conducted at Members Fashion Co-operative. With the SAPS iLembe cluster and Home Affairs officials present, the security guard was forced to open that gate. Inspection was successfully conducted and that employer has since referred for prosecution on 24/03/2023.

The plan of the Department Employment and labour during 2023/24 is to work hand in hand with South African Police Services iLembe cluster and Home Affairs Northern district in order to be assisted with entry should employers denied entry as well as to hold foreigners and to enforce their laws since it administered by them.

(b) As per the Provincial Year Planner, the scheduled dates for Isithebe Clothing and Textile Blitz Inspections is the 5-9 June 2023.

Reply:

In response to question (1) and (2) above I want to advise Honourable Denner that the process that she is referring to in question (3) will assist my office in establishing whether:

(1) The certain individual referred to declared his/her interest in the Fund or anywhere else, and

(2) The involvement of the specified person constitutes a gross conflict of interest or not.

(3) (a) An appointment process for a qualified institution to undertake the process is on its final stages.

(b) I will know once the appointment process has been finalized.

(c) I cannot determine the finalization date at this point, however I want the process to be finalized before end of May 2023.

(i) Yes, it is envisaged that the process will be completed, and

(ii) Yes, I will present the report to the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour.

Reply:

• Hon. Marchesi, both Minister Nxesi and Deputy Minister Moloi were appointed to their portfolios on the 1st of June 2019.
• Former Minister and former Deputy Minister left the Department few weeks before the applicable date of 1st June 2019.
• Having stated the above, kindly find below information relevant to your question.

Office	Financial year	(a) Make	(b) Model	(c) Year Model	(d) Cost	(e) Purchase date
Minister	2019/ 2020	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	2020/ 2021	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	2021/ 2022	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	2022/ 2023	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Deputy Minister	2019/2020	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	2020/2021	Audi	Q5 TDI Quattro S Line	2020	R 748 353.50	18 October 2021
	2021/ 2022	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	2022/ 2023	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Reply:

Question 1

What are the details of the (a) destination and (b) total costs for (i) accommodation, (ii) travel and (iii) any other costs incurred for international travel of each (aa) Minister and (bb) Deputy Minister of his department since 1 June 2019;

Minister

Office Minister	(a)) Destination	(b)Total cost	(i)International accommodation	(ii) travel Flight International	(iii)insurance & fees
Financial Year
2019-2020	Cuba (HAVANA) Côte Divoire (ABIDJAN) Switzerland (GENEVA) Brazil (BRASILIA) Switzerland (ZURICH) Cuba (HAVANA) Côte Divoire (ABIDJAN) France (PARIS (CDG))	R575 017.70		R 559 196.06	Fees: R15 758.64 Insurance: R 6 300.00
2020-2021	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL
2021-2022	Switzerland (GENEVA) Côte Divoire (ABIDJAN) Côte Divoire (ABIDJAN) Botswana (KASANE)	R189 395.34	R87 372.34	R98 900.46	Fees: R3 116.14 Insurance: R640.00
2022-2023	Brazil (BRASILIA) Switzerland (GENEVA) Côte Divoire (ABIDJAN) Indonesia (DENPASAR-BALI) Indonesia (Jimbaran) Switzerland (GENEVA)	R481 813.53	R87 372.34	R385 738.00	Fees: R7 468.19 Insurance: R1 235.00
Total		R1, 246 226.57

Deputy Minister

Office Minister	(a) Destination	(b)Total cost	(i)International accommodation	(ii) travel Flight International	(iii)insurance, fees
Financial Year
2019-2020	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL
2020-2021	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL
2021-2022	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL
2022-2023	Spain (BARCELONA) DRC (KINSHASA) Spain (MADRID)	R146 861.31		R142 870.58	Fees: R3 983:88 Insurance: R685
Total		R146 861.31

Question 2

(2) what is the total cost incurred for domestic air travel for each (a) Minister and (b) Deputy Minister of his department since 1 June 2019? NW189E

Minister	a) Total cost for Domestic air travel
Financial Year
2019-2020	R375 383.82
2020-2021	R30 875.68
2021-2022	R327 218.01
2022-2023	R369 300.90
Total	R1, 102 778.41

Deputy Minister

Deputy Minister Minister	a) Total cost for Domestic air travel
Financial Year
2019-2020	R73 623.84
2020-2021	R29 381.05
2021-2022	R109 480.94
2022-2023	R206 634.58
Total	R419 120.41

Reply:

The honourable member should be aware that the Department of Employment and Labour is not the custodian of the production of official labour statistics in the country. The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) and the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) are quarterly produced by Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) and contain information on labour statistics.

However, the Department extracts and analyses labour statistics but the information is limited to what has been published. The total number of jobs that have been lost in the Republic by industry are provided and known but the survey questionnaires used by StatsSA does not cover the cause of jobs lost by industry.

In this context, there is probably no direct correlation between the ongoing energy crisis and the total number of jobs that have been lost using both survey data.

To the extent, researchers have reported a number of factors that could explain slow economic growth and low absorption rate in the country. These factors include electricity-load shedding, low investment, low savings, low international demand (low volume of exports) etc.

Reply:

National Skills Authority is not an entity of the Department of Employment and Labour. This entity resides in the other sister department. We can therefore reply to your question by stating what is in our purview, the total number of registered persons that have been registered in terms of the Electrical Installation Regulations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Act 85 of 1993, as amended, since 1 January 2015 is 8512. They are registered in the following categories:

Electrical Testers for Single Phase: 2814

Installation Electricians: 5387

Master Installation Electricians: 311

Reply:

1. Unemployment Insurance Fund

a) (i) The Unemployment Insurance Fund is headed by a Commissioner. The position of the Commissioner is on a salary level 15, which is equivalent to a Deputy Director-General.

(ii) The Commissioner is supported by four Chief Directors who are appointed on a salary level 14.

b) The Commissioner and the Chief Directors do not receive payment for attending Unemployment Insurance Fund’s meetings.

2. Compensation Fund

a) (i) The Chief Executive Officer (Compensation Commissioner) of the Compensation Fund is equivalent to the Deputy Director-General salary, which is at salary level 15 and,

(ii) Top Executive positions which are Chief Directors in the Compensation Fund are equivalent to Chief Director salary, which is at salary level 14. For the financial year 2021/22 and 2022/23 there are 6 Chief Director positions.

b) Compensation Fund is a schedule 3A entity of the Department of Employment and Labour and the conditions of appointment including remuneration are derived from (or linked to) the salaries and conditions of service which apply to Senior Management positions (SMS) in the Public Service as per DPSA salary scales. The CF SMS members do not get paid to attend meetings.

3. National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC)

(a) In respect of Nedlac,

• For the 2021/22 financial year the annual salary for the (i) chief executive offer, called Executive Director was R 2 257 687,45.
• for the 2022/23 financial year, the annual salary for (i) the chief executive officer, called Executive Director is R 2 400 624,89.

(ii) The annual salary for the top executive positions for the:

• 2021/22 financial year was as follows:
  • CFO: R 1 917 900,00;
  • Executive Manager: Programmes: R 1 501 529,63;
  • Senior Manager: Corporate Services: R 1 049 271,47.
• 2022/23 financial year is as follows:
  • Chief Financial Officer: R 2 039 444, 42;
  • Executive Manager: Programmes: R 1 596 859,37l and
  • Senior Manager: Corporate Services: R 1 116 127,04.

(b) There is no payment for meeting attendance of executives.

4. ProductivitySA

The salary cost for Productivity SA is as follows:

a) (i) The Chief Executive Officer’s salary was as follows:

2021/22: R 1,773,770

2022/23: R 1,849,160

(b) (ii) The consolidated salary of Executive Managers was as follows:

2021/22: R 9,801,636 (7 Executive Managers)

2022/23: R 10,974,535 (8 Executive Managers)

c) The Chief Executive Officer and Executive Managers do not receive meeting attendance fees.

5. Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA)

Name of the Entity	Question (a) (i) What (a) is the salary of each (i) chief executive officer	Financial Year (2021/2022)	Financial Year (2022/2023)
CCMA	Chief Executive Officer( Director)	4 222 667.70	4 336 560.85
	CCMA Director (Acting)	45 160.38	N/A
	Question (a) (ii)	Financial Year (2021/2022)	Financial Year (2022/2023)
CCMA	National Senior Commissioner	2 896 550.92	1 013 660.36
	National Senior Commissioner (Acting)	66 050.24	172 976.12
	Executive Governance and Strategy	2 706 573.99	2 686 758.44
	Executive Governance and Strategy (Acting)	N/A	49 022.77
	Chief Financial Officer	2 706 706.85	1 481 078.23
	Chief Financial Officer (Acting)	N/A	126 920.02
	Chief Audit Executive	2 827 986.32	2 813 587.48
	Question (b) -total amount does each get paid to attend a meeting	Financial Year (2021/2022)	Financial Year (2022/2023)
CCMA	Chief Executive Officer( Director)	N/A	N/A
	CCMA Director (Acting)	N/A	N/A
	National Senior Commissioner	N/A	N/A
	National Senior Commissioner (Acting)	N/A	N/A
	Executive Governance and Strategy	N/A	N/A
	Executive Governance and Strategy (Acting)	The Chief Executive Officer and Executive Managers do not receive meeting attendance fees.
	Chief Financial Officer
	Chief Financial Officer (Acting)
	Chief Audit Executive

Reply:

Thank you for the questions Honourable Denner.

1. Indeed research has been conducted annualy for the past three years, assessing the impact of the national minimum wage on employment, hours of work and wages;

a) The following sectors were studied: Agriculture, Mining, Manufacturing, Construction, Trade, Transport, Finance, Community and Social Services and private households (for example domestic workers and gardeners).

b) The recent research focused on the wage adjustments that took place in 2021 and 2022:

• The study did not observe any major shifts in aggregate employment following the NMW increases in 2021 or 2022.
• Where significant variation is observed in 2021, the effects of COVID-19 and the country’s lockdown policies are likely to be a more direct driver at the aggregate level than NMW changes, which were small for most covered workers.

2. With regards to the question on whether research has been done specifically with regard to the impact of the NMW on employment of domestic workers:

a) The study singled out the following sectors: Agriculture and Domestic Work, where national minimum wage increases have been unusually large due to equalization of these sectors to the national minimum wage

b) The study did not observe significant changes in employment during the periods driven by the increases in the national minimum wage.

END

Reply:

The International Labour Organisation’s Recommendation No.116 of 1962 provides that normal hours of work should be progressively reduced, when appropriate, with a view to attaining the social standard indicated in the recommendation without any reduction in the wages of the workers at the time hours of work are reduced.

Schedule One of the BCEA provides for procedures to be adopted in order to reduce working hours to the goal of a 40 hour working week.

• Firstly, through collective bargaining: a party to the negotiations can introduce the reduction of working hours and parties must negotiate on that issue.
• Secondly, the NMW Commission may investigate the possibility of reducing working hours in a particular sector and area and make recommendations to the Minister.

The Employment Conditions Commission conducted an investigation on the feasibility of reducing working hours in 2014.

The report found that progress into the reduction of working hours for the period covering 2006-2012 was evident in the following sectors:

• Textile industry;
• Glass sector, agreement for 2013-2014 working hours are 42 and most of them are already on 40 except where they are working continuous shifts;
• Construction industry;
• Sugar manufacturing and refinery industry, workers used to work 46 hours, now they work 43 hours;
• Metal and engineering industry, a 40-hour week has been in place since July 1, 2002;
• Public service, 99% of all employees perform a 40-hour week, as stated on the public service regulations.

The functions of the disbanded Employment Conditions Commission have since 2019 been taken over by the National Minimum Wage Commission, so there might be a need to conduct another research in order to check the progress that has been made in the reduction of working hours since the last report and also to establish the feasibility of reducing hours of work and the unintended consequences that may result thereof, particularly for those sectors that are earning the minimum wage e.g. domestic and farm workers sectors.

Furthermore, the item forms part of the proposals currently under discussion at the NEDLAC’s Labour Law Reform Task Team.

END

Reply:

The number and the positions of the staff employed and/or provided as departmental support in the Ministry are illustrated by the table below. Job titles are provided together with the remuneration for each of them.

MINISTRY
COMPONENT DESCRIPTION	POST JOB TITLE DESCRIPTION	TOTAL ANNUAL REMUNERATION PACKAGE
MINISTRY	DRIVER/MESSENGER	498762
MINISTRY	SECRETARY/RECEPTIONIST	290019
MINISTRY	REGISTRY CLERK	298791
MINISTRY	ASSISTANT APPOINMENT SECRETARY	491403
MINISTRY	CHIEF OF STAFF	1409157
MINISTRY	SPECIAL ADVISOR: MINISTRY	1451754
MINISTRY	SPECIAL ADVISOR: MINISTRY	1688373
MINISTRY	DOMESTIC WORKER	128166
MINISTRY	DOMESTIC WORKER	128166
MINISTRY	ASSISTANT APPOINMENT SECRETARY	513846
MINISTRY	COMMUNITY OUTREACH OFFICER	766584
MINISTRY	CABINET AND PARLIAMENTARY OFFICER	903006
MINISTRY	MEDIA LIAISON OFFICER : MINISTRY	1173231
MINISTRY	PARLIAMENTARY OFFICER : MINISTRY	1105383
MINISTRY	PRIVATE SECRETARY	1105383
MINISTRY	ADMIN SECRETARY : MINISTRY	1190826

DEPUTY MINISTER
COMPONENT DESCRIPTION	POST JOB TITLE DESCRIPTION	TOTAL ANNUAL REMUNERATION PACKAGE
DEPUTY MINISTER	DRIVER/ MESSENGER	181599
DEPUTY MINISTER	REGISTRY CLERK	269214
DEPUTY MINISTER	DOMESTIC WORKER	128166
DEPUTY MINISTER	DOMESTIC WORKER	128166
DEPUTY MINISTER	COMMUNITY OUTREACH OFFICER	766584
DEPUTY MINISTER	PARLIAMENTARY AND CABINET SUPPORT	766584
DEPUTY MINISTER	PRIVATE SECRETARY	908502
DEPUTY MINISTER	HEAD OF OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY MINISTER	1105383

Reply:

A 1. What steps of intervention has he taken recently to curb the rising youth unemployment rate?

The Department provides employment services through its 126 labour centres and 475 visiting points that are spread across the country and are located in both urban, townships and rural areas. We also have projects that we fund through the Unemployment Insurance Fund Labour Activation Program and the Compensation Fund Rehabilitation Labour Activation Program. We are also involved in partnership interventions with the Presidency, under the Presidential Youth Employment Stimulus Initiative, where in we have been assigned to coordinate these initiatives through a National Pathway Management working closely with GTAC.

During the period April 2022- September 2022, the Department registered more than 570,000 new work seekers on its ESSA database of which 364,110 were youth, Female= 215 427 and male= 148 683

More than 92000 work opportunities were registered by employers with the Department. More than 44000 work seekers were placed into employment opportunities. 30,472 were youth and Female= 17,292 and male=13,180.

A further 174403 work seekers were provided with life skills interventions and employment counselling interventions to help them transition to the labour market. 131,568 were youth and Female= 83,105 and male= 48,463.

A 2. What strategy is in place in this regard?

The Department through its entities also provides assistance to support employment and also job preservation, these includes:

• (Transfer funding to Supported Employment Enterprises to provide special employment to People with Disabilities
• Transfer funding to Designated National Organizations and Workshops for People with Disabilities), a total 1041 workers are being subsidised of which, 489 are youth.
• Transfer funding to Productivity South Africa to promote Productivity and Competitiveness
• Transfer funding to Compensation Fund for Occupational Injuries and Diseases incurred by Public Servants
• Transfer funding to CCMA for job retention and job preservation activities.
• There is also the Labour Activation Programs that is provided by the UIF and the Compensation Fund.
• The Department is also developing a National Employment Policy that will be available soon for public comment that is anchored on 9 pillars.
• The Department is also making it easier for youth to gain access to entry level employment by preventing displacement, by foreign workers, through the finalisation of a Labour migration policy and related amendments to the Employment Services Act, 2014.

b. On what date is it envisaged that the numbers will begin to decrease?

It is difficult to predict exactly when the numbers of unemployment will begin to decrease as this is dependent on a number of factors, the most important of which, is economic growth. The latest quarterly labour force survey from Statistics South Africa indicates that there were about 269,000 less people unemployed in Q3:2022 than in Q2:2022. South Africa’s unemployment rate decreased by 1,0 percentage point to 32,9% in Q3:2022 compared to Q2:2022. Expanded unemployment rate decreased by 1,0 percentage point to 43,1% in Q3:2022 compared to Q2:2022.

Reply:

In response to your question, I think it is important that I firstly indicate that the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) and the National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA) regulate basic conditions of employment and minimum wages for employees and workers respectively.

An employee is defined in the BCEA as any person, excluding an independent contractor, who works for another person or for the state and who receives or is entitled to receive, any remuneration and includes any other person who in any manner assists in carrying on or conducting the business of an employer. The NMWA on the other hand, defines a worker as any person who works for another person and who receives or is entitled to receive any payment for that work whether in money or in kind.

Both these Acts however do not apply to a volunteer, which is defined in the Act as a person who performs work for another person or for an organisation serving a charitable purpose, who does not receive any remuneration.

Be that as it may, I have received a request from Dr MJ Phaahla, MP and Minister of Health, for my department to conduct an investigation into the conditions of employment of Community Health Workers so as to explore a sectoral determination as a way to regulate the conditions of employment for these workers.

This request is necessitated by the fact that there is currently no coherent dispensation for the employment of Community Health Workers and most of these workers are employed on conditional grant funded programmes, the Expanded Public Works (EPWP) and donor funded programmes, all of which have limited time terms and no sustainable funding.

Upon receiving this request, I have as per section 52(4) of BCEA directed the National Minimum Wage Commission to conduct an investigation into the conditions of employment in the sector concerned in order to establish the feasibility of introducing a sectoral determination that will regulate the conditions of employment for these workers

On completion of the investigation and after considering representations made by members of the public, the NMW Commission will prepare a report containing its recommendations on the matters which should be included in the sectoral determination for my consideration as per section 54 of the BCEA.

Reply:

Yes. The Investment Services Agreement between the Fund and the PIC is being reviewed to incorporate Penalties for non-compliance to the Service Levels and reporting requirements.

Reply:

1. (a) Cases

(i) The total number of civil claims cases received for the financial year 2020/2021 is 156

(ii) Total number of cases still not finalised is 124 for financial year 2020/2021

(b) The total contingency liability amount is R142 231 682,93.

2. (i) The total amount spent on legal costs for the financial year 2020/2021 is R11 562 528,55 which comprised R1 382 588,05 for legal costs relating to that cases specific to that financial year and the balance comprising shared split costs and prior years’ late claims by the Office of the State Attorney.

(ii) The total amount spent on legal costs for the financial year 2021/2022 is R10 528 779,18 which comprised R1 415 653,76 for legal costs relating to that cases specific to that financial year and the balance comprising shared split costs and prior years’ late claims by the Office of the State Attorney.

(b) The total amount spent on legal costs since April 2022 is R257 158,73.

Reply:

a) There are 90724 cases registered by UIF during the financial year 2020/2021, and 68 669 cases were paid.

During the Financial Year 2021/22, 116250 cases were registered and 91034 paid.

In the period of 2020-2021

The Total Number of Farm worker cases for:

UIF	17
CCMA	33
COIDA	6

Reply:

The honourable member should be aware that the Department of Employment and Labour is responsible of collecting strike and lockouts data on regular basis. The results are published in the annual Industrial Report through the Department’s website (www.del.gov.za)

Regarding the request, our recent publication reflects the strike data trends over the past five years. We noted a decline in strike statistics from 2018 to 2021 while it increased from 2017 to 2018. Wage increase, bonus and compensation benefits are reported by employers as the main cause of strike.

By industry, our strikes analysis illustrates the community industry (that includes the government -public sector) was the most affected as compared to other industries over the past five years.

Despite the evolving COVID-2019 pandemic in 2021, almost all industries in the country except the utilities and construction industries were affected with the peaceful labour disputes. However, the preliminary strike analysis in 2022 shows the country recorded 47 strikes from January to September 2022. About 62% of the total strikes were from the community and 17% of strikes were from the manufacturing industry (The annual report will be published later in 2023).

END

Reply:

1(a) and (b). Number of inspectors and inspections

Province	Number of inspectors	Number of inspections
Eastern Cape	208	36140
Free State	188	9000
Gauteng	402	1075
KwaZulu-Natal	423	3783
Limpopo	171	8088
Mpumalanga	155	5158
Northern Cape	43	3076
North West	129	7233
Western Cape	218	6953

REPLY: 1(c) Findings and action taken

The following were the contraventions found across all the legislations:

Employment Equity Act No 55 of 1998 Provisions contravened:

• Section 24 – appointment letter not signed by the CEO. EE Managers not appointed with the required resources and budged.
• Section 16 and 17 – attendance registers not indicating the designated groups represented by the committee members.
• Section 19 - analysis conducted post the development of the EE plan. Barriers not a true reflection of what is happening in the company
• Section 20 – EE plans do not show reasonable progress towards transformation in line with goals and numerical targets set by employers.

Basic Conditions of Employment Act No 75 of 1997 and National Minimum Wage Act provisions contravened:

• Section 9: Ordinary hours of work
• Section 10: Overtime
• Section 16: Pay for work on Sundays
• Section 25: Maternity Leave
• Section 29: Written Particulars of Employment
• Section 31: Keeping of records
• Section 32: Payment of remuneration
• Section 33: Information about remuneration
• Section 66: Powers to question and Inspect
• Section 67: Co-operation with Labour Inspectors
• Various sections in the Sectoral Determinations 9:
• National Minimum Wage: Section 4(5): Non-payment of National Minimum Wage

Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act of 2002 provisions contravened:

• Section 5 - Duty to contribute read with section 9 Payment of contribution to Unemployment Insurance Commissioner and refund;
• Section 7: Deduction of employee’s contribution
• section 9- Payment of contribution to Commissioner and refund; and
• section 12 – interest of late payment
• Section 13 – penalties and default
• section 56 – Failure to register, submit declarations and make contributions to the Fund

Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act of 1993 provisions contravened:

• Section 80: Failure to register and furnish particulars with the DG
• Section 81: Failure to keep records
• section 82: Failure to furnish returns of earnings
• section 86: Employer fail to pay assessments to the Commissioner
• Section 87: Failure to pay assessments and other moneys.

Occupational Health and Safety no 85 of 1993 provisions contravened

• General Safety Regulation 2(1), GSR 2(3)
• Administrative safety regulations
• COVID 19 -3(1), COVID 19 -3, COVID 19 -9, COVID 19- 3(7)
• Hazardous Chemical substances 9
• Environmental Regulations for Workplaces 9, ERW 6
• Electrical Installations Regulations 7(1)
• Facilities Regulations 2
• Ergonomics regulations

Actions taken to address findings:

Intervention	Activities
Advocacy	Increased advocacy around the prescripts and provisions of the offerings of various Employment Laws through seminars, workshops, radio interviews etc.
Inspections	More than 90% of contravening workplaces served with notices on the spot. Follow up inspections, where applicable, are carried out.
Enforcement	Recoveries of monies through penalties and fines. Referral for prosecutions in instances where there could still be noncompliance where notices have expired.

(2) (a) how is his department addressing the issues in the farming sectors with organised agriculture and farm workers if there are no labour inspectors allocated specifically for the farming sector and (b) on how regular a basis does he engage with the organised agriculture to address all labour issues on farms in each year;

REPLY:

(a) All the inspectors of the Department conduct inspections in the Agricultural Sector. The inspectors are specialists and conduct inspections in line with their disciplines.

(b) Inspectors incorporate an element of advocacy whenever they carry out inspections, therefore, engagements happen on a continuous basis

(3) will he furnish Mr N P Masipa with the minutes of such meetings and/or engagements with both organised (a) agriculture and (b) labour?

REPLY:

There are no separate minutes as engagements happen during the inspection itself.

Reply:

a) The Department conducts pro-active and re-active inspections daily which includes inspections in the domestic workers’ sector. This also enables us to respond to complaints that are reported to the Department in various ways. Labour Inspectors when conducting inspections are able to check if the employer complies with the employment laws which includes compliance with the National Minimum Wage Act, to ensure that workers are not exploited.

The Department further ensures that exploitation is dealt with through enforcing compliance with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, in particular the Sectorial Determination 7, that deals with conditions of employment in the Domestic Sector.

b) The Department of Employment and Labour and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), have jurisdiction to deal with issues of national minimum wage. Workers can therefore report any matter to a local Labour Centre of the Department. Where possible however, the workers can also report to their local trade union offices who will assist in reporting the cases to the Department and the CCMA.

c) The Inspection and Enforcement Services Branch, from when a complaint is received at Client Services, has 90 days to finalise the matter. To this end, the labour inspect will investigate the complaint and may conduct an inspection. An enforcement notice would be issued.

d) The Department does not provide mental health services. Government hospitals make provision for free mental health services.

e) The matter is not applicable to the Department as per our response in (d)

Reply:

a) In relation to the effect of the inception of the Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Harassment in the workplace (Harassment Code) in March 2022 on reported incidents of violence and harassment in the workplace, it is too early to assess the impact of this Code on the reported incidents. It is important to highlight that the Employment Equity Act (EEA) empowers both the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and the Labour Court to deal with unfair discrimination disputes, inclusive of all harassment cases.

Noteworthy is that, the primary objectives of this Harassment Code are to align our national laws with the provision of the ILO Convention, 190 that the country has ratified on 29 November 2021; and also to provide employers and employees, including the trade unions with practical guidelines on how to develop and implement workplace harassment policies and practices.

Therefore, we need to allow the employers in consultation with employees an opportunity to develop and implement workplace harassment policies and practices as required by section 60 of the EEA and this Code.

In order to raise awareness and educate employers and employees on the contents of the Code, the department together with the CCMA conducted EE workshops in all nine provinces from 17 August to 15 September 2022. In addition, the department has developed and published the Harassment Code pamphlet in all 11 official languages to ensure access to the majority of the population.

Thereafter, at the end of the first year of the implementation of the Code in March 2023, department together with the CCMA will then analyse the number of the harassment cases reported at the CCMA and based on the outcome, the department will then be able to assess the effect or impact of this Code on the labour market.

b) About the tracking of the effects of the Harassment Code on the workplace, the tracking will be done through the analyses of the number of harassment disputes/ cases referred to the CCMA and the Labour Court at the end of March 2023.

END

Reply:

1. The CCMA is in the third year of the operationalisation and implementation of ‘The Imvuselelo - The Revival - The 2020/2021-2024/2025 CCMA Strategy’ which commenced on 01 April 2020.

2. The 2022/2023 CCMA Annual Performance Plan (APP) outlines the programmes and activities to be implemented towards the achievement of the strategic intent of the Strategy.

3. The CCMA has identified the Agricultural sector as one of the five (5) targeted vulnerable sectors to be capacitated during the life cycle of the above-mentioned Strategy.

4 The CCMA is delivering on its 2022/23 Advocacy Campaign Plan in the North-West Province, which includes the following -

• The CCMA has partnered with the Department of Employment and Labour (“the Department”) to raise the awareness of farmworkers on their labour law rights and responsibilities.
• The delivery of Radio Talk-shows through various Community Radio Stations and the SABC stations as and when invited and agreed upon.

5. Furthermore, the CCMA delivers training and capacity building initiatives in line with section 115(3) of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995.

6. In conclusion, the CCMA is implementing various initiatives /interventions to bring its services closer to the vulnerable groups throughout the country with a view to empowering them regarding their rights and responsibilities under the applicable labour laws of the country.

______________________________________________________________

Reply:

When Government wants to propose labour reforms, such proposals will have to be submitted to NEDLAC for discussion. NEDLAC is a statutory body made-up of organised business, organised labour, community constituency and government representatives; and the law requires that proposals with socio economic impact must be tabled at NEDLAC for discussion. Such proposals at times culminate into the labour law reforms, which will require legislation amendments.

All our legislative amendments go through parliamentary processes before developing into law. A good example of such legislative amendments becoming law in the last five years is the Employment Equity Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the National Minimum Wage Act amongst others. Currency, organised business and organised labour have submitted proposals at NEDLAC for discussion. Should these proposals necessitate labour law reforms, the reforms will go through all the Parliamentary processes and Honourable Hunsinger will know of such proposals.

END

Reply:

I am sure the Hon. Member has the appreciation of some targets that aren’t static, those that keep on moving. The filling of vacancies happens to be one of those moving targets. So, you have targets like that, where you can perform and make progress towards achieving them but you just cannot stop them from fluctuating. There is always constant staff turnover, it is therefore impossible to provide an exact date by which vacancies would be filled.

Reply:

1. The Department actively assists woman to help them to secure employment.

The table below reflects the number of work seekers registered by gender for the period April 2022- August 2022

	Female	Male
Eastern Cape	16 462	10 603
Free State	8 544	7 399
Gauteng	30 088	28 423
Kwa-Zulu Natal	17 448	15 853
Limpopo	9 173	5 423
Mpumalanga	9 877	10 581
Northern Cape	5 234	4 283
North West	6 637	5 976
Western Cape	13 435	9 992
Online	9 478	5 308
Total	126 376	103 841

The table below reflects the number of work seekers provided with employment counselling by gender for the period April 2022- August 2022.

	Female	Male
Eastern Cape	6 272	3 364
Free State	3 443	2 122
Gauteng	10 634	7 763
Kwa Zulu Natal	7 470	4 601
Limpopo	7 345	3 665
Mpumalanga	5 812	4 404
Northern Cape	2 154	1 842
North West	3 741	2 268
Western Cape	4 538	2 203
Total	51 409	32 232

The table below reflects the number of work seekers that have been placed into employment opportunities by gender for the period April 2022- August 2022.

	Female	Male
Eastern Cape	1 614	1 535
Free State	769	660
Gauteng	2 315	1 921
Kwa Zulu Natal	1 628	1 225
Limpopo	3 806	1 983
Mpumalanga	1 293	756
Northern Cape	605	591
North West	551	607
Western Cape	1 050	751
Online	2	1
Total	13 633	10 030

The Department of Employment and Labour has gone a long way in terms of gender responsive recruitment. We have taken a conscious decision and effort to meet our employment equity target in improving recruitment of women. We have moved from 45% of SMS positions occupied by women during 2019/20 to 49,7% as at the end of March 2022.

2. In relation to any action being taken by the department toward integrating more women into the workspace, the department has recently developed and published a critical EE policy instrument, the Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Harassment in the Workplace (Harassment Code) on 18 March 2022. The primary objective of this Code is to provide both employers and employees with fundamental guidelines on how to prevent, eliminate and manage all types of harassment incidents in their workplaces. All types of harassment are forms of unfair discrimination that constitute barriers to women and prevents them from accessing equal employment opportunities, their right to equality and fair labour practices in the workplace.

In addition, through the EE amendments in the EE Amendment Bill that is pending the President’s assent into law, the Minister of Employment and Labour will be empowered to regulate sector specific EE targets intended to accelerate the rate of employment of women into strategic decision-making positions in various organisations. These policy interventions are aimed at enhancing the economic empowerment of women, their economic inclusion and active participation in the economic recovery strategies and programmes.

Reply:

1. Public Sector positions inside government are filled by units, branches, divisions and departments created or established to do just that.

2. Appointments to public sector positions are done by those who have to perform those duties using prescripts that govern that space.

Reply:

1. All employees of the department have been called back to office and there are none that are working from home.
2. N/A

Reply:

The Budget Vote speech for Vote 31: Employment and Labour took place via a virtual platform.

In this respect, no reception took place regarding the Budget Vote s peech, therefore no cost was incurred.

Reply:

1. The Department has provided incentives through funding provided by the Unemployment Insurance Fund to different private sector institutions for job creation interventions.

The UIF has set aside R 551 million for the three projects to benefit 19 921 beneficiaries in KwaZulu-Natal in the following skills disciplines: 14 771 Chief Food Handlers; 5 000 Enterprise Development (mixed farming systems); and 150 Fibre Optic Technicians.

The UIF signed a R 201 498 000 funding Agreement for job placement of 7 810 unemployed beneficiaries in KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, North West and Western Cape

The UIF entered into a R 10 136 175 150 agreement to train and place 150 unemployed beneficiaries in jobs in the Western Cape in the following fields:

Horticulture 30, Generic Management 30, Early Childhood 30, Clothing Manufacturing 30, and Tourism 30.

The UIF participates in the implementation of an Equine Business Management Learnership project targeting to train and create jobs for 50 unemployed beneficiaries in the Eastern cape on a co-funding basis at a total budget of R 20 000 000.00 (twenty million rand). The UIF contributes R 15 000 0000 and the partner contributes R 5 000 000 towards the costs.

The UIF entered into a Funding Agreement to fund a Youth Technology Development Project targeting to train and create jobs for 500 unemployed youth at a total budget of R 96 760 750.00 (ninety-six thousand seven hundred and sixty thousand, seven hundred and fifty rand) where the UIF contributes R 70 151 543.75 (seventy million, one hundred and fifty one thousand, five hundred and forty three rand, seventy five cent) and the partner contributes R 26 609 206.25 (twenty-six million, six hundred and nine thousand, two hundred and six rand, twenty five cent). This project is implemented in the Eastern Cape Province.

The UIF entered into a R 238 506 003.75 agreement to implement a programme to train and place 5 000 unemployed beneficiaries in Assistant Chef, Cook Convenience, Fast Food, Table Attendant and Barista programmes and place them in jobs in post the UIF Funding in Gauteng, KZN, North West, and the Western Cape over three years. This is a co-funded project where the UIF contributes R 220 618 053.47 (Two Hundred and Twenty Million, Six Hundred and Eighteen Thousand and Fifty-Three Rand, Forty-Seven Cents only) and Summit R 17 887 950.28 (Seventeen Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty-Seven Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fifty Rand, Twenty-Eight Cents only).

Reply:

1. The Department of Employment and Labour incurred the R 68, 391, 612.98 in respect of legal fees.

• The table below shows a breakdown of the legal fees paid for a five period:

2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	Total
R 12 795 110.78	R 16 062 038.78	R 14 247 235.29	R 9 443 086.69	R 15 844 141.44	R 68 391 612.98

2. The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has in the past five years spent a total amount of R 6, 344, 778.21 on legal cases brought to UIF.

• The table below shows a breakdown of the legal fees paid for a five period:

2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	Total
R554,456.83	R401,667.71	R1,493,572.20	R1,646,577.75	R2,248,503.72	R6,344,778.21

3. The Compensation Fund spent R 50 885 557.69 on legal costs in the past five years; and all these fees were as a result of cases brought against the Fund.

Reply:

(a) The total number of identified employers that should contribute towards the Compensation Fund as at 31 May 2022 is 520 860.

(b) The total number of employers who had submitted the 2021 ROE by the end of 31 May 2022 is 204 822

Reply:

1. The 28 596 are users registered in the Compensation Fund’s CompEasy system of which:

a) 14 974 are Employer representatives

b) 10 632 are Medical Service Provider representatives and; 2 990 are Third Party users representing either Medical Service Providers or Employers, or both.

2. 

a) Reasons why more users registered in previous systems versus now is unknown.

b). A communication was sent to all users during 2019 who were in the previous system informing them of the eminent change of systems and the new requirements for access on the new CompEasy system.

Reply:

The Department of Employment and Labour, as a consequence of the change in its mandate is in a process of internal engagement on the reconfiguration of the Department. The could be functions that are transferred to certain entities of the Department, including Productivity South Africa. For now, no such a decision has been made but purely suggestions.

Reply:

I think it’s important to explain firstly that the legislated national minimum wage (NMW) is not R3500 per month but R23.19 per hour payable for the numbers of ordinary hours worked.

The NMW Act requires the NMW Commission to review the NMW annually and to make recommendations to me on any adjustment of the NMW. In undertaking this function, the Commission is expected to annually undertake a research in order to gain insights on changes to working hours, employment, wages and non-compliance as a result of changes in the NMW.

The latest quantitative research shows that the average level of NMW non-compliance in 2020Q1, before the NMW was adjusted, was 35.8, meaning that approximately 36% of all workers were paid below the NMW. A year later, in 2021Q1, this number remained much the same, at 36.2. In 2020, the NMW was adjusted by 3.8%, and wages appeared to have risen by roughly this amount for those who remained employed in 2021Q1, meaning that the overall rate of non-compliance remained stable. However, the researchers found that the depth of violation did fall over the period, suggesting that for those workers earning below the NMW, wages increased in real terms, but not all the way up to the NMW.

The research report further shows that across industry categories there was a substantial variation in rates of NMW violation. Agriculture had the largest proportion of sub-NMW earners, and this appears to have increased over the period. Construction, Wholesale and Retail Trade, and Domestic Work, all had rates of violation close to 45%, and these remained relatively unchanged. Levels of violation appeared to have also risen in Finance, and Transport.

It is important to indicate however that the quantitative research looks at changes to working hours, employment, wages and non-compliance as a result of changes in the NMW across different sectors and not on individual companies.

END

Reply:

(1) The Department has no jurisdiction in the sector due to the fact that there is a Bargaining Council in place.

(2) The Department collaborates with Bargaining Councils on a needs basis. There has not been any meeting between the SARPBC.

Reply:

South Africa’s foreign policy promotes human rights and a broad developmental agenda both in the continent and the world. As the political head of the Department of Employment and Labour, the Minister leads the country’s domestic priorities in the global labour agenda (i.e. promoting rights at work, encouraging decent employment opportunities, enhancing social protection and strengthening dialogue) linking these to own priorities such as sustainable economic growth, employment, social justice and ultimately equality for all.

In line with the objectives set above and since his appointment in 2019, the Minister and support staff from his office have undertaken 7 international visit to the following destinations:

 

Botswana: ARLAC Ministerial meeting (February 2022);

Cost:

Accommodation& Flights: R 26890.26

Daily allowances: R6000

Brazil: Attending BRICS Ministerial meeting (September 2019);

Cost:

Accommodation & Flights: R 403923.79

Daily allowances: R6 633, 64

Cuba: Consolidation of Bilateral relations as per the signed MoU (November 2019);

Cost:

Accommodation & Flights: R 205651.86

Daily allowances: R14 759, 73

France: Attending the Global Deal Conference of which South Africa is a member (February 2020);

Cost:

Accommodation & Flights: R 277429.79

Daily allowances: R9694, 60

Geneva: Attending the International Labour Conference (June 2019) and Governing Body (November 2019)

Cost:

Accommodation & Flights: R 252779.79

Daily allowances: R 31000

Ivory Coast: ILO Africa Regional Meeting and part of Presidential visit and signed an MoU (December 2021)

Cost:

Accommodation & Flights: R 374608.85

Daily allowances: R10536,47

Ivory Coast: ILO Africa Regional Meeting (December 2019) and part of Presidential visit and signed and MoU.

Cost:

Accommodation & Flights: R 152105.79

Daily allowances: R10089, 73

Reply:

Thank Hon. Member by this question. The matter you have raised shall be attended to. Employer Audit Services under the Inspection and Enforcement Services in the North West Province will visit the two mines and ensure that all employees are registered for UIF and contributed for.

Reply:

The decision for the support and or withdrawal of the candidacy of Professor Mthunzi Mdwaba for the position of the International Labour Organisation Director-General was a Cabinet matter.

END

Reply:

In dealing with the digital economy, the Honourable member will know that the President has established a commission. Amongst the others, the Commission is to assist the government in taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the digital economy. The work of the Commission will be tabled at NEDLAC for further discussion on how to come up with policies that will respond to the changes in the labour market.

Over and above this, NEDLAC social partners are hard at work in dealing with how to regulate the e-hailing industry. The first question that must be answered is whether uber workers are employees and if they are employees, what conditions of employment are suitable to their sector as way of introducing a sectoral determination.

Albeit the above, kindly note that the national minimum wage covers all workers, already uber drivers earn above the national minimum wage.

END

Reply:

The CCMA has reviewed progress on the case file and reports as follows:

1. FAWU obo Mahlalela & Others v Umbhaba Estates (Pty) Ltd initially relating to an Organizational Rights dispute under case MP6595-14 which, led to a strike following which employees were dismissed for misconduct.
2. The dismissal dispute was referred to the CCMA under case number MP10027 – 15 for dismissal of employees for participating in a strike. The dismissal was not related to wages as per the EFF parliamentary question but emanates from the dispute about Organizational Rights.

Chronology of Events

1. The matter commenced 03 September 2014 when FAWU referred an organizational rights dispute to CCMA against Umbhaba. The matter was conciliated on 23 September 2014.
2. The matter remained unresolved and a certificate of non-resolution was issued.
3. FAWU opted for a strike route.
4. The strike was long and protracted,in between there was intimidation and later employer dismissed the employees.
5. After the dismissal, the union referred an unfair dismissal dispute to CCMA under case MP10027-15 on 18 November 2015.
6. On 03 December 2015, a jurisdictional challenge was lodged.
7. On 30 June 2015, the Respondent forwarded a withdrawal notice of review under Labour Court case number JR640/2016.
8. On 01 July 2016, the parties were directed to hold a pre-arbitration conference scheduled for 25 July 2016.
9. On 03 July 2017, the Applicant attorney forwarded a notice of attorney of record withdrawal.
10. On 04 October 2018, the Respondent attorney sought a postponement of the arbitration which was opposed by the Applicant.
11. On 12 April 2019, the Respondent attorney forwarded a notice of attorney of record withdrawal.
12. On 28 October 2019, the dispute was postponed without a date and the file closed on account of the intention of the Respondent to file a review application at the Labour Court.
13. The CCMA received the review application on 18 November 2019.
14. To date, the matter remains before the Labour Court.

Reply:

The table below shows comparison between the amounts collected as contributions versus benefit payments including COVID-19TERS and Workers Affected By Unrest (WABU) from 1 April 2020 to 30 April 2022. Collected contributions for the period in question were about R 42 614 054 783.39 and payments made amounted to R98 227 419 458.80. The payments made were augmented by UIF’s investment income.

MONTH AND YEAR	CONTRIBUTIONS COLLECTED	BENEFITS PAID OUT
April 2020	R 1 489 744 791.06	R 5 595 676 052.28
May 2020	R 1 375 298 505.07	R13 172 928 723.51
June 2020	R 1 335 564 830.96	R13 068 700 225.51
July 2020	R 1 496 909 778.13	R9 415 898 814.82
August 2020	R 1 585751 566.86	R5 667 762 970.91
September 2020	R 1 611 552 998.33	R7 908 312 370.75
October 2020	R 1 568 512 532.29	R5 980 930 862.56
November 2020	R 1 622 687 992.99	R4 456 953 942.35
December 2020	R 1 763 727 010.25	R3 927 167 367.31
January 2021	R 1 661 367 602.89	R2 899 403 916.45
February 2021	R 1 636 027 114.57	R2 310 584 770.16
March 2021	R 1 723 779 766.38	R404 273 999.73
April 2021	R 1 592 978 941.54	R2 323 066 342.86
May 2021	R 1 640 087 379.41	R2 514 408 103.46
June 2021	R 1 721 034 856.93	R2 355 909 336,52
July 2021	R 1 840 499 770.09	R1 983 650 328.24
August 2021	R 1 780 033 476.48	R2 153 009 834.92
September 2021	R 1 834 927 690.29	R1 744 262 146.86
October 2021	R 1 834 616 317.72	R1 872 803 420.63
November 2021	R 1 833 004 513.85	R2 061 444 524.61
December 2021	R 2 023 204 166.34	R1 040 830 165.00
January 2022	R 1 874 300 044.96	R1 387 392 619.75
February 2022	R 1 860 885 762.66	R1 348 257 031.23
March 2022	R 2 058 845 885.37	R1 179 149 173.01
April 2022	R 1 848 711 487.97	R1 454 642 416.20
Total	R 42 614 054 783.39	R98 227 419 458.80

Reply:

• Inspections were conducted on employers mentioned above Blinkwater and SIS Farming group on the 18 August 2021 and 26 April 2022 respectively.
• Inspections were conducted on Basic Condition of Employment Act guided by Standard Operating Procedure of the Department of Employment and Labour
• Employers will again be inspected after 12 months to monitor compliance, as guided by Standard Operating Procedure of the Department of Employment and Labour
• However re-active inspection can be conducted on request

Reply:

The number of workers that have been affected by the floods is still being established. Once lodging of claims gets to its logical conclusion, certain things will become clearer, including the stats that Hon. Member is looking for.

Currently, the Unemployment Insurance Fund is engaged in discussions with a number of stakeholders (including NEDLAC) in terms of how best to respond to the disaster in KwaZulu Natal and the ripple effect (of the floods) downstream.

The Provincial Offices of the Department of Employment and Labour in Gauteng, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal have been tasked with handling the claims related to recent floods in those provinces.

These claims have been given priority by the provinces. Affected employees are able to claim for Reduced Work Time and the unemployment benefit claim in line with the Unemployment Insurance Act and the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act. Employers are also able to apply for the Reduced Work Time and the unemployment benefit claims directly with the provincial offices on behalf of their employees.

Unemployment Insurance Fund through its Labour Activation Programme has (the normal) Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme which provides support to distressed companies that seek to retain their employees. Under the scheme, the UIF funds 75% of an employee’s basic salary up to a maximum amount of R17 119,44 per month, for a maximum period of twelve months. Eligible companies affected by the flood can apply for this relief scheme through the CCMA.

Furthermore, the UIF also has another Labour Activation Programme called the Business Turnaround and Recovery Programme which provides support to enterprises facing economic distress and initiatives aimed at preventing job losses. Eligible companies affected by the flood can apply for this support scheme through Productivity South Africa.

Reply:

\a) In terms of the categories in the UIF Database, there is no specific category for logistics industry. The Logistics industry appear under various sectors within the Database and the exact number cannot be identified which might result in inaccurate information, hence the number of employees under logistic cannot be provided.

b) The Compensation Fund registers employers and not employees; and respectively receives claims for employees as registered and submitted by their employers. With regards to the respective industry; there are 61 103 employers registered with the Compensation Fund within the sub-class category for the logistics industry.

Reply:

Both Gqeberha and East London factories are part of Supported Employment Enterprise’s network of 13 factories located across 8 of the 9 provinces of the country. All these factories receive a proportional share of the budget from the annual transfer of R160 from National Treasury via the Department of Employment and Labour Program 3, Public Employment Services and is also expected to generate revenue through manufacturing and sale of goods and services within its portfolio of textile, wood and steel.

1(a)(i) The steps taken to improve the financial positions of these entities include the following:

• During the financial year 2021/22, we embarked on a rigorous campaign within government to persuade Treasury to reconsider current procurement regulations that require the entity to compete for government contracts just like most businesses in the open labour market that have the flexibility to source other cheaper international inputs, whilst SEE entities are restricted to follow normal supply chain regulations and processes. We look forward to the introduction of the New Preferential Procurement regulations that are going to protect SEE and other similar organisations, Youth, Women, SMMEs and other Vulnerable Groups suppliers.
• We have applied to the National Treasury to grant exemptions in procurement of bulk materials and conclusion of supply of materials for three year contracts and these were granted to protect them from fluctuating raw material prices.
• We have submitted budget bids to Treasury to increase the SEE allocation to fund the maintenance of its decaying infrastructure without success and we hope that with the improvement in the country’s economic conditions, the Treasury will assist us to renovate these factories.

(ii) We have taken a conscious decision to encourage all our Labour centres and entities that form part of the Department of Employment and Labour to procure their furniture and textile needs from SEEs

• We have approached Treasury over the years to grant approval for veriment of under expenditure to SEE to bail them out in improving staff and factory worker’s salaries and other conditions of employment, their Information Technology and Communication systems and financial management.
• We have seconded staff where vacancies arose in key strategic positions to maintain their operations

(b)(i) As part of our strategy to sustain SEEs,

- we have encouraged staff to diversify production and produce goods that are directed at members of the public as a new market.

- The Director General approved the New SEE marketing strategy that include targeted approaches to Provincial, District and local municipalities.

- We have proposed SEE governance and administration changes in the current Employment Services Amendment Bill that is undergoing public consultation process.

(ii) It is our view that if all the above measures are supported and successfully implemented, they will assist us to increase the intake of more people with disabilities from 1350 to over 4000 as these factories have the necessary capacity to accommodate additional numbers. We will also reconsider our expansion plans to open another factory in Mpumalanga and our footprint elsewhere where there is an uptake of their goods and services.

We will also use the provisions of the Employment Equity to persuade companies to recruit some of the SEE employees into formal establishment as part of their integration into the formal economy and to generally improve their standard of living.

Since SEE operates under the auspices of the Department of Employment and Labour, the Department is leading the efforts to encourage other Departments to use government’s purchasing power to execute employment equity, which stipulates that at least 2% of the total workforce must be from the designated group of persons with disabilities, as for SEE this kind of support becomes indispensable as the entity employs 100% persons with disabilities in all their factory operations.

Reply:

a) 76 posts of the 166 posts have been vacant for more than 4 months.

b) The afore said 76 vacancies above 4 months are due to the following reasons:

(a) Grievances: candidates participating have the right to invoke grievance procedures for investigation if they are not satisfied with any element in the process of the recruitment, selection and appointment.

(b) Withdrawal of shortlisted candidate: this often leads to a prolonged time of recruitment and affects the DEL’s ability to complete the recruitment process on time.

(c) Re-advertisement: this would be done in instances where the interview process failed to obtain suitable candidate. In addition, there could have been failure to obtain suitable candidates during the shortlisting phase

(d) Inadequate HR capacity: IES depends on HRM to support the Branch with regards to Selection and Recruitment processes.

Reply:

Employers register their employees with the Department of Employment and Labour through declarations to the Unemployment Insurance Fund. This information is shared with the Statistics SA as one of the data sources used by Statistics SA. More information on how StatisticsSA collate their data can be obtained directly from them.

Reply:

The Department of Employment and Labour and its entities found no information connected to the question 1576 of Hon. Marais.

Reply:

The Integrated Management System in the Department will be able to detect duplicate claims of the same ID Number submitted by the employer for the COVID 19 TERS Benefit. The employee salaries are verified with the internal UIF System which stores the monthly declarations of the employees’ salaries submitted by the employer. The verification of salaries is detecting inflated salaries of employees submitted by the employer on the COVID 19 TERS application.

It is important to note that the current system is able to detect duplicate ID and duplicate payments.

Reply:

Late in 2020 or early 2021, the Manager for Kokstad Labour Centre received a call from former speaker of Umuziwabantu Local Municipality, Cllr Mzwandile Nyathi requesting the intervention of the Labour Centre) on a complaint of workers who were retrenched by their employer, Dropper Pride without proper adherence to UIF prerequisites.

The Dropper Pride’s owner’s name was Calum and the company was specialising on a forestry sector. He indicated that he had decided to close the company due to financial difficulties and ultimately retrenched the workers.

Guidance was given to him regarding the required documentation to enable his workers to apply for UIF. Consequently, Honourable speaker, Cllr Nyati e-mailed the UI-19 forms with relevant supporting documents of the retrenched workers. Further arrangements were made for workers to deposit their UIF applications in the box next to entrance door of the office as the satellite office within the premises of Department of Home Affairs, in ward 1 of Umuziwabantu Local Municipality was closed due to Covid-19 regulations.

Another alternative given was the official fetching the forms from the clients in the premises of the satellite office

All these options enabled the clients to submit their UIF applications and eventually the clients were helped and received their UIF monies.

The intervention of Kokstad Labour Centre was after the retrenchment has already completed by the Dropper Pride.

Secondly, the Social Distress Grant is a form of relief scheme that administered entirely by South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), in which each beneficiary receives R350.00 if his / her application is successful.

The Department has an MoU with SASSA in which the clients’ database of DEL is shared with SASSA for enabling the effective operations for the grant. The database enables SASSA to see the status of a client in relation to employment / unemployment.

If SASSA system says the client still has UIF money in DEL, the client after he / she has verified with DEL can write a letter or affidavit that disputes that to SASSA in which the latter will process the client’s application for a grant.

In essence, the Social Distress Grant complaints and queries are not supposed to be taken to DEL but to SASSA with appeals if need be.