Date: 24/06/2003
Source: Department of Labour
Title: Mdladlana: Cape Town Press Club
SPEAKER'S NOTES FOR THE ADDRESS TO THE CAPE TOWN PRESS CLUB BY THE MINISTER OF LABOUR, MMS MDLADLANA, 24 June 2003
Welcome and thanks. The invitation gives an opportunity to discuss some of the challenges facing the Department in the forthcoming year, focus on the Growth and Development Summit and what implications the outcomes hold for the Department of Labour in particular.
The event held in Midrand on 7 June and the negotiations preceding it were successful - organised labour, organised business, the community and government thrashed out a comprehensive agreement with measurable and focussed deliverables. The Summit was never going to be panacea to all ills, just an opportunity to harness and direct our resources so as to ensure that the interventions that emerged from the Summit had the greatest possible impact.
The Summit, however, is part of a process - a process begun with the advent of democracy in South Africa and a process that develops with the leadership of the African National Congress.
Key to the work is the implementation of the outcomes of the Summit - the implementation framework, which incorporated some of the following issues:
* The constituencies commit to ensuring that the GDS agreements are disseminated to all their structures and as widely as possible through a joint communication strategy
* Nedlac chambers and structures will have standing items on their agendas dealing with the GDS agreements and receive regular reports on the progress of the implementation of the agreements
* Constituencies commit to an annual review of implementation progress of the Summit agreements by the highest organ of Nedlac, the Executive Council. The Executive Council has also been seized with the responsibility to make appropriate adjustments to the programmes as they see fit
* The details of agreements reached in respect of each theme will be finalised in existing task teams or in task teams set up for the specific purpose.
The four key themes of the Summit were more jobs, better jobs, decent work for all; addressing the investment challenge; advancing equity, developing skills, creating economic opportunities for all and extending services; and local action and implementation.
As the lead Government Department for the Summit, the Department of Labour will be playing a pivotal role in the on-going implementation of the Summit's outcomes. But, some of the particular outcomes are of specific interest to us - because we will be directly responsible for implementation. The Department of Labour's interest is primarily located within the commitment to advancing equity, developing skills, creating opportunities for all and extending services, specifically:
* Employment equity with government coordinating a joint campaign to enhance public awareness of the provisions of the Employment Equity Act by August 2003; while business undertakes to contribute resources to the joint Employment Equity Campaign; and labour to mobilise and educate its members on employment equity and to actively participate in the campaign
* Promoting literacy including work through SETAs for the achievement of the first objectives of the National Skills Development Strategy
* Learnerships with business and the public service committing to register at least 72 000 unemployed learners in learnerships by May 2004
* Strengthening the SETAs with constituencies committing to ensure that their SETA representatives are capacitated to effectively execute their functions.
There are a number of points I would like to make about employment equity: Firstly, to describe affirmative action or South Africa's anti-discriminatory legislation as reverse racism is at best fundamentally misguided and at worst racist in and of itself.
South Africa is a country of diversity, a diversity that - due to our traumatic past - is not reflected in many of our workplaces. The Employment Equity Act (EEA) is a vehicle designed to ensure that our workplaces are not only free of discriminatory barriers against the people denied opportunities by apartheid, but also to make certain that there is an equality of opportunities.
Apartheid deliberately excluded black people, women and people with disabilities access to certain professional categories and levels. It is therefore critical that such persons are given opportunities to enter those professions. This intervention is supported by our Human Resources Development Strategy as well as the National Skills Development Strategy.
To invest in and develop all our people will contribute to business sustainability and future returns. Translating our diverse populations into a strategic business advantage will lead to sustained global competitiveness.
While all employers are required to ensure that their workplaces are free from discrimination, only designated employers must prepare employment equity plans and submit reports on the status of implementation to the Department of Labour by the first working day of October each year.
Among the most important aspects in the planning process is the analysis of the workforce profile, the employers' policies, procedures and practices in order to identify areas where designated groups are under-represented together with barriers to employment equity, and develop numerical goals and affirmative action measures to address the gaps.
Employers should also have monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in place to ensure that the plan is properly implemented. Those employing less than 150 employees report every second year while those with 150 and more report annually.
I want to warn employers that our programmes around EE are in place and are not just about education, but also enforcement.
The outcomes of the GDS on skills development are pretty clear. There are targets to which commitments have been made.
I want to contextualise my remarks by saying since the beginning of 2001 over 3,1 million people have received training relevant to their work or relevant to trades and occupations they aspire to enter into.
Firstly let me deal with strengthening the SETAs. While the majority of SETAs, are doing very well, it is common knowledge that there are also those few whose performance is so dismal as to besmirch the good reputation and progress made by the rest.
My Department has developed a programme of action to assist those SETAs who are struggling. At the same time, we are preparing legislation to be taken to Parliament soon, which we trust will go a long way in improving the functioning and accountability of SETAs.
As regards learnerships, many of you would know that the Department exceeded by far the 3 000 target that was set for the first intake for the year 2000/01. A staggering total of 23 517 learners are already in learnerships, 8 159 of whom were unemployed young people. If we add the 17 735 people engaged in apprenticeships since the launch of the strategy - it means that a total of 41 252 have received quality training.
Training funded by the Department through our provincial offices supported the training of a total of 78 467 people- of which 48 119 were youth and 2 504 were people with disabilities. About 3 265 scholars were given bursaries to address the problem of scarce skills.
We are well on track to meet the targets set by GDS. We have the will and with our partners support we will succeed.
Beyond GDS, there are some further issues I would like to raise. Perhaps first of all the Sectoral Determinations. For Agriculture, I wish to reiterate and emphasise that the Sectoral Determination, including the minimum wage is law. Discussions between stakeholders on issues of implementation are ongoing, but there is no moratorium, there is no suspension of the determination. As I speak, inspectors are visiting farms around the country to assist farmers in implementing the determination.
I also promulgated a Sectoral Determination for the Private Security Sector; it is an historic agreement, because while it fulfilled the mandate of protecting the interests of these vulnerable workers and the determination was to a large extent based on agreements thrashed out in the industry-based bargaining forum.
My ideal is to see a labour market where because of the strength of employer and worker organisations there is no need for me to promulgate sectoral determinations. The fact that this determination is based largely on decisions taken by employers and workers is a significant step to achieving this goal.
The Sectoral Determination, in line with international best practice, is set for a period of three years. This is advantageous because it allows for stability in the sector and also for longer-term planning by employers.
The application of the Determination is split into five different areas based on levels of urbanisation. While the three-year agreement allows for a guaranteed increase on the anniversary date of the implementation date.
Minimum wage differentiation is also based on the level of the employer. For example, a Security Officer Grade A in Area 1 would earn a minimum of R2533.00, while a Grade E Officer in the most rural areas (Area 5) of South Africa would have a minimum monthly salary of R911.00. The lowest minimum wage for an Area 1 Security Officer is R1300.00 and an Area 3 Grade E Officer should receive at least R1015.00.
While discussing Agriculture and Employment Equity I have stressed delivery and enforcement. Just to expand on those points:
We have established a "Service Delivery" arm of the Department under the leadership of a Deputy Director-General.
The role of this branch is to ensure efficient, effective service delivery in the Provincial Offices and Labour Centres. We have recently undertaken a comprehensive study aimed at ensuring that Labour Centres are established in areas that are accessible to the public. In places where we cannot create Labour Centres due to financial or infrastructural constraints we have identified visiting points.
The Service Delivery Branch is also responsible for workplace inspections aimed at ensuring that employers comply with labour legislation. In 2002, a total of 87 815 inspections were conducted throughout the country. Annually, on the basis of an analysis of the outcomes of these inspections we develop a programme of action to remedy the problems.
In 2002 only 7% of employers were issued contravention notices, prohibition notices and compliance orders, while only 1% of cases resulted in inspectors recommending prosecution. This represents an improvement on previous years.
I am generally impressed with this improvement but I would like to warn those employers who still exploit, abuse and kill workers that the net is closing on them. Inspectors of my Department will spare no iota of energy in enforcing labour legislation and we shall not rest until every piece of labour legislation is fully complied with.
I thank you
Source: Department of Labour (http://www.labour.gov.za)
Source: Department of Labour
Title: Mdladlana: Cape Town Press Club
SPEAKER'S NOTES FOR THE ADDRESS TO THE CAPE TOWN PRESS CLUB BY THE MINISTER OF LABOUR, MMS MDLADLANA, 24 June 2003
Welcome and thanks. The invitation gives an opportunity to discuss some of the challenges facing the Department in the forthcoming year, focus on the Growth and Development Summit and what implications the outcomes hold for the Department of Labour in particular.
The event held in Midrand on 7 June and the negotiations preceding it were successful - organised labour, organised business, the community and government thrashed out a comprehensive agreement with measurable and focussed deliverables. The Summit was never going to be panacea to all ills, just an opportunity to harness and direct our resources so as to ensure that the interventions that emerged from the Summit had the greatest possible impact.
The Summit, however, is part of a process - a process begun with the advent of democracy in South Africa and a process that develops with the leadership of the African National Congress.
Key to the work is the implementation of the outcomes of the Summit - the implementation framework, which incorporated some of the following issues:
* The constituencies commit to ensuring that the GDS agreements are disseminated to all their structures and as widely as possible through a joint communication strategy
* Nedlac chambers and structures will have standing items on their agendas dealing with the GDS agreements and receive regular reports on the progress of the implementation of the agreements
* Constituencies commit to an annual review of implementation progress of the Summit agreements by the highest organ of Nedlac, the Executive Council. The Executive Council has also been seized with the responsibility to make appropriate adjustments to the programmes as they see fit
* The details of agreements reached in respect of each theme will be finalised in existing task teams or in task teams set up for the specific purpose.
The four key themes of the Summit were more jobs, better jobs, decent work for all; addressing the investment challenge; advancing equity, developing skills, creating economic opportunities for all and extending services; and local action and implementation.
As the lead Government Department for the Summit, the Department of Labour will be playing a pivotal role in the on-going implementation of the Summit's outcomes. But, some of the particular outcomes are of specific interest to us - because we will be directly responsible for implementation. The Department of Labour's interest is primarily located within the commitment to advancing equity, developing skills, creating opportunities for all and extending services, specifically:
* Employment equity with government coordinating a joint campaign to enhance public awareness of the provisions of the Employment Equity Act by August 2003; while business undertakes to contribute resources to the joint Employment Equity Campaign; and labour to mobilise and educate its members on employment equity and to actively participate in the campaign
* Promoting literacy including work through SETAs for the achievement of the first objectives of the National Skills Development Strategy
* Learnerships with business and the public service committing to register at least 72 000 unemployed learners in learnerships by May 2004
* Strengthening the SETAs with constituencies committing to ensure that their SETA representatives are capacitated to effectively execute their functions.
There are a number of points I would like to make about employment equity: Firstly, to describe affirmative action or South Africa's anti-discriminatory legislation as reverse racism is at best fundamentally misguided and at worst racist in and of itself.
South Africa is a country of diversity, a diversity that - due to our traumatic past - is not reflected in many of our workplaces. The Employment Equity Act (EEA) is a vehicle designed to ensure that our workplaces are not only free of discriminatory barriers against the people denied opportunities by apartheid, but also to make certain that there is an equality of opportunities.
Apartheid deliberately excluded black people, women and people with disabilities access to certain professional categories and levels. It is therefore critical that such persons are given opportunities to enter those professions. This intervention is supported by our Human Resources Development Strategy as well as the National Skills Development Strategy.
To invest in and develop all our people will contribute to business sustainability and future returns. Translating our diverse populations into a strategic business advantage will lead to sustained global competitiveness.
While all employers are required to ensure that their workplaces are free from discrimination, only designated employers must prepare employment equity plans and submit reports on the status of implementation to the Department of Labour by the first working day of October each year.
Among the most important aspects in the planning process is the analysis of the workforce profile, the employers' policies, procedures and practices in order to identify areas where designated groups are under-represented together with barriers to employment equity, and develop numerical goals and affirmative action measures to address the gaps.
Employers should also have monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in place to ensure that the plan is properly implemented. Those employing less than 150 employees report every second year while those with 150 and more report annually.
I want to warn employers that our programmes around EE are in place and are not just about education, but also enforcement.
The outcomes of the GDS on skills development are pretty clear. There are targets to which commitments have been made.
I want to contextualise my remarks by saying since the beginning of 2001 over 3,1 million people have received training relevant to their work or relevant to trades and occupations they aspire to enter into.
Firstly let me deal with strengthening the SETAs. While the majority of SETAs, are doing very well, it is common knowledge that there are also those few whose performance is so dismal as to besmirch the good reputation and progress made by the rest.
My Department has developed a programme of action to assist those SETAs who are struggling. At the same time, we are preparing legislation to be taken to Parliament soon, which we trust will go a long way in improving the functioning and accountability of SETAs.
As regards learnerships, many of you would know that the Department exceeded by far the 3 000 target that was set for the first intake for the year 2000/01. A staggering total of 23 517 learners are already in learnerships, 8 159 of whom were unemployed young people. If we add the 17 735 people engaged in apprenticeships since the launch of the strategy - it means that a total of 41 252 have received quality training.
Training funded by the Department through our provincial offices supported the training of a total of 78 467 people- of which 48 119 were youth and 2 504 were people with disabilities. About 3 265 scholars were given bursaries to address the problem of scarce skills.
We are well on track to meet the targets set by GDS. We have the will and with our partners support we will succeed.
Beyond GDS, there are some further issues I would like to raise. Perhaps first of all the Sectoral Determinations. For Agriculture, I wish to reiterate and emphasise that the Sectoral Determination, including the minimum wage is law. Discussions between stakeholders on issues of implementation are ongoing, but there is no moratorium, there is no suspension of the determination. As I speak, inspectors are visiting farms around the country to assist farmers in implementing the determination.
I also promulgated a Sectoral Determination for the Private Security Sector; it is an historic agreement, because while it fulfilled the mandate of protecting the interests of these vulnerable workers and the determination was to a large extent based on agreements thrashed out in the industry-based bargaining forum.
My ideal is to see a labour market where because of the strength of employer and worker organisations there is no need for me to promulgate sectoral determinations. The fact that this determination is based largely on decisions taken by employers and workers is a significant step to achieving this goal.
The Sectoral Determination, in line with international best practice, is set for a period of three years. This is advantageous because it allows for stability in the sector and also for longer-term planning by employers.
The application of the Determination is split into five different areas based on levels of urbanisation. While the three-year agreement allows for a guaranteed increase on the anniversary date of the implementation date.
Minimum wage differentiation is also based on the level of the employer. For example, a Security Officer Grade A in Area 1 would earn a minimum of R2533.00, while a Grade E Officer in the most rural areas (Area 5) of South Africa would have a minimum monthly salary of R911.00. The lowest minimum wage for an Area 1 Security Officer is R1300.00 and an Area 3 Grade E Officer should receive at least R1015.00.
While discussing Agriculture and Employment Equity I have stressed delivery and enforcement. Just to expand on those points:
We have established a "Service Delivery" arm of the Department under the leadership of a Deputy Director-General.
The role of this branch is to ensure efficient, effective service delivery in the Provincial Offices and Labour Centres. We have recently undertaken a comprehensive study aimed at ensuring that Labour Centres are established in areas that are accessible to the public. In places where we cannot create Labour Centres due to financial or infrastructural constraints we have identified visiting points.
The Service Delivery Branch is also responsible for workplace inspections aimed at ensuring that employers comply with labour legislation. In 2002, a total of 87 815 inspections were conducted throughout the country. Annually, on the basis of an analysis of the outcomes of these inspections we develop a programme of action to remedy the problems.
In 2002 only 7% of employers were issued contravention notices, prohibition notices and compliance orders, while only 1% of cases resulted in inspectors recommending prosecution. This represents an improvement on previous years.
I am generally impressed with this improvement but I would like to warn those employers who still exploit, abuse and kill workers that the net is closing on them. Inspectors of my Department will spare no iota of energy in enforcing labour legislation and we shall not rest until every piece of labour legislation is fully complied with.
I thank you
Source: Department of Labour (http://www.labour.gov.za)
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