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Date : 02/10/2004
Source: The Presidency
Title: J Zuma: Opening address at 2004 Nedlac Annual Summit


OPENING ADDRESS BY DEPUTY PRESIDENT J ZUMA AT THE 2004 NEDLAC ANNUAL SUMMIT, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, 2 OCTOBER 2004

Cabinet Ministers present
The Executive Director of Nedlac, Mr Herbert Mkhize
Representatives of our social partners
Distinguished guests
Delegates, friends and comrades
Programme Director
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am greatly honoured once again by the privilege to interact with all of you on this occasion of the 2004 Annual Summit of Nedlac, which coincides with the ten-year celebration of our democracy.

Indeed as we celebrate the benefits of social dialogue and the 10 years of democracy and freedom in South Africa today, and as we grapple with the issues of delivery on the Growth and Development Summit Agreements, we are obliged to look back and examine how far we have come as a democratic country, particularly as social partners in Nedlac on behalf of our people.

On 26 June 1955 in Kliptown, the Freedom Charter was adopted by the Congress of the People. In it was proclaimed the principle, among others, that "There Shall be Work and Security!"

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

These are far-reaching undertakings that we made with the conviction that matched the adverse circumstances of the time. At the close of the 1950s, Former President Nelson Mandela observed, in expressing the circumstances that I mention, that "All opportunities for peaceful agitation and struggle have been closed. Africans no longer have the freedom even to stay peacefully in their houses in protest against the oppressive policies of the government".

Thanks to the Congress of the People - The Freedom Charter continued to drive us and guide us with a clear vision of what type of society we wanted to create in democratic South Africa, and it gave us hope in the face of what seemed like insurmountable adversity.

The ideals underpinning this charter transcended generations and remained an inspiration even to all freedom fighters that and peace loving people followed from that era onwards.

In the Ready to Govern document adopted at the May 1992 National Congress, the current ruling party said "We are committed to full participation in the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and will adopt and implement ILO conventions and appropriate recommendations. This adherence will form the base for a stable, equitable and effective collective bargaining system. Within its growth and development strategy, it went further to say it will develop active policies in the labour market in order to ensure the following:
Employment creation and public works programmes; Fair and equitable employment opportunities, with legislation against discrimination in employment practices; Affirmative action programmes to address racial, gender and rural-urban imbalances; and Training, retraining and human resources development.

Of further importance, we agreed that the current ruling party's "Labour Relations Policy is aimed at fostering industrial peace and the settlement of disputes through: Recognising the rights of free association of workers and their rights to representation in all structures where their interests are affected, especially the extension of these rights to farm and domestic workers; Recognition of the right to strike for workers in all sectors; Maintaining the system of collective bargaining and underpin collective agreements as legally binding on the different parties; Recognition of the right to paid maternity and paternity leave with employment security; The formulation and implementation of a Labour Relations Act which will protect the interests of all workers, including farm, domestic and public service workers; The transformation of the Industrial Court system to enforce the provisions of the Labour Relations legislation; The ratification of ILO conventions and the consequent respect of employer and employee rights and employment codes, as recognised by these conventions".

Again, Ladies and Gentlemen, these were far-reaching undertakings and to pessimists these noble ideals - both in the Freedom Charter and the Ready to Govern policy document

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