15 February 1999

I welcome the opportunity to give you an insight into the progress we have made since 1994 in transforming South Africa's Labour market. Although a brief summary of our work, I will attempt to cover as broad an area as possible.

Through the hard work of our staff spread in 117 Labour centres and 10 provincial offices across the country, my Department has been involved in activities which have had a direct impact in changing people’s lives for the better, with a range of services to thousands of our citizens, including those in the remotest parts of the country, the jobless, the vulnerable workers (domestic and farmworkers), big and small business alike.

We inherited a world of work based on economic deprivation, adversarial Labour relations and the denial of worker rights, a cheap and migrant Labour system, massive income and wealth disparities, systematic discrimination against black people, women and other groups, and high unemployment levels.

To earn a living, fathers and sons were removed from family life and crammed into dilapidated hostels; mothers lost their jobs simply for being pregnant and faced the humiliation of sexual harassment; children lacked any protection against child Labour.

Black workers were denied education and training and paid poverty wages; farm and domestic workers lacked basic rights; unions were seen as "the enemy" and even outlawed; and rampant strikes were the order of the day. The list goes on…

This terrible legacy did not vanish into thin air when we took over the reins of government. Even today, it continues to weigh heavily on the working lives of our people and in the business environment.

Despite this distorted Labour market framework that we inherited when we assumed office in 1994, we have been successful in delivering on our promise of a new Labour dispensation that not only entrenches the rights of those denied them for so many decades, but lays the foundation for sustainable economic growth.

We have over the past four and a half years been engaged in far-reaching reforms aimed at restructuring the Labour market. And we have made significant progress in implementing the key pillars of our five-year programme which we announced in 1994. This included ensuring that our Labour market policies promoted economic growth and restructuring, employment absorption, sound and stable Labour relations, the elimination of workplace inequality, discrimination and skills development.

The main achievements have related to the development of active Labour market policies, the enactment of major new Labour laws and the establishment of new programmes and institutions to ensure the effective implementation of these laws. The primary pieces of Labour legislation in this regard are the Labour Relations Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Skills Development Act and the Employment Equity Act.

In addition, a key achievement related to the Presidential Jobs Summit and the Declaration of agreements on a wide range of measures to improve the economy’s capacity to create jobs

Our successes in effecting a new Labour market dispensation have been underpinned by our successes in building social partnership. Despite often divergent views on Labour market policies, we have succeeded, through an ongoing process of consultation and negotiation with our social partners in reaching substantial national consensus on legislation and other measures. This in itself is a notable achievement. In this regard, the National Economic, Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), made up of organised business, communities, Labour and national government, has played -- and will continue to play -- a critical role.

While this has often been a protracted process, we believe that this has enhanced the quality of our young democracy. It has meant that, unlike the unpopular apartheid laws, our new laws enjoy widespread legitimacy. This in turn lays the basis for the successful implementation of these laws by key stakeholders.

In our five-year programme we set out to transform the inefficient systems of collective bargaining, dispute resolution, the functioning of bargaining councils and promote sound Labour relations. It is for this reason that we passed the Labour Relations Act of 1995.

The Labour Relations Act marked the first chapter of our legislative programme and came into operation on 11 November 1996.

It made provision for a new Labour relations dispensation, the highlights of which include enhanced organisational rights for trade unions, entrenched the constitutional right to strike, simplified dispute resolution procedures, the promotion and facilitation of collective bargaining at the sectoral and workplace level and the codification of dismissal procedures.

In its short two-year life span, this legislative framework has enabled us to establish more formidable institutions to deliver a more efficient Labour relations system. The Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), set up in terms of Labour Relations Act, has received 144 115 disputes in this period -- an average of 270 cases per working day. Of the total number of cases handled by the CCMA, 85% were resolved. The institution also completed more than 15 000 arbitrations in the same period. These interventions by the CCMA and the many cases dealt with by the Labour Court have significantly helped avoid disruptive strikes previously caused by conflicts other than those related to the collective bargaining processes.

The LRA has contributed significantly to improving the functioning of collective bargaining and dispute resolution. This is particularly evident when compared to the pre-1994 period, rather than the previous year. In 1994, 2,5 million workdays were lost compared to 2,3 million in 1998. The law has laid the foundations for more co-operative Labour relations and enabled us to move away from the adversarialism of the past.

Achievements of the LRA include:

Union membership has increased and with the introduction of organisational rights, the legitimacy of trade unions has been enhanced. The number of unionised workers is increased from 2,4 million in 1994 to 3,8 million in 1998. This constitutes almost 77% of workers in registered non-agricultural employment and approximately 26% of the estimated 14 356 000 economically active population.

Sectoral bargaining is becoming increasingly common with a number of new initiatives to set up sectoral bargaining councils.

While strike action increased during 1998, the figures are still down compared to the pre-1994 period, as is the extent of violent action. The vast majority of strikes have been procedural strikes.

The dispute resolution system has been improved significantly. Both business and Labour are satisfied with the services provided by the CCMA and the Labour Court. I have already referred to the CCMA's settlement rate in this regard.

The LRA has clearly had a significant impact on our country's workplaces and in laying the basis for a more stable and peaceful Labour relation’s environment. For example, a total of 76 bargaining councils are presently registered, covering 886 900 workers or 32% of the workforce and approximately 53 000 employers.

However, also present in the Labour market are features that could threaten the Labour market stability that has been achieved over the last period. Two of the most significant threats are:

The exceptionally high-income differentials that exist in South Africa. This is illustrated by the fact that South Africa has one of the highest levels of inequality in the world as measured by the GNI co-efficient which stands at about 0.65 (where 1 measures absolute inequality).

About 3 million workers earn less than the household minimum level, and between one third and a half of the total population live below the poverty datum line.

This, coupled with the fact that workers support large numbers of dependants who are unemployed, leads to widescale and severe poverty amongst working people. It results in enormous pressures for wage increases and wage demands which are beyond the inflation rate.

Job insecurity of workers who face retrenchments due to pressures of globalisation and competitiveness. Employment has declined, with some sectors like mining being particularly hard hit. This creates a negative mood amongst workers and serves to perpetuate adversarial relations between management and workers.

Many of the changes introduced by the Labour Relations Act are still to have an impact on collective bargaining and improve Labour peace and stability. As Labour market players become increasingly familiar with the law, its benefits will become more pronounced and the teething problems will decline.

This is not to deny that there are shortcomings that need to be addressed. We will continue to monitor the situation and, when they are identified, discuss them with social partners and seek solutions. This includes in relation to problems experienced in industrial action, changing contracts of employment and the non-enforcement of arbitration awards.

We have held discussions with the CCMA, and, for their part, they are planning to:

• Be more proactive in respect of disputes which may lead to strikes;
• Intensify efforts to improve industrial relations in sectors such as retail, security and construction, which refer large numbers of disputes to the CCMA;
• Finalise the process of enabling bargaining councils and private agencies to settle disputes;
• Offer training and support to our social partners where weaknesses have been identified.

The Labour Relations Act was a product of tripartite co-operative partnership. As we move into the third year of operation of the LRA, we are keen to recommit ourselves to that same partnership and strengthen the functioning of the LRA.

On 1 December 1998, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act was promulgated. This is the second major piece of Labour legislation to be put into effect. It could potentially affect and improve the working conditions of over 6 million workers.

The Act sets down minimum conditions in respect of working hours, leave and the termination of employment. It also prohibits the employment of children and forced Labour.

The BCEA makes a break with the past in at least the following areas:

Firstly, we have a single floor of rights for all workers. The Act covers all workers except members of the army, intelligence services and non-paid volunteers working for charitable organisations. For the first time, contract workers, commission only, home workers and part time workers will be protected by the law.

Particularly agricultural and domestic workers stand to gain from the new legislation. For the first time, the state can and will set statutory minimum wages for workers in these sectors.

Secondly, the Act improves the floor of rights for all workers. Some conditions of employment, such as annual leave and maternity leave, are improved. New conditions of employment have also been introduced in relation to night work and family responsibility leave.

Thirdly, the Act introduces a new dispensation in respect of working time. It improves protection for workers while also enabling workers and employers through individual or collective agreements to shape working time in ways which best suit both individual circumstances and the needs of the enterprise.

Finally, the Act seeks to improve compliance by modernising a number of provisions. The new enforcement system has as its basis the promotion of compliance. The Act provides for a number of ways in which variations can happen, hopefully reducing the need for employers to apply for exemptions from the Department.

This will be the first year of the Act’s implementation and the challenge facing the Department is to ensure that it is complied with. On the one hand the Department has planned ongoing publicity and education to ensure that employers and workers are aware of their rights and responsibilities. On the other hand, the Department is working to deter employers from not complying through the stronger enforcement measures contained in the new law.

A particular focus will be on small businesses. The Minister has requested that the advisory body set up in the Act, the Employment Conditions Commission, advise him about varying the Act to better meet the circumstances facing small employers.

Also on the agenda of the Employment Conditions Commission will be setting minimum wages and conditions for workers in the security, cleaning, civil engineering, retail and agricultural sectors and for domestic workers.

The Employment Equity Act can be regarded as one the most significant pieces of legislation ever passed by our democratic Parliament.

This Act seeks to give effect to the Bill of Rights within the sphere of employment. Whilst the Constitution lays the foundation by prohibiting discrimination, it also calls for legislation that gives effect to this.

The key objectives of the Employment Equity Act are firstly to prohibit and prevent discrimination at the workplace. Direct or indirect discrimination on a wide range of grounds including race, gender, disability, religion, political belief and HIV-status is prohibited by the Act.

We believe that we have taken a significant step to address discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS as well as to prohibit testing for HIV/AIDS in the workplace with this legislation. It should make a significant contribution in the fight against this terrible disease.

Its second objective is to promote equity in the workplace. The Act spells out the process and the steps that must be taken to develop and advance groups that have been disadvantaged in the past.

The steps that employers must take can be varied and are not restricted to achieving representivity targets. We will be publishing Codes and guidelines in respect of what should be included in employment equity plans during the first half of the year. Steps that employers could take can include appropriate facilities for disabled people, training, provision of bursaries for university students, counselling for HIV-positive workers, establishing a sexual harassment policy and so on.

Research assembled by the Department shows clearly that the legislation is needed in relation to employment equity. A study of 455 employers revealed that 87 percent of all management in the private sector is still white, 93 percent of all executive management are still white, 89 percent of all senior management are white; Africans make up only six percent of all managers. Women make up 14 percent of all managers and 77% of women managers are white.

Regarding the implementation of affirmative action, it was found that 73 percent of the respondents did not have mechanisms for the monitoring of the provisions of the Act. For instance, numerical goals and timetables were being pursued by only 20 percent of the respondents and only 22 percent had established structures to deal with employment equity, whereas only 13 percent had allocated resources for the attainment of equity.

Lastly, the survey indicates that employers are not doing anything with regard to people with disabilities. Very few companies even reported on persons with disabilities, in the survey. They do not appear in the profile of occupational categories and are certainly not integrated in any plans.

We have already received reports of companies which have begun to look at how to comply with the Employment Equity Act even before it has been promulgated. We welcome and encourage such efforts and hope that these companies will take a lead for others to follow.

My Department is working hard preparing for the implementation of the law. We are planning a large-scale education and information campaign. We are working on proposals to restructure the Department to ensure enough resources are devoted to this Act. And we have begun to design the information technology needed for effective monitoring and analysis of employment equity plans.

And here I might add that the Department of Labour has itself taken the lead in implementing employment equity in its own back yard and has recorded great progress in meeting its affirmative action goals. The representivity of the staff composition of the Department we inherited in 1994 was improved over the five-year period. By 1998, more than 54% of staff were black and 27% were female.

The third major problem in our Labour market that we sought to address was the shortage of skills, which is a major handicap to our country’s growth opportunities.

The Skills Development Act, aspects of which came into effect on 2 February, aims to address this deficiency.

We currently have a skills profile that is totally out of sink with the needs of our country. In the 20 years from 1973 to 1993, the proportion of highly skilled jobs (needing at least a post-matriculation diploma) has risen from 10% to nearly 18% and the proportion of skilled jobs has risen from 29% to 34%. However, the semi-skilled and unskilled categories have declined from 61% to 48%.

Of the economically active population in South Africa, only 3 million are skilled or highly skilled (some 20%) while 7 million are employed in so-called "semi-skilled" or "unskilled" jobs (together some 80% of the economically active population) and 4 million are unemployed. In other words, only one out of every five South Africans is formally qualified to perform highly skilled work.

This profile compares poorly to other middle income and advanced industrial countries. For instance, South African professionals constitute fewer than 4% of the Labour force, as compared to 8% in other middle income countries and 10.5% in advanced industrial countries. This same shortage is evident in craft and related trade, where South Africa’s 12% compares to 18% and 16,5% respectively.

One of the consequences of this skill profile was starkly pointed out in the World Competitiveness Report of 1997. They ranked South Africa last out of 46 middle income countries on the availability of skilled Labour. It is seen as one of the main reasons not to invest in this country.

We also inherited a situation where fewer and fewer people are entering the skilled Labour market from a "workplace linked route". Many of those seeking employment – particularly our youth – find themselves in a Catch 22 situation. They cannot get work, because they have no work experience. They don’t have experience because they have not worked.

So there was clearly a need to overcome this barrier and provide a way for many more new entrants to gain relevant learning and work experience when they leave the formal schooling system, in preparation for their formal entry into the Labour market.

The Skills Development Act also took into account a failure by employers to adequately invest in skills development. Extensive research under the auspices of NEDLAC showed that large employers are training at levels equivalent to 2,7% of payroll. This compares to between 4% and 5% averages in OECD countries, where they also start from a higher general schooling base. Medium and small companies generally do very little, if any, training. It was clear therefore that government needed to create some form of catalyst in order to improve this situation.

The low skill base of our country means we are ill prepared for the massive restructuring taking place – with falling tariffs, changing commodity prices and a general increase in competition for markets and trade. Moving from commodity exports to more value-added exports requires a different Labour force than the one which is being retrenched. It was clear therefore that measures were required to assist people to move from one industry to another in times of great change and to target areas of critical skill need.

The low skills base is also associated with inequality in this society. Work in my department shows that those with high level skills are, by and large, cushioned from poverty, whilst those performing labouring jobs, particularly in agriculture and domestic work, have a high incidence of poverty in work.

The Skills Development Act aims to fundamentally improve the relationship between education, training and the workplace; be this formal sector, small and micro-enterprise, or developing activities.

The Act will create an appropriate enabling environment to improve workplace-based education and training, as well as the linkages between the education and training system and the workplace.

The mechanisms for achieving this include the establishment of a Skills Development Planning and Information System, which enables the identification of skill priorities in industry and tracks the growth and decline in employment and occupational categories across economic sectors. This will enable government to target skill formation more effectively and improve education and training decision making by industry and education and training providers.

In respect of the constraints facing first time entrants to the Labour market, the Skills Act puts in place a new learnership system which combines learning and work experience for job competence in areas where there is a clear skill demand. The opportunities will be identified by employers and workers in forward-looking planning exercises, and will be put into practice through simple learnership agreements entered into between employers, learners and training providers. There has been widespread support from the public for this initiative and pilot work with 255 learners in KwaZulu Natal suggests that the approach will greatly improve the chance of learners finding placement after qualification.

Special learnerships are also being developed to assist those seeking to become self-employed – where skill and business capability will be woven together.

Both learnerships and more general skills programmes will also become more extensively available to those already in work – to underpin productivity and competitiveness drives and employment security – as companies increase their focus on more value added exports. This increased "availability" will be based on increased demand for skills.

This increased demand is to be stimulated by the introduction of the levy/grant system. This component of the Skills Development Strategy is being treated as a money bill in terms of the Constitution and will be tabled by my colleague, the Minister of Finance.

The need to accommodate both restructuring and equity considerations are addressed through the establishment of a special National Skills Fund. This Fund will focus on national priorities that include targeting training funds in areas of economic and employment growth and social development, funding of the unemployed and special designated groups, increasing the incentives available to small and micro enterprises for training as well as learnerships. The money for training in the context of a Coega Project or the Social Plan will need to be drawn from the National Skills Fund. We believe that joint contributions from the private as well as the public sector should resource this Fund, as both industry and the society at large will benefit.

Aspects of the Skills Development Act relating to the establishment of the National Skills Authority and the National Skills Fund have already been promulgated and the Act as a whole will come into effect later this year.

The National Skills Authority will advise me on national skills development policy, strategy and implementation issues. The make-up of the NSA is indicative of government’s recognition that a social partnership, in particular, with employers, Labour and the community, is essential to the success of skills development in our country.

In each economic sector across the country, employers and unions will form a partnership, together with relevant government departments, to form sector education and training authorities or SETAs. Their fundamental purpose will be to promote best practice approaches to education and training in the workplace and to improve the linkages between the education and training system, learners and the workplace. SETAs will conduct skill need analyses and develop sector skills plans. These plans will be future oriented. They will be developed by means of annual strategic planning exercises, informed by both economic as well as employment growth questions. The plans will signal to those looking for jobs, as well as those in jobs, where the skill opportunities in the future are pointing. This should help to inform both individual career choices as well as the allocation of resources to education and training.

The Skills Development Act provides for a number of regulations that will address detailed implementation issues. These will be developed through ten action research projects conducted in partnership with the NSA and SETAs. We have entered into a financing agreement with the European Union and other donors to fund these projects. Under the auspices of this project, we have committed ourselves to a minimum of 4000 learners successfully completing new learnerships by the end of 2001. Utilising South African public and private funds, this number should be expanded over time to at least 25 000, at least 80% of whom should find or create work. Unemployed young people will be the principal beneficiaries of these programmes. Further expansion of the system will be recommended once the system has been monitored and evaluated.

My Department has significantly improved its capacity to conduct Labour market research and analysis and a new chief directorate of Labour Market Policy was established in 1995. This has provided the basis for reliable analysis of Labour market trends.

As we said when we first assumed office, our active Labour market policies were not only aimed at the entrenchment of rights enshrined in the constitution, but also at building a more efficient and productive economy.

According to the South African Reserve Bank, productivity increased from 107.2 in 1994 to 126.4 in June 1998. This is surely an indication that we are doing something right.

The right to life is one of the most fundamental rights enshrined in our constitution. The right to life and the right to a healthy and safe working environment, forms the basis of our approach to Occupational Health and Safety.

In 1996, the economy lost an estimated R17 billion, which formed 3,5% of the GDP as a result of accidents and fatalities in the workplace. The number of people injured was over 200 000 and fatalities were 508 for the year 96/1997 according to the Compensation Commissioner’s report. As I have said before, this state of affairs with the high fatality rates is totally unacceptable.

I have been placing great emphasis on a preventative strategy -- to prevent occupational diseases and accidents, rather their dealing with their consequences. This will not only reduce the pain and suffering of victims and their families. It will also reduce the hundreds of millions of rands paid annually to victims of work-related accidents and relieve pressure on our health services.

A public awareness campaign to prevent and reduce workplace accidents will soon be launched on a pilot basis. This will include a multi-media campaign targeted at selected sectors such as Construction, Transport, Agriculture and Chemical. The campaign will also aim to build partnerships between employers and workers and training to ensure the sustained promotion of a safe and healthy working environment.

Even before these measures have been implemented, there has been a decline in reported workplace incidents and fatalities in the period 1994-1998. Total incidents declined from 8968 in 1994 to 7028 in 1998. Fatalities declined from 913 in 1994 to 581 in 1998.

While this is obviously still too high, the improvements can be attributed to measures such as an increased inspection rate, the training of inspectors and targeting of high-risk sectors, the development of regulations for specific sectors and the promotion of partnerships with workers and employers to ensure compliance with Occupational Health and Safety legislation.

Some of the achievements include:

The promulgation of the Major Hazard Installation Regulations. These regulations were promulgated on 16 January 1998 to put into effect the protection of the public, but more specifically, the protection of communities in the proximity of huge industrial operations, against industrial disasters.

The establishment of links with other agencies in an attempt to leverage limited OHS resources. For example, with the National Electrical Regulator to administer the Electrical Inspection and Licensing Regulations under the Electricity Act.

The drafting of two sets of regulations to effectively regulate the Electrical Industry, the Electrical Safety Regulations, which will ensure the health and safety of workers in the Electrical Industry and the Electrical Inspection and Licensing Regulations, which will address the inspections of electrical installations and the registration of inter alia electricians, electrical contractors and approved inspection authorities under the National Electrical Regulator.

The completion of research into the drafting of Construction regulations. These regulations will consolidate a range of existing regulations pertaining to the industry.

Improvements in Occupational Health and Safety have coincided with improvements in the management of the Compensation Fund.

In 1995 the Department of Labour embarked on making amendments to the COIDA Act. The amendments were passed by Parliament in 1997 and implemented in 1998.

The Compensation Fund has also made important progress in developing systems to ensure greater compliance by employers in forwarding contributions, reporting of accidents, the processing of claims and payments. These have not only improved service delivery but also the financial viability of the Compensation Fund.

With respect to the Unemployment Insurance Fund, there have been a number of positive interventions. This is however in a context where the UIF is facing financial difficulties as a result of a sustained increase in benefit applications and payments.

The number of people who are now accessing the Fund has increased from 816 721 in 1994 to 970 573 in 1998, with benefit payments increasing from R1.9bn to R2.8bn respectively. During 1998, a total number of 970 573 applications were received and 3 433 912 million individual payments to the amount of R2,67 billion were made to beneficiaries.

While the Fund’s deficit has increased since 1994, the successful implementation of a range of short-term measures, including eliminating fraud and ensuring compliance with the Act’s provisions, saw a reduction in the deficit from R436 million in 1997 to R203 million in 1998.

In addition, I have initiated a process involving all stakeholders which will lead to new Unemployment Insurance Fund legislation to ensure the restructuring of the Fund. This includes the release of the report of a three-person Task Team on unemployment insurance and coverage issues, which has been published in the Government Gazette for public comment by 31 March. This will give stakeholders and the public in general the opportunity to make their input into the process of restructuring the Unemployment Insurance Fund. Draft legislation is expected to be tabled in parliament in the second half of this year.

The Department of Labour’s programme of legislative transformation has led to increased roles and responsibilities for our social partners, particularly trade unions and employer organisations.

To assist our social partners meet the challenge of new legislation and play a strong dynamic role in the Labour market, the Department has set up a Strengthening Civil Society Fund. Each year, R6 million is provided to Labour service organisations and other NGO’s to build the capacity of actors in the Labour market through training, research, information dissemination and advice.

The majority of the funds go to the trade union institute, Ditsela. Ditsela’s board is made up of representatives of the trade union federations, FEDUSA and COSATU. Since its inception it is has trained about 2 000 workers. Their courses range from basic shop steward education to advanced courses dealing with industry restructuring issues.

Employment creation has been at the centre of our policy formulation. Our efforts to address this problem culminated in the Presidential Jobs Summit in October, of which you are all no doubt aware.

Unemployment had been on the rise since the 1970’s, from an estimated 11.8% in 1970 to 30% in 1993. The crisis of unemployment clearly derived from the structural deficiencies in the economy that we inherited and a range of measures were required to address these, ranging from the development of a sound macro-economic policy, a coherent and well-articulated industrial strategy, restructuring of state assets and a comprehensive transformation of our Labour markets. Like in similar situations elsewhere in the world, such interventions take time to show their impact on job creation. We are satisfied that an important foundation has been laid for an economy whose efficiency will improve and its ability to absorb more Labour enhanced.

We complemented these measures with short to medium term interventions aimed at job creation. Since 1994, our National Public Works Programme, which is administered by the Department of Public Works, created jobs which reached 44000 people by the end of last year in various projects including school building and refurbishment, clinics, road and dam construction and other related projects. Under the auspices of the old National Economic Forum (NEF), the Department of Labour used the DBSA as an agency for job creation projects which generated about 46700 jobs. The Department of Water Affairs has been running two projects "Water supply" and "Working for Water". Between them, the government has been able to reach approximately 60-65 000 people, offering short term job opportunities.

Through various initiatives aimed at promoting Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMME) a large number of jobs have been generated. According to the Department of Trade and Industry, in the period April 1998 to January 1999, about 1 630 new businesses were created, resulting in approximately 11 100 jobs. These were achieved with the assistance of Ntsika and Khula.

These are but a few examples of short to medium term job opportunities arising from projects that are linked to infrastructure development and longer term economic restructuring. We would be the first to admit that there is room for improvement. However, the participants in these projects benefited in various ways. They obtained income to support themselves and they secured training and improved their skills. Consequently, they enhanced their employment prospects.

True to the President’s assertion in his opening address in 1998, the Jobs Summit was the single most important activity of government in 1998. The Summit declaration captures a wide range of projects and programmes. We benefited from three years of planning by the Department of Trade and Industry and its medium to long term industrial development projects. The Spatial Development Initiatives (SDI) have helped us identify key long-term investment projects which hold a promise of sustainability and growth. These also hold immense potential for a multiplier effect in areas beyond the initial projects. Further benefit has been obtained from four years of policy development and planning by the Departments of Education and Labour in the area of human resources development. As a result of these, we have been able to agree on projects that target youth who have been the worst affected by unemployment. The Youth Commission has played as important leadership role in advancing the agreements on the youth brigades, learnerships and the youth corps (which will look at a placing youth in community service work).

We are already hard at work with the implementation of some of the projects. These include "working for water" and the special project on housing which will focus on rental stock. The Youth Commission and the Departments of Education and Labour have developed a project on Youth Brigades and Service Corps to table at the US/SA Bi-national Commission for funding. However, money from the National Skills Fund and Umsobomvu will be used to invest in these projects.

But the Summit’s success lay not just in the wide range of projects and programmes set out in the Declaration adopted, but in marshalling the common commitment, resources and energies of all stakeholders to address the scourge of unemployment. All the participants recognised that meeting this challenge requires that we all move beyond fruitless finger pointing to active partnerships around projects and programmes that will have a direct impact on improving the employment creating capacity of the economy.

The Summit was also a clear expression of the common commitment of all stakeholders to ensuring that a range of policies, including Labour market policies, trade and industrial policies and other macro-economic policies contribute to our goal of job creation.

Hence our president’s statement at the opening of parliament that, "If indeed job creation and ending poverty are among our primary challenges, we must continually evaluate how our Labour market policies and the rate of private investments, amongst others, facilitate the realisation of these objectives."

With regard to Labour market policy, this challenge requires that we address two related aspects: job security and job creation. We need to hear the concerns of business that our policies undermine job creation. Hopefully, this time round, unlike in the past, evidence will be presented to show the impact of our new Labour market policies and the employment situation. On the other hand we would need to address the concerns of Labour about the inadequacy of the current legal framework to provide job security. This has been brought into serious focus by the wave of retrenchments that we witnessed, particularly in 1998.

To this end I am pleased to announce that we have already started consultations with business and Labour as part of the process of setting up a task team to begin this process of reaching consensus on these complex issues.

While we are aware of the divergent perspectives on this matter, we have demonstrated over the past period that, with a common commitment we can reach agreement and act together to build a better life. And I am confident that, as we have done before, we will reach a new consensus on sustainable development and employment creation.

In the meantime, let us harness our collective energies as a nation to ensure the successful implementation of the wide range of measures to which we have already agreed and which will address the problems in the Labour market which I outlined. We cannot afford the luxury of allowing these problems to persist while we work towards greater consensus.

What is critical in this regard is not to merely exchange views and ideas on these matters, but to emerge with an objective assessment of the impact of various measures on our economy's capacity to absorb Labour.

My colleagues and I who are involved Cabinet Employment Cluster Committee has met to discuss fast tracking the implementation of the agreements reached. We have also been meeting with other stakeholders in the Supervisory Structure under Nedlac auspices. Already implementation has begun, but we need to finalise the institutional arrangements to ensure the proper implementation, co-ordination and monitoring of this.

Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to express my support for the initiatives of business and Labour to mobilise resources for job creation. These laudable initiatives give all of us the opportunity to contribute to the employment creation that our country so sorely needs. Let us all "put our money where our mouth is", so to speak. And let us all follow the lead of our President by contributing one day's wage to the Job Creation Trust.