Labour

Policy

• A national, integrated approach to job creation, which includes changes to the macroeconomic policy is needed. Policies should encourage growth,stimulate demand and avoid arbitrary deficit targets that limit public spending and infrastructure
• Public and private investment must be increased and ~in: thrust :rates lowered. Labour in -tensive sectors should be promoted and capacity to produce intermediate and capital goods enhanced, both in the public and private sectors
• The public sector must be restructured to retain, create and enhance jobs. Medium-term expenditure planning should be participatory and include transformative spending in education, health, welfare and so on.
• Procurement systems must be overhauled by a policy that favours products made locally through labour intensive methods
• Labour-market policies and regulations must address the low~skills base in the economy
• Available jobs could be shared through reducing the working week from 45 to 40 hours and by using incentives to facilitate employment of full-time staff.
• The Labour Relations Act must be Changed to provide greater job security for workers. Instead of being primarily an exporter of raw materials, we should process our raw materials, mineral and agricultural, in labour-intense ways to create jobs locally
• Trade tariffs should be increased to General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (Gatt) levels. Illegal and unfairly subsidised imports should be stopped
• An agreement should be negotiated~through the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) committing all industries to two fundamental requirements avoiding job losses~through increased productivity and reducing the wage gap

Programmes

• A new housing programme to be set up, called the National Public Housing Programme, which aims to build one million houses for rent over four years, at a cost of R30 -billion to R35-billion. Labour-based construction methods should be used to create up to 220 000 direct construction jobs and up to 330 000 indirect jobs. The long-term unemployed, with focus on women and youth, should be targeted for employment. A housing parastatal should be set up to co-ordinate the financing and management of this programme.
• A youth brigade or national youth service programme should be set up, commencing in June 1999. School leavers, each earning R400 per month, would do one year's public service, to gain skills and experience.
• Domestic demand and consumption of locally produced goods and services should be expanded by reducing the wage gap in companies, expansionary monetary policies, lower consumer taxes on basic requirements, a "super tax" on luxury goods and a "buy local buy fair labour" campaign
• The retrenchment of 50 000 public servants must be stopped. An audit is needed to identify staff shortages, for example, health and education, to list the skills, occupation and location of those targeted for retrenchment and make recommendations on creative redeployment
• Summits, similar to the Gold Summit, should be convened to ensure the expansion and protection of jobs and improvement of conditions of employment
• Income grants to provide a basic income for the poor and unemployed should be implemented
• A social plan, applicable to sectors in decline, must be put in place. This can assist in avoiding job loss through the commitment of resources to the appropriate re-skilling of workers
• The informal sector must be regulated and formalised to ensure its viability improve tax coverage and help its incorporation into national economic figures
• Support measures for the unemployed are needed, including basic income grants, the extension of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, promotion of co-operatives and concessions for the unemployed in areas such as transport and public amenities
• Other areas where job-creation interventions could be considered include the provision and upgrading of infrastructure, the promotion of domestic investment, improvement of customs and excise functions, monitoring and analysis of job trends

Financing

• One day's output of the economy should be donated to a special fund. All workers and businesses should contribute
• Reverting to a pay-as-you-go system of financing the public service pension fund
• All retirement funds and the life assurance industry should be required to invest 10% of their asset base in government bonds, dedicated to social investment and employment
• A solidarity tax for employment creation projects should be levied for a five year-period on all South Africans earnings more than a negotiated amount
• A.55% tax on annual incomes above R 400 000 and an excise tax on luxuries could be considered
• The South African Special Risk Association, set up in 1979 to provide insurance against loss of property due to civil unrest, has accumulated huge reserves. R5-billion of this should be channelled to job creation
• A committee should be set up to report on the funding available for job creation in public institutions, such as the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
• Industrial training should be financed by a 1% levy of payroll instituted from May 1999 and increase to  4% over a three-year period