NEDLAC'S COMMUNITY CONSTITUENCY STATEMENT TO THE PRESIDENTIAL JOB SUMMIT
30 October 1998
1. GREETINGS
Mr. President, honorable members of parliament, representatives of the media community, leaders of delegations, fellow South Africans at home and at work, I together with our broader constituency and its membership thank you for the opportunity to address you this morning. It is an honor whose significance to job creation can only be evaluated by history. This event is to us epoch-making and arguably unprecedented in the developing world. It puts South Africa on a previously unthinkable moral pedestal after only four years of democracy.
2. BACKGROUND & INTRODUCTION
The Community Constituency of NEDLAC which one represents is composed of those sectors of South African society, which have been marginalised. They include rural people (co-ordinated by the National Rural Development Forum), youth (co-ordinated by the South African Youth Council), women (co-ordinated by the Women’s National Coalition), civics (co-ordinated by the South African National Civics Organisation) and people with disabilities (co-ordinated by the Disabled People of South Africa). Notwithstanding the diverse nature of interest of the individual components of these sectors, the Presidential Job Summit has presented itself to us as a common goal to work towards, because all these groups suffer disproportionately high levels of unemployment. Moreover, many of the people who are counted in the unemployment statistics are actually working in unrecognised survivalist activities, earning a pittance which has to support large numbers of dependants.
Without pontificating to other nations about the essence of what South Africans can do and are doing, we feel they ought to take a leaf from this exercise. Similar initiatives have a potential not only to narrow social, political and economic cleavages but can unite nations behind a common cause. At this juncture let us remind those sectors of South Africa, especially the business community, that for this to be correct and true they need to hold hands with impoverished communities to eradicate poverty. For it is only by addressing the social needs of the country can we expect to create jobs, and deal with those issues like crime, which arise because of unemployment. Let me, also, hastily caution that this Summit should never profess to be an absolute resolution of the problem of unemployment in South Africa. It should be seen as the start of solving our social and economic problems, since we can never come out ke a great deal of diplomacy and commitment on the part of all of us to realise that enthusiasm only is not enough. Given the state of economy locally and internationally, it will bode well for all role players to identify realisable targets for implementation. That to us does not imply that parties should not present proposals that can make an immediate impact on our economy. On the contrary, we should strive to implement concrete proposals in the short term as much as possible if this forum intends changing the lives of millions of South Africans either without jobs or on whose necks the axe of retrenchment hangs.
3. THE ISSUE OF REPRESENTIVITY
Without fearing contradiction, the forum to us is significantly representative although not absolutely so. Representivity to us is not only about head counts but also about shades of opinion, which the content of the summit in its deliberations represents. The media, however, seems not to appreciate the crucial place of the Community Constituency in NEDLAC or at this Job Summit. In all the pre-Summit publicity, government, business and labour have been extensively interviewed and asked for their opinions. They were even asked for their opinions about communities, women, youth, disabled and rural people. But very few media people sought out the Community Constituency, the direct representatives of these sectors, to find out their own views about job creation or the Job Summit. Thus the media entrenches and contributes to the further marginalisation of the already marginalised sectors of society for whom this Job Summit will have to result in the creation of jobs and wealth if it is to be regarded as at all successful.
4. OUR STRATEGY
The approach we have adopted rests on the following nine pillars:
One, the creation of accessible upward mobility for survivalists in the informal sector into the mainstream economy. Two, human resource development. Three, economic incentives, such as better access to credit and subsidies. Four, increasing the employability of new entrants to the labour market from the marginal sectors of society such as youth, women and the disabled. Five, stimulating the economy through sustainable long-term job creation. Six, promotion of macro-economic policies receptive to job creation. Seven, infrastructural development. Eight, protecting existing jobs. In addition, nine labour market transformation which protects workers’ rights in the informal and SMME sectors.
5.1 Creation of upward mobility for survivalists into the mainstream economy
The SMME and informal sectors should not be a ghetto for women, youth and poor black people; instead, policies must enable easy mobility from the SMME/informal sector into the mainstream economy. It has therefore been agreed to develop the capacities of finance intermediaries to make Khula Enterprise Finance more effective in accessing credit to members of the survivalist sector. It has also been agreed through inter-departmental co-operation between the departments of Labour and Trade & Industry to make use of the Labour Centres infrastructure to extend the small business support centre network operated by Ntsika Enterprise Promotion Agency into more small towns and rural areas.
5.2 Human resource development
Appropriate skills training programs for marginalised groups are essential for sustainable, rather than short-term, jobs. A quota system is being considered and strict targeting measures are being designed to incorporate these groups into training programs. The Community Constituency will have to play a watchdog role in ensuring that marginalised members of society improve their skills for the labour market.
5.3 Economic incentives
Khula Enterprise Finance has developed a range of products to respond to the challenge of lack of access to finance by small and survivalist businesses. These will be tested during the post-Summit process and constantly evaluated by the Community Constituency. Parties to the Job Summit have also agreed to engage with the proposal for implementation of a basic income grant, to help alleviate the plight of the unemployed and those living in poverty.
5.4 Increasing the employability of new entrants to the labour market
Central to realising this is a commitment to regular on the job training and transforming curriculum in such a way that allows structured learning to be accompanied by on the job training.
Transformation of educational curriculum is an innovative tool to realise a dovetailing of the supply and demand sides of the economy. Curriculum in our opinion needs to be transformed in such a way that practical engagement with a field of work supplements what is learnt structurally. This would ensure that students access a feel of what the labour market involves, and would make what is learnt in the classroom relevant to the labour market
Experience has been interpreted conveniently to be used as a barrier to formal sector employment of marginalised people out side of the formal sector labour market. To us, experience should take on board a potential to succeed in a career. The breakdown of that is not only academic qualifications, but also skills accrued from a particular job. Employers should make sure that new employees undergo training upon resumption of their duties. In the case of older employees, training should be aimed at ensuring progression through career paths and take into account technological developments.
5.5 Stimulating the economy through sustainable long- term job creation
Whereas short-term jobs do alleviate poverty to some extent, it is crucial that our vision broadly emphasises a progression to sustainable jobs.
5.6. Promotion of macro-economic policies receptive to job creation
Within the macro economic strategy, we need to identify realistic targets of jobs the economy can absorb in the short term. Accompanying this will be a conducive environment that does not prioritise conformity to global trends at the expense of local challenges.
5.7 Infrastructural development
A two pronged approach to the building of houses for disadvantaged communities should be adopted by the summit. This is so because underprivileged households form which the vast majority of South Africans come are still denied access to credit, and the emphasis has been on surety as a primary criterion. The jobs summit cannot afford to close its eyes on innovation such as the involvement of prescribed assets in the package for improvement of creditworthiness of our communities, particularly downtrodden workers. On the other hand, a strong state that intervenes on behalf of the poor will have to play its part.
5.8. Protecting existing jobs
The economy has to date shed a significant amount of jobs through retrenchments. A major reason has been the need to be more competitive in the global market as far as employers are concerned. Rapid technological changes and the high costs of running some enterprises have been flagged as others. Whereas the relevant legislation provides some solutions, the Labour Relations Act needs to be ammended in such a way that it offers more protection to the retrenchees. As people representing communities on the margin, this can be only realised if the onus of proof should lie on the employer if economic conditions and other relevant tests justify retrenchments, in their opinion.
5.9. Labour market transformation
Labour market transformation must protect workers’ rights in the informal and SMME sectors. Appropriate minimum labour standards need to be defined. This could be done through decentralised tripartite boards in the informal sector helping to regulate working conditions and resolving disputes. The social security system needs to be redesigned to incorporate workers in the informal and SMME sectors, including casual, seasonal, piece-rate, home-based and self-employed workers. These processes will be taken further by the Community Constituency, in alliance with the Labour sector where possible, in the post-Summit process.
6. Community Constituency’s contribution to the Job Summit
This is the constituency best place to ensure effective implementation of the Job Summit’s agreements. Without the active participation of organisations of the sectors represented by the Community Constituency, the Job Summit will fail to create more jobs and wealth for the "have-nots" in our society, and will be judged by history to have failed overall. The co-ordination function of this constituency cannot be underestimated in its importance in bringing the organisations of the marginalised sectors of society into the implementation and post-Summit process. Our contribution will be maximised if we are taken seriously by the media and by other parties involved in the implementation of the Job Summit agreements. It is our intention to ensure that this happens.
7. In the place of a conclusion
It is our conviction that for the summit to deliver adequately to vulnerable groups, a targeting mechanism should be built into delivery instruments.