|

Executive Director:
Mr Alistair Smith
|
|
Greetings to you and welcome to our website
On the 3rd of October 2011, I officially accepted the
responsibility of being the new Executive Director of NEDLAC,
taking over the reins from Mr Herbert Mkhize who had been at the
helm of NEDLAC since 2003. Mr Mkhize contributed immensely to
social dialogue and social partnership in South Africa. I take this
opportunity, on behalf of the NEDLAC Executive Council and members
of the NEDLAC secretariat, to wish him well in his future
endeavours.
The fourth quarter of 2011 has been eventful and it was
important to 'keep the wheels moving' and not to allow the change
in leadership of the NEDLAC secretariat to deter the achievement of
NEDLAC's mission and objectives. The NEDLAC Overall Convenors and
staff ensured a smooth transition and I thank them for their
support and cooperation.
|
I am pleased to announce that in the quarter under review,
NEDLAC Constituencies concluded consideration of the following
Draft Bills: Cooperatives Amendment Bill, the Superior Courts Bill and the Constitution Seventeenth Amendment
Bill. We also concluded considerations on Water Quality Risks. The Bills that remain on
our agenda and are being expedited in the coming quarter include
the Rental Housing Amendment Bill, the Insolvency Bill, Custom
Control and Customs Duty Bills, the National Water Amendment Bill
and amendment Bills under the Labour Market Policy Review.
Particular attention has been drawn to the conclusion of the
negotiations on the Labour Market Policy Review. The call from the
Minister of Labour is that these negotiations be expedited, as
sound labour policy that is agreed to by the key spheres of society
is critical and urgently needed. The Draft Bills that
have been introduced in NEDLAC that also require an accelerated
approach include the Independent Systems and Market Operator (ISMO)
Bill and the Skills Development Amendment Bill.
In this quarter, NEDLAC briefed Parliament's Portfolio Committee
on Labour on the Nedlac 2010/11 Annual Report as required by the
NEDLAC Act. The Portfolio Committee on Labour also called upon
NEDLAC, accompanied by the International Labour Organisation (ILO),
to present a progress report on the implementation of South
Africa's Decent Work Country Programme.
We had a number of key engagements with Government principals
including engagement with the Minister of Finance and the Minister
of Energy. The Minister of Finance and his team presented the
Medium Term Budget Policy Statement to NEDLAC Constituencies and
the key messages from the presentation included amongst others:
- That the global environment poses risks to the world economic
recovery and the outlook for our own economy;
- That tax revenue collections have not yet recovered thus
allowing for a temporary increase in borrowing;
- To prioritise public infrastructure spending and investment in
job-creating assets;
- To address inefficiency, extravagance and waste in public
administration.
The lack of security of supply of electricity has been one of
the grave concerns in the country. Nedlac Constituencies concluded
consideration of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2010, a
long-term national electricity plan that considers requirements for
electricity supply, the appropriate technology mix to meet South
Africa's objectives and the linkages with other resources such as
water, skills and land. The Minister of Energy and her team updated
social partners on the progress of implementation of the agreements
made in NEDLAC on the IRP and other energy matters. Social partners
looked forward to further working with Government on the
implementation of the plan.
The Governor of the Reserve Bank, Ms Gill Marcus engaged with
the NEDLAC Executive Council on monetary policy, the state of the
global economy and its impact on the South African economy. A
key note from the briefing by the Governor and her team was that we
were facing a high level of global uncertainty and that this was
one of the worst crises, thus the country could not afford to have
a business as usual approach, a sense of urgency and decisiveness
was necessary. For a full statement on the meeting, please
click here.
Unemployment, poverty and inequality remain stern challenges
faced by the country. The looming global economic instability poses
a real threat on efforts made to address these challenges. One of
these efforts is the New Growth Path, which proposes the creation
of 5 million jobs by 2020 through "bold, imaginative and effective
strategies". Leaders of the NEDLAC Constituencies signed social
accords namely, the Accord on Basic Education and
Partnerships with Schools, the National Skills Accord, the Green Economy Accord and the Local Procurement Accord, and these
accords outline the partnership and commitments by the social
partners to achieving the said target.
Social dialogue remains a critical imperative in South Africa as
we confront the challenges of poverty, unemployment and social
deprivation in a time of global economic crisis. In this context
the role of NEDLAC is essential in pulling together the wisdom of
the four pillars of society, namely, organised business, organised
labour, government and civil society in the endeavour to find
solutions to the problems faced by the nation.
The ongoing relevance of NEDLAC was further demonstrated by the
keen interest shown in the work of NEDLAC by high-level visiting
delegations from Swaziland and South Sudan in October and November
2011, respectively. NEDLAC hosted the Ministers of Labour and their
delegations from the two States while they were on a study tour to
South Africa. The interest of other nations in the inclusive,
democratic decision making system of social dialogue underscores
the acknowledgement of the impact of institutions such as NEDLAC.
However, effective social dialogue demands a great deal of
capacity, time and money, which require the commitment of each of
the social partners. It also requires that we strengthen the
capacity, responsiveness and effectiveness of the NEDLAC
secretariat.
In line with this commitment, we are in the process of updating
our website and you should soon have access to regular updates on
NEDLAC activities.