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.