At Nedlac, Government comes together with organised business, organised labour and organised community groupings on a national level to discuss and try to reach consensus on issues of social and economic policy. This is called "social dialogue".

Nedlac's aim is to make economic decision-making more inclusive, to promote the goals of economic growth and social equity.

The main Government department is the Department of Labour, out of which Nedlac is funded, but the Departments of Trade and Industry, Finance and Public Works are also centrally involved in Nedlac. Other departments attend when there is an issue which relates to their portfolio. The overall convenor for Government in Nedlac is Les Kettledas, the Deputy Director-General of Labour.

Organised business is represented by the formed Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), which brings together the Black Business Council (BBC), and Business South Africa (BSA). The President of Busa is Futhi Mtoba and the Chairperson is Andre Lamprecht. The CEO is Jerry Vilakazi. The Overall Convenor for Business at Nedlac is Laurraine Lotter.

Organised labour is represented by the three main labour federations in South Africa: Cosatu, Fedusa and Nactu. The Overall Convenor for Labour in Nedlac is Bheki Ntshalintshali.

Organised community is represented by the South African Youth Council, National Women's Coalition, South African National Civics Organisation, Disabled People South Africa, Financial Sector Coalition and the National Co-operatives Association of South Africa. The Overall Convernor for Community in Nedlac is Lulama Nare.

Nedlac's most senior body is the Executive Council, which consists of Ministers and senior officials of Government; General Secretaries and senior office bearers of Labour; captains of industry and senior officials of employer organisations; and senior representatives of the Nedlac Community Constituency. It meets four times per year and discusses key strategic issues facing South Africa's economy.

Once per year, Nedlac holds an Annual Summit, which provides an opportunity to review the work conducted during the year and give direction for the coming year.

Nedlac's work is conducted in four chambers which discuss different aspects of social and economic policy. These are the Labour Market Chamber, the Trade and Industry Chamber, the Development Chamber and the Public Finance and Monetary Policy Chamber. Sub-committees and task groups of the Chambers are formed to deal with specific issues. The chambers report to a Management Committee, which oversees the work programme and administrative issues.

Nedlac also engages in research and information sharing which can help the constituencies (government, business, labour and community) in developing economic policy. In terms of Section 77 of the Labour Relations Act, Nedlac has a dispute resolution function between trade unions and Government &/or Business on issues of socio-economic policy.

There is a 22-member secretariat which services all the structures. Nedlac's offices are in Rosebank.

More information on Nedlac...