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...