Nedlac is the seat of National
social dialogue in South Africa and it is, in many respects, a
uniquely South African model.
It was set up through an Act of
Parliament - The National Economic Development and Labour Council
Act, Act 35 of 1994.
Nedlac is about securing the
commitment and active participation of all social partners in those
areas identified for prioritised action in ways that build on
lessons learnt from development programmes.
Nedlac remains a contested terrain
of ideas and recognises that no social partner has the monopoly of
solutions.
Inherent in real social dialogue is
that it takes time for it to produce meaningful consensus that
ultimately leads to real partnership.
Our Vision
The Nedlac constituencies, Business,
Labour, Government and the Nedlac Community constituency commit
themselves to social dialogue and working together to address the
economic and development challenges our country faces underpinned
by a common vision for promoting rising levels of growth, equity,
investment, job creation, and people-cantered development.
Our Mission
Building an enduring
partnership - Promoting a shared vision of South
Africa's growth and development strategy to frame sector and
developmental agreements and lay the basis for partnership in
action.
Addressing urgent
challenges - Selecting from many
possible interventions those which hold the promise of the greatest
possible impact in the shortest possible time for accelerated
investment, job creation, improved efficiency and productivity,
greater social equity and a fairer distribution of economic
opportunities and rewards, while undertaking serious social
dialogue on broad policy frameworks.-
Promoting a shared vision of South Africa's growth and development
strategy to frame sector and developmental agreements and lay the
basis for partnership in action.
Lending a hand
- Securing the commitment and active
participation of all constituencies in those areas identified for
prioritized action in ways that build on lessons learnt
from development programmes. Nedlac's founding declaration sets out
the institution's vision: to address the new democracy's key
challenges of promoting sustainable economic growth, social equity
and increased participation. The document says that
Nedlac is the "vehicle by which Government,
Labour,Business and Community organizations will seek
to cooperate, through problem-solving and
negotiations, on economic, labour and development issues and
related challenges facing the
country".
The Nedlac act requires the
institution to:
• Strive to promote
the goals of economic growth, participation in economic decision-
making and social equity;
• Seek to reach
consensus and conclude agreements on matters pertaining to social
and economic policy;
• Consider all
proposed labour legislation relating to labour market policy before
it is introduced in Parliament;
• Encourage and
promote the formulation of coordinated policy on social and
economic matters; and
• Consider all
significant changes to social and economic policy before it is
implemented or introduced in Parliament.
• Consider
Socio Economic Disputes in terms of
Section 77 of the Labour Relations
Act.
Nedlac's Modus
Operandi
Nedlac conducts its business through
using one or all of the following tools:
Negotiations that seek
to deliver formal consensus-based agreements on the economic and
social olicy issues.
Mandates: Nedlac
constituencies participates in Nedlac on the basis of mandated
positions.
Consultations that
seek on proposed policy prior to it being tabled for negotion or
iplemented.
Conduct Information
sharing sessions and seminars to report and evaluate
progress on the implementation of social and economic policies.
Conduct Research that
guides the formulation and implementation of social and economic
policy.
Resolving socio-economic
disputes in terms of section 77 of the LRA.