THE YEAR AHEAD FOR NEDLAC

Nedlac's Management Committee on 6 February, the first for 2002, focused on Nedlac's work programme - issues currently on the agenda, and new issues for the year ahead.

The Management Committee noted that a number of Summits dealing with key issues identified by Nedlac as national priorities, such as the growth and development summit, the investment summit, and other Summits such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Summit on the Transformation of the financial sector and the Civil Society Summit, were planned for 2002. In light of the pressure that this could place on the constituencies and the work programme, the Management Committee agreed on the need to integrate issues where possible, and set out a clear framework of mechanisms to ensure that the constituencies have a qualitative engagement and reach clear agreements on how to tackle these issues.

Nedlac's Executive Director, Phillip Dexter, made an important point "A summit can't solve anything. It can start a process, or it can end a process". This was the case with the Presidential Jobs Summit, which in a way both represented the culmination of months of negotiations in the run-up to the Summit, and the start of an implementation process that is still continuing. What should be ensured is that there is a process of sustained qualitative engagement between the constituencies to meaningfully address issues and concerns and commit to solving problems.

It was agreed that the Executive Council, the highest structure of Nedlac, would finalise a way forward in this regard at its meeting on 22 February.

The Management Committee signed off on an Occupational Health and Safety Accord, which will be launched by Government in April or May this year. On the topic of safety, Labour tabled the question of rail safety in particular, especially in the light of the numerous train accidents that have taken place in recent months. It was agreed that Nedlac would set up a meeting to discuss this issue.

The Plastic Bags Regulations, on which the constituencies spent a significant amount of time last year, is still on the agenda, as Government has proposed that bilaterals take place with Labour and Business. Once these bilaterals have taken place, reports will be made into the Nedlac process.

One of the biggest events in 2002 will undoubtedly be the World Summit for Sustainable Development, which takes place in Johannesburg in August and September. The Nedlac task team preparing for the Summit feels that Nedlac could make the biggest contribution on the topic of the socio-economic implications of sustainable development. It also feels that Nedlac could contribute to the volunteer programme, by investigating what kind of certification could be given for the skills and experience that volunteers would gain through working at the Summit.

The topic of Minerals Development Policy will continue to be on Nedlac's agenda in 2002, although little consensus has been reached to date. It was agreed that the Department of Minerals and Energy would be asked to table the redrafted Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Bill for discussion at Nedlac.

On the Labour Law Amendments, which were negotiated at Nedlac last year, the Management Committee was informed that the National Council of Provinces would be considering the bills in February. The Insolvency Amendment Bill, which was part of the package that Nedlac considered, has not yet been tabled in Parliament, and Nedlac was requested to communicate to the Department of Justice, which is responsible for the Bill, the urgency of getting this into the Parliamentary process. A sub-committee, which includes Nedlac, the CCMA and the Employment Conditions Commission has been set up to look into the implementation of the amendments.

Labour raised the question of rising food prices and it was agreed that this would be put on the agenda of the next Management Committee meeting, on 7 March.

Other issues on the Nedlac agenda in 2002 will include-

• Productivity: A paper has been completed by the NPI and Nedlac, which will form the basis of further discussions.
• Industrial strategy: Labour and Business are interacting on Government's document. A roundtable discussion, which will involve a broader interaction, is also planned.
• Daylight-Saving: A study has been done into the experience of Daylight Saving, and the parties have agreed to begin discussion on the merits of this concept for South Africa (see story on page 5)