NEDLAC'S WORK PROGRAMME FOR 1999
Speaking on behalf of the Community Constituency, Godfrey Jack
said that the highlight of 1998 was undoubtedly the Jobs Summit,
and the Employment Equity Bill. He said that 1999 presented an
opportunity to consolidate Nedlac's systems and structures, and
also to mobilise the resources of the four constituencies in
realising the implementation of agreements. Business convenor,
Raymond Parsons, said that the Jobs Summit outcomes would permeate
what Nedlac would be doing in 1999. He said that business would
like to see the development of small business as a major theme of
Nedlac's work. Labour wants emphasis on the practical aspects of
the jobs summit agreements, such as the Buy South Africa campaign,
and the strengthening of customs and excise to stem the flow of
illegally imported goods. Labour convenor, Ebrahim Patel, said that
Nedlac also needed to establish the exact nature of its role in the
integration of Southern Africa.. Minister of Labour, Membathisi
Mdladlana, said that government wanted uncertainty abut the
significance of Nedlac to end, as government had no intention of
downgrading the institution.
Chamber work programmes
The free trade agreement with the Southern African Development
Community is one of the chamber's priorities for 1999.
Strengthening Customs and Excise in order to tackle customs and VAT
fraud, one of the Jobs Summit agreements, is being tackled by the
chamber. A policy session is to be held in March with the Minister
of Trade and Industry. The session will focus on the review of
tariff policy, which was one of the agreements reached at the jobs
summit, and South Africa's involvement in multilateral trade
institutions, such as the World Trade Organisation.
The Workplace Challenge Project (see p.2), and the research
underway under the Fund for research on industrial development,
growth and equity (Fridge) are also important projects which fall
under the Trade and Industry Chamber. Studies on a tourism
collaborative initiative and a review of the tax holiday scheme
have been approved, whilst research briefs are being developed for
a domestic competitiveness report, standards, quality,
accreditation and metrology, and industry and environment.
The Finance and Monetary Policy Chamber has
been suffering from a lack of meetings. Since late last year, it
has been without a labour convenor, and business and government
have expressed their reluctance to convene meetings without a
labour convenor. However, a meeting will be convened before the end
of March at the appropriate level to develop a work programme for
the chamber that enjoys the support of the parties. A policy
session is being arranged with the Minister of Finance.
The Development Chamber
The Development Chamber has identified four main clusters of
work to tackle in 1999, each of which will be assigned to a task
team. One task team will deal with local government issues and the
Masakhane campaign. The White Paper on local government and the
Municipal Systems Bill are two of the local government issues on
the programme, whilst preparation for the Masakhane Presidential
and local council awards and preparation for a proposed summit at
the end of 1999 will make up the Masakhane work. A second task team
will deal with health, land reform and social security. The Jobs
Summit agreement on social security will form the basis of the work
on this issue. A joint committee with delegates from the Labour
Market Chamber and the Development Chamber held its first meeting
on 16 March. The third task team will deal with poverty and
disability issues, whilst the fourth will deal with Housing and
Infrastructure delivery. The Chamber's work on housing was taken
forward in the jobs summit and has resulted in a Presidential lead
project on Housing. A national agency is being set up to manage the
project and construction is to commence in the first half of this
year. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2001.
On infrastructure, the Chamber has appointed an agency to conduct a
major survey of infrastructure delivery in the country. There will
be a three phase report back to the chamber reference group, with
the final report in June 1999.
Labour Market Chamber
The bulk of labour market chamber work in the first part of 1999
will be in developing positions for submission to the SADC
employment and labour
Sector. Sub-committees are currently considering a draft code of
good practice on the safe use of chemicals in SADC; a draft
declaration of productivity in SADC, and a draft social charter on
fundamental rights in SADC.
The Labour Market chamber has a number of ongoing issues to deal
with, such as demarcation applications, and ILO conventions. The
amendment of Section 154 of the Labour Relations Act, which deals
with the tenure of Labour Court judges, has also been put on the
agenda.
Non chamber-specific issues
Nedlac has earned prominence and respect through its successful
interventions in applications for socio-economic protests made in
terms of section 77 of the Labour Relations Act. Issues currently
on the agenda as a result of section 77 notices being tabled are
the conditions of the criminal courts and the demands placed on
public prosecutors, and secondly, the transformation of the
tertiary education system and related matters.