NEDLAC ANNUAL SUMMIT 2001

Issued by Nedlac

27 October 2001

Nedlac's Annual Summit, held today at the Sandton Convention Centre, focused on how the four constituencies of business, labour, government and community could best engage globalisation in order to ensure that issues such as unemployment and investment were addressed.

The Annual Summit provides the constituencies with the opportunity to review the year that has passed, and to set priorities for the coming year.

A theme that came through in all the speeches was that macro-economic policy and the restructuring of public enterprises were two important areas requiring consensus between the parties.

Opening the Summit, Deputy President, Jacob Zuma, focused largely on the New Partnership for Africa's Development, and the role that South Africa needs to play on the continent. He also implored the parties to focus on the problem of unemployment. The Minister of Trade & Industry, Alec Erwin, who spoke on behalf of the Minister of Labour, spoke of the importance of the transformation of bargaining councils and the need to ensure that sector summits take place. General Secretary of Sactwu and overall convenor for Labour in Nedlac, Ebrahim Patel, raised issues of an HIV and AIDS treatment plan; the need for a Productivity and Equity Agreement at a national level, and the need to improve the efficiency of public institutions. Petronella Linders of the Disabled People of South Africa, who spoke on behalf of Community, raised issues such the need for financial sector transformation, and an adequate social safety net to support unemployed people. Beef Molefe, Nafcoc Secretary General, who addressed the summit on behalf of Business, emphasized the need to develop a shared analysis of economic goals and a shared vision for the future. He said that Nedlac should take the key role in doing this.

This sentiment, that Nedlac remained a key institution in promoting economic growth and development, was echoed by all the speakers.

Nedlac Executive Director, Phillip Dexter, gave a report on the activities of Nedlac over the past year. These include the Labour Law amendments, the HIV/AIDS code, the Occupational Health and Safety Accord, the launch of the Proudly South African campaign. The focus for the coming year will be on continuing to strengthen social dialogue, improving public awareness of issues at Nedlac and achieving agreements on industrial strategy, productivity and greater social consensus on macro-economic policy and the restructuring of state enterprises. The involvement in international social dialogue will also be a focus of the coming year.

Commissions took place which focused on specific aspects of globalisation, such as globalisation, unemployment and decent work, and globalisation and the prospects for investment and growth.

The parties adopted a resolution committing themselves to a number of objectives for the coming year.

The Summit was attended by senior leadership from all Nedlac's constituencies, as well as guests from community organizations, embassies, Parliament, other Southern African countries, and multi-lateral institutions such as the International Labour Organisation.