NEDLAC MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING
6 February 2002
At its first meeting of 2002, Nedlac's Management Committee
today received reports and deliberated on a number of existing and
new issues on Nedlac's work programme.
The Management Committee noted that a number of Summits dealing
with key issues identified by Nedlac as national priorities, such
as growth and investment, 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. 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.
Report backs on current issues included discussion on the
Plastic Bags regulations, about which business and labour have
serious reservations. The constituencies did not sign off on the
report, 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.
The discussions within Nedlac on the World Summit for
Sustainable Development were noted. The task team reported that it
felt that Nedlac could make the biggest contribution on the topic
of the socio-economic implications of sustainable development. It
also felt 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 Management Committee discussed the process to date around
the Minerals Development Bill, in which little consensus has been
reached. 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 this month. 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.
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.
Issued in Jhb
6 February 2002
Jennifer Wilson
Communications Coordinator
Nedlac