The Nedlac process and agenda

Ever since the establishment of Nedlac, discussion has taken place on the need for aframework for social partnership and agreement-making in order to enhance the Nedlacprocess. The manner in which negotiations are conducted and the operation of variouscommittees are also being continuously adapted and varied.

In the light of the experiences arising out of the first 15 months of activity, theannual Nedlac Summit on 1 June 1996 adopted a resolution which established an agenda for athorough review of the process of social dialogue and agreement-making in Nedlac, and tobuild confidence and trust in the Nedlac process at all levels.

In the Summit resolution, constituencies resolved to:

• Evaluate, improve and strengthen the process of social dialogue and agreement-making in the period ahead, and to build confidence and trust in the Nedlac process at all levels.
• Enhance the agreement-making function of Nedlac by improving its coordination and capacity to deal with matters and set negotiations at the appropriate level of detail.
• Work towards developing a strategic framework that captures the overarching requirements and challenges of economic development.
• Focus and prioritise issues on the agendas of the Nedlac chambers.
• Structure the policy formulation process to ensure that all parties substantively participate and are afforded adequate time to consult on policy issues, while also setting deadlines for the consideration of issues.
• Develop a structured relationship with the parliamentary process.
• Strengthen the capacity of the constituencies by improving access to and the utilisation of information and resources, including existing public resources.
• Ensure consistent and effective representation of delegations in the various Nedlac structures to allow for substantive dialogue to take place.

A drafting committee was subsequently established by the Management Committee on 30August 1996 to develop proposals on the Nedlac process and agenda.

The drafting committee has a threefold brief. Its tasks are to:

• Review the Nedlac process.
• Strategise on the coordination and management of the agendas of the chambers.
• Consider the question of an overarching national agreement/strategic framework/accord as indicated in the various constituency policy documents and the Labour Market Commission recommendations.

Recommendations have so far been developed and adopted on process issues and on thecoordination and management of the chambers' agendas. There are some outstanding areas onthe process side which still require further work by the drafting committee, for example,the development of a protocol on Nedlac's relationship with Parliament.

The drafting committee is also still addressing the question of an overall nationalagreement and the related issue of constituencies' ability to deliver on such anagreement.

The context of the Nedlac process

In considering the context of the Nedlac process, it has been recognised that:

• Social dialogue on policy development has become established in South Africa at various levels. Nedlac increasingly provides a mechanism for coordinating such dialogue and should continue to play this role to ensure that there is no duplication of initiatives.
• The Nedlac process is not confined to agreement-making alone but, in fact, constitutes a system of dialogue. Its work straddles many different types of activities: information exchange and briefings, pre-negotiation investigations and preparatory work, negotiations on the principles of policy and/or legislation, detailed negotiations, ongoing interaction in implementation and reviewing how decisions are effected, and the promoting and supporting of participatory campaigns.
• Each chamber has developed different styles or methods of operation, based on the nature of the issues it deals with. Each issue should have a specific process defined. The first step in considering an issue should be process design, with an acknowledgement that there is not one standard process to be followed.
• The leadership of each of the parties needs to invest effort in developing the capacity of parties to participate in Nedlac, recognising that capacity-building is essential to the success of the Nedlac process. The types of capacity required include administrative/infrastructural capacity, economic/policy capacity and representivity (that is, the capacity of constituencies to obtain mandates and to effectively report back to their membership).

Recommendations adopted

Recommendations adopted by the Executive Council include:

• The Executive Council conducting a "clearing-house" activity twice a year, which entails identification of the negotiations agenda for the chambers to pursue in a six-month period.
• Six-monthly senior-level chamber policy sessions to give strategic direction to the work of the chambers, as well as an annual integrated policy session comprising the government ministers responsible for Nedlac and senior representatives of other constituencies.
• Careful planning and strategising ahead of all Executive Council meetings, and an increased role for the Management Committee. The latter structure should become an effective process committee which should consider substantive reports on the chambers' progress and, through its deliberations, shape the Nedlac agenda.
• Addressing the need to build the capacity of all parties in Nedlac.
• A more structured relationship with Parliament, as well as clarity on the demarcation and roles of the Nedlac process in relation to the parliamentary process. To give effect to this, a protocol will be developed in consultation with the relevant parliamentary portfolio committees. Discussions with parliamentarians in this regard have already commenced.
• Government's legislative and policy programmes should be placed before Nedlac at an early stage in order to timeously link government processes to the Nedlac process.
• Proper coordination with other institutions to avoid a duplication of work should be done on an issue-by-issue basis to determine the respective roles of each body in the consideration of any particular issue.

One of the areas that has been the subject of much discussion has been the need tobuild confidence between the parties and the need to engage in dialogue with maximuminformation and insight into the issues at hand. To assist this it has been agreed thatthe process should be further enhanced by building in additional means of informing andempowering the constituencies in preparation for negotiations. Wherever possible, relevantjoint study trips should be organised, and joint investigations of issues forconsideration should be undertaken. These joint investigations could, where appropriate,entail joint identification of the problem and joint study/work groups to developproposals, as opposed to proposals always emanating from one constituency. This should beseen as a vital part of creating a spirit of trust and constructive dialogue.

The concept of a national agreement

During Nedlac's first year, debate began on the need to develop a framework for socialpartnership and agreement-making in Nedlac. This debate has gone through various phases.In the earliest phases of the debate the focus was on the need to coordinate the work ofthe Nedlac chambers and on the need to avoid a piecemeal approach to policy-making.

In July 1995, the Executive Council asked the secretariat to develop a document to takethis debate forward. This document, entitled "Framework for social partnership andagreement-making in Nedlac", was placed before the Executive Council in November1995, when it was agreed that a joint constituency document should follow, taking accountof the issues raised in the secretariat document. As input into the joint document,constituencies began work on their proposals. These were released in the form of fourdocuments which were tabled in Nedlac.

• Labour's "Social equity and job creation-the key to a stable future".
• Business South Africa's "Background document for a 'social accord' process".
• Nafcoc's "Growth and development with equity strategy".
• Community's "Return to the RDP".

Prior to the release of these documents, the South Africa Foundation released adocument entitled "Growth For All". It was not tabled at Nedlac.

The release of the documents showed that there were certain quite fundamental issues onwhich the constituencies' views were far apart and where substantial dialogue andnegotiation would be needed to forge a closer agreement. While there were also areas wherea high degree of commonality of interests and values was evident, the debate on economicstrategy went through a phase of polarisation.

In June 1996, government's "Growth, employment and redistribution"macroeconomic strategy and the recommendations of the Labour Market Commission werereleased. Both called for a national agreement to be negotiated.

Part of the drafting committee's terms of reference has been to consider the agenda fora possible national agreement. This is still under discussion, as is the related questionof the parties' ability to deliver on such an agreement.