ADDRESS TO THE NEDLAC SUMMIT - Deputy President Jacob Zuma

27 October 2001

Theme: "Globalisation and Decent Work"

The Minister of Trade & Industry;
The Executive Director of NEDLAC;
Representatives from all the Constituencies present
Honoured Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Thank you for the opportunity to interact with you today.

I am glad that we are meeting during a week in which the steering committee of the New Partnership for Africa's Development was inaugurated in Abuja, Nigeria. The work of implementing the programmes of the partnership will now clearly move forward.

The inauguration showed our determination as governments in this continent to indeed put into practice our plans of rebuilding this continent, and making it meet the challenges of the changing world.

Compatriots, we have all discussed Globatisation extensively over the last few years given its profound impact on our existence.

It has become abundantly clear what we are dealing with, and the kind of adjustments we need to make to ensure that we benefit maximally from this current dominant phenomenon.

What we need to discuss and refine now is our strategy to reconfigure this process. In doing so, we must be guided by values and goals - because without knowing where we are going and how we must conduct ourselves on the way there, we will surely get lost.

The values that must guide us are enshrined in our own Constitution and specifically the Preamble. The values that underpin our constitutional democracy are the principles of democracy, non-racialism, non-sexism, the rule of law, accountability, transparency, the achievement of equality, and the advancement of human dignity, human rights and the various freedoms, etc.

Our Constitution goes well beyond these basic core values to include rights, which govern all employment relationships: These include a prohibition on all forms of slavery, servitude or forced labour.

In addition, our Constitution recognises the rights of workers and employers to fair labour practices, to organise and to engage in collective bargaining. In addition workers have a constitutionally protected right to strike.

In addition as members of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), South Africans have a responsibility to play an active part towards achieving the ILO goal of 'securing decent work for people everywhere'.

So we return therefore to the question of strategy. Again turning to the ILO for guidance, we find that the goal of 'decent work for all everywhere' is built on four inter­connected strategic objectives. They are:

• The promotion of rights at work;
• Employment;
• Social protection; and
• Social dialogue.

Too often in our debates these objectives have been seemingly in conflict. Some are arguing that we cannot have so many rights at work whilst there are millions of our people who are unemployed. How can some be protected whilst so many still are unemployed?

In South Africa, the formal economy is a well-developed asset. It provides decent work to millions of workers and thereby provides a decent life to their immediate and extended families. The institutions that have been created in law: the bargaining councils and shop floor negotiating forums are there to mediate the differences of interests between employers and workers and, as far as possible, ensure that the proceeds of work are fairly shared.
I interpret this to mean that if we are to escape a zero-sum game and move from a dispute over the allocation of current resources to a discussion about expanding future resources then we need to construct a common agenda.

This is a fundamental part of securing 'decent work for everyone everywhere'.

To achieve this the size of the job market has to grow. And to secure this growth new investment has to be found, be it from local savings or savings secured abroad. Globalisation has ensured that investment is like a restless wave from a global sea, crashing in on the shores of those countries that offer the most lucrative return, for only as long as that return is relatively secure.

And, for us in South Africa, as well as in Africa as a whole, here is the challenge.
Too many investors see Africa in general, and by association South Africa, as unstable and unreliable. These are the kinds of negative perceptions we have to deal with. Even though there are countries in this continent, which have had peace and stability since independence, the entire continent is still judged by the actions of a few.

We are saying to the private sector that Africa has produced a blue print, in the form of the New Partnership for African Development.

It addresses most of the concerns of business such as democratisation, including the need for democratization, peace and stability, resolution of conflicts, good political and economic governance, and the creation of the right environment for business to thrive.
We are saying to business, judge us on the basis of how we implement the new initiative and everything else that countries and governments have undertaken to do, and not on perceptions and stereotypes.

Today, as we all know, competitive advantage is measured in quantums of knowledge, technology development, high levels of skill, market access and rapidity of response to market change.
It is important for us not forget the reasons why Africa has not adjusted sufficiently to these new conditions. The New Partnership for Africa's Development document identifies the following contributory factors:-

• Colonialism subverted traditional structures, institutions and values or made them subservient to the economic and political needs of the imperial powers. It also retarded the development of an entrepreneurial class, as well as a middle class with skills and managerial capacity.
• At independence, virtually all the new states were characterised by a shortage of skilled professionals and a weak capitalist class, resulting in a weakening of the accumulation process.
• Post-colonial Africa inherited weak states and dysfunctional economies that were further aggravated by poor leadership, corruption and bad governance in many countries.
• These two factors, together with the divisions caused by the Cold War, hampered the spread of accountable governments across the continent.

We have concluded that the weakness of the state remains a major constraint to sustainable development in a number of countries in the continent. Therefore, one of Africa's major challenges is to strengthen the capacity to govern and to develop long-term policies.

To achieve these noble ideals, partnerships between the state, business, labour and civil society is absolutely critical.

Regular interaction with organised social partners ~ of workers and employers -is necessary for the adopted policies to be implemented with commitment and to ensure that the benefits that accrue from success, are fairly distributed.The New Partnership has received a lot of support internationally and the greatest challenge now lies with implementation.

The starting point has been the rapid construction of new institutions - for peacemaking and peace keeping, for transparent and accountable political and economic governance as well as a range of other initiatives, which seek to bridge the gaps in infrastructure, from water and electricity to Information and Communications Technology.

Now that governments have given the lead I would like to challenge our social partners to consider the role they can play to enhance this agenda and ensure that the gains made are fairly shared.

I am aware that at the recent congress of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity hosted by COSATU, a number of resolutions were taken that support initiatives to end poverty and under-development in Africa. These commitments need now to be translated into appropriate action.

To the employers, I am not aware of any effective forum that exist currently in which your voice finds organised expression across the continent - unless perhaps the African Business Roundtable. I know you have embraced the New Partnership for African Development and will make a contribution -given your vital role in the process. However, here at home we still find that there is no single voice of business on the key issues facing us.

The contribution of especially emerging business, is still not finding sufficient and coherent expression within the NEDLAC chambers. We are the poorer as a result, as we seek to deepen our transformation process.

Moving on to multilateral issues, one of the key initiatives under the New Partnership for Africa's Development is the diversification of African exports and the market access initiative. It resolves that concrete steps must be taken to enhance the institutional capacity of African states, through technical assistance from developed countries, to use the World Trade Organisation and to engage in multilateral trade negotiations."

Multinational institutions also have a key role to play in rectifying the imbalances of the past and ensuring that the poor countries of the world are given a fair and 'decent' chance of competing with the world on a more equal footing. Let us hope that the matter will not be decided by the strong imposing on the weak - but would be informed by fairness and the other values that must underpin the development of humanity itself.

However, let us remember that the WTO is not the only multi-lateral institution with a role to play. What role can the ILO play to enhance these developmental processes? African countries are members of the ILO and there is a regional office of ILO in Africa and 12 area offices and 6 multi-disciplinary teams. The "Declaration on fundamental rights and principles at work" was adopted by the ILO Conference in 1998 by all Africans in attendance.

How can these commitments be harnessed to infuse social dialogue into the New Partnership for African Development, with the ultimate objective to ensure that Africa can take its rightful place in the 21st century and that we will be placed on a path of sustainable development and growth.

These are some of the issues we need to grapple with as we move forward to rebuild our country and continent and improve the quality of live of all our peoples.

I thank you.