COMMUNITY CONSTITUENCY SPEECH BY SIZWE SHEZI, PRESIDENT
SOUTH AFRICAN YOUTH COUNCIL
7 June 2003
Chairperson, President of the Republic, Cabinet Ministers,
Executive Director of NEDLAC, Leaders of trade unions, delegates
from the community sector, leaders from the business constituency,
fellow South Africans, as the Community Constituency, we are proud
and honoured to address this Growth and Development Summit.
The fact that we are holding this Summit shows the resolve of
our people to engage in a thoroughgoing struggle to transform, grow
and develop the South African economy in favour of poor and working
people. Nothing will stand in our way to build an economy based on
the people.
We recognise that this Summit is a direct outcome of varied
struggles and efforts by poor and working people across the length
and breadth of our country.
It should be admitted upfront that despite the major
socio-economic gains made by poor and working people since 1994,
not enough has been done to direct, discipline, cajole and mobilise
domestic private investment towards a job-creating economy.
Therefore the key achievement of the GDS process thus far is the
fact that a common basis has been laid for a shared vision for
growth and development that approaches the overcoming of
underdevelopment and the entrenched crisis of poverty in our
society as a systemic strategic task.
However, this consensus needs to be buttressed on serious and
energetic implementation of a GDS agreement. In the view of the
Community Constituency this will also rely on the development,
consolidation and implementation of a growth and development
strategy whose central objective must be to change the current
accumulation regime which continues to favour private capital at
the expense of poor and working people. In other words, these
minimum commitments reached through the GDS process lay the basis
for thoroughgoing struggles towards the development of an
overarching industrial strategy and progressive transformation of
the economy in favour of the workers and the poor.
There are still a number of outstanding areas (mainly
macro-economic policy) that we believe must be subject to ongoing
debates and struggles post the GDS.
Driving a Growth and Development Strategy
The GDS agreement has laid the basis for driving a growth and
development strategy beneficial to the workers and the poor.
The struggles and engagements around the post-GDS processes
should provide a minimum platform through which we can pursue the
overall objective of transforming the South African economy on
favour of poor and working people. Some of the key elements
include:
- Insisting on labour absorbing projects in both the private and
public sectors, and transforming the procurement strategy of the
state as well as investments in infrastructure as a crucial lever
in this regard
- Commitment towards the creation of a large social sector for
sustainable livelihoods, including co-operatives, as crucial
instruments in building a momentum for socio-economic
transformation. Such a social sector should not be seen as a
substitute for transformation of the formal economy, but in itself
should be a lever for the further transformation of the formal
economy.
- Increased investments in infrastructure not only by government,
but by private capital as well, with a commitment to joint
supervision of such investments, and increased labour absorption
capacity with such investments.
The GDS agreement also does not foreclose ongoing struggles and
debates about overarching appropriate macro and micro economic
policies
Labour intensive transformation of the
economy
The Community Constituency warmly welcomes the GDS agreement on
extended Public Works Programmes (PWPs). However, PWPs, if not
located in a wider developmental strategic context, can simply
reproduce the duality within our economy and society.
For this reason, even greater attention needs to be paid to
transforming key sectors of the formal economy, ensuring that they
are much more labour absorbing. We are please that government,
particularly with its forthcoming multi-billion rand
infrastructural spending (as envisaged in the Medium Term
Expenditure Framework), has emphasised labour intensity as a
critical criteria in drawing up tenders for infrastructural
projects. The formal private sector needs to understand the
imperative of transforming, where appropriate (and we accept that
there may be industries or sectors where it is not) in the
direction of increased labour intensity. Labour absorption - and
more specifically a deliberate choice in favour of more labour
intensive techniques -must be the major consideration in awarding
tenders for infrastructural projects. We are however displeased
that the business constituency has rather been hesitant about
making a significant commitment in this regard. This is one issue
that the Community Constituency will ensure that it addresses
through engagement, debates and struggles after the GDS.
A sustainable growth and development strategy must, as a matter
of priority, adopt a systemic and transformational approach to our
social geography. We therefore specifically welcome the agreement
to review the housing programme with a view to ensuring that it
does more to support employment creation and efficient urban
development, including through densification in urban areas. This
urban densification must include the identification of vacant land,
and/or the purchase of land adjacent to current suburbs, and the
construction/upgrading of affordable inner city accommodation. Also
central in urban densification is Integrated Development Plans of
municipalities and the need to integrate public transport planning
and implementation.
The Community Constituency will be active in all the above areas
to ensure that these objectives are realised.
Fostering a country-wide cooperative
movement
We welcome the GDS agreement that lays the basis and framework
for consolidating and developing the cooperative movement within
our country. The practical steps that social partners must
implement from the GDS agreement include:
- Encourage the passing of legislation that facilitates and
promotes the establishment and running of cooperatives
- The development of a programme of support that provides real
resources and services to cooperatives, and in some cases gives
priority to cooperatives over other enterprises in terms of access
to resources and services. Government clearly has a central role to
play in this regard, but business and labour need also to identify
ways they can contribute to the development of a massive
cooperative movement in this country;
- Ensure that SETAs and other public and private entities
involved in promoting SMMEs, play an active role in promoting
cooperatives, where appropriate, and that training and skilling is
developed to help empower the cooperative movement - in this
regard, the Community Constituency notes with great satisfaction
the agreement for the consideration of community representatives in
the board of SETAs where this feasible and necessary
As the Community Constituency we recognise that at the end of
the day, however, the success of a progressive co-operative
movement will depend on the mobilisation, the initiative and
resourcefulness of millions of working people and the urban and
rural poor.
Therefore the Community Constituency will play an active role in
popularising and nurturing a progressive co-operative movement
including the provision of education, training, development,
research, policy, advocacy, advice and consultancy services to
communities, workers and community based projects. This commitment
requires capacity building for the Community Constituency, support
and resources from government, business and labour constituencies.
We are confident that government, business and labour
constituencies will support these activities.
Financial sector transformation - and community
investment
Th GDS is not a stand-alone event, but must be seen in
continuity with a series of Sector Summits - both those that have
already convened, and those that are still to follow. We are
pleased that the GDS agreement incorporates agreements reached at
the Financial Sector Summit, which committed all social partners,
to, amongst other things, ensure that significant community
investment measures are enacted.
As the Community Constituency, we will redouble our efforts that
the NEDLAC process to implement the agreements of the Financial
Sector Summit begin to bear fruit in the near future.
Specifically, the Community Constituency will mobilise
communities to ensure that they mobilise savings and build
financial institutions based in communities through the building of
co-operative banks. But this requires that government must urgently
pass purpose-built legislation for the establishment and regulation
of co-operative banks. We will also mobilise to ensure that this
happens as a matter of urgency.
We also welcome the commitment by labour regarding using the
financial and mass muscle of workers in the retirement fund
industry to ensure that these funds are invested in economic growth
and development, in particular job creation. We also welcome the
commitment by business to work towards the 5% investment of
investable income. We regard this, as a first step in what, surely,
must become a central mechanism to ensure that South African
business plays its role in investment.
Disability
The GDS agreement takes forward the interests and needs of
people with disabilities. The study proposed in the GDS agreement
on public employment schemes in South Africa must also include the
experiences of employees with disabilities. It would also be
important to integrate disability in the various training programme
outlined in the GDS agreement. A clear plan of action with regards
to the selection and recruitment of disabled learners, needs to be
developed in order to meet the 4% target as set in the National
Skills Development Strategy
Most importantly, how needs and interests of people living with
disabilities will be advanced and achieved will depend on advancing
equity, developing skills, creating economic opportunities for all
and extending services. We therefore welcome the government
commitment to undertake a campaign to enhance public awareness of
the provisions of the Employment Equity Act by August 2003 prior to
the submission of equity plans in October. Special attention must
be paid to advocacy and education on the "Code of Good Practice on
the Employment of People with Disabilities."
Addressing the HIV/AIDS challenge
In the context of planning for growth and development we note
the terrible impact that HIV and deaths due to AIDS is having in
South Africa. The hundreds of deaths a day is not only a terrible
personal loss to the families and friends of those that die, but it
also destroys our social capital - because the people who die are
our teachers, policemen and women, community leaders. They are
people from all walks of our society - people that we have invested
in. Development is not sustainable while our social fabric is being
haemorraged like this. The challenge we face is to save these lives
and stop new infections. We welcome the April 17, 2002 Cabinet
Statement on HIV/AIDS. That is why we call to all the sectors here
to unite our efforts behind a comprehensive prevention and
treatment programme and to urgently finalise the draft NEDLAC
Framework Agreement on HIV Prevention and Treatment.
Conclusion
The Community Constituency will also ensure that women, youth
and people with disabilities are mobilised to play their role in
the implementation of the GDS agreement.
In conclusion, we thank government, labour and various
communities for their positive responses and constructive
engagements in preparing for this Summit. We also wish to thank the
business constituency, which, despite initial reluctance over a
NEDLAC Summit and other disagreements, realised that there is no
other route to economic growth and development but to engage
meaningfully with the workers and the poor of our country. We also
thank and appreciate the decisive role and work done by the
Executive Director of NEDLAC, Phillip Dexter, to ensure that the
GDS process was a success.
Thank you.