Before I introduce the first speaker, may I alert members to the fact that we have a podium in the facility this morning. Because of the fact that the recording cameras on the one side are not working, members especially from the right-hand side are therefore free to make use of the podium in front of us. I now recognise the hon the Minister of Labour. [Applause.]
House Chairperson, hon Members of Parliament, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen and fellow South Africans, this is my first Budget Vote speech since my appointment as Minister in the Labour portfolio. In this regard, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the hon President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma for entrusting me with this important function, as well as showing confidence in me.
Our Constitution places an injunction on us as government and the democratic state to ensure equality between men and women, between black and white, between urban and rural, between rich and poor. It is this constitutional ethos that drives the work of the Department of Labour.
In other words, it is not possible for South Africa to speak of a well- developed society based on equality and justice in isolation of the following: improved economic efficiency and productivity; employment creation; sound labour relations; the elimination of inequality and discrimination in the workplace, alleviating poverty and unemployment; enhanced occupational health and safety awareness and compliance in the workplace; as well as nurturing the culture of acceptance that workers' rights are human rights.
Essentially, this is what the mandate of the Department of Labour is all about. These policies and programmes that regulate the labour market are developed in consultation with our social partners. In its assumption of administration, government, through the President, placed a priority on job creation through meaningful economic transformation and inclusive roles.
This is a task that has to be undertaken with dedication, commitment and a higher level of vigour. It will require the Department of Labour together with its social partners - organised labour, organised business and community constituencies - to be focused and to remain committed to achieving common goals.
South Africa, at the end of 2010, was characterised by over 4,2 million of unemployed people. Of the above number, 2,8 million are the long-term unemployed. Of the unemployed, the most are young persons within the range of 25 and 34 years of age, with low levels of skills and work experience.
These are not just numbers, but individual persons whose lives are severely affected by a lack of income, lack of security and lack of dignity. These are the people who require assistance to find work or to re-enter the labour market.
South Africa experienced a significant increase in industrial action through strikes, resulting in a lot of workdays being lost due to industrial action in 74 cases. These industrial actions, which were about improved wages and working conditions, took place when the world was hit by the economic meltdown. It would be important to study and derive lessons from these industrial actions with the view to confronting and improving the labour relations systems.
It must also be remembered that labour relations require an ongoing engagement and refinement from time to time. Once an analysis has been conducted, one could hope that 2011 will see much improved labour relations in the respective workplaces with a focus on bringing about stability and industrial peace.
The South African economy in 2010 began to show signs of recovery from the recession we experienced in 2009. In the fourth quarter of the same year, we also saw a small gain in employment, with growth projected to be positive during the year 2011.
As part of our commitment and effort in bringing about a society based on justice and equality for all, the department identified policy gaps in the following pieces of legislation: the Labour Relations Amendment Bill of 2010; the Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill of 2010; the Employment Equity Amendment Bill of 2010; and the new Employment Services Bill of 2010. Further, we are also addressing policy gaps in sheltered Employment Factories, with specific emphasis on accommodating the needs of people with disabilities and gender equality.
In recent times, labour broking has attracted a huge policy debate in our country, mainly due to abuses that have commonly been associated with the practice. It is for this reason, ladies and gentlemen, that one of our key aims in amending labour legislation is to address the phenomenon of labour broking and its associated abusive tendencies.
We do this, well aware that amending this legislation will have important consequences for the operation of the labour market system. The debates on these Bills have attracted a variety of responses, which illustrate clearly the articulation of different interests that could be affected by the proposed amendments.
As government, through the Department of Labour, we will continue to work constructively with our social partners and will further endeavour to find the appropriate labour framework that gives sufficient protection to workers who have been rendered vulnerable through certain abuses. We will do so, mindful of the fact that our policies should not have negative consequences for employment.
At the turn of the fourth quarter, our inspectors visited more than 192 000 workplaces across the country. Of the workplaces visited, 77% were found to be compliant with our labour laws. During the year under review, we have continued to conduct blitz inspection programmes with a view to targeting high-risk and problematic sectors. Activities conducted were focused on the wholesale and retail, construction, agriculture and forestry, hospitality and private security sectors and a number of shopping malls. We are intensifying our efforts on inspection and enforcement as part of our commitment to ensure the creation of decent working conditions for workers, at the same time ensuring a competitive environment in which business can operate.
We have begun to focus our energies on the need to ensure that the inspectorate is professional. Creating a professional inspectorate requires of us to consider issues of upgrading the level of training of inspectors, and we have already started to engage the service of the International Labour Organisation, ILO, to provide training.
The department remains focused on ensuring the highest level of compliance by companies. In this regard, notices have been issued to noncomplying employers, and we have referred 295 cases to the Labour Court and 415 employers to magistrates' courts. We hope that those who flout the law will be successfully prosecuted.
The previous financial year saw significant changes in the department with the transfer of the skills development functions to the Department of Higher Education and Training. The transfer has been concluded and the department has begun repositioning the public employment services during the year.
The new Employment Services Bill sets out the proposed legal framework for the operation of our employment services. This Bill also sets out the role of Productivity SA under the mandate of the department and provides a legal basis for the operation of the Sheltered Employment Factories.
During the 2010-11 financial year, our employment services managed to register 472 179 job seekers. The service managed to link 70% of these registered job seekers to career counselling, skills development interventions, work placement opportunities, as well as Unemployment Insurance Fund, UIF, and Compensation Fund benefits.
Our career guidance services were undertaken by the nursing colleges in Gauteng, saving them up to R21 million in recruitment costs. We will continue to step up our commitment to improving our employment service to contribute to job creation in South Africa.
For the period up to March 2011, the UIF paid benefits to 693 000 beneficiaries, with a total value of R5,3 billion, compared to 779 604 beneficiaries, with a total value R5,7 billion, the previous year. The fund experienced a very slight decrease in unemployment benefit payments compared to the same period in the year 2009-10.
The decrease is mainly due to the effects of the recession wearing off. This once again highlights the importance of the UIF as a safety net during times of unemployment and economic crisis. The UIF has invested 68% of its investment portfolio in central government, municipal and parastatal bonds and money market instruments supporting infrastructure projects that will create and sustain jobs.
The fund has identified a number of projects in pursuit of the creation of decent work in South Africa. The contribution made by the fund comprises both commercial and socially responsible investment. This is an investment of R35 billion of the R52 billion portfolio.
The UIF has also invested in the Industrial Development Corporation, IDC, through the purchase of a R2 billion bond during 2010 with the aim of creating and sustaining jobs. These funds are available to initiate businesses, to provide a debt portion of expansionary acquisitions for existing businesses and to facilitate working capital-funded expansions.
The UIF has also taken further steps by setting aside R1 billion over the 2009-10 to 2013-14 medium-term period for schemes aimed at reintegrating unemployed UIF beneficiaries back into employment. The scheme involves participation by various Sector Education and Training Authorities, Setas, in reskilling the unemployed in critical scarce and soft skills.
The fund is also providing assistance to Productivity SA through allocation of funding to the social plan. For the 2010-11 financial year, R48 million has been committed towards the social plan. In the financial year 2011-12, we aim to save 20 000 jobs through the social plan interventions.
The Compensation Fund, which caters for the injured on duty, processed claims and paid compensation benefits in 2010-11 amounting to R2,1 billion. In terms of medical claims, the fund paid 186 563 medical accounts in 2010- 11 at an amount of R1,9 billion, compared to 135 829 accounts at R1,5 billion during the same period in 2009-10.
Revenue of R4,5 billion was raised in 2010-11. The increased capacity in debt collection yielded positive results as R431 million in debt has been recovered. The Compensation Fund's total investments increased by R3,2 billion; from R23,3 billion to R26,5 billion in the year under review.
The Compensation Fund is aiming to increase the number of registered employers in the current financial year in order to improve revenue collection through employer assessments.
To promote a return to work, develop skills and improve the functionality of injured and diseased employees, the fund has begun developing an integrated comprehensive policy framework for the rehabilitation, reintegration and return to work of its beneficiaries. This will require amending the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, and the amendments are projected to be promulgated in 2014-15.
The implementation of the Compensation Fund turnaround strategy is at an advanced stage. This is aimed at improving claim turnaround time and bringing Compensation Fund services closer to the people through decentralisation and job creation.
In September 2010 the department launched the South African Decent Work Country Programme at the National Economic Development and Labour Council, Nedlac. Through this programme the ILO will work together with government, organised business, organised labour and the community constituencies to give support to initiatives aimed at promoting the Decent Work Agenda.
The speeding up of economic growth and transforming the economy to create decent work and sustainable livelihoods is the first priority of government for 2011 and also through to 2014. Decent work will feature strongly in all economic policies during the coming period. Despite the significant progress in changing our economy to benefit our people, unemployment, poverty and inequality remain serious challenges. Decent work is the foundation of the fight against poverty and inequality, and its promotion should be the cornerstone of all our efforts.
The last ANC national conference, held in 2007, resolved that the ANC-led government will make the creation of decent work opportunities and sustainable livelihoods the primary focus of our economy. Discussion of decent work, in fact, goes back quite a few years in the international community, and it is worth noting that at the 2005 World Summit of the UN General Assembly, heads of state and governments of more than 150 countries made a commitment to implement a far-reaching international agenda. They declared that -
... we strongly support fair globalisation and resolve to make the goals of full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people, a central objective of our relevant national and international policies as well as our national development strategies, including poverty reduction strategies, as part of our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
This commitment has led to the whole UN system recognising the Decent Work Agenda and to placing it at the centre of the relevant national and international policies and development strategies. So, the direction that we are now taking in South Africa is not new; in fact, it is overdue.
Decent work has been defined by the ILO as being productive work for women and men in conditions of freedom, equality, security and human dignity. Decent work involves opportunities for work that is productive and delivers a fair income; provides security in the workplace and social protection for workers and their families; offers better chances for personal and skills development; gives people freedom to express their concerns, to organise and to participate in decisions that affect their lives; and guarantees equal opportunities and equal treatment for all.
The Decent Work Agenda of the ILO is made up of four pillars. These are employment creation and enterprise development, social protection, standards and rights at work and governance and social dialogue. These four pillars are intended to work together in an integrated manner and to apply to different areas of policy, to policies directed at the workplace and the way in which people carry out their livelihoods.
What is important to realise about decent work is that it does not prescribe a one-size-fits-all approach. Decent work for Italy and Ethiopia may look very different to that for South Africa. Our employment creation strategies must speak to the realities of the South African economy and labour market.
Our priorities in the areas of social protection must address the gaps that we find here. The South African Constitution, the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act provide a strong floor of rights and standards.
Equally, we have a very good framework in our legislation for governance and social dialogue, although we may need to find ways of strengthening our practise of social dialogue. In pursuing decent work in our context, it is our national priorities that must shape our response going forward. The framework agreement between the social partners on how to respond to the international economic crisis simply says, "By decent work we mean the need to increase the level of employment as well as to improve the quality of jobs."
Decent work is, therefore, a package deal, an integrated way of looking at work in our society in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. We already have some targets, the most important of which is the target of halving unemployment by 2014.
Let me now turn to the priorities of the Department of Labour over the next year. The department will, in the 2011-12 financial year, focus on the following strategic areas: reviewing and submitting to Parliament amendments to labour legislation, which includes the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Employment Equity Act, Labour Relations Act and a new Employment Services Bill.
Our aim is to create a policy framework to promote decent work and a policy framework for the provision of public employment services, which will enable government to maintain a database of job seekers and job opportunities, as well as matching and placement of job seekers. The department will, during the 2011-12 financial year, also consult with stakeholders and, on conclusion, present the Bills to Parliament, the proposed amendments of which are before our social partners as we speak.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act, Act 85 of 1993, predates the Constitution of the Republic and requires updating in certain areas. The department intends to repeal this legislation and replace it with new occupational health and safety legislation to ensure a safe and healthy working environment and to protect workers against hazards associated with their work or use of machinery.
The Labour inspectorate will be strengthened to monitor and enforce compliance with legislation to ensure that decent work principles are adhered to and address vulnerability in the labour market. The department was allocated R60 million in the two outer years of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework by National Treasury for the creation of additional inspectors' posts at specialist levels.
The department also aims to reduce inequality and discrimination in the labour market through effective compliance monitoring and enforcement of the Employment Equity Act, which is currently under review, and to improve access to social security services provided in terms of the Compensation Fund and Unemployment Insurance Fund, including reintegration of workers into the labour market.
These areas of activity will be our priority. On the one hand, they link directly to improving the policy framework that governs and regulates the labour market. To improve the regulatory framework is a key to laying the basis for greater equity and for reducing inequalities, on the one hand. On the other hand, the department's focus areas for 2011-12 will aim to reduce the decent work deficit through improved enforcement and efforts to ensure compliance with our labour laws.
Various branches and public entities within the department have outlined plans to contribute to creating jobs, saving jobs in identified distressed companies and sectors, and placing in excess of two million work seekers in jobs over the period 2011-12 through to 2013-14.
Interventions planned by the department involve training and reskilling of workers in order to give them the capacity to compete in the open economy. Funding to be provided through the Compensation Fund and Unemployment Insurance Fund will include a continued investment of R9 billion of the R26 billion portfolio in commercial and socially responsible investments by the Compensation Fund, and continued investment of R44 billion of the R52 billion portfolio in commercial and socially responsible investment by the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund has set aside R1 billion over the 2009-10 to 2013-14 medium-term period for the schemes that are aimed at integrating unemployed UIF beneficiaries back into employment. The scheme is funded by the fund and involves participation by various Setas in reskilling the unemployed in critical scarce and soft skills.
In order to further assist in preventing retrenchments, the UIF has committed R1,2 billion towards the Training Layoff Scheme. This scheme is designed to provide support to companies in distress that intend to retrench employees. Productivity SA's social plan will be given R290 million in funding over the period 2011-12 to 2015-16. This is funding that will go towards providing assistance to companies in distress.
The public employment service branch of the department has identified a number of interventions aimed at creating and sustaining jobs. The highlights are as follows: The department aims to refer 450 000 workseekers for placement in jobs and other opportunities in 2011-2012, and in excess of two million workseekers will be referred for placement in opportunities over the period 2011-12 to 2015-16.
This will be accomplished through the job matching exercise in the Employment Services System of South Africa, Essa. Through the employer services functions, the department aims to provide assistance to 51 500 workers in distressed sectors over the period 2011-12 to 2015-16.
There are 151 000 people from designated groups who will be placed in training and income-generating opportunities over the period 2011-12 to 2015-16. The total targeted group comprises 10 000 youth, 15 000 women and 4 000 persons with disabilities.
The Sheltered Employment Factories, which fall under the public employment services branch, aim to increase orders for goods leading to the creation of jobs for 3 500 people with disabilities over the period 2011-12 to 2015- 16.
In addition, the Sheltered Employment Factories aim to accommodate more people with disabilities from disadvantaged communities, as they previously accommodated only a certain category of ex-combatants. About 3 200 learners will be recruited over the period 2011-12 to 2015-16 to participate in the Sheltered Employment Factories' centre of excellence with the view of training them as mentors and placing them in both the Sheltered Employment Factories and the open economy.
In addition to contributing to job creation during the 2011-12 financial year, the strategic plan of the department outlines a number of ways in which the department intends improving its efficiency and service delivery.
I will not list all of these, but examples include improvements in the time taken to finalise compensation claims, improvements in the processing of claims for unemployment insurance benefits, increased sale of products from the Sheltered Employment Factories, a campaign aimed at reducing exposure of workers to silica dust and eliminating the department's vacancy rate.
The department has employed a new director-general, whom I want to introduce formally - Mr Nkosinathi Nhleko - who has undertaken to eliminate the vacancy rate within this financial year.
We are also looking forward to hosting the 12th African regional meeting of the ILO during October 2011. This meeting will be attended by a number of heads of state from African countries as well as the Director-General of the ILO.
Chairperson, the department has been allocated R1,98 billion for the 2011- 12 financial year. This represents an 11% increase to the 2010 baseline. The bulk of the increase goes to the conditions of service improvements and to the budget of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, CCMA.
In closing, let us recall the words of former President Nelson Mandela, who called on all of us, in his first state of the nation address as President of South Africa, to regard labour as a resource and not a cost. As the economy begins to recover, and as we strive to make 2011 the year of job creation, we would be well advised to bear in mind that, in creating the many new jobs that government is committed to do, we cannot treat labour only as a cost factor.
We need to always remember that labour is a very special commodity. Workers, like all of us, are entitled to rights, to dignity in the workplace and to conditions of decent work.
Chairperson, allow me to congratulate all political parties and their supporters that participated in the recent local government elections for the wonderful manner in which they conducted themselves during the election campaign period and on election day.
I believe that, since it is now after the election, it is not going to be a campaign platform when you are debating this important Budget Vote. I also want to thank the department's officials for the support that they have given me, as well as the portfolio committee, under the leadership of Mr Nchabeleng, and for supporting us as the department.
Hon members of this House, I hereby put before you the budget of the Department of Labour, which I highly commend. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chair, hon Minister, ladies and gentlemen and all comrades, let me start by congratulating the people's movement, which is the ANC, on their victory in the local government elections. [Applause.]
During our hectic and frenetic campaigning, I met with a large group of mine and metal workers of Sekhukhuneland wearing bright red t-shirts with the slogan, "United we bargain, divided we beg". This was an inspiration and it brought back memories of the bitter liberation struggle of the oppressed people of our country.
We assure workers that they have the right to strike and petition, the right to belong to the unions of their choices - this is strongly entrenched in our Constitution. These are rights which we fought for, side by side with the workers, sparing neither strength nor courage until fascism was finally defeated.
However, Chair, the cold, dead hand of apartheid is still throttling our people in some parts of the country.
The central task of the ANC is to build a developmental state with the strategic, political, economic, administrative and technical capacity to pursuit the objectives of the national democratic revolution. It is this task that the ANC must assess as we propose recommendations that will qualitatively improve the functioning of government during this Budget Vote debate.
The critical functions that arise from this task derive from the national democratic revolution and its impact upon the transformation of the state and governance, and in particular the ongoing reorganisation of the powers and functions of the state. For this to be successfully achieved, a thorough ongoing assessment and an evaluation of progress, clear responses aimed at strengthening all spheres of government and mass popular participation in the programmes of government are essential.
Like most countries, South Africa is a signatory to the International Labour Organisation, ILO, and as a result, has ratified key conventions of the body. By virtue of being a member state, we have an obligation to respect, promote and realise, in good faith and in accordance with the ILO constitution, the fundamental rights contained in the eight core ILO conventions. These include Conventions 87 and 98, which protect freedom of association, the right to organise and collective bargaining.
It follows that South Africa, being a member state, should respect, promote and realise these rights through domestic legislation. As such, it is invidious to measure such compliance with those obligations negatively. In order to translate these international values, Chapter 2 of the South African Constitution, the Bill of Rights, affirms protection of the freedom of association and labour relations, key among these being the right to fair labour practices.
Based on the South African Constitution and related policies and prescripts, and learning from the various ILO conventions and International Labour Standards, the Department of Labour administers the following pieces of legislation: the Labour Relations Act, Act 66 of 1995; the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Act 75 of 1997; the Employment Equity Act, Act 55 of 1998; the Unemployment Insurance Act, Act 30 of 1996; the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Act 85 of 1993; and, lastly, the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, Act 130 of 1993, Coida.
We are aware that the Department of Labour has developed a code of conduct which will underpin the professionalisation of the work of the inspectorate in support of ruling out any alleged malpractices amongst inspectors. Hon Minister of Labour, Comrade Nelisiwe Oliphant said:
The commitment to the values in the code will ensure that the Labour Inspectorate operates in a transparent and accountable manner. Implementation of the code will also provide protection for all employees of the Labour Inspectorate in the proper exercise of their role.
She further affirmed that honesty, justice and courtesy form the moral basis which constitutes the foundation for ethics within the profession. Essentially, this would ensure the additional role of inspectors, being that of ensuring that labour laws are given practical effect and become actual standards for work.
During the 2011-12 financial year, the Inspection and Enforcement Services programme received a total budget allocation of R386,7 million which is allocated to the current payments, with a total of R311,1 million allocated to compensation of employees and R75,6 million to goods and services. The Inspection and Enforcement Services programme's budget increased by 5,5% in nominal terms from R366,6 million in 2010-11 to R386,7 million in 2011-12, whereas, in real terms, it increased by 0,65%.
The Registration Inspection and Enforcement Services' subprogramme reflects a rand increase of R17,6 million, which is a nominal increase of 25,0% and a real increase of 19,27%. We welcome this.
The other subprogrammes, such as the compliance, monitoring and enforcement's budgets, increased by R5,4 million from R261,9 in 2010-11 to R267,3 million in 2011-12. This represents an increase of 2,1% in nominal terms, but also a decrease of 2,61% in real terms.
The training of staff subprogramme received a budget increase of R0,7 million, which represents a percentage increase of 18,42% in nominal terms. There are currently 1 095 labour inspectors around the country who will inspect 10 000 workplaces during the 2011-12 financial year. In addition, the department is targeting a total of 130 000 inspections from which 200 will be conducted on silica dust.
Before I conclude, Chairperson, I wish to raise a serious issue, which is of great concern to me and the committee and all the people of South Africa. Seventeen years into democracy, we are still faced with occurrences of extreme racism and oppression within our Sheltered Employment Factories, SEF, in the Western Cape and some parts of the country.
Whilst conducting oversight at these factories, a black employee indicated to the committee that he is still referred to as a "kaffir" and was told to use a different toilet because he is black. This is a glaring example of pockets of racism as earlier referred to.
Sheltered Employment Factories were created in 1943 by the apartheid government to rehabilitate war veterans from the Second World War, based on a social welfare model under the auspices of social welfare and the then Department of Labour. Due to the termination of preferential procurement policy, the Sheltered Employment Factories have lost sizeable income over the years, severely crippling the disabled people's capacity ... In conclusion, the Committee on Labour supports the Budget Vote. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Hon members, can I be given a chance to preside over the debate. I am guided by my watch here. Thank you very much. Can I be allowed to chair the debate peacefully?
Chairperson, Madam Minister, ah ha! The grand toilet war of election 2011 has finally come and gone, and here we are considering government service delivery again with the 2011 Labour Budget Vote and business plan.
Treasury and Cabinet have approved a larger budget for the Department of Labour this year. Together with several virements in the last financial year, the department and its entities are receiving a slightly bigger slice of the pie than they had previously received.
As we approach the new financial year, the department has seen unprecedented change that has left its staff and entities reeling. We had the Director-General of Labour suspended and sacked; we had the longstanding Minister of Labour sacked; and the Chairperson of the Committee on Labour was also replaced.
We welcome our new Minister, as I've done before in Parliament, and I believe we have a new DG who is to be welcomed in the person of Mr Nhleko, but we must assess whether this department is running at full steam and whether it is delivering on its mandate for all South Africans. With one in every four South Africans now voting for the DA, we have a vested interest in seeing that the department does run smoothly. One in four South Africans would expect us to look after their interests and we shall do so.
Incidentally, if one looks at the election results, just briefly, at the total votes cast in the City of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay and Tshwane, Pretoria, the ANC received 911 006 votes whilst the DA received 1 053 267 votes. Therefore, if the former Director-General of Labour, Mr Jimmy Manyi, had succeeded in moving certain people out of the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, he would have handed us another two metros; thank you very much.
So, let's look at some of the Department of Labour's details. The Sheltered Employment Factories, as you have pointed out, Minister, are in a terrible state. Their subsidies have been reduced and government departments no longer have to purchase from these factories. Without new markets for their products, they are slowly going down the financial drain and, instead of providing more opportunities for the disabled citizens, a few thousand fewer people now work for the Sheltered Employment Factories than in 1994.
However, there are plenty of ways for disabled workers to be sought: Everyday Compensation Fund deals with South Africans who become permanently disabled and who cannot work. Why does the Department of Labour not hand their names over to the Sheltered Employment Factories so that they can find work again?
What about the military veterans from various liberation movements who also sit without work, some of whom are disabled? There is silo thinking. The one in four South Africans who support us would expect us to demand better co-operation from government departments. Our people deserve better!
The moving of skills development from the Department of Labour to the Department of Higher Education and Training has been extremely messy and badly managed to the extent that the Auditor-General, I believe, cannot comment on the financials of the Skills Fund.
The Department of Higher Education and Training is, I'm told, going to get a disclaimer as a result of the botched handover process. Proper governance or accounting procedures were never adopted in the department of origin, that is, the Department of Labour, and have similarly not been set up in the Department of Higher Education and Training. What a mess!
There are question marks over where the money went during the handover period. One version of the story circulating among the staff - some of whom are here today - is that the money is being run through the banking accounts of Minister Nzimande because too few bank accounts were opened timeously for the transfer. I hope that post audit, these irregularities will be sorted out and that the Department of Labour's hand in this mess will be clarified. Where is Mr Manyi when we want to ask him these questions?
But there's more: I personally conducted visits to the offices of the Department of Labour in Tshwane, Johannesburg and elsewhere and discovered that on one floor of a government building there is a whole range of training staff sitting idle. Now, before you laugh, let me explain: They seem to be what remains of the development staff of the old Department of Labour. It seems that when the former Minister Mdladlana transferred the budgets for skills development to Higher Education and Training as requested, he just kept the staff in the Department of Labour without telling anyone, so that the department no longer has a budget to pay for the training courses that they have been offering. So these staff members sit side by side watching soccer, or finding stapling to do. Oops!
I now believe that Mr Moratoba will be moving these staff members into a new government employment agency, except that we are still arguing in Nedlac about the content of enabling legislation, because it's not yet been approved. I suppose the staff will have to continue watching soccer or maybe the Minister needs some more stapling to be done. Unfortunately, Minister, the one in four South Africans that we represent wants us to do better. Some of their tax money is being used after all!
The Training Layoff Scheme has been equally disastrous. Under this programme about 75 500 workers have been retrained. That's great! However, almost R3 billion was pumped into that programme, so this huge fund is still sitting there. While people in South Africa have no jobs, the money is in the bank account - what a disaster! Let's be honest, it was a great idea in theory, but in practice there wasn't the execution to follow through.
None of the Setas have yet been able to account for how much money they spent on the Training Layoff Scheme. How much did they use? No one knows! How much per person did it cost to train those people? Nobody knows that either. I only hope that the Auditor-General is taking note of that problem. The DA's one in four voters is certainly taking note.
The Essential Services Committee also needs an urgent intervention. It is essentially dysfunctional at present and has no real budget to run its operations. It has a Minimum Services Agreement, but this does not address the real concerns because it is too generic and it does not clarify who may and who may not go on strike. Therefore it is largely ignored by unions and employers. One in four of those South Africans now voting for the DA is affected by this chaos and they want some action.
My colleague will be talking about the Compensation Fund and Unemployment Insurance Fund, UIF, so I won't step on his toes, but I just want to give you one illustration of a man who contacted me about his workplace injury.
He applied for compensation from the Compensation Fund, of all places. Months went by without a response. He lost his house; he lost his car; and he moved into somebody's garage, for which he was paying a small rental.
He had an eye injury that needed urgent medical attention, which he did not receive because it was not approved, despite his completing forms, handing in medical reports and going to medical examiners. I escalated his claim; I escalated his appeal; and I e-mailed the relevant officials. He was then thrown out of the garage that he was living in because he couldn't pay that small rental. I finally received a call from the mother of his children telling me that this past Christmas he had committed suicide. She wanted to know if there was any money coming for the children. It still haunts me.
Many people in South Africa are very, very poor and when they are injured at work or can no longer work, we should be able to respond to their needs speedily. The current state of affairs is just not good enough. We are still shuffling 20 pieces of paper for every application that comes in. It should be computerised and it should be electronic.
Mr Manyi, when he was the DG, should have been fixing the computer system and streamlining the funds instead of playing with racial quotas.
I want to close by examining the textile industry. Government has contributed to the ruin of this industry. In Newcastle, we have several factories making textiles and paying workers below the minimum wage. The Department of Labour applied the legislation, shut them down, and 15 000 employees lost their jobs. Some of those companies relocated to Swaziland and Lesotho; and the remainder of those unemployed workers turned on the unions and Bargaining Council and asked for the companies to be reopened. Some were reopened, so nothing has been achieved in this process, except the loss of jobs.
The DA calls on the Minister to implement a cadet internship programme for the textile industry which takes on apprentices that are paid a lower wage while they are being trained.
We also call on the Minister to apply an exemption for the Bargaining Agreement for the Commission Embroidery Industry which has been wiped out because each business is too small to comply with the various agreements of the Bargaining Council and the margins are too low.
I do not understand the rationale for small companies, whose staff are not unionised, being forced to pay over levies to the Bargaining Council in lieu of union fees. For what? That's yet another tax with no purpose. It's like a punishment for no services rendered.
I also call on the Minister to conduct joint operations with customs and excise officials, as the DA is aware that customs officials at the port in Durban find it difficult to distinguish between cotton, wool, silk and polyester. When these goods land in the port they allow the goods through with the wrong valuation and, therefore, the incorrect import duties and levies are applied.
There is also a problem with new goods being brought in second hand, and officials are not averse to rearranging the invoicing to suit, for a small fee. Bribes kill jobs!
The reason that this is a labour issue is that for each shipment that comes in without paying the appropriate duties, jobs are lost and the margins in Newcastle in our factories get smaller and smaller. If we want the decent work that we have been talking about through the ILO for textile workers, we have to stop the cheating at the harbours and the ports of entry. A cluster of measures like these will improve the financial position of our textile industry and push wages to an acceptable level.
I have in a previous speech welcomed the Minister to her department. However, I call on her now to urgently intervene in these cases. People are suffering; industries are suffering; and many agreements are out of date. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Chairperson, Mr V B Ndlovu is a member of this committee. He is not here today and has asked me to represent him. He is busy with many thousands of enthusiastic and loyal IFP supporters organising for the next elections. [Laughter.]
I have been informed that the results that they got proved beyond reasonable doubt that the IFP will be the next government of South Africa in three years' time. [Laughter.] Minister, the good news is that when we are in government, in 2014, we will keep you as the Minister of Labour.
I wish to congratulate the Minister and tell her that in respect of her maiden speech we had a discussion to give her marks. We have given her 10 out of 10.
I want to start by asking: Are our trade unions doing what is in the best interest of the economy of our land, or not? Is it desirable that a gun be held to industry's head every single year for above-inflation wage deals, so much so that South Africa is now renowned for its strike season?
Unions seeking up to 20% wage increases when there is approximately a 4% inflation rate are opportunistic, and it is unsustainable. It will only serve to deter investment in our country from abroad and it will ultimately result in fewer jobs for our people in South Africa.
With regard to Nedlac, the IFP proposes that the minimum threshold margins for trade unions in Nedlac be revisited. This will allow the entry of smaller unions to replace the current monopoly of only three large unions.
Regarding the proposed manipulation of demographics by certain political parties in order to create certain political territorial advantages, we think it is shallow and the people who propose such practices have no place in labour.
Job creation for our youth is obviously critical. Idle hands are the devil's playground. We have a responsibility to ensure that we provide the youth with ample opportunities for entry into the work place. Our trade unions, through their actions, do not realise that they are stifling the creation of jobs by deterring foreign investment and thus hindering and not helping the process.
The IFP recognises the efforts of professional labour brokers and the services they provide in the employment field. They are necessary and must be clearly differentiated from what is called the smash-and-grab labour broker operators whose operations should be stopped. The inflow of foreign labour is also political, particularly with the recent unrest at Medupi power station as a case in point. We should see a government that puts South African workers first. We should not import labour for positions for which we have a local force available.
The culture of entrepreneurship must be further strengthened and developed, particularly amongst our youth, adults and new entrants to the job market. The existing entrepreneurship should be supported when diversifying into different economic sectors. Government support of entrepreneurship is vital to our economic recovery as well as to sustainable economic growth. The IFP urges this department to use every available resource to promote its growth.
We wish the hon Minister and her department the best of luck for the new year. We thank her and the department for what they have done in the past. I end by saying we support the Budget Vote only because of the Minister!
Chair, Minister, hon members, members of the department, I greet you all.
The Constitution of the Republic sums up the type of society that we ought to build. Our struggle is about constructing a humane, caring, open, democratic, nonracial and nonsexist society. These are the norms and values for which many have shed their blood. Experience over the past 17 years, since the dawn of our democracy, has taught us that it is one thing to proclaim an ideal and quite another to achieve it. We have strived in the past 17 years to fulfil the aspirations of our struggle for human dignity, freedom and equality.
As a nation, we can be proud of our accomplishments in such a fairly short space of time in the history of the new nation. We also agree that we are far from reaching the vision enshrined in our Constitution.
Many of our people are still trapped in poverty, unemployment and destitution. Levels of inequality, especially income inequality, have actually worsened since 1994. We are a nation with one of the worst differentials in terms of inequality. The legacy of dualistic development remains stubbornly entrenched.
For as long as we have this situation, we are far from achieving the promises of the Constitution of a more equal society. It is not the workers who undermine this vision, but those in power and those with power.
This widening inequality that has come to characterise the South African society threatens all our hard-won democratic gains. In the 2005-2006 financial year, the average income from work in the richest 10% of households was 32 times more than the average income of the poorest 60%. Relative deprivation is at the core of the so-called service delivery protests.
During the decades of struggle, it was understood that apartheid would not be allowed to continue in a normal society. Yet, that abnormal society is continuing at an economic level. The tragedy is that we are accepting as a norm that a minority will have First World infrastructure while the majority are trapped in humiliating and degrading squalor. [Interjections.]
Decent work is one of the foundations of human rights. The fight against poverty and inequality, and its promotion, is the cornerstone of all our efforts. Decent work embraces both the need for more jobs and for better quality jobs. The creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods is central to the ANC government's agenda and the primary focus of all our economic policies.
The labour legislation that we have fought for and that regulates the labour market needs to be defended. It protects the rights of workers who produce the wealth of the country.
The adoption of the democratic Constitution, Act 108 of 1996, and specifically Chapter 2, sought to guarantee the rights of all citizens, including workers. It accorded a set of rights which cannot be tampered with unless through a set of constitutional amendments. Constitutionally, general rights afforded to citizens apply equally to workers.
Decent work is critical for all employees and, more importantly, for those who are vulnerable. Decent work is the cornerstone of human rights. Human rights are both the means and the end to achieve better work that has a human face. This is preferable to thinking of workers as just a mere commodity.
The Decent Work Agenda for all workers and their protection are realised through the introduction and enforcement of our progressive labour laws in the country.
Decent work is broadly defined by the International Labour Organisation, ILO, as work that provides for workers' rights, adequate protection by legislation, and access to social security and social dialogue.
I conclude by saying that there is absolutely no dignity for workers without decent work. I repeat - there is absolutely no dignity for workers without decent work. Decent work is the foundation of the fight against poverty and inequality, and its promotion should be the cornerstone of all our efforts.
The ANC supports Budget Vote No 18. [Applause.]
Mev die Adjunkspeaker, die ANC staan nou al vir meer as 15 jaar aan die stuur van 'n ekonomie wat nie genoeg werk skep vir die behoeftes van Suid-Afrikaners nie. Daar sal dus gekyk moet word na waar die foutlyne l en dit sal reggestel moet word vir die uitwissing van armoede op 'n volhoubare grondslag.(Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Madam Deputy Speaker, for more than 15 years the ANC has been in charge of an economy that is not creating enough employment for the needs of South Africans. One will therefore have to see where the fault lines are situated and correct these so as to expedite poverty eradication on a sustainable basis.]
The labour regime is one of the factors that contribute to the gravity of the fault line that plagues the fight against poverty in South Africa. In this regard, the ANC has a lot of explaining to do.
The labour regime was ostensibly designed to provide for the incompatible, corrective measures of inclusive economic growth and employment on the one hand, and on the other, for systemic discrimination against whites. However, it has now endeavoured to extend its insidious set of discrimination measures to those who are not quite black enough, namely the coloured and Indian communities.
If we look at the election results, this set of social engineering measures devised by the racial engineer, Jimmy Manyi, has proven to be fatal for the