Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, I wish to welcome back the hon Minister to this House. In Setswana we say: Maropeng go a boelwa, go sa boelweng ke teng. [People will always go back to where they came from.]
In acknowledging and welcoming the Budget Vote of the Department of Labour, we need to stress that the department must be seen to be at the cutting edge of our national job creation programme. The five key job drivers, as articulated in the New Growth Path, need to be on the political radar of the department as it tracks progress and challenges in these areas.
Today's policy debate must therefore be about the political orientation of the department, positioning itself operationally to ensure that it contributes towards the 5 million jobs we have resolved to create.
This will not spontaneously happen, and in examining the Budget Vote we need to assure ourselves that the Vote addresses the following. Firstly, does the Budget Vote speak to the ANC policy priorities that were outlined in this year's January 8 Statement and the January NEC lekgotla? Secondly, does the Budget Vote address itself to the Cabinet lekgotla priorities and those that were articulated in the President's state of the nation address in February?
Thirdly, can we see this Budget Vote advancing the principles of adequacy and equity in the allocation of the funds to respective programmes? Fourthly, does this Budget Vote reflect that an impact assessment has been done of the department's performance in previous years and that this year's Budget Vote is a reflection of renewed focus on key priorities of both policy and assessment?
The challenge we face is that we live in one of the most unequal societies in the world and this objective reality means that Budget Votes must address themselves to these contradictions. It is a country defined by immense contradictions. The poverty and inequality trajectory are just some of the issues faced by our people. In order to address these challenges, the state of the nation address has declared 2011 the year of job creation. Government departments will have to align their respective programmes with this objective.
Whilst it is true that jobs in the formal sector have grown by 170 000 in the last assessed quarter, the reality is that we lost more jobs than that in the same quarter. So we are still dealing with a net loss in jobs per quarter and this must be cause for great concern. Certainly, whilst 80% of jobs in the Republic are to be found in the private sector and government has been increasing posts, it is to the private sector that greatest attention must be paid in order to create jobs, and if there is reluctance, to analyse the reasons for this.
As a signatory to the International Labour Organisation, South Africa's commitment to job creation will also be informed by the international organisation's decent work campaign. The goal of this campaign is to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.
This Budget Vote debate will indeed address major areas, for example: exploitation of women's vulnerability from the gender perspective - hence casualisation and feminisation of labour; our labour laws and membership of BRIC - which means our relationship with China and their labour practices has to be realised without missing economic growth opportunities; and racial inequality, reflected in our wage distribution, of professionals, despite our hard-fought freedoms - professional associations have to work with labour to strengthen these.
The industrial age, although important, has been surpassed by the knowledge economy age, with its information and communications technology, and computerisation within the e-environments introducing less labour-intensive requirements in the market and, therefore, a new dynamic of the "new worker" concept. With regard to people with disabilities, the programme designed for such people is in place, but what is required is the upscaling of implementation and the reduction of fronting, especially in tendering and business procurement areas.
The government has performed well in integrating these programmes and introducing programme reviews. The essence of equality and respect for the Bill of Rights, as enshrined in our Constitution and expounded in the Freedom Charter, will be realised. We need to commend the department and Minister for such an important step. Our labour laws, compared with other countries, are sensitive to workers in the main. Although in some economic quarters there is a perception that we repel investors, our social and political history dictates the kind of social redress laws that we have adopted fundamentally.
Chair, enforcement is only an overall environment, and awareness is not targeted towards the white-collar corporate environment, where exploitation, violation and victimisation occur in a sophisticated, covert and threatening manner, with corporates using their financial power to hire top-class companies to deal with legal challenges by courageous employees or professionals.
An area that will be important for the Minister is working closely with unions that deal with lower-paid employees. The Minister has already responded to this in her speech. Public awareness, especially of youth and child labour, and of the Budget Vote on Labour is crucial. Unicef has been calling for this. We see less prosecution of those who exploit our children. Hence, especially in farm areas, foreigners or persons without proper official papers get exploited with their children as labourers.
Chair, the questions we need to ask ourselves should address the sustainability of our interventions; quality assurance on compliance measures; management of corruption and temptations for such in our system of compliance; and constant policy reviews to align our interventions and regulatory measures to change in the economic climate without compromising our social redress agenda.
In conclusion, labour inspection is a key element of any labour administration system for enduring the implementation of labour policies, providing feedback and allowing for a readjustment of these policies, if necessary. In recent years the importance of labour inspection in promoting decent work has been widely recognised. We welcome the increase that has been budgeted for the posts of labour inspectors. Yet in many countries the changing world of work, with its new employment patterns, has been accompanied by reduced government intervention in the workplace.
It is important that we take note of people such as the groups of men who stand on street corners, waiting for bakkies to collect them. These men are breadwinners and family men - let us always remember to respect and protect their rights. That is why the President in his state of the nation address focuses on job creation and skills development. Therefore we see the Minister of Labour as a shop steward for the men and women who are seeking the decent work and job creation that the ANC speaks of.
It is equally vital to note the women who beg for domestic work. Some open our dustbins or scramble for food on the dumping grounds. This is why, in its elections manifesto, the ANC focuses on decent work and job creation, together with skills development. The challenge facing all of us, in particular the private sector, is to create decent work and provide skills and opportunities for our people. The Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises supports this Budget Vote. Thank you.