Hon Chairperson, I just delayed to allow the Minister to take his things because I have seen that I am designated here. Hon members, distinguished guests, ladies and gentleman, and fellow South Africans, good day.
Sihlalo, kuyinkulumo yami yokuqala kule Ndlu yoMkhandlu kaZwelonke weziFundazwe kusukela ngabekwa njengoNgqongqoshe wezabaSebenzi. Ngifisa ukuthatha leli thuba ngibonge uMongameli waseNingizimu Afrika, ubaba uJacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, ngokuthi angithembe futhi angiphathise lo Mnyango ngokuthemba ukuthi ngizokwazi ukuwuphatha ngobuchule nangobunyoninco.
Angisho-ke ukuthi ... (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, this is my maiden speech in this House of the National Council of Provinces as the Minister of Labour. I wish to take this opportunity to thank President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma for having faith in me and assigning this department to me to lead, believing that I would be leading it with great wisdom and proficiency.
Let me state that ...]
... the labour market system in South Africa as at the end of 2010 has been characterised, among other things, by ...
... izigidi ezi-4,2 zabantu baseNingizimu Afrika abasebenzi. Kulezi zigidi, izigidi ezi-2,8 ngabantu asebehlale isikhathi eside bengenawo umsebenzi. Kulaba abangasebenzi iningi labo yintsha, ikakhulukazi ephakathi kweminyaka engama-25 kanye nama-34 ubudala. Benjalo nje abaqeqeshekile kahle, abanaso isipiliyoni somsebenzi ngoba esikhathini esiningi uma kufuneka ukuthi abasebenzi baqashwe, kuyaye kubuzwe ukuthi isipiliyoni somuntu singakanani. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[... 4,2 million of the population of South Africa making up the labour force. Of these, 2,8 million are people who have remained unemployed for a long time. Of those who are unemployed, the majority is the youth, with ages ranging between 25 and 34 years. They have no proper training and no work experience because every time a person is interviewed for a particular job, they are asked what experience they have.]
These are not just numbers, but individual persons whose lives are severely affected by a lack of income, a lack of security and a lack of dignity. These are people who require assistance to find work or to re-enter the labour market.
On the one hand, South Africa has experienced a significant increase of industrial action through strikes. As a result many work days were lost due to industrial action in 74 cases. This industrial action, which was about improved wages and working conditions, took place when the world was hit by an economic meltdown. It will be important to study and derive lessons from this industrial action, with a view to confronting and improving on the labour relations system.
It should also be remembered that the labour relations system in itself requires ongoing engagement and refinement from time to time. Once an analysis has been conducted, one would hope that 2011 will see greatly improved labour relations in the respective workplaces, with a focus on bringing about stability and industrial peace.
Informed by our commitment and effort in bringing about a society based on justice and equality for all, the department has identified policy gaps, as a result of which we are introducing amendments to 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; and the new Employment Services Bill of 2010. Further, we are also addressing policy gaps in sheltered employment factories, with the specific emphasis on accommodating the needs of people with disabilities and gender equality.
In recent times, labour brokering has attracted a huge policy debate in our country, mainly due to abuses that have commonly been associated with it. It is for this reason that one of our key aims in amending labour legislation is to address the phenomenon of labour brokering 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.
Sihlalo, ngifuna ukusho ukuthi singuhulumeni ngokomgudu woMnyango wezabaSebenzi sizoqhubeka nokusebenzisana nozakwethu bezokuhlalisana, okuyi- Cosatu, Fedusa, Nactu kanye nosomabhizinisi; ukuze siqinisekise ukuthi abasebenzi baseNingizimu Afrika bayavikeleka kuzo zonke izinhlobo zokuhlukumezeka, futhi bavikeleka ngendlela efanelekile.
SinguMnyango wezabaSebenzi ... (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, I want to state that as per policy we should continue to work together with our social partners which are Cosatu, Fedusa, Nactu and the businesspeople to ensure that the workers of South Africa are protected from all forms of abuse, and they are protected accordingly.
As the Department of Labour ...]
... we must make sure that vulnerable workers are not abused by the employers. We will be doing that together with the employers themselves.
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.
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 South Africa 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 improve our employment services 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 of 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 that support 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, known as IDC, through the purchase of a R2 billion bond during 2010, with the aim of creating and sustaining jobs. These funds are available to startup 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 and 2013-14 medium-term period for schemes aimed at re-integrating the unemployed UIF beneficiaries back into employment. The scheme involves participation by various sector education and training authorities in reskilling the unemployed in critical scarce and soft skills.
The fund is also providing assistance to Productivity South Africa through the allocation of funding to the social plan. For the 2010-11 financial year, R48 million has been committed towards the social plan. In the 2011- 12 financial year we aim to save 20 000 jobs through the social plan interventions.
In the 2010-11 financial year the Compensation Fund, which caters for people injured on duty, processed claims and paid compensation benefits in the amount of R2,1 billion. In terms of medical claims, the fund paid 186 563 medical accounts in the 2010-11 financial year in the amount of R1,9 billion, as compared to 135 829 in the amount of 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 debts 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 aims 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 and to develop skills and improved functionality of injured and diseased employees, the fund has begun developing an integrated comprehensive policy framework for rehabilitation, reintegration and return to work of its beneficiaries. This will require amendments to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, and these amendments are projected to be promulgated in the 2014-15 financial year.
The implementation of the Compensation Fund turnaround strategy is at an advanced stage. This is aimed at improving the turnaround time of claims, bringing Compensation Fund services closer to the people through decentralisation and job creation.
As 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. We are intensifying our efforts on inspection and enforcement as part of our commitment to ensure the creation of decent working conditions for workers, and, at the same time, to ensure a competitive environment under which businesses can operate.
The department remains focused on ensuring the highest level of compliance by companies. In this regard, notices have been issued to noncomplying employers. We have referred 295 cases to the Labour Court, and 415 employers to a Magistrate's court. We hope that those who flout the law will be successfully prosecuted.
Speeding up economic growth and transforming the economy to create decent work and sustainable livelihoods is the first priority of government for 2011 through to 2014. Decent work will feature strongly in all economic policies during the coming period. The last ANC conference held in 2007 resolved that the ANC-led government would make the creation of decent work opportunities and sustainable livelihoods the primary focus of our economy.
Decent work is defined by the International Labour Organisation, ILO, as being productive work for women and men in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Decent work involves opportunities for productive work; delivers a fair income; provides security in the workplace; provides 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.
Our employment creation strategies must speak to the realities of the South African economy and labour market. Our priorities in the area of social protection must address the gaps that we find there. 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 practice of social dialogue.
Our Constitution places an injunction on government and the democratic state to ensure equality between men and women, black and white, urban and rural, as well as the 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 on the basis of equality and justice in isolation from improved economic efficiency and productivity, employment creation, sound labour relations, elimination of inequality and discrimination in the workplace, alleviation of poverty and unemployment, enhancement of occupational health and safety awareness and compliance in the workplace, as well as nurturing the culture of acceptance that worker rights are human rights.
Essentially, this is what the mandate of the Department of Labour is all about. The policies and programmes that regulate the labour market are developed in consultation with our social partners. In its assumption of administration, through the President, government placed a priority on job creation through meaningful economic transformation and inclusivity. This is a task that has to be undertaken with dedication, commitment and a higher level of vigour. It would require that the Department of Labour, together with its social partners, labour and business, and community constituency, be focused and remain committed to achieving common goals.
It is for this reason that the Department of Labour will focus on the following priorities in the 2011-12 financial year. Firstly, we are going to review and submit to Parliament amendments to labour legislation, that is the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Employment Equity Act, the 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 placing of job seekers.
During the 2011-12 financial year the department will consult with stakeholders and, on conclusion, present the Bills to Parliament. 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.
Secondly, we will be strengthening the Labour Inspectorate 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 level. That is also what has created a lot of noise around the Employment Equity Act. We are going to make sure that our workers are protected through that piece of legislation.
Thirdly, we will reduce inequality and discrimination in the labour market through effective compliance monitoring and enforcement of the Employment Equity Act. This Act is currently under review. Fourthly, we are going to improve access to social security services provided in terms of the Compensation Fund and UIF, including reintegration of workers into the labour market. Lastly, we are going to ensure that the mandate of the department is rooted in our provinces through our labour centres and provincial offices. It is for this reason that we are putting an emphasis on ensuring capacity-building of our operations at both provincial and labour centre levels. As such, capacity would mainly be biased towards inspection and enforcement as well as efficient and effective roll-out of services by the UIF and Compensation Fund.
These areas of priority are a direct effort in improving the policy framework that governs and regulates the labour market, as doing so is key to laying the basis and foundation for greater equity and reduction of inequalities.