Deputy Speaker, hon Deputy President, hon Ministers present and hon members, I stand here on behalf of Cope to support the Bill. The simple reason for our support is that we believe the normalisation of society after several decades of apartheid should be enforced.
It is really unfortunate that this Bill has to come to Parliament because there are certain employers who believe that white male domination should still reign supreme in the workplace. This Bill is necessary because there are employers who decided that the spirit of the principal Act should be undermined. Instead of embarking on nonracialising the workplace, they resolved that they would give preference to white women and import blacks to meet the requirements of the Act. This undermines the objective of the Act. After almost 20 years of democracy, we annually get reports on how bad we are faring in implementing equity in the workplace.
The excuse of a lack of skilled labour does not really hold water anymore. With a myriad of legislation to finance skills development, we cannot continue to plead a lack of skills stemming from the reluctance of those involved to utilise the funds put aside to develop these skills. Skills development cannot be left to the Departments of Basic Education and of Higher Education and Training alone. Our tripartite partners at Nedlac should take skills development seriously and develop a sustainable programme of action to develop skills in different areas, which would contribute to economic development. It is important to note that the amendment abolishes discrimination in the treatment of workers within a particular workplace. It also allows the Minister, after consultation with the commission, to prescribe the criteria and methodology for assessing work of equal value, as contemplated in subsection 4 of the principal Act.
The Bill allows employees to refer disputes alleging unfair discrimination on the grounds of sexual harassment to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, CCMA. The volume of work for the CCMA might increase as a consequence, for this will make it easier and cheaper for cases involving workers alleging unfair discrimination on the grounds of sexual harassment to be resolved speedily. The issue of equitable representation at all levels of the employers' workplace categories has been brought for this reason. The intention is to simplify the determination of employment equity in the workplace. Our experience over 20 years of attempts to address the employment equity at different workplaces has been met with a lot of resistance, hence this Bill. It is clear that there are employers who are determined to maintain the status quo, despite the existence of the principal Act and its intentions. As a result, a director-general is being empowered to apply to the Labour Court to impose a fine against those employers who refuse to abide by the law. The increase in these fines cannot be viewed as unfair, because those who will be taken to court will be those who refuse to comply with the Act.
This Bill also gives teeth to the labour inspectors to enforce the undertaking from a designated employer within a specific period. If an employer refuses to give a written undertaking, that labour inspector is empowered to issue a compliance order. This increase in the responsibilities of labour inspectors can only be carried out effectively if they were given enough resources and training. Training will create abilities and skills to enforce this Bill once it becomes an Act. The procedure to enforce this Bill should be fair and objective.
Cope believes that the proposed insertion of section 64(a), which empowers the Minister to amend the total annual turnover threshold in order to counter the effect of, is a very progressive move. I believe that the earlier we, as society, deal with the negative effects of apartheid, the better for our future. I hope that this legislation will help our country to move forward in progressively creating a nonracial, nonsexist society in the workplace, where workers spend the majority of their time. The problem we have in this country is that we used to have oppressors and the oppressed, and now we only have the previously disadvantaged. [Applause.]