Hon Deputy Speaker, hon Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, South Africa is one of the 185 member states in the International Labour Organisation, and this has been the case for many years. The country proudly carries the flag as one of the few member states where core labour standards are enshrined in the Constitution and it has remained a source of inspiration for many countries, both in developing and developed economies.
Human rights activists continue to hail the South African labour laws as among the best in the world. South Africa, besides being a member in good standing, has been one of the leading countries that has made visible contributions to the shape and content of the international labour agenda and in some cases even sponsored taxes on some of the International Labour Organisation's recent conventions and recommendations.
At its 34th session the International Labour Conference adopted the International Labour Organisation Convention 100 on equal remuneration and, in 1958, the International Labour Organisation Convention 111 on discrimination in employment and occupation - these two being among the eight fundamental International Labour Organisation conventions. Every International Labour Organisation member state is obliged to follow the principles expressed in the conventions on equal remuneration and discrimination in employment and occupation.
Our country comes from a very divided and a severely unequal past. It cannot be acceptable, or be business as usual, for the country to have levels of inequality that rate as among the worst in the world. It is even more disturbing that the instrument agreed to by all social partners to address this legacy is being treated with contempt by those who are meant to implement it. Wage and income disparities are chronically severe in the South African society. The hard truth is that these things cannot resolve themselves without some interventions.
The South African business community is not synonymous with doing things without being pushed. The spectacular failure of a number of enabling pieces of legislation is a case in point and employment equity is no exception. The irony is that all social partners agreed that the endgame of employment equity was the right thing to do. If that were the case, why are we not seeing progress on this front? That on its own is overwhelming.
The ambitions expressed in the International Labour Organisation Conventions 100 and 111 are issues that we could certainly have relied on our Constitution to address without having to lay down the law. But because of the attitude of the average employer and some parties - I don't want to mention their names - in South Africa, we had to go through the pain of drafting legislation to facilitate and regulate this national imperative.
The performance of employment equity is not cause for celebration but a source of disappointment and a betrayal by some of our social partners. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa provides for the right to fair labour practice in terms of section 23 and 9 of the Constitution, where provisions for equality are made; provisions that an employee may raise in the event of an "equal pay" dispute. In terms of section 9(1) of the Constitution, "everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law". The ANC argued that the principle of equal pay for work of equal volume, besides being part of our international obligations, resonates firmly with our constitutional ideals. Therefore, the adoption of this Bill is an excellent attempt to promote the Constitution of the Republic.
In a country with high levels of unemployment and where the employers behave in a certain way in the dismissal of workers, a comprehensive social security protection net becomes key. The empirical evidence points to the fact that it takes no less than six months to secure an employment opportunity in South Africa. For this reason, social protection becomes a matter of must and not an option for South Africa.
In addition to many reported complaints of noncompliance, 269 designated employers were placed under the director-general's review process for noncompliance with certain aspects of the Employment Equity Act. They were all issued with recommendations to correct the offending aspects of their equity plans. It is reported that the reasons for such high levels of noncompliance can be placed squarely on the fact that the current law lacks teeth. Even the fines are set so low that some employers go to the extent of budgeting for them in case they are caught.
Labour brokers flout the employment equity provisions with impunity. The noise against fines for offending designated employers and their friends sends the wrong message - that breaking the law should go unpunished. Why is noncompliance with labour laws not treated as having the same level of importance as those guilty of breaking the competition and tax laws of this country? Does this mean that the labour laws in general, and employment equity in particular, are not equal to other laws of the land? It sounds like some laws are more equal than others. This is absurd!
Passing the Employment Equity Amendment Bill is long overdue and the time to act is now. The ANC cares and, as such, supports the Bill. [Applause.]