Hon Speaker and hon members, the absolute squalor in which miners live is not only an indication of the salaries they earn, but also of government's failure to realise the constitutional rights of the citizens, such as the rights to housing, clean water, sanitation and health care.
It is unfortunate that the present democratic government, just like the previous one, promotes the notion of cheap unskilled labour. The latest BankservAfrica Economic Transaction Index, released last week, shows that the ongoing strikes are pushing the South African economy closer to recession, much against what we were told last week by the Minster of Finance when he presented his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, in that the issue of recession would not take place here. But watch out!
The strikes are symptomatic of a larger, more systemic fault line within the South African political economy. However, the larger issue is that business is going to find itself increasingly dealing with frustration and often unrealistic demands, which may actually reflect something much larger that their immediate work circumstances.
South Africa's economic inequality shows up repeatedly as amongst the worst in the world, and it is getting worse instead of better. The situation will increasingly put pressure on government, labour and business to come up with a long-term social contract for South Africa. The mining crisis requires all stakeholders to put aside their narrow interests and to focus on a more sustainable socioeconomic model. Let us hope that at the end of the day, the threesome will come together and find one another. I thank you.