Hon Chairperson, hon members, and invited guests, today is my maiden speech in regard to this department, so I should not be heckled!
The debate about any Budget Vote is whether what the Minister says the department intends achieving is believable, and depends on the funds allocated. The Department of Labour has been allocated approximately R2 billion for the coming financial year, which is a nominal 5% increase. In real terms, this is a budget decline.
Let me start by congratulating the department and those of its entities which received unqualified audits. I hope this is not going to be a once- off event!
This allocation is expected to ensure that the department delivers on its mandate. We also need to take into consideration whether the expectation of the National Planning Commission, NPC, that the department's envisaged Public Employment Services, to reduce poverty and inequality by matching job seekers to vacancies, are viable and achievable.
I will talk about only three of the department's objectives, which Cope believes can contribute immensely to labour market development, if achieved.
The first one is to contribute to decent employment creation through employment services legislation. The second is promoting equity in the labour market through employment equity implementation and enforcement mechanisms' being strengthened. The third is protecting vulnerable workers by improving the capacity to monitor and enforce compliance.
The first question Cope would like the Minister to address is whether the department's budget and spending patterns are reflective of the Decent Work Country Programme's objective of the need to regulate and enforce labour laws. The International Labour Organisation, defines "decent work" as, "creating jobs and opportunities, extending social protection, promoting social dialogue and guaranteeing rights at work."
In order to achieve these, several activities will have to be embarked upon. These will have to involve skills development, which has now become the monopoly of the Department of Higher Education. During the last financial year I asked the hon Minister five different questions relating to skills development. Her response to all these questions can be summarised as: It's not my responsibility; ask the Minister of Higher Education. Hon Minister, what's the use of having the department responsible for the labour market if you can't contribute to skills development?
Cope believes that although skills acquisition involves education, the transfer of all roles and responsibilities to the Department of Higher Education and Training with effect from 1 November 2009 is a short-sighted approach in order to create a job for a Minister. We are aware that the autonomy of universities and FET colleges does not create enough work for any Ministry, but the creation of work for one Ministry that makes another ineffective in the labour market is typical of cutting one's nose to spite one's face.
I understand that this is merely the implementation of a Polokwane resolution. Hon Chairperson, there were many things that went wrong in Polokwane, and this short-sighted resolution is only one of them.
The Sector Education and Training Authorities would have performed better if they had been transformed in such a way that a dynamic relationship with industry was nurtured and transformed. This myopic approach by the governing party, which sometimes confuses itself with being the ruling party, of transferring the Setas just to create a job for one hon Blade Nzimande, was bound to misfire. When such a thing happens, the whole country are the losers and not only the "hyper-hereditary MPs", HHMPs, on the other side of the House. [Laughter.]
It is vital that the labour market should not only produce certificated job seekers, but also provide skills required by the industry. It is only the Department of Labour that can successfully produce, match and allocate skills required by the industry.
If this does not happen, the labour brokers will have a field day. The workers will continue to be abused and exploited. I don't blame the labour brokers. The basic economic law of supply and demand is in play. The high rate of unemployment has effectively created labour broking as an industry which is profitable, and its proliferation should be understood within this context.
No amount of sloganeering, marching and even threats of banning will change the situation. The systematic creation of skilled labour is the only long- term solution. Cope believes that the first step should be to transfer transformed Setas back to the Department of Labour. Labour brokers should be regulated so that their role becomes limited to labour placement agencies, and they do not become employers or an extension of employers. All workers found at a particular workplace should be the responsibility of the employer at that workplace. All their rights should be the responsibility of that employer.
Vulnerable workers should be protected in this way. Especially farm workers, domestic workers, about whom the ANC talks little, and immigrants of African origin require special measures. That's why the legislation and punishment for the abuse of these workers should be tightened up and should even lead to the imprisonment of repeat offenders.
Cope acknowledges that unemployment cannot be brought down through legislation and regulation alone. It requires a multifaceted strategy, beginning with education and ending with patriotic and honest employers.
Cope would like the hon Minister's position on market flexibility and the youth wage subsidy to be made clear. The hon Minister's silence on this issue is deafening. The position of the hon Minister of Finance, which Cope agrees with, is well documented. It is not clear whether the hon Minister of Labour's silence is as a result of fear of other alliance partners, or of her hope that the less we talk about this, the more easily it will go away.
This will also require labour inspectors to be systematic in their work, to ensure that conformity becomes normal practice. Hon Minister, labour inspectors will only be as effective as the availability of the tools of the trade that they have. At the moment there is much to be desired as far as their impact is concerned. These tools are basic things like the availability of cars and cell phones. Technology is so advanced that if all of them can be supplied with tablets, they won't need computers and laptops. The only effective manner of ensuring voluntary respect for workers' rights ... [Time expired.] [Applause.]