Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Members of Parliament, ngiyanibingelela [I greet you]. The creation and retention of decent work and sustainable livelihoods has become the primary focus of all economic policies of the ANC government. This means that there is a direct connection between the economic programme and the developmental priorities of the ANC government.
Economic policies support the developmental priorities and, in turn, developmental priorities support the economic programme. Key to addressing these priorities is the integration of economic growth with development and the building of an effective developmental state with the capacity to co- ordinate planning throughout government. One of the defining features of a developmental state is the state's intervention in the economy in favour of the needs of society as a whole.
A key instrument of state intervention would be a state-led industrial policy programme that would guide key aspects of economic transformation, supported by an appropriate and sustainable macroeconomic policy stance, as well as trade and labour market policies.
This also demands the active involvement of the developmental state by way of playing a central and strategic role, and not simply playing a regulatory role, if it has to create decent work and economic growth. Our priorities will specifically target the needs of workers, the youth, women, rural masses and people with disabilities. The Freedom Charter says:
The state shall recognise the rights and duty of all to work, and to draw full unemployment benefits; Men and women of all races shall receive equal pay for equal work;
There shall be a 40-hour working week, a national minimum wage, paid annual leave, sick leave for all workers, and maternity leave on full pay for working mothers ...
- like myself.
Miners, domestic workers, farmworkers and civil servants shall have the same rights as all others who work; Child labour, compound labour, the tot system and contract labour shall be abolished.
The Reconstruction and Development Programme, a programme that met our reconstruction needs in a post-apartheid South Africa, recognised the need for the creation of jobs and decent work as a necessity in fighting unemployment, poverty and inequality for a better life for all. This culminated in the decent work concept being entrenched in the Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution. Unemployment remains unacceptably high at 31%, using the expanded definition of unemployment. Further, the quality of the jobs created during this period has not yet met our goal of creating decent work. In addition to the unemployed, there are many who are underemployed. The decline in the quality of jobs has led to the growth of the working poor as more labour is casualised and outsourced.
Inequalities have widened, with the workers' share of the national income declining. The ANC is committed to building a more equitable, sustainable and inclusive economic growth path, centred on creating decent work opportunities and sustainable livelihoods. We need to ensure that the majority of our people benefit meaningfully from economic growth.
Decent work is broadly defined by the International Labour Organisation, the ILO, as work that provides for workers' rights, adequate protection by legislation and access to social security and social dialogue. Decent work is the foundation of the fight against poverty and inequality, and its promotion should be the cornerstone of all our efforts.
Decent work embraces both the need for more jobs and for better quality jobs. The creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods would be the primary and overriding objective in shaping our industrial and trade policies into macroeconomic policy, labour-market policy and skills development. To achieve the objectives of decent work and sustainable livelihoods, and to ensure a labour-intensive growth path, the ANC government will pursue well-resourced and strengthened state-led industrial policy programmes.
Decent work should not just be premised on a narrow economic perspective; it should embrace a broad range of benefits and tasks in relation to the workplace. Decent work should be earned through key tasks: to wage struggles, and to advance and defend worker rights, decent wages and jobs, and safety and healthy working conditions.
Our 52nd national conference reaffirmed the need for job creation and decent work. In reaffirming this need, the persistent levels of poverty were recognised. The ANC calls for the creation of decent work, employment with all benefits, and protection within the discourse of labour rights. Currently, there has been subcontracting, outsourcing, and the utilisation of the labour broker system which has brought about poor quality and undermined jobs in South Africa and promoted abusive practices.
Fighting unemployment will include having to facilitate and ensure an environment conducive to job-seeking through the provision of other social benefits through the social transfers. This is important in ensuring stability in society and, in particular, in households while job-searching.
As I conclude, to address this need the ANC has called for a national democratic society that should use the redistributive mechanism of the fiscus to provide a safety net for the poor. As such, built into social policy should be a comprehensive social security system which includes various elements of the social wage such as social grants, transport and basic accommodation.
As the ANC, we support the Budget Vote. Khanimamba. [Thank you.] [Applause.]