Chairperson ...
... ngisafuna ukuthi ngiqondise okunye ku-Cope, i-Cope inenkinga le emuva ekusungulweni kwayo ngoba uMnu De Beer angikhumbuli ebakhona ekuhambeleni amakhaya. Mhlawumbe nge-remote control uyakwazi. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[... I just want to set the record straight in respect of Cope. Cope has had a problem since its inception, because I don't remember Mr De Beer doing home visits. Maybe he is able to do that via a remote control.]
Since its establishment in 1996 the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, CCMA, has rewritten the dispute resolution landscape in South Africa. It has established itself as a defender and protector of rights, freedoms and responsibilities. It has emerged as one of the pre- eminent post-apartheid institutions. It is a role model on social dialogue, partnerships and collaboration.
Through you, Chairperson, I will remind you in one debate of how the DA was funded and founded. [Interjections.]
The CCMA embodies the best of our collective will. It has become the platform for us to face our own problems and challenges, and enabled us to deal with very serious and bitter conflicts and adversarialism that plagued our labour market.
The CCMA has set standards of conduct and performance well suited to our emerging economy. The CCMA is what we have struggled for and reflects social and economic progress and the maturity of our democracy. The international community, in particular the International Labour Organisation, ILO, and its director-general, holds the CCMA up as a world example of true labour reform and social dialogue.
The CCMA has led the way to a labour market that affords every working person equality before the law, respect and dignity in the workplace, within a framework of universal labour rights forged to our own particular needs and economic circumstances. The CCMA has carved out a robust balance between what is just in our society and what is necessary for continued growth and development.
Sihlalo, awubabheke sebebhocobele. [Chairperson, look at how down-hearted they are.]
The difficult business of balancing universally accepted labour rights with our own social and economic imperatives of balancing social justice with the requirements of economic progress fell in the first instance to those who participated in the process of crafting and drafting the legislation that led to the establishment of the CCMA.
The CCMA represents a durable social partnership translated into practice and action. Social partnership is often fragile and frequently elusive. However, it is a working arrangement which our democracy and national democratic revolution require. It is critical, as we enter a new economic growth path, that the concept of a sound and equitable social partnership is deepened, because this lies at the economic heart of the success of our future growth and prosperity.
The CCMA is a model that has processed approximately 10 000 cases a month, 500 per day, in every corner of our country, with a combined resolution rate of over 70%. By any indicator in dispute resolution, the CCMA has proven its strength. The benefits it has brought to the workplace, the culture it has inspired and the efficiencies it has introduced into our labour market are incalculable.
While we share in the benefit of an institution such as the CCMA, it is frequently approached by many countries and institutions to assist in the development of their equivalent dispute resolution agencies. Since its inception in 1996 it has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of men and women in its rulings, based on the values that underpin the CCMA.
What certainly has come up in the years of the CCMA's existence has been the need for review of areas in our legal practice. Important work is already being done in dispute-prevention and institution-building, but if the CCMA is to meet the anticipated increase in its case load within the existing constraints ...