Honourable Chairperson and Honourable Members

It is therefore heartening to know that there is an agreement between government and labour on how to deal with retrenchment.

Nedlac has to create platforms where the labour will be able to negotiate, while the employers will accommodate these negotiations.  It is imperative that it is not only the government that has to create work, but the private sector has to do its share.

The skilling of workers has to be done in such a way that employers can absorb them. It will be useless to skill people in order for them to stay at home doing nothing. Skilled workers should use their skills to establish small businesses, and not only look for work.

The government must create an environment conducive to starting small businesses. Red-tape must be minimised. Small development agencies must actively assist those workers who want to start business, financially and otherwise.

The Department of Labour must limit the use of recruitment agencies and allow the employers to employ people without using a middle person. If people have been skilled enough to present themselves and write a proper curriculum vitae, why should there be any need for a middle person? Same goes with SETAs who can not fulfil their mandate. The Department must not fund SETAs who cannot deliver what is required of them.

If the slogan which says 'working together we an achieve more' is to be achieved, negotiations with workers must be undertaken honestly and in good faith no matter how unpalatable the truth is. Let the workers know the difficulties industries encounter. Let the workers be part of the solution. Both sides should trust each other when negotiating packages.

Should the workers be reasonable, Yes or No? The answer is yes, because half a loaf is better than no bread at all.   This does not mean workers should abandon their principles or goals. Compromise is the name of the game when the situation is against you.

The IFP does not support a single civil servant model for many reasons. One of these is that we do not believe in the centralisation of power, but in decentralisation. The IFP always looks forward, to a bottom-up approach, rather than a top-down approach. While the skills of our civil servants are appreciated, we should not change the three-sphere system of government and make it into one. The one-tier system encourages the employment of staff who do not qualify or who are not needed in those positions. Deployment of cadres should be discouraged at all costs. It has crippled our service delivery in many Departments, an example being Home Affairs.

A suitable candidate should be appointed to a position that he/she is qualified for. The Department needs to re-examine the Labour Relations Act, together with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, in order to create a conducive environment for businesses to employ more people, instead of resorting to buying machinery which is operated by only one or two persons. Private sector must be encouraged to create a labour intensive atmosphere to create employment.

I thank you.

Contact: Velaphi Ndlovu, 083 625 0803.