‘SA needs bold plan to deal with economy’

Workers are hard at work with preparations in and around the National Assembly precinct ahead of tommorow’s State of the Nations Address by President Jacob Zuma in Cape Town. 10/02/2016 Ntswe Mokoena GCIS

Workers are hard at work with preparations in and around the National Assembly precinct ahead of tommorow’s State of the Nations Address by President Jacob Zuma in Cape Town. 10/02/2016 Ntswe Mokoena GCIS

Published Feb 11, 2016

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#SONA2016 / Johannesburg - A commitment to implement a social security plan which will deal with structural impediments to the economy is what is needed to restore organised labour’s trust in the government.

This as cracks in the country’s social compact continue to widen, leaving a leadership and strategy vacuum at a time when the country needs bold interventions to address the mass job losses and plummeting economy.

Read: SONA2016: Will Zuma inspire or confound?

Unions said they hoped President Jacob Zuma will in his State of Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday not only recommit his administration to interventions proposed in the past such as the nine-point plan, but that innovative methods would be unveiled.

They also wanted him to pronounce on social security, an issue which has caused tension between the government and unions, especially in light of the contentious retirement reforms, which have left unions seeing red.

“Cosatu expects the SONA to rally the nation around the goal of economic development and also provide the much- needed courageous and critical interventions and leadership. Government should know that it cannot outsource its developmental role to the private sector,” said Cosatu spokesman Sizwe Pamla in a statement.

Labour also stressed the need for job creation after the unemployment rate reached a staggering 35 percent, with fears the figure could increase rapidly as thousands of jobs are shed each day.

“Creating and increasing decent jobs in South Africa should be the most critical objective of our government. Collaborative effort to creating new jobs and saving the existing ones is thus crucial as decent jobs as well as training and reskilling of workers are fundamental aspects of inclusive economic growth,” said Federation of Unions of SA general secretary Dennis George.

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Cosatu shared these sentiments, proposing that an urgent summit be held to deal with the jobs bloodbath, especially in the mining sector, where employers have been regularly issuing retrenchment notices.

Social partners represented at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), which comprises the government, business, organised labour and the community, agreed on the need for an all-inclusive discussion on remedial action to the challenges the country faces.

However, their failure to utilise the Nedlac platform gives weight to criticism that the forum had become ineffective due to lack of interest by parties to engage with one another.

“Others see it as an institution that has outlived its usefulness while others still have faith in it. It is said that generally senior leaders of social partners no longer see value in participating in Nedlac processes and structures, hence they make no time to invest in its activities,” said Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant in a speech to labour federations this week.

She challenged unions to rise to the occasion as they did during the 2009 economic meltdown instead of only looking to the government for direction and heavily relying on strikes to push their agenda.

“Is it not possible for organised labour to lead in the same way they did in 2009 when they helped shape the framework for South Africa’s response to the global economic crisis? Is it not possible for organised labour to see solutions beyond the obsession with Section 77 notices? Is it not time that Section 77 is understood as the means to an end and not an end in itself?” queried Oliphant.

Meanwhile, former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi proposed in his version of SONA that the president should reaffirm principles contained in the Freedom Charter.

“Macro-economic policies that support and sustain growth, job creation and poverty eradication on a sustainable basis. We must reaffirm the Freedom Charter when discussing social transformation,” Vavi said.

Whether the president will, like his minister of labour, throw the ball back in labour’s court remains to be seen. A favourable announcement on social security could save the country millions of rand it would lose when Cosatu and the National Union of Metalworkers embark on strikes to demand its implementation and the scrapping of the newly enacted retirement reforms.

THE STAR

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