Nedlac does not legislate

The National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) has no legislative powers (Nedlac parties agree on hourly minimum wage, February 7). The minimum wage of R20 per hour is a recommendation from the social partners — big business, big labour and government — and still has a long path to travel.

It will be sent through to Parliament, which will ask the portfolio committee on labour to debate the issue and make recommendations. The committee will start the process of consultation with the public and ask for input from civil society. There will also be input from the various trade unions, including the independent unions. More importantly, there will be input from small business and, in particular, the various chambers of commerce, which might think very differently from the representatives of large business at Nedlac.

All of these submissions will be taken into account when the committee deliberates on Nedlac’s recommendation, which could take many months. Only when that process is completed will a recommendation be sent from the portfolio committee to Parliament.

Parliament will debate the issue and is not bound to accept Nedlac’s recommendations. Nor is it bound to accept the recommendations of the portfolio committee. Over and above this, once Parliament has voted on a national minimum wage, the matter will in all likelihood be sent to the National Council of Provinces, which will likewise consult and debate.

It must be borne in mind that when Nedlac agreed on various issues with regard to the amendments to the Labour Relations Act, its recommendation was overturned in Parliament, which found that one of the social partners pushed the ANC to undermine everything that had been agreed upon.

Although it has been suggested that the R20-an-hour national minimum wage could come into effect in 2018, I envisage that it will take longer than outlined by Nedlac.

Michael Bagraim, MP

Labour spokesman, DA