Government’s major task to deliver on its mission to workers

OUR LABOUR laws are incredibly complex and, even for a labour lawyer, they require careful study and repeated reading. The Department of Labour, which is the custodian of the relevant policies and legislation, has to ensure that the labour laws are enforced and overseen.

The myriad laws and regulations are sometimes forgotten and ignored by businesses and employees.

The department uses inspectors to check up and enforce the laws as well as to give advice and guidance.

Unfortunately, the budget for the inspectors is minimal and there are only about 1 600 inspectors in South Africa for millions of businesses.

On top of this, the inspectorate is underresourced and often doesn’t have the necessary tools to ensure enforcement is properly undertaken.

The department is made up of the following sub-departments: the Compensation Fund which is the insurance for injuries on duty; the Unemployment Insurance Fund which is the insurance for the loss of a position or issues such as maternity leave; the Public Employment Services which has “sheltered employment factories”; corporate services which makes sure the machinery runs well; the Inspection and Enforcement Services which oversees and employs the inspectors; the chief operations officer which is the glue to keep all the departments going; the director-general and his deputy who are the chief executive and his right-hand assistant; and, of course, the minister of labour and her deputy.

The department reports to the parliamentary portfolio committee on labour which, in turn, reports to Parliament.

South Africa belongs to the International Labour Organisation and is guided by our constitution which also guides our labour legislation.

We come from a fractured past and apartheid created enormous inequality much of which exists today. The Department of Labour has a gigantic task to ensure that any inequality is eradicated and our economy grows.

The labour relations landscape is slowly changing but it is important for the department to ensure that in its rush to change the landscape, it doesn’t destroy the ability for businesses to create more jobs.

The department’s vision states that it should strive for a labour market that is conducive to investment, economic growth, employment creation and decent work.

The department’s mission must fit in with the vision and in order to bring this vision to a reality, it must ensure the protection of human rights and the promotion of equity.

The stated values of such a department should live up to both the vision and the mission.

Unfortunately, on many occasions, we do experience problems both within the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Workmen’s Compensation Fund.

When the public are dealing with the Department of Labour they should remind it of its vision and the mission which in turn reflects its values.

The director-general has acknowledged that we have enormous unemployment, particularly youth unemployment.

Coupled with this is a lot of conflict at the workplace – we have seen strikes of a long duration, and which are marred by violence and intimidation.

The department has reported that there is no clear decline in the number of strikes.

We are supposed to deliver 11 million new jobs by 2030. We are far from meeting our target. Unfortunately, it cannot be business as usual.

The department has stated that it is striving to be more user-friendly and can be contacted in Pretoria at 012 309 4969. The director-general, Thobile Lamati’s e-mail address is Thobile.Lamati@labour.gov.za.