Polarised ideology ‘slows Nedlac’
CAPE TOWN — The highly polarised and ideological nature of social discourse means that the prospect of finding a co-operative way to deal with the country’s socioeconomic challenges are slim, says the executive director of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) Alistair Smith.
His view coincides with those of key participants in the Nedlac process that the institution has been increasingly sidelined by the government. Nedlac was established to reach consensus between the government, business, labour and communities on social and economic policy. In the Nedlac annual report, recently tabled in Parliament, Mr Smith said “the implementation of a shared vision and social co-operation to improve our socioeconomic prospects remain elusive”, despite the National Development Plan.
Nedlac had not succeeded in getting the social partners to agree on a common vision. “The turmoil in the mining industry and other sectors, as well as the spread of communitybased conflicts, are unlikely to abate in the short term; interunion rivalry and intra-union division as well as the challenges within the business constituency have further weakened the prospects for effective nationallevel tripartite engagements.”
Mr Smith stressed that he was not suggesting that Nedlac be abandoned as a forum for social dialogue but he was calling for greater commitment from participants.
“We are at a crossroads: we can
We can proceed to stumble along the same road … or follow a new path leading to a new social consensus
proceed to stumble along the same road and continue with baseless finger-pointing when things go wrong, or we can follow a new path leading to a new social consensus.”
Labour constituency convenor Bheki Ntshalintshali claimed in his statement taken up in the annual report that attempts were being made to undermine Nedlac. It had come under “attack” by the Treasury which had bypassed the institution when it introduced the Employment Tax Incentive Bill into Parliament. The Cabinet had also ignored it, Mr Ntshalintshali said.
The proposal for a youth wage subsidy had been submitted to Nedlac, which sat on it for many months without reaching a conclusion. Mr Ntshalintshali said labour would not accept being shortchanged when it came to matters that had to go through Nedlac.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa should assure labour that the government remained committed to the Nedlac protocol and that all socioeconomic issues be considered by the forum before being submitted to Parliament.
Business convenor Laurraine Lotter noted in her statement that Nedlac was in the process of concluding a protocol with Parliament that would ensure that Nedlac reports were tabled in Parliament to be dealt with by portfolio committees when they considered bills.