Too few workers to celebrate Workers’ Day

Every year unemployment in South Africa rises and the number of people on social welfare grows exponentially. The sociologists tell us that every person working is, on average, supporting at least five others. 

In other words, even those with jobs aren’t able to put money aside for savings that would translate into a roof over their head and education for their children. It’s sad to hear in parliamentary debates how members of the African National Congress refer to this nightmare as “black tax”. 

As we celebrate Workers’ Day on 1 May, it needs to be borne in mind that there are many more people in the job queue than those actually working. 

The system has, to a large degree, contributed to extreme unemployment and enormous poverty. It is almost impossible to call Workers’ Day a celebration, and even Freedom Day is a problematic concept. We might have political freedom, but the majority of South Africans don’t have financial freedom. 

The harsh regulatory environment across the board, and in particular in the Department of Employment and Labour, has acted as a hand brake on job creation and, in fact, put us on that slippery slope of unemployment. Retrenchment is the order of the day and an investment strike in the business community has exacerbated the problem. 

I sat in the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour in June 2019 when the Department of Labour, as it was called then, changed to fit in with this new mandate to help create jobs. But a name change alone doesn’t help in any way to create jobs. 

We have nine million South Africans under the age of 34 who are not employed. 

We keep hearing speeches about “growth and jobs” from every single political party. The sad thing is that their rhetoric has somehow succeeded in fooling the people. 

Job creation will require extremely hard work to improve this situation. It starts with better education and, in particular, the structuring of education, which would make people “fit for purpose” for the workplace. 

I am often involved in the reduction of red tape in the Western Cape and numerous schemes to help employers hire more people. We need these structural reforms urgently. 

We all know that economic growth in South Africa has not supported job creation. Many of our larger employers are looking for jobless growth using computerisation, mechanisation, and outsourcing. 

Here in South Africa, we are expert in setting up commissions and national dialogues. Sadly, these structures and debates never result in any actual effort on the ground. I speak to small businesses every day in my capacity as a labour lawyer and invariably hear that investors aren’t interested. Economists tell us that almost R2 trillion has been invested elsewhere. We need to understand that the system is rotten, and the rot unfortunately emanates from the top. 

On the brighter side, we are seeing some results through both Nedlac (the National Economic Development and Labour Council) and the Government of National Unity. In essence, small changes in our labour law and regulations have been supporting the growth of small business. But the reality is that changes are incremental and too slow. The Western Cape government’s experiment of deregulation and cutting of red tape for small businesses is bearing fruit. The green shoots are there, but time will tell how much they grow. 

There is an ongoing debate in Parliament about changes to the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. These proposed changes are to a large degree positive. They will encourage the business community to start employing. I am hoping that these amendments go through quickly and some of the more onerous regulations are removed. 

• Michael Bagraim is a labour lawyer, member of Parliament, and spokesperson for employment and labour in the Democratic Alliance.