The National Economic Development & Labour Council (Nedlac) may not have a starring role in the national dialogue but this doesn’t mean it’s irrelevant, says its executive director, Makhukhu Mampuru.
“Nedlac’s job is to facilitate dialogue between government, business, labour and civil society. But it’s not everyone and it’s not everything that goes to Nedlac,” Mampuru says.
Isn’t Nedlac where social partners are supposed to come in times of dire crisis like now, to have the kind of interaction planned for the national dialogue?
“Yes, but Nedlac is not an everything-goes kind of forum, it has protocols and governance structures. The national dialogue is a forum for everyone to discuss everything that’s troubling them.”
The question is whether the national dialogue, with a reported price tag of at least R700m, will more or less replicate what Nedlac is already doing at a cost to the taxpayer in the last financial year of almost R100m.
“Not everyone can walk into Nedlac and say, ‘I’ve got a problem with GBV, or the price of goods’,” counters Mampuru. “The national dialogue will give everyone a forum to raise anything they want to raise.”
If Nedlac cannot provide a forum to discuss the most urgent socioeconomic crises such as growth, jobs, poverty, crime and lack of basic services then surely it is irrelevant?
“At Nedlac we influence policy, legislation and socioeconomic parts of the country. The national dialogue is going to do that and more. We do not talk issues of patriotism and nation building at Nedlac.”
But is a talkfest about patriotism and nation-building what people with no jobs, no water, grinding poverty and massive crime really need? Not according to the economists and business people who have repeatedly stressed the need for labour relations to be reformed to make it easier to do business and create jobs.
This is precisely the kind of thing Nedlac has been facilitating, says Mampuru.
“In the past five years Nedlac has influenced the finalisation of 28 pieces of legislation addressing aspects of the Labour Relations Act.”
Yet those struggling to run businesses say this has not made an appreciable impact on the ease and cost of doing business. They say Nedlac is irrelevant to them because they do not have representation, and issues such as red tape and collective bargaining have not been dealt with by the social partners at Nedlac, in spite of being raised repeatedly for years.
“There are certain barriers to participation in Nedlac for small businesses if they’re not affiliated to Busa [Business Unity South Africa]," Mampuru says.
The national dialogue is intended to canvass the people on these problems and get them to stop being so apathetic and take more of an interest in their own wellbeing
— Makhukhu Mampuru, Nedlac executive director
Does the agreement between Busa and President Cyril Ramaphosa that bilateral agreements between business and the government are the only way forward undermine the reason for Nedlac’s existence?
“No, because if it did Busa would have walked out of Nedlac. There are lots of business structures such as Business for South Africa which deal directly with the government when they think issues are urgent and they need to find a shortcut to bring them to the attention of the president. I can’t fault them.
“Maybe organised labour doesn’t like this, but organised labour also has consultation systems with business that don’t involve Nedlac.”
Mampuru rejects the view that this, along with the lack of implementation of Nedlac-facilitated agreements, is evidence of Nedlac’s irrelevance.
“There’s only so much contribution Nedlac can make. At the end of the day the proof of the pudding is in business implementing agreements and legislation Nedlac facilitates, workers adhering to them and government enforcing them.”
Nedlac itself has done everything it was designed to do, he says.
So why has there been so little change on the ground in terms of economic growth, employment and jobs?
“The role of Nedlac is limited to facilitating social dialogue, which we’ve done very well. The facilitation of laws and processes has all been done very well. The social partners must do their part in terms of execution and monitoring. Business, labour, community and government. The ball is in their court. Nedlac does what it is meant to without fail and produces outcomes.”
Nedlac facilitated a social compact between these social partners five years ago to deal among things with municipal debt, which he concedes has continued to explode.
“If Nedlac’s responsibility went beyond facilitating social compact then we could put the blame for lack of outcomes at the door of Nedlac for not going to the department of co-operative governance & traditional affairs to ensure the compact on municipal debt gets implemented.”
But that is not the job of Nedlac, Mampuru says.
“If more is being said than done, don’t blame Nedlac. Implementation is not our mandate. It’s not our job to evaluate the performance of agreements we have facilitated between the social partners and ensure implementation. That’s their job.”
Nedlac will play the role of secretariat for the national dialogue, doing admin and synthesising reports to ensure that a central report comes out of the process. It will have no role in the evaluation, monitoring or implementation of the report’s recommendations, he says.
Given the country’s record, how likely is it that these recommendations will be implemented any time soon?
“I’m an eternal optimist. But one of our biggest problems when it comes to dealing with socioeconomic issues such as unemployment, drugs and crime is high levels of apathy. I can only hope the national dialogue will get people to take more interest in the affairs of their country.”
With all the discussion that has already taken place, will more of it deal with unemployment and poverty and lack of implementation?
“You can never have enough talking. We need to keep engaging and talking until we find solutions to our problems.”
Asked about how the country’s problems have worsened despite Nedlac’s role in facilitating engagement and talking, Mampuru says: “Structured engagements at Nedlac have produced outcomes which have had their effects in the workplace and in society.
“We can agree that South Africa is facing massive problems. The national dialogue is intended to canvass the people on these problems and get them to stop being so apathetic and take more of an interest in their own wellbeing.”
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