- President Jacob Zuma convened the Presidential Labour Summit on Job Creation as part of the commitments made at the State on the Nation Address in February 2011 to consult with stakeholders and forge partnerships for job creation.
- The summit was attended by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Cabinet Ministers of the Economic Cluster and the leaders of Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), National Council of Trade Unions (NACTU) and Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) federations. It follows the Business Summit held on March 18, 2011.
- The parties agreed on the importance of ensuring the creation of five million jobs by 2020, in line with the New Growth Path (NGP). They agreed on the need to support employment creation in the jobs drivers as identified in the NGP. These jobs drivers are infrastructure, the agricultural and mining value chains, manufacturing, tourism and other high-level services, rural and African regional development, the knowledge and green economies, the public services and the social economy.
- The parties agreed on the importance of addressing youth unemployment. Measures to that end should be based on broad agreement and form part of a broader multi-pronged effort to address joblessness.
- The parties agreed on the need for a process to ensure that retirement funds contribute to enhanced savings and increased investment in developmental projects that can support the creation of decent work on a mass scale in the long run. Government assured organised labour that no change will be made to retirement funds without consulting members or without their agreement. Retirement Fund reform would take place within the comprehensive social security floor policy debate.
- The parties also committed to support skills development, recognition of prior learning and career mobility as well as intensified efforts to accelerate employment creation. The parties agreed to pursue the current work on a Skills Accord that will achieve the targets especially for workplace training set out in the New Growth Path.
- The parties will work together to upgrade the public services, both to serve our communities and to ensure constructive collaboration between organised labour and the state. Central to achieving our common aims are adequate staffing, in-service training and facilities, and a stronger public service ethos characterised by a commitment to improved service delivery to communities and all South Africans.
- The parties agreed to work together to support the co-operative movement and the social economy.
- Labour supports measures taken by government to ensure systematic evaluation of the impact of all state agencies on employment, both directly and indirectly. It also supports the commitment to ensure that government procurement is geared toward supporting local production and job creation. Realignment of government spending and other policies and processes should ensure implementation of the NGP in a more consistent and systematic way.
- The parties supported the initiatives around the 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties. They agreed on the critical importance of South Africa, as the host nation, taking a leading role. At the same time, they committed to developing strategies to support working people and the poor in the transition to a green economy, while ensuring that South Africa benefits from opportunities to create employment arising out of the transition.
- Organised labour raised the proposal for a global social floor as one means of ensuring more equitable global economic development. The parties also agreed to a process of collaboration around multilateral issues covered in the discussions.
- The parties agreed to take these issues forward through the Leadership Team on the New Growth Path. In the first phase of discussions, the focus will be on immediate deliverables (‘low-hanging fruit’) that can be rapidly implemented, and to lay the basis for deeper dialogue on the systemic and structural issues that would need to be addressed to achieve the goal of five million new jobs by 2020.
- Reports on progress with this ‘jobs partnership’ will be provided to the President at a future summit.
Enquiries:
Zizi Kodwa
Cell: 082 330 4910
Source: The Presidency
