requirement for increased competitiveness in a global market and the urgent need to address the social living conditions of employees in an environment worsened by both inequality and poor service delivery.
All of us need to carefully consider what we understand by, and what we ideally seek from, the concept of Collective Bargaining. This is a critical element of the employer-employee relationship in South Africa and it will feature strongly on the agendas of the various unions.
What eventually results from the discussion about the future of collective bargaining remains to be seen, but what is clear is that the current state of affairs is unsustainable and the time for action is long overdue. However, this action needs to be considered and well researched and, most importantly, it requires genuine commitment from all stakeholders, which clearly includes more than just employers and employees.
A successful system will be one which continues to address problems of minimum standards, inequality and poverty, while also, critically, ensuring the continued survival and growth of the businesses in the sector. Until this balance is found, our industrial relations climate will remain seriously problematic and continue to erode investor confidence and direct investment in the economy.
Collapsing the current system without coming up with an acceptable, well-thought-out and viable alternative model acceptable to all stakeholders will not address the symptoms underlying the root causes plaguing our labour relations environment. More directly, an immediate collapsing of the current centralised collective bargaining model may well result in total chaos, which is a situation that cannot possibly be in the interest of any employer.
Q
: What do you believe needs to be done to secure the future of the
MEIBC?
A
: When it comes to the Bargaining Council, most employers would readily agree that a lot can and should be done to raise the levels of professionalism, performance, service delivery and efficiency. SEIFSA’ s commitment to doing whatever is necessary, within mandate, to ensure that this important institution does not fail cannot be questioned. SEIFSA has been at the forefront of leading discussions with all stakeholders at the MEIBC on the need to agree on processes and measures aimed at saving the MEIBC.
Functionally all parties which avail themselves of services through the MEIBC should accept the responsibility to make payment for those services. An acceptable budget should accommodate and provide for the skills and services required from the MEIBC, and all who use it should equitably meet that budget.
It was not easy. Neither we nor the unions are entirely happy with the agreement reached, but we can live with it. We believe that it is the best possible agreement that we could reach under the circumstances, and we believe that it is fair to both parties.
Industry interests should be greater than parochial interests.
Knowingly allowing the obvious underfunding of the legitimate and recognised needs of the MEIBC for whatever reasons those parties may have, thereby inviting the collapse of performance and structures within the MEIBC, is not only a recipe for disaster, but it’ s simply immoral.
It is important to note that SEIFSA’ s mandate, derived from the SEIFSA Council which is our assembly of member Associations, is to ensure that this institution does not implode, thus leading to the creation of a vacuum in the industry in a year where employers face the next round of industry bargaining. While there may be a lot wrong with the current system( and employers feel very strongly that a lot should be done to improve it), allowing the Bargaining
Council to fail cannot possibly be in the best interests of our community.
Q
: As a vastly experienced businessman, what do you think needs to be done to stimulate growth and to steer the South African economy back to investment grade in the shortest time possible?
A
: The hard truth of the matter, despite the rhetoric of those who should know better, is that there is nothing positive coming from South Africa’ s descent into junk status. Understanding and embracing the impact of this challenge and the possibility of further negative ratings and then implementing a plan of action to recover our position is the first necessary step. We must dispel the thought – and isolate the propaganda – that South Africa’ s downgrade was a conspiracy against the Government and the ANC. We must ensure that our plan has collective buy in and constructive input from government, business, labour and all other stakeholders necessary, such that it has the capacity to achieve a successful outcome.
The plan must encourage and provide for ethical and competent leadership in every stakeholder entity, along with a commitment to every expectation and requirement of fiduciary responsibility and accountability.
We must prioritise greater benefit – through our asset strength in the public and private sectors, financial institutions, mineral and metal reserves, agriculture and agro-processing, tourism, manufacturing and construction, urban development and rural infrastructure and development, water supply and recovery, transport and logistics – and reposition for economic growth in every sphere. We must recognize the value of critical mass, the benefits of scale and the importance of big business in the socio-economic growth necessary for South Africa. Action must be taken to strongly and speedily improve the reach and the quality, and thereby the performance, of our education and healthcare services.
We must square up to our weaknesses and must act decisively and quickly.
We must eradicate patronage, corruption, wasteful expenditure and other criminal activity, and we must return State-owned entities, where
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