Employment Services Bill: finalisation and adoption

Meeting report

Employment Services Bill, 2012: Deliberations towards Adoption of the Committee Report
The Chairperson welcomed everyone present in the meeting, and remarked that the Committee’s
Amendments to the Employment Services Bill, 2012 (the A-list) would be considered before the clause by
clause adoption of the Employment Services Bill, 2012 (the Bill). He noted that the
legal team had proposed a minor technical change to the Long Title of the Bill and asked the legal team to
clarify what the change intended to achieve.

Long Title
Dr Barbara Loots, Parliamentary Legal Adviser, replied that the proposed technical change to the Long
Title was necessitated to provide a better and concise summary of what the Bill intended to do and was not
changing the contents and or intention of the Long Title of the Bill.

The Committee adopted the amendment to the Long Title of the Bill.

The Committee also adopted its Amendments to the Employment Services Bill, noting that the amendments

were true reflections of the Committee’s previous deliberations on the Bill.

The Committee thereafter considered and deliberated on the Bill clause by clause in order to adopt the Bill.

Voting
Clause 1
Mr S Motau (DA) moved the motion for the adoption of clause 1 of the Bill which provided for definitions
in the Bill, and this was seconded by Mr A Williams (ANC).

Clause 2
Mr D Kganare (COPE) moved the motion for the adoption of clause 2 of the Bill which outlined the purpose of the Bill, and the motion was seconded by Ms L Makhubela-Mashele (ANC).
Clause 3
The motion for the adoption of clause 3 of the Bill which provided for the interpretation of the Bill was moved by Mr A Van der Westhuizen (DA) and seconded by Ms Makhubela-Mashele.

Clause 4
Mr Williams moved the motion for the adoption clause 4 of the Bill which provided for the administration of the Bill. The motion was seconded by Mr Kganare.

Clause 5
Mr Van der Westhuizen moved the motion for the adoption of clause 5 of the Bill which provided for the
functions that the public employment services must provide free of charge, and the motion was seconded
by Ms Makhubela-Mashele.

Clause 6
The motion for the adoption of clause 6 which gave powers to the Minister to establish schemes to promote employment was moved by Mr Kganare and seconded by Mr Williams.

Clause 7
Ms Makhubela-Mashele and Mr Motau respectively moved and seconded the motion for the adoption of
clause 7 which gave power to the Minister to establish schemes to minimise retrenchments in Supported
Employment Enterprises that were in economic distress.

Clause 8
The motion for the adoption of clause 8 which provided for the protection of employment conditions and
opportunities of South African citizens was moved by Mr Williams and seconded by Mr Kganare. The DA
however had raised an objection to clause 8 expressing concern about the provision (or lack of it) for foreign
nationals with special skills.

Clause 9
Mr Kganare moved the motion for the adoption of clause 9 and this was seconded by Ms Makhubela-Mashele.

Clause 10
The motion for the adoption of clause 10 was moved by Mr Williams and seconded by Mr Kganare. The DA however had raised an objection to clause 10 on the basis of the added layer which required employers to report every vacancy. The condition was deemed inherently problematic by the DA.

Clause 11
The motion for the adoption of clause 11 which provided for the type of statistical information the Department may collect to inform the provision of employment service was moved by Mr Williams and seconded by Mr Motau.

Clause 12
Mr Kganare and Mr Williams respectively moved and seconded the motion for the adoption of clause 12 which provided for sources of funding that can be utilised to provide employment services in terms of the Bill. There was however an objection to clause 12 by the DA owing to issues around the cost implication of implementing the clause.

Clause 13
Mr Kganare moved the motion for the adoption of clause 13 that provided for the registration of private
employment, and the motion was seconded by Mr Williams. The DA however raised an objection with
particular reference to clause 13(2)(a) and (b).

Clause 14
Mr Van der Westhuizen moved the motion for the adoption of clause 14 that prohibited private employment agencies from performing certain acts, while Mr Williams seconded the motion.

Clause 15
The motion for the adoption of clause 15 which prohibited private employment agencies from charging work seekers fees from any services rendered was moved by Mr Kganare and seconded by Ms Makhubela-Mashele.

Clause 16
 The motion for the adoption of clause 16 which related to the retention of information of information by private employment agencies was moved by Mr Motau and seconded by Mr Williams.

Clause 17
The motion for the adoption of clause 17 which provided for the confidentiality of information collected by the private employment agencies was moved by Mr Motau and seconded by Mr Kganare.

Clause 18
Ms Makhubela-Mashele moved for the adoption of clause 18 of the Bill that provided powers and conditions
under which the registrar can cancel a private employment agency’s registration and the motion was
seconded by Mr Williams.

Clause 19
The motion for the adoption of clause 19 that provided for a review process in case of dissatisfaction with the registrar’s decision was moved by Mr Williams and seconded by Mr Motau.

Clauses 20-30
Also, the Committee adopted clauses 20 to 30 which addressed the provisions for the establishment of the
Employment Services Board, the Board’s composition and functions, the process for the Board to adopt
a constitution, the Board’s finances, as well as the Board’s reporting obligation to the Minister.

Clauses 31-41
Clauses 31-41 which addressed the establishment of Productivity South Africa were also adopted by the
Committee. These clauses provided for the establishment anew of Productivity South Africa which was
originally established under the Skills Development Act, as well as its composition, functions, removal and
appointment of members, powers of the Minister to dissolve the Board, members’ remuneration, the Board’s
financing and its reporting obligation to the Minister.

Clauses 42-47
The Committee also adopted clauses 42 to 47 which provided for the promotion of employment for persons with disabilities through the establishment of the Supported Employment Services.

Clause 48
The motion for the adoption of clause 48 which provided for the jurisdiction of the Labour Court in respect of
matters apart from criminal prosecutions arising from the Bill was moved by Mr Kganare and seconded by Mr
Williams.

Clause 49
Mr Williams moved the motion for the adoption of clauses 49 that provided for the monitoring and
enforcement of the provisions of the Bill, and the motion was seconded by Mr Kganare.

Clause 50
Mr Williams and Mr Kganare also respectively moved and seconded the motion for the adoption of clause 50 which provided for offences and penalties for contravention of certain provisions of the Bill.

Clause 51
The motion for the adoption of clause 51 that provided for procedures the Minister must follow when delegating functions to the Director General was moved and seconded by Mr Kganare and Mr Motau respectively.

Clause 52
Mr Williams moved the motion for the adoption of clause 52 which was seconded by Mr Kganare.

Clause 53
Mr Kganare moved the motion for the adoption of clause 53 which provided for the repeal of laws and transitional provisions, and the motion was seconded by Ms Makhubela-Mashele.

Clause 54
The motion for the adoption of clause 54 which provided

for the short title and commencement of the Bill was moved by Mr K Manamela (ANC), and seconded by Mr
Wiliams.

Schedules
The Committee also adopted the Schedules in the Bill. The motion for the adoption of Schedule 1 which
provided for the repeal of certain sections of the Skills Development Act, 1998 was moved by Mr Kganare
and seconded by Mr Motau.

Mr Kganare and Mr Williams respectively moved and seconded the motion for the adoption of Schedule 2 which provided transitional provisions relating to the regulation of private employment agencies, Productivity South Africa and the Supported Employment Enterprises.

Mr Williams moved the motion for the adoption of Schedule 3 of the Bill which set out the contraventions of the Bill in respect of which fines may be imposed by the Labour Court.

Finally, and with the completion of the clause by clause consideration of the Bill, Mr Williams moved the motion for the adoption of the Bill and the motion was seconded by Mr Kganare.

Committee Report on the Employment Services Bill
The Committee also adopted its report on the Employment Services Bill dated 5th November, 2013.

The Chairperson thanked Members for the progress the Committee made during the year, noting that the
Committee had succeeded in passing four bills in 2013. He commended the commitment and cooperation of
Members which was crucial to the success the Committee had recorded.

The meeting was adjourned.