Madam Speaker, last week the Minister of Labour said that the carrot was not working and that he was bringing out the stick, threatening to double inspections at the JSE, Johannesburg Stock Exchange- listed companies, for compliance with employment equity legislation. Although the Department of Labour received R700 million to increase the number of inspectors, the vacancies are still at 12%. There is a lack of skills, compromising the quantity and quality of inspections, as is clear from the following.
The Assmang smelter experienced three explosions in three years, resulting in 8 deaths. Over the past 10 years, the mining industry has averaged 240 work-related deaths per year. However, the Minister wants to focus on race- counting while workers are dying under dangerous working conditions. Is race classification more important than the lives of workers?
Helen Suzman recently said that, in the end, the real reason apartheid was abolished was that it just could not be implemented. There weren't enough whites to do the jobs and the trade union rights given to black people meant that the situation had to change. Similarly, one day, race quotas in the workplace will be abolished because they could not be enforced. There are simply not enough skilled people - of any colour - to fill the vacancies. The skills crisis is so acute that anybody who can do the job, regardless of skin colour, should be appointed. [Applause.]