Hon Chair, hon Minister, ladies and gentlemen and all comrades, let me start by congratulating the people's movement, which is the ANC, on their victory in the local government elections. [Applause.]
During our hectic and frenetic campaigning, I met with a large group of mine and metal workers of Sekhukhuneland wearing bright red t-shirts with the slogan, "United we bargain, divided we beg". This was an inspiration and it brought back memories of the bitter liberation struggle of the oppressed people of our country.
We assure workers that they have the right to strike and petition, the right to belong to the unions of their choices - this is strongly entrenched in our Constitution. These are rights which we fought for, side by side with the workers, sparing neither strength nor courage until fascism was finally defeated.
However, Chair, the cold, dead hand of apartheid is still throttling our people in some parts of the country.
The central task of the ANC is to build a developmental state with the strategic, political, economic, administrative and technical capacity to pursuit the objectives of the national democratic revolution. It is this task that the ANC must assess as we propose recommendations that will qualitatively improve the functioning of government during this Budget Vote debate.
The critical functions that arise from this task derive from the national democratic revolution and its impact upon the transformation of the state and governance, and in particular the ongoing reorganisation of the powers and functions of the state. For this to be successfully achieved, a thorough ongoing assessment and an evaluation of progress, clear responses aimed at strengthening all spheres of government and mass popular participation in the programmes of government are essential.
Like most countries, South Africa is a signatory to the International Labour Organisation, ILO, and as a result, has ratified key conventions of the body. By virtue of being a member state, we have an obligation to respect, promote and realise, in good faith and in accordance with the ILO constitution, the fundamental rights contained in the eight core ILO conventions. These include Conventions 87 and 98, which protect freedom of association, the right to organise and collective bargaining.
It follows that South Africa, being a member state, should respect, promote and realise these rights through domestic legislation. As such, it is invidious to measure such compliance with those obligations negatively. In order to translate these international values, Chapter 2 of the South African Constitution, the Bill of Rights, affirms protection of the freedom of association and labour relations, key among these being the right to fair labour practices.
Based on the South African Constitution and related policies and prescripts, and learning from the various ILO conventions and International Labour Standards, the Department of Labour administers the following pieces of legislation: the Labour Relations Act, Act 66 of 1995; the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Act 75 of 1997; the Employment Equity Act, Act 55 of 1998; the Unemployment Insurance Act, Act 30 of 1996; the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Act 85 of 1993; and, lastly, the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, Act 130 of 1993, Coida.
We are aware that the Department of Labour has developed a code of conduct which will underpin the professionalisation of the work of the inspectorate in support of ruling out any alleged malpractices amongst inspectors. Hon Minister of Labour, Comrade Nelisiwe Oliphant said:
The commitment to the values in the code will ensure that the Labour Inspectorate operates in a transparent and accountable manner. Implementation of the code will also provide protection for all employees of the Labour Inspectorate in the proper exercise of their role.
She further affirmed that honesty, justice and courtesy form the moral basis which constitutes the foundation for ethics within the profession. Essentially, this would ensure the additional role of inspectors, being that of ensuring that labour laws are given practical effect and become actual standards for work.
During the 2011-12 financial year, the Inspection and Enforcement Services programme received a total budget allocation of R386,7 million which is allocated to the current payments, with a total of R311,1 million allocated to compensation of employees and R75,6 million to goods and services. The Inspection and Enforcement Services programme's budget increased by 5,5% in nominal terms from R366,6 million in 2010-11 to R386,7 million in 2011-12, whereas, in real terms, it increased by 0,65%.
The Registration Inspection and Enforcement Services' subprogramme reflects a rand increase of R17,6 million, which is a nominal increase of 25,0% and a real increase of 19,27%. We welcome this.
The other subprogrammes, such as the compliance, monitoring and enforcement's budgets, increased by R5,4 million from R261,9 in 2010-11 to R267,3 million in 2011-12. This represents an increase of 2,1% in nominal terms, but also a decrease of 2,61% in real terms.
The training of staff subprogramme received a budget increase of R0,7 million, which represents a percentage increase of 18,42% in nominal terms. There are currently 1 095 labour inspectors around the country who will inspect 10 000 workplaces during the 2011-12 financial year. In addition, the department is targeting a total of 130 000 inspections from which 200 will be conducted on silica dust.
Before I conclude, Chairperson, I wish to raise a serious issue, which is of great concern to me and the committee and all the people of South Africa. Seventeen years into democracy, we are still faced with occurrences of extreme racism and oppression within our Sheltered Employment Factories, SEF, in the Western Cape and some parts of the country.
Whilst conducting oversight at these factories, a black employee indicated to the committee that he is still referred to as a "kaffir" and was told to use a different toilet because he is black. This is a glaring example of pockets of racism as earlier referred to.
Sheltered Employment Factories were created in 1943 by the apartheid government to rehabilitate war veterans from the Second World War, based on a social welfare model under the auspices of social welfare and the then Department of Labour. Due to the termination of preferential procurement policy, the Sheltered Employment Factories have lost sizeable income over the years, severely crippling the disabled people's capacity ... In conclusion, the Committee on Labour supports the Budget Vote. [Time expired.] [Applause.]