Chairperson, hon members, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, when I addressed Parliament during the department's Budget Vote debate on 15 May 2008, I dedicated my speech to those workers of this country who died at their workplaces because of preventable accidents. It is with regret and a deep sense of sadness that I have to do the same this year.
Over 80 workers died in Welkom after they were buried alive. Kode kube nini na sikhala, sinxakama, sinqada? Kode kube nini na abasebenzi besifa ngolunya ngolu hlobo? Kunini singcwaba? Kunini silila, siziphethe ngeenkophe, izifuba zihuba-huba? Ingathi ithuba lokubambisana lifikile. Le ayisafuni bahloli beli sebe, ifuna kuqulwe, kuliwe luluntu jikelele. Baphi na abantu! Safa isizwe zizandawana namaxhwili!; safa isizwe!; lafa uluntu!; bafa abantu!; bafa kubukelwe!; bafa simangalisiwe!; bafa sithe nkamalala! Naxa kunjalo, akulahlwa mbeleko ngakufelwa. Utsho uS E K Mqhayi ukuba "Kuf'omnye kakade, mini kwakhiw'omnye; kukhonza mnye ukuze kuphile abanye."
Sibila sisoma siphucula ukusebenza ngengqiniseko kwabahloli bethu. Side saqesha intsumpa yabo jikelele, uThobile Lamati, ukuqinisekisa nokunyanzelisa ukuthotyelwa komthetho. Ilishwa nje lelokuba abahloli bayabaleka, baya kumarhiwu aluhlaza. Ukunqanda oku ke, siye saphakamisa nje ngokuncinane amanqanaba okwamkela kwabo.
Akulula ukubanqanda ukuba bangahambi, kuba ayininzanga imali abayamkelayo. Akulula ke ukuba eli sebe liguqule le meko ngenxa yezigaba ezilandelwayo ngurhulumente kwanothethwano nemibutho yabasebenzi oluhamba ngokonwabu ngamanye amaxesha. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[For how long must we make a protesting outcry, express our dissatisfaction and reprimand the culprits? How long must it take for workers to die in such inhumane conditions? For how long must we bury our loved ones? For how long must we cry, tears welling in our eyes, for how long must we be inconsolable? The time for us to work hand in hand has arrived. This no longer requires only inspectors of this department, but we also need to take up arms and everyone must join the fight. Where are the people? The nation is suffering from the scourge of illegal and marauding miners. The nation is dying; the community is dying; people are dying whilst we are looking on in astonishment and doing absolutely nothing. Even so, we cannot lose hope. According to S E K Mqhayi, someone has to die when another is born, and only one person serves in order for others to survive.
We are striving to improve the way in which our inspectors work in order for them to execute their tasks with confidence. We have even appointed an inspector-general, Thobile Lamati, to ensure and also to enforce compliance with the law. The unfortunate part is that the inspectors resign for greener pastures. In order to stop this, we have slightly raised their remuneration packages.
It is not easy to stop them from resigning because they earn meagre salaries. It is not easy for the department to change the situation because of the procedure that has to be followed by the government and the negotiations with unions which are at times moving at a snail's pace.]
Despite this challenge, we have realised our vision of establishing the balance between conducting inspections and conducting meaningful, sustainable inspections. A total of 153 697 workplaces were visited across the country, and the compliance level has increased by 5%, from 78% in 2008 to 83% in 2009. Furthermore, in line with this vision, several inspectors were trained to enforce substantive compliance with the requirements of the Employment Equity Act.
It is clear to me that our enforcement mechanisms have to be reviewed. It cannot be business as usual. The Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Compensation Commission need audit inspectors. We can never take that for granted. Employment equity needs human resource specialists to do inspections. Specialist inspectors are needed to conduct investigations. And lastly, inspections by government must be integrated. Some occupational health and safety inspections in the mines are done by the Department of Health, as you might know. Our view on occupational health and safety inspections in mines is that the Department of Health and the Department of Labour must work together, because working together, we can do more.
The House should note that in the previous financial year, career guidance counsellors were appointed. Their main function is to provide counselling services, mainly to assist unemployed people to access sustainable livelihoods in the labour market. We further undertook to invest more in the acquisition of artisan and technical skills during the past year.
The Setas were able to register 17 228 artisans in training, and over 109 351 workers completed training in scarce and critical skills through learnerships, apprenticeships and other learning programmes. Targets were well exceeded in this area.
With funding from the National Skills Fund, the department was able to assist 41 336 unemployed people to enter learnership programmes. This was also in excess of the target of 16 000 that we set for ourselves.
During these difficult economic circumstances, the presence of a reliable social protection system becomes a necessity. It is thus important to have measures in place to cushion the effects of harsh economic conditions.
For the past year ending March 2009, there were 300 000 more contributors on the database of the Unemployment Insurance Fund - 7,6 million in total compared to the end of March 2008, when there were 7,3 million in total. However, the UIF paid benefits to 627 244 beneficiaries equalling a total amount of R3,8 billion. This is a 31,7% increase in unemployment benefit payments compared to the previous year.
This is a clear reflection of the impact of the current economic crisis and it is continuing. To respond to this challenge, we intend to increase the period of benefits from eight to 12 months, whilst also increasing the monetary benefits. We were also looking at the possibility of including public servants. Those who have been following the labour market will be aware that for a very long time this debate could not be won. The former president of Cosatu, and now president of the Cope trade union, will remember this. But perhaps we were waiting for him to leave, because now we have agreed to include public servants in the UIF.
All these recommendations will require legislative amendments. As part of improving benefits to our citizens I have tasked the fund to look at the UIF Act. It is actually one of those ironies that to increase benefits from eight to 12 months - just to increase payment benefits - we must amend the law. We must bring the law to Parliament and follow that long process.
We think that we should have thought about regulations rather than putting everything in the law. However, the situation as it stands, is that even to do that, we must bring the amendment to this House, and I hope that hon members will support, and not vote against those amendments.
Although there is some progress in the restructuring of the Compensation Fund, I am not at all satisfied. That is one thing I am not going to do: I am not going to stand here and defend the Compensation Fund. That I will not do! As Mao, my teacher, the one with the red bible, once said: We should check our complacency and constantly criticise our shortcomings, just as we should wash our face or sweep the floor every day to remove the dirt and keep them clean.
There is a lot of dirt and a lot of sweeping that will have to take place at the Compensation Fund. If we have to chop heads, then we must chop heads, for the sake of our people. The portfolio committee must assist me to do this. Working together, we can do more.
Be that as it may, the fund has finalised the design of its management structure and additional persons have been appointed. A fully decentralised model for operations under the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act is currently being piloted in the Eastern Cape and a second pilot is being established in Limpopo.
In my view, we cannot centralise the claims. We have to decentralise the claims to the various provincial offices, and, if possible, the various labour centres. At present, all Coida payments are being made electronically rather than by cheque, and fraud has been reduced. The reason I say we may have to hit people, is precisely because we cannot continue to make promises, because this time around we in the ANC commit ourselves to service delivery, and are not merely promising service delivery.
The world is in a global financial, economic and social crisis, spreading like wildfire at high speed ... [Interjections.] It was a good thing that you left, because we were able to commit ourselves. Thanks for leaving, Willie!
Unfortunately, South Africa has not been spared. Job losses are mounting and poverty is deepening. Two hundred thousand jobs were lost between the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of this year. It is also likely to have an impact on informal employment, thereby worsening existing problems of vulnerability in our labour market.
The situation calls for a concerted and coherent response, by government working together with our social partners; a response that will contribute to the creation of decent jobs, sustainable enterprises, respect for workers' rights and protection of vulnerable people. Sceptics will say that the ship has already sailed and whatever we do will be too little, too late.