Business and government have acknowledged that the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) needs to be more inclusive and representative if it is to have any chance of crafting a social compact that lifts the South African economy out of its current low-growth and job-shedding trap.

In an address to the twenty-fourth Nedlac Summit, in Johannesburg, Business Unity South Africa (Busa) president Sipho Pityana called for what he described as a “new agenda for sustainable change”. However, he questioned whether Nedlac in its current form was capable of being a catalyst for such an agenda.

“We must perhaps go back to the drawing board to review and refocus our agenda. Nedlac has to overhaul its governance system [and] its organisational and leadership capacity to enable us as social partners to navigate this new terrain,” Pityana argued.

Efforts should be made to ensure that the “apex forum” of government, labour, community and business was “as inclusive as possible of all critical players”.

“It is for that reason that Busa and the Black Business Council (BBC) reached an agreement that should see the latter back as an active participant in Nedlac. We encourage other constituencies to do the same. We need everyone inside the tent regardless of our differences,” he added.

Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi supported business’s call for greater inclusivity, warning that there was a growing perception that Nedlac was becoming little more than a “ritual”.

“We will revisit the founding protocols of Nedlac so that the organisation is truly representative. I know I am touching a raw nerve, but it cannot be correct that the biggest sectors of automotive and steel are outside,” Nxesi said, referring to the absence of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, following the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions’ (Cosatu’s) decision to expel the union from the federation in 2014.

“The same with the BBC, if it is representing small black businesses, they must come in.”

Nxesi insisted, however, that any new participants in Nedlac would still need to abide by Nedlac’s basic requirements, cautioning that, unless the requirements were met, there was a danger of “encouraging a proliferation of many unions or federations”.

“But we have to deal with these issues,” the Minister added.

Cosatu’s Bheki Ntshalintshali, who spoke on behalf of the labour constituency within Nedlac, questioned government’s commitment to Nedlac and the agreements made within the structure.

He pointed to the absence of Ministers from Nedlac meetings and the failure of South African Deputy President David Mabuza to address the summit as an indication that government was not prioritising Nedlac.

“If we can’t put Nedlac first and spend time here, then what are we really doing in Nedlac?”

'Flawed Process'

Ntshalintshali was especially scathing of the fact that the National Treasury had not consulted local stakeholders on its ‘Economic Transformation, Inclusive Growth and Competitiveness: Towards an Economic Strategy for South Africa’ paper, but had nevertheless found time to consult the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development before Finance Minister Tito Mboweni released the document for comment.

“What is that? Not only in Nedlac, but outside of Nedlac, what should we say? Should we celebrate and say: This is good? And when we reject it, we are told we did not read the document.

“For those coming in from government . . . they must know we have read this document many times – we have read each and every sentence of all 78 pages again and again and again. We know what is good, we know what is bad and we said come to Nedlac [and] table it, and we have got a response to that – anything else we are not going to engage on it,” Ntshalintshali said.

Nxesi acknowledged that several stakeholders had slammed the National Treasury’s process as “flawed”. Nevertheless, he urged critics of the paper to offer their input, arguing that the shape of the final policy paper would be determined through engagement.

A special Cabinet meeting, which included Deputy Ministers, was held on September 19 to debate the document and Minister in The Presidency Jackson Mthembu revealed that over 700 responses had been received by the National Treasury since the paper was published in late August.