Working towards developing a social compact

Over the last year, the government has been working with social partners to finalise a comprehensive social compact to grow the economy, create jobs and combat hunger. This has seen a team led by the ministers of Employment and Labour, Trade, Industry and Competition, and Finance meeting with social partners to map out the priorities that must be reflected in the new social compact. 

A framework for a social compact is under development and will identify priority actions to achieve higher levels of investment and growth, increase employment, unleash the dynamism of the private sector, protect the rights of workers, expand support for the unemployed and tackle extreme poverty, said President Ramaphosa.

“The proposed compact builds on many of the key tenets of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, such as job creation, accelerating structural reform and growth-enhancing measures, the expansion of mass public employment and social protection, and driving economic inclusion through greater entrepreneurial activity,” he said.

President Ramaphosa said that while much had been done in creating the social compact, the government’s work was not yet complete.

“We were not able to conclude a social compact in the timeframe we had envisaged because a number of new circumstances emerged that made it difficult for social partners to forge a consensus,” the President said.

“The social partners have expressed their intention to conclude a social compact and have continued to work on a framework to enable joint action in key areas such as energy, transport and logistics, employment creation and skills development, investment and localisation, social protection, crime and corruption.”

However, a number of other compacts have been concluded among social partners, said President Ramaphosa.

“We see the commitment of all social partners in the compacts that have been forged to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and undertake the largest vaccination programme in our history. We have seen it in initiatives like the Solidarity Fund that mobilised society, citizen activism and funding to achieve common goals, and in partnerships to end gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), and to respond to the effects of climate change,” he said.

“We have seen the benefits of this approach to promote investment and to develop master plans in sectors of the economy such as automotive, clothing and textiles, poultry, sugar, agriculture and global business services.”

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President Ramaphosa added that the master plans that have been concluded are supporting the revival of their sectors, the injection of investment by the private sector and the creation of new jobs and livelihoods.  

“We are pleased that social partners, particularly business, has [sic] been providing support to implement the Energy Action Plan in the spirit of social compacting. Similarly, we have developed a close working partnership with both labour and community in supporting other aspects of the energy crisis response,” he said.

Adding to the President’s sentiments during the SONA debate, Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi said social compact initiatives are critical to promoting job creation.

Minister Nxesi said that there is a broad agreement from the social partners on eight priority interventions, and they anticipate that five or more economic sector compacts will come out of this process, as with the Eskom social compact.

Minister Nxesi added that the department is in the process of establishing an Employment Creation Coordination Committee. The committee is to be chaired by the Deputy President and will include Economic, Infrastructure and Employment Ministers, organised business and labour, and community organisations.

The committee will be tasked with ensuring intergovernmental alignment, guided by pro-employment policies; a relevant skills and educational framework; the extension of social protection to workers, and support for work-seekers.

“The committee will further be tasked with ensuring an ecosystem that promotes sustainable enterprise development, self-employment and positive regulation for the informal sector, and a labour migration policy and a legislative framework that manages migration to and from South Africa to benefit the economic needs of our country,” said Minister Nxesi.

In the meantime, the implementation of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan will continue, the president has stressed.

“The work to grow the economy and create jobs is going ahead with the support of all economic stakeholders. There has been significant progress … in implementing economic reforms, expanding public and social employment programmes in an unprecedented manner, working to bring new electricity generation capacity online and mobilising new investment,” he said.

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Sources:

SA Gov | SA News