Unrevised Hansard National Assembly Wednesday, 1 September 2021
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UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WEDNESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2021 Page: 1 WEDNESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2021 ____ PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ____ The House met at 14:01. The House Chairperson Ms M G Boroto took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayer or meditation. ANNOUNCEMENT The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Hon members, as usual let me remind you that let us observe the protocols and let us not stay closer to each other. I can see some were. Something wrong ... IsiZulu: ... anishintsheni lapho. Nizohlangana ngaphandle. CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FOR APPROVAL BY PARLIAMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO) CONVENTION NO 190 UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WEDNESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2021 Page: 2 CONCERNING THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT IN THE WORLD OF WORK IN TERMS OF SECTION 231(2) OF CONSTITUTION, 1996 Ms M L DUNJWA: Thank you, hon House Chair, members of the august House, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, I hereby on behalf of the Portfolio Committee of Employment and Labour table the report. The committee met on the 20 June 2021 to consider the request for approval by Parliament of the International Labour Organisation Convention number 192 concerning the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work. The committee has considered this historic treaty and recommends in terms of section 23(1) of the Constitution that House approves the International Labour Organisation, ILO, Convention number 190. This convention 196 seeks to stipulate the international standard against violence and harassment at work, the values on which this treaty is based according with the founding provision of our own Constitution. The South African Constitution affirms human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms. Every first principle of the existence of the Republic of South Africa, the general conference of the International Labour Organisation Convention in Geneva, Switzerland, affirms UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WEDNESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2021 Page: 3 that all human beings irrespective of race creed or sex have the right to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity of economic security and equal opportunity. The general conference reaffirmed the relevance of the fundamental conventions of International Labour Organisation and record other relevant international instruments such as the universal declarations of human rights, the International Convention on civil and political rights, the International Convention on economic social and cultural rights, the International Convention on the elimination of all freedom of racial discrimination and the International Convention on the freedom of rights of all migrant workers and members of their families. By ratifying convention, all the member states of the International Labour Organisation recognise that right of everyone at the world of work are free from violence and harassment including gender-based violence and harassment. They also recognise that violence and harassment in the workplace continues a human rights violation and that violence and harassment is a threat of equal opportunities. It is unacceptable and incompatible with the decent work agenda. UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WEDNESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2021 Page: 4 Convention number 190 argues that the International Labour Organisation on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. While it may appear as a separate category of violence, the reality, is that domestic violence can affect employment, productivity, health and safety of workers. Any woman who has been a victim of domestic violence can relate to what I’m saying. It is the responsibility of government, employers and worker organisation to put in place measures to recognise, to respond and to address the impact of gender-based violence which is the most prevalent human rights violation in the world. Convention 190 entered into on 25th June 2021 in terms of section 231(2) of the Constitution. The International agreement binds the Republic of South Africa only after it has been approved by resolution in both Houses, the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces unless it is an international agreement of all technical administrative or executive nature. In accordance with our country’s membership of the International Labour Organisation and in line with the values in our Constitution, this House must vote to rectify this car Convention. By so doing, South Africa will ascend its place in the world as a leader or in respecting the inherent human UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WEDNESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2021 Page: 5 dignity of every worker. I so put this to the House for consideration. Thank you. Declarations of vote: Mr M BAGRAIM: Thank you, Madam Chair. On behalf of the Democratic Alliance state that the International Labour Organisation, ILO, Convention is a good one. The adoption of the convention deserves applause, even the document code ... [Inaudible.] ... all our regulations and violence and harassment at work is absolutely solid and cannot be a problem. However, it is a big however, the devil as always in South Africa, is the implementation, inspection, oversight, monitoring and consequence management. In South Africa it is disastrous. We have just celebrated Women’s Month. We look back at the great women of 1956 who protested the pass laws. Every year, our self-congratulatory governing party pledges that women will be safe in South Africa and they state in glowing terms what they’re going to do to ensure that the problem of gender- based violence and femicide is advanced and cleared once and for all. ... [Inaudible.] ... Every year the disgusting behaviour goes unchecked and gets worse. Our government is helpless, education is lacking. UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WEDNESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2021 Page: 6 The Department of Employment and Labour cannot afford a full complement of inspections. The inspectors have been left high and dry with no proper tools of their trade such as transport and computers. It is a rare occurrence for any business to actually see an inspector, let alone have an inspection. Complaints go unhidden and I promptly filed in file 13. Entities under the Department of Employment and Labour are dysfunctional, useless and unfortunately, they are also under resourced. Thanks to the monies is needed for SA Airways, SAA, Eskom and all the other parastatals. The workers of South Africa have been left unprotected. It is all very well to talk about elimination of violence and harassment at work and it’s all very well to have the approval of these lofty conventions regulations and even law. When Shakespeare wrote the laws and ours he obviously had no idea how bad the situation would be in South Africa today. Daily I received emails from our desperate workers who get no joy at all from the various governmental entities. The compensation fund is broken. The Unemployment Insurance Fund, UIF, is mortally wounded. Even the one entity that actually is world class is now so severely unfunded, with our Minister of Employment and Labour appears to be held bent on destroying that as quickly as possible. UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WEDNESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2021 Page: 7 It was Plato who said; those who are too smart to engage in politics are being punished by those governed by those who are dumber. It is true that the governors today in South Africa reflect exactly what Plato had to say, debates such as this sound fantastic, they give the politicians warm fuzzy feelings. Those in the governing party can go home feeling good. And, they after, trumpet that they’ve done an enormous amount to eliminate violence and harassment of the world of work. When the Democratic Alliance point out that the system is broken and highlights ways and means of fixing it, they are accused of all manner of wrongdoing. When I pointed this out to the labour portfolio meeting after six months of our pandemic that the UIF was useless, I was accused and threatened. The Chairperson threatened to with all sorts of fire and brimstone and said she was roundly supported by her colleague and also by the tainted officials from that department. The proof of the pudding was that the top management team of the UIF was thereafter suspended. When negative reports came back from the auditor-general. It was Voltaire who way back in the seventeen hundred who said, and I quote: “It is dangerous to be right when the UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WEDNESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2021 Page: 8 government is wrong” I waited for that threatened investigation into my behaviour, but needless to say it was not forthcoming. The ... [Inaudible.] ... to the International Labour Organisation Convention and despite the positive words. I don’t believe our current government will follow up with any action. It’s rather like the words of a humpty dumpty and the Alice Through the Looking-Glass who said, when I use a word humpty dumpty - said in the rather scornful tone - it means just what it means, neither more nor less. In essence, we can all sit here piously and approve the International Conventions and can even legislate the volumes to reflect the conventions. We can debate, argue, pass amendments, make fantastic speeches, but to no avail. The laws aren’t worth the paper they’re written on if they can’t be monitored and enforced. The Democratic Alliance made suggestions on the improvement of workplace regulations, has even given the country evidence of how a province can be run. The current quarterly review of unemployment shows that the Western province has performed superbly in comparison to other provinces. I implore the workers of South Africa to have a look at the empirical evidence on how workers thrive under the Democratic Alliance government.