KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER OF LABOUR, MILDRED OLIPHANT, ON THE
OCCASION OF THE BMF NATIONAL CONFERENCE HELD ON 30 SEPTEMBER 2014 IN
JOHANNESBURG
Programme Director
President of the Black Management Forum and your Leadership Team
Managing Director of BMF
Esteemed Members of BMF
Distinguished Guests
Members of the Fourth Estate (Media)
Ladies and Gentlemen
Thirty eight years ago was the most difficult period in the history of this
country and perhaps the most dangerous for the black people in general
and Africans in particular. To start an organisation, whose main purpose
was to influence socio-economic transformation of our country, in pursuit
of socio-economic justice, fairness and equity during time in our history,
was a step closer to being sent to jail or even worse, loose your life.
When back in 1976, a former student activist, Mr Eric Mafuna, an active
policy-maker in human resources development, Martin Sebeshoa, a
Group Industrial Relations Consultant, Don Ncube, a director of the ANC's
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Department of Manpower Development as it was called then, George
Negota, together with their comrades conceptualise and formed Black
Management Forum as we know it today, was daring on their part and
extremely cheeky, if not provocative, for the Apartheid regime. After thirty
eight years, the organisation they helped establish, is still here and thanks
is fitting to those men and women who took the giant step, against all
odds, to form this movement.
Of course the Forum saw many astute Presidents in the later years of its
evolution, some of them are here in this conference. To you we say, thank
you for your foresight, resolute stance and leadership. In 1976, you could
have quite easily established a BMF with a different and less threatening
vision and mission, but you chose the one for the common good. I can
also say without any fear of contradiction that there is a lot in common
between what this government wants to achieve and the vision and
mission of your organisation. For that reason, your organisation can best
be described as the friend of the people. Perhaps this could be attributed
to the fact that your organisation does not have to read in books, or be
told by someone else, about the pain that goes with being marginalised.
You have the first experience of this in your daily lives.
South Africa is a better place today that it was before 1994, and believe
you me, your organisation will be forgiven for claiming some credit for this
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because indeed you have contributed significantly in this regard. I am
sure however that you also understand that the revolution to transform
this nation is only but just beginning and there is still a long way to go. To
win this revolution we need to stand together and marshal all our forces
in pursuit of the radical social and economic transformation that the
President touched on in the State of the Nation Address a few months
ago. “All hands on Deck” should be the motto in moving the country
forward.
Mr President, it is also correct that as we ramp up the advance to true
transformation, the noises from those who are against progress will
become louder and they will use every possible space to articulate their
jaundice views. I have also observed Mr President that our intellectuals
are very thin in the public domain and they are completely outnumbered
by the disciplines of doom and gloom. I will return to this point later in my
input.
When I went through your programme, I was struck and fascinated by one
of the themes, namely: 20 years into democracy, what is holding South
Africa’s economic transformation back? This is important because until
you know what the problem is, it is difficult to think about corrective
measures. I am therefore pleased that this is your starting point. Often it
is not the answers that are important but the questions that are posed.
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We often do not ask questions that take us out of our comfort zones and
we have become perfected the art of finding someone else to blame, but
ourselves.
Why is good news not celebrated in this country, and why does it not make
the front papers of our tabloids or headlines in the electronic media. The
pages of our newspapers and journals carry bad news on a daily basis
where anything positive is placed in corners where no one has an appetite
to look. The few progressive columnists that still have dedicated slots in
some newspapers and journals often get caught in the negative current
affairs wave and as a result you struggle to understand their viewpoints
sometimes. The Agents of change and champions of true transformation
have been crowded out of all strategic places. I know that the argument
is that good news does not sell newspapers, well, if that is indeed the
case, what is our plan B?
The Constitution of this land is hailed as one of the best in the world and
there are not many people who have expressly stated their objections to
all, or any part of the constitution as being backwards. It is precisely for
that reason that our constitution is considered a source of inspiration for
many in this country and beyond our borders I dare say. Then why this
aggressive opposition to any attempt to give meaning to the very essence
of the constitution, advancing transformation, to be exact?
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When the ruling party came into power in 1994, the leadership knew very
well that transforming South Africa was not going to be easy given its
many decades of colonial and apartheid history.
Nevertheless as a
collective we had the courage to rise up to the challenge despite all the
road-blocks and obstacles.
We also knew that providing service delivery to over 35 million people then
was not going to be easy. It is not rocket science to understand that it
was inevitable that it was going to be a huge challenge to satisfy the needs
of the majority given the skewed infrastructure that was designed to cater
for just about 5 million people at the time.
What the government has achieved in the 20 years of its rule is
remarkable if not a miracle. The Government has achieved so much
under extremely difficult circumstances against many doomsayers and
unpatriotic postures of those who are unhappy to see progress. It is
absurd to note that there are still people today, who out of sheer political
expediency, still argue that the South Africa of today is not different from
that of yester-year. Some people are unashamedly economical with the
truth let alone integrity and honesty. Those who are sincere, admit that
the South Africa of Today is better than that of yesterday and if the current
trends are anything to go by, the South Africa of tomorrow will be by far
better than South Africa Today.
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The enemies of progress find every reason to rubbish the efforts of
government and turn a blind eye on hard fought achievements of this
administration. This is done in the name of cheap politicking and utterly
being disingenuous. Our people can see the truth beyond the cheap
propaganda and will not be fooled by those who want to derail the
transformation agenda of this Government.
Mr President; Others have gone to the extreme extent of adopting doctrine
of, and I quote; “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it
will be believed”
The National Development Plan is hailed as the major breakthrough by
many who are friends of progress, The New Growth path has delivered
on many fronts, the Industrial Policy Action Plan continues to break new
grounds and the Infrastructure Development Programme continues to
change the South African landscape for the better.
Well, Talk is cheap, there are many who are vocal about their
unambiguous support for the NDP. Who has seen their concrete plans of
what they are going to do in support of the NDP? At least you know about
what government is doing and planning to do on the NDP front.
Ladies and Gentlemen; I always understood BMF to be an organisation
that stands for the development and empowerment of managerial
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leadership primarily amongst black people within organisations and the
creation of managerial structures and processes, which reflect the
demographics, and values of the wider society.
This is an excellent
mission, but unless it translates into demonstrable gains, we will continue
to have the unfinished business as some call it.
The country’s vision 2030 as captured in the National Development Plan
will not, on its own materialise unless we canvass disciplined cadres and
organisations that understand the game plan and its reasons for being.
Government, with all the best will in the world, cannot achieve this alone,
we need working partnerships with all and sundry.
The trouble of course is that some people bad-mouth the country at every
opportunity that they find. Recently a reputable foreign investor was
sharing his experience of South Africa at an international platform and he
went on as follows; I quote “South Africa is a very unsafe country. I stayed
there for three months, and I did not experience any life threatening
incident, and I went to Mexico and stayed there for three days, and in the
three days I got robbed twice.” Close quote. The audience was baffled
by why then the Foreign Investor opined the way he did. When they asked
him why then does he say South Africa was unsafe when he had no life
threatening experience. He said - that is what the South Africans say.
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Off course the South African situation is very peculiar in that it is the
minority that is expected to affirm the majority and there are not many
precedents of this phenomenon where we possibly draw some lessons.
For this reason we do not have many options but to craft home-brewed
interventions and to be extremely careful not to unnecessarily overstep
the delicate and fundamental tenets enshrined in our constitution.
Can you imagine Ladies and Gentlemen, if inequality was liquidated in
our society how that would harness harmony and social cohesion? Just
imagine a society where the colour of your skin did not determine what job
you get, what kind of food you eat, what kind of house you can afford,
where you can live and to which schools you could take your children?
I cannot understand in a society where there is no one who openly admits
to have supported apartheid, where everyone agree that apartheid was a
crime to humanity and that it was evil, yet there are still people who
disagrees with the thrust of the Employment Equity and Affirmative Action
policies.
Charlotte Maxeke, the first Women Graduate in South Africa and the first
National President of the National Council of Women, her advice to
women in 1938, goes something like this, and I quote, “This work is not
for yourselves – kill that spirit of “self”, and do not live above your people,
but live with them. If you can rise, bring someone with you. Do away with
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that fearful animal of jealousy - kill that spirit, and love one another as
brothers and sisters.” Close quote. This calls for selflessness in the
common interest added Ellen Khuzwayo. Please take note that this is the
opposite of the current practice of kicking the ladder once one reaches the
top. Makes you think, doesn’t it?
The single biggest threat to the deepening and consolidation of our
national transformation Revolution is it’s slow pace and the non-committal
posture of those that must drive the processes. This no doubt Ladies and
Gentlemen carries the real risk of our people beginning to lose hope and
fate in what we are trying to do.
Mr President, Compatriots and Friends; Having said all of these, what are
some of the ironies about where we are in our journey to real
transformation, starting with BMF’s own Mission which states, and I quote;
“The Black Management Forum stands for the development and
empowerment of managerial leadership primarily amongst black
people within organisations and the creation of managerial
structures and processes which reflect the demographics and
values of the wider society.
You are an essential component of intelligentsia that manages the
economy of this country in both public and private sectors. Management
failure in either private sector or public sector, somewhat implies failure
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on your part. Would I be correct therefore in asserting that, if many people
say workplace transformation has failed or is moving too slowly, it means
that BMF is far from accomplishing its mission?
The BMF’s has, in its thirty eight years of existence, helped many black
people to move up the cooperate ladder in their respective organisations.
There are many black people who were prominent BMF activists who now
sit at the top of their respective organisations and some run their own
businesses. Can we say Mr President that by virtue of their connection
with BMF, their organisations are the shining examples of how
transformation should be done?
Most of the BMF activists end up in key strategic positions in corporates
where they are often in charge of transformation and/or people
development functions. How has this translated as a catalyst for change?
Is it the same phenomenon that Charlotte Maxeke warned members of
the National Council of women against in 1938, when she said when you
rise take someone with you? Are BMF members, who have made to the
top, are they not, kicking the ladder once they are there?
You talk about resistance to change, what you are doing in a practical way
to advance the transformation agenda? Where is the BMF-specific
programme of action? Your Marshal Plan, so to speak.
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Why do we still have acute skills shortages when a sizeable chunk of the
BMF members head human capital development in their organisations?
BMF is accredited for being the Architect and midwife of the Employment
Equity Dispensation in this country, why, more often than not, BMF is not
standing up when its very brainchild is being attacked? Is that these BMF
senior managers fear that by so doing they run the risk of limiting their
career prospects?
A number of companies that have been subjected to DG reviews for non–
compliance
with
the
Employment
Equity,
their
Human
Capital
Development Divisions and Industrial relations Divisions are, in most
cases, headed by black people who grew up in the BMF tradition. Why is
this case?
Mr President I do not expect to get answers to these here and now, but it
will be important that when you conduct your introspection, these are
some of the issues that you may need to look, because indeed they come
across as ironies.
Government and other stakeholders should not be absolved from taking
responsibility for the pedestrian manner in which the Employment Equity
and the broader economic transformation has been implemented to date.
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Indeed we must all take that responsibility and do something about these
challenges.
Government noted with great interest that BMF decided, based on its
analysis of the 2013/14 employment equity report, not to award any of the
designated Employers the best performing Award this time around.
I have observed that in South Africa, whilst the majority of our enabling
legislations promote voluntarism and self-regulation, social partners often
do not take full advantage of these thereby giving policy makers no choice,
but to introduce more and more regulations as a way to cajole compliance.
You know that some people are saying certain designated employers are
quite comfortable to ignore the law and instead budget for penalties when
caught out. Some have perfected their art of taking advantage of the fact
that at times some laws appear not to have real teeth. Let me warn those
who are involved in these mal-practices that the new Employment Equity
Act gives the Inspectors real teeth, so if you step out of line the Inspectors
will bite you and, believe you me, they will feel the impact.
As you are all aware that with effect from 1 August 2014, the Amended
Employment Equity Act, kicked in. The new law introduces at least five
fundamental aspects which will change the EEA environment and these
include but not limited to;
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1. Equal pay for work of equal value;
2. Strengthening inspectorate and Enforcement
3. Increasing penalties for non-compliance
4. Giving the Director General, Powers to question the employment
equity plans if they are flawed.
5. Furthermore, in order to facilitate easy access to justice, the new
law gives the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration
(CCMA) powers not only to conciliate, but to arbitrate and issue
awards on cases relating to unfair discrimination.
Whilst these, and many other amendments, are with good intentions,
ensuring compliance will be even more difficult. With the commitment of
the Managers in this auditorium who understand that transforming the
work place is a National Developmental imperative and a right thing to do,
we hope therefore that it will enhance a positive spin-off in terms of
compliance going forward.
Those who are already calling for sunset clauses on the Employment
Equity and Affirmative action when the sun has even arisen must think
again.
Well having good policies is one thing, implementing them to achieve the
intended end is totally another? It is often said that you want to see a
country with best policies and discussion documents, go to South Africa,
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equally, they say if you want to learn how not to implement policies you
must also go to South Africa. This is a very bad repertoire and we must
do everything in our power to change this perception, real or perceived.
Programme Director;
with regards to the recent industrial relations
unrests, you will recall that the Deputy President has been given the
assignment to drive the engagement with the social partners to seek a
better understanding of the underlying causes of prolonged strikes and
violence that often accompany strikes of late. A holistic gap analysis of
the current Industrial Relations architecture, should be a joint and several
responsibilities of all social partners, and each social partner should
channel their respective views to the forth-coming Deputy President-led
dialogue session which is scheduled for 04 November 2014. Government
will also conduct it’s own gap analysis and suggestions on how to deal
with the challenges, and likewise channel its views to the same process.
In addition The Deputy President of South Africa announced that he will
be convening the Labour Relations Indaba and will also engage social
partners on the modalities of introducing a national minimum wage in
South Africa. Stakeholders are encouraged to use this platform to air their
views on the concept in general and the possible architecture that will be
appropriate for South Africa. .
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You may also be aware that the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on
Labour has commenced public hearings on the National minimum wage
to take the public pulse on the concept. The Department of Labour will
initiate its own public hearings on the matter and the dates will be
announced shortly. Your contribution and participation in these events will
be highly appreciated and the views of organisations like the BMF will be
invaluable.
There are some very real issues in the industrial relations environment
which are similar to the issues that keep the leadership of BMF awake at
night, such as;
The ever increasing wage gap between the top and the workers at the
bottom end of the scale,
The appalling living conditions of workers in the mining industry, generally
speaking? Some have argued that the recent strikes in the platinum belt
and the metal and engineering were more about the lack of transformation
and inequality in the work place than the conventional issues.
What can we do together in order to leverage on our individual strengths
to advance the course;
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1. Will it be unreasonable to expect BMF to come to the defence of the
Employment Equity or any other credible intervention that seeks to
advance social and economic transformation?
2. Can I humbly ask the BMF intellectuals to crowd-in the public
discourse on issues of transformation; Let’s see some written pieces
in the mainstream media and social media platforms to counter the
misinformation campaign that is out there to rubbish genuine efforts
to advance transformation;
3. Is there a case for this leadership collective, to establish the basis
for BMF support on the proposed concept of setting up the national
minimum wage in South Africa?
4. Will it be too much to propose that we establish an adhoc steering
committee that will identify strategic areas of possible cooperation
across the broad spectrum of issues of mutual interest?
5. Whilst working on the modalities of BMF’s participation on the
Commission of Employment Equity, is it possible for the BMF in
the interim, to establish a structured working relationship with the
Commission?
6. Finally and more importantly, is it possible for BMF cadres to join
us in our efforts to monitor and enforce compliance?
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Starting immediately after this conference, a process to scope what we
can do together in the short medium to long term, must commence, I wish
to propose.
We must also agree on the time frames to deliver the joint action
programme.
To conclude, Let me say that I am encouraged by your efforts to move
towards evidence based advocacy and lobbying. Please continue to
invest in this and possibly up the ante by including in your advocacy and
some lobbying, getting your hands dirty a bit. It’s good to address the likeminded people, others say preaching to the converted but the
sustainability of our partnership must translate into real progress. Our
mission is to change things for the better. Our door is open for
engagement on your transformation master plan once it is completed.
I wish you all the best in your conference and I hope that the resolutions
and declarations will build on the sound foundation laid by your forebearers as BMF.
I am aware that you have established a process to investigate the
stumbling blocks to social and economic transformation. Please include
us in your mailing list when the report and recommendations are ready for
public consumption.
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Together let’s move South Africa forward.
I thank you
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