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Sensible outcome likely in labour broking debate
November 3, 2009
Signs now that labour broking in all its many forms will not be outlawed, just those businesses and individuals who place workers in temporary jobs without following the law - commonly called the bakkie brigade - means the temperature of the debate has cooled slightly.
The industry agreed that those operating outside an association, and therefore those that have chosen not to abide by a code of ethics, should be dealt with.
The Department of Labour seems to have recognised the role temporary employment services have in filling gaps in the workplace. Of course, this realisation came with the knowledge the government also enjoyed the services of such agencies.
Research by the Confederation of Associations in the Private Employment Sector (Capes) shows that in terms of atypical work - outsourcing, labour brokers and contract workers - 30 percent of the workforce are doing this kind of atypical work. Capes said 4 percent of the total workforce was employed via employment agencies.
Greater regulation of the industry to clear out those operating outside the law should not knock employment further as people being employed through dodgy operators will find work through legitimate temporary employment agencies.
But outlawing the industry entirely could hurt employment. One small business that outsources its human resource function plans to expand but it is holding back on employing 50 more people until there is greater clarity on labour broking.
The ability to employ people temporarily means companies can scale up or down depending on demand, which is an incentive to use labour intensive practices in their businesses. If labour broking was banned companies could find other solutions rather than employing more people.
So it seems that with more sense prevailing on both sides of the debate, stricter regulations of the industry, such as making it compulsory for temporary employment agencies to be registered with an industry board that sets standards of operation, will clean up the industry's image. More importantly, vulnerable workers will get greater protection.
Cellular revelations muted
No doubt between now and next June one thing that will become clear to us all is the relationship between the interconnection rates cellphone operators charge each other and the costs that we consumers are forced to pay to these companies.
It is rather troubling that the focus of most of the challenges to the might of the cellphone giants has been on the interconnection rates. Even if the parliamentary committee on communications persuades the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) to get the companies to cut their interconnection rates, it is not certain that this will have any effect on consumer charges. Indeed, it is unclear whether a reduction in interconnection rates will have any impact on the profits of cellphone operators other than Cell C.
After a fairly troubled time in front of the committee last week and at an earlier hearing, Icasa did manage to end off on an encouraging note. It has set itself a detailed plan of action in which it has identified key tasks, which have to be completed by June - out from the original March deadline. It has also identified possible obstacles to completion of the tasks and told the committee it would bring in technical experts - almost entirely from Europe - to help with the project.
The Icasa councillors didn't embrace the committee's earlier suggestion that they would all agree to be booted out if they did not make the deadline. But they did acknowledge that in terms of their performance management contracts completion of this project would be considered a "key performance indicator".
Of course the relationship between failing on a "key performance indicator" and security of employment might be as vague as the relationship between interconnection rates and prices paid by consumers.
Buses score political points
The awkward part of becoming a governing party is that someone has to take responsibility not only for the good things that happen but also those projects which appear to have gone somewhat awry.
So it is with Cape Town's Integrated Rapid Transit (IRT) system. After the DA and its coalition partners came to power in Cape Town in 2006, this became part of its responsibility - and by association with then mayor Helen Zille.
It is almost amusing to see Zille, now Western Cape premier, sounding like the ANC usually sounds about the DA. Zille complained: "The ANC has no objective facts and is simply seeking to score political points." This follows an ANC statement saying that Zille must take responsibility for the city's mismanagement - as they called it - of the IRT system. "We are appalled," they screeched, after it was found that the transport system's costs skyrocketed from R1.3 billion to R4.1bn.
It seems like chicken feed compared to the costs escalation of the Airbus A400M military transport aircraft with suggestions that its price ticket has risen from R17bn - for eight aircraft - to R47bn.
Zille said she would welcome her role in the IRT project being put "under a very powerful microscope". She was happy to be held accountable on the findings "of an objective evaluation", she said, noting that there was a paper trail. She noted that the Gautrain's cost had jumped from R8bn to R25bn. Johannesburg's Bus Rapid Transport also faced "significant escalation".
She had never mentioned any individual by name "nor sought to shift the blame to any person", she said, after sections of the media named a city official who was facing a disciplinary inquiry.
Zille, however, opted to score a political point. "It is worth noting that when the multi-party government came to power in Cape Town, there were only two transport engineers left in the city. The rest had been stripped by the ANC administration."
Edited by Peter DeIonno. With contributions from Samantha Enslin-Payne, Ann Crotty and Donwald Pressly
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