The present public holidays system is messy and discriminatory. Ravi Naidoo discusses workable options
A HASTY look at the calendar could suggest that South Africa was miraculously transformed into a workers’ paradise during the past months. Public holidays, it seems, were being handed out liberally. All the more surprising, therefore, that the new government chose to take a hard line on June 16, regarded by most blacks as one of the most significant days of commemoration.
The June 16 debate has thrown the whole question of public holidays into sharp relief: which of the old holidays to leave on the calendar and which to scrap; which “struggle commemoration days” to add, and which to forsake in the interest of national unity or the economy.
Presently, South Africa has a differentiated public holidays system: depending on their occupations, different categories of employees are entitled to different numbers of paid public holidays. As a general rule, salaried staff tend to get more paid public holidays than blue-collar workers.
The Public Holidays Act is a key. The election holiday declared in terms of this Act on April 27, for example, covered the more privileged categories: state employees, office workers and shop workers. These are entitled to at least 11 public holidays a year, as well as any other special days _ such as April 28, the second election holiday. Because of the extra holidays declared in April and May, this group is due to get 14 days off this year. Most white workers are covered by this Act.
Most other employees, including factory workers, are covered by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, relevant collective agreements with their employers, or wage determinations where there are no collective agreements. They usually get less than 11 public holidays a year. Most black workers fall into this category.
That workers not covered by the Public Holidays Act have fewer paid public holidays has a racial and class bias, as more black and unsalaried workers are affected _ something the new South Africa cannot afford to keep.
This bias can be dealt with by reducing the number of statutory provisions governing public holidays. A single national set of public holidays covering all workers would be the best and most appropriate. The net effect of a unitary system would be to give many workers more holidays.
Conservatives would argue that the country can’t afford to be giving more workers more public holidays, but should instead be reducing the number.
How much does a public holiday cost? Conservative economists say something in the region of R1,4-billion a day. They appear to arrive at this figure by dividing total annual gross domestic product _ about R400-billion _ by the approximate number of working days in the year.
But this calculation is oversimplistic. Production is not necessarily lost through public holidays; it is deferred. In fact, if properly planned for, they could provide a good opportunity to create work through shift work and other arrangements.
Public holidays should also be seen as an investment towards a productive and stable workforce, not simply a cost. Observing June 16, for example, could go a long way towards improving the relationship between employer and worker, and result in higher productivity from a more motivated workforce. One need only calculate the cost of strikes over issues such as public holidays to realise the value of observing representative days.
If public holidays can be shown to be cost effective, is there an argument for increasing them? Not according to conservative economists and politicians telling us that we have too many already.
But a survey done by the National Labour and Economic Development Institute, Cosatu’s research institute, has shown that South Africa has fewer public holidays than many other countries. In total, 31 countries were surveyed. Twenty, or 65 percent, had more public holidays than the South African maximum of 11. More than half the countries surveyed were European. Southern African countries were not included; if they were, the percentage observing more than 11 public holidays would be much higher.
On which weekday should public holidays fall? Should they be observed on a fixed date or, say, on the nearest Monday, when the disruption to the economy is supposed to be less?
Stoppages before and after a mid-week public holiday can slow down the momentum of production and are potentially costly to the economy. Public holidays observed on the nearest Monday to the actual commemoration date are said to be less disruptive because they are an extension of Sunday’s production stoppage.
The problem with observing a public holiday on the nearest Monday is that it won’t suit many political and religious commemorations. Observe Christmas or May Day on the nearest Monday? Some exceptions may have to be made.
While the present differentiated system is messy and discriminatory, a single national set of public holidays could be criticised for being inflexible. Regional or sectoral/industrial holidays are mooted by some as better alternatives. Both are problematic, however.
In terms of the sectoral/industrial option, each industry would decide, through bargaining, which and how many days to observe. This system is similar to what South Africa has right now, and the disadvantages are easily seen. The obvious problem is that sectors where worker organisation is weak will suffer as they may not have the muscle to get a decent deal. Transferring responsibility from government to industry will increase the potential for industrial disturbances such as strikes. Co-ordination between sectors is also a problem, because what happens in a sector such as transport clearly has an impact on other sectors.
Regional public holidays are common in countries with strong federal traditions, such as Canada, where the regions add their own holidays to the national holidays. For South Africa, this could be a dangerous proposal: if the PWV were to shut down for a day, for instance, other regions will be greatly affected.
Also, regional holidays could further entrench a culture that militates against the notion of a unitary South Africa. It is therefore suggested that regions could instead commemorate certain days, such as Shaka Day in kwaZulu/Natal, without declaring them public holidays.
nRavi Naidoo is a researcher at Cosatu’s National Labour and Economic Development Institute. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Cosatu