Mungo Soggot
Parliamentary hearings confirmed this week that the only consensus between business, labour and government over the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill is that there is no consensus.
Business South Africa (BSA) came in for a drubbing at the hearings as it battled to convince African National Congress MPs that the Bill would trigger job losses and stifle investment. The broadside against the business delegation overshadowed a valiant effort by the chair of the portfolio committee on labour, ANC MP Godfrey Oliphant, to inject humour into the proceedings, which degenerated into an ideological slanging match.
Fielding a question from ANC MP Brian Bunting about what business had done to encourage redistribution, the head of the BSA delegation, Iscor chief Hans Smith, replied: “I have invested to create jobs and that is redistribution of wealth at the core of our problem. To redistribute and to get all the people in South Africa jobs so that they can walk tall is the greatest redistribution strategy this country can follow. I am getting into the political arena and I apologise for that. But I do get quite emotional about this.”
“Viva comrade,” exclaimed Oliphant. ANC MP Elizabeth Thabethe, followed Bunting’s line, asking Smith whether he could clarify how much profit business would reap even if it was forced to shed jobs. “Being emotional doesn’t mean that you don’t have to answer the actual question. They are only looking at what is going to get them more money and not what is going to be done to solve problems.”
“Fetch the cold water,” Oliphant suggested.
Smith’s main challenge came from ANC MP Phillip Dexter who said he did not accept Smith’s argument that the Bill would lead to job losses as no jobs had been created without it. The MP muttered that Smith was not answering his question, when the steel boss said he had slashed Iscor’s workforce by 35% in the face of import tariff cuts, but that the “bulk of the re-engineering is behind us. That to a very large extent causes people to say that without the Bill we have lost jobs.”
Dexter later accused BSA of trying to mislead the committee with a chart showing the relationship between working hours and growth. The figures featured some exceptions. “This is not a scientific argument that I am hearing,” Dexter said. He then said that during BSA’s discussions about the future of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) in the wake of the battle over the Bill, he had detected an “undertone to the input that all this negativity spells nothing but doom and gloom for us [business]. I sense that there is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy and you want this to happen.”
Smith replied: “I am amazed that there are members speaking in this manner at this important committee.” He cited the millions business had invested in South Africa and reaffirmed his commitment to Nedlac.
Dexter tried to hit back, but was gagged by Oliphant. “It’s getting hot, get the water,” said the chair, whose committee will next consider amendments to the Bill.