MONDAY, 1.00PM:
AFTER months of delays over the planning of the Presidential jobs summit, Labour Minister Tito Mboweni has taken the plunge and proposed that it should happen no later than early July, at least two months earlier than anticipated.
It is not clear, however, whether this leaves sufficient time for the preparations required. Business has said it needs two months for advance negotiations, but has not yet finalised its proposals, preferring to wait on government making its own positions known.
A government position paper must still pass through an interministerial meeting, the National Council of Provinces and Cabinet before it emerges. It is hoped that this will at least happen before a May 23 meeting of the tripartite alliance. If the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions fail there to reach agreement, the jobs summit will be pointless, says Cosatu.