OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Sunday 8.45pm
SOUTH Africa’s labour laws are stangling small business, and have to be amended, President Thabo Mbeki said in an interview published on Sunday.
Mbeki expanded on his parliamentary address, and told the Sunday Times that labour laws, planned to overhaul exploitative labour legislation, were a problem, as they have “unexpected consequences.”
Mbeki said that, “The burdens placed on small businessmen to comply with some of these provisions are quite unreasonable.”
“I’m told of instances where they would produce paralysis,” he added.
Mbeki said that advice on the requirements of law is simply too costly for many small companies and non-governmental organisations.
“Some people might have all their revenue for six months swallowed up by hiring a lawyer — they’ll die. And yet the law says that if they don’t behave correctly, they will be in violation of the law. It’s things such as this that need to be attended to.”
Mbeki said in the interview he has started a new and intensive interaction with trade unions through a presidential working group aimed at including labour on a range of contentious economic policies which are set at attracting investment.
These include the setting of inflation targets, the lifting of exchange controls, the right-sizing of the public service and faster privatisation.
“We want all our social partners, whether it’s with regard to inflation targeting or any other matter, to come on board and understand what’s happening and buy into that process.
If I were President Mbeki…. Howard Barrell
makes some suggestions