Nedlac is a statutory body that was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1995 for labour, business, government and community to reach consensus on issues related to socio- economic policy.
Nedlac is funded by the Department of Labour and gets R6,7-million a year, about four times less than the Gender Commission and the Human Rights Commission, says Jennifer Wilson, communications co-ordinator for Nedlac.
Its objective is to promote economic growth and participate in economic decision making, to reach consensus and conclude agreements pertaining to social and economic policy and to consider all labour legislation related to market policy before it is implemented or introduced in Parliament.
The forum has three different levels: the executive council, which has 18 representatives from each of the four sectors, that meets three times a year; the management committee which meets monthly; and the working areas, which consist of different “chambers” – the labour market; trade and industry; development chamber; public finance and monetary policy.
“The significant difference with Nedlac as opposed to any other talking parties, be they in the President’s Office or anywhere else, is that it is a structured forum, where people come with mandates from their constituencies, it’s part of the social dialogue concept that is happening all over in the world,” says Wilson.