Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana has lashed out at Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon’s suggestion of a two-tier labour market in the country, saying the system is aimed at making black workers perpetual slaves.
Mdladlana was reacting to a speech Leon delivered on the DA’s economic policy.
In his speech, prepared for the Pretoria Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Leon criticised the country’s current labour lawsand said they are eliminating jobs.
Sapa reported Leon as having said the DA acknowledges that all workers have fundamental rights to health, safety, decent wages and fair conditions of employment, but that some of the country’s labour laws are cumbersome and dissuade employers from hiring new staff.
“We believe that these laws need to be amended and that minimum wages need to be made more flexible so that the unemployed can find jobs in a growing economy,” Leon said.
“The DA has a plan to create one million real, sustainable, new jobs by boosting economic growth to six percent per year,” he added.
Mdladlana on Friday said Leon’s proposed two-tier system of labour rights highlights his desire to return to an apartheid labour market.
“The approach Leon suggests, where certain workers enjoy a full range of rights, while the vast majority are left vulnerable and exposed to the grossest forms of exploitation, has already been tried in South Africa and it failed,” the minister said.
Mdladlana said on Friday there is no evidence to suggest that the two-tier labour system would result in any form of wealth creation in the country.
“Proposals around two-tier labour markets are based on the assumption that the current labour market is inflexible and failing to create jobs.
“These are both incorrect assumptions — the World Bank has found that there are high levels of flexibility in our labour law and surveys show that two million jobs have been created since 1994.
“The DA is prepared to make promises of growth rates of 6%.
“These promises are easy to make when your party has no track record in terms of policy implementation and you can be sure that the electorate will never give you the opportunity to be tested on these claims,” said Mdladlana.
He said Leon’s utterances show that the DA does not know how “our labour market functions”.
“Wages and conditions of employment are negotiated by unions and employers at bargaining councils. The government is advised by the Employment Condition Commission on sectoral determinations where there are no bargaining councils,” he said.
“As the ANC [African National Congress] government we will not agree to a system that exploits the poorest of the poor — who happen to be black. Tony Leon’s wish is to make black people perpetual slaves, hence his call for this two-tier labour market system,” the minister said.
“This is wishful thinking of the worst kind and as the ANC government we will ensure that workers’ rights are protected and that they are not exploited by the likes of Tony Leon,” said Mdladlana.