Ann Crotty
The American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa (Amcham) was prevented yesterday from delivering a presentation that it had prepared for the parliamentary portfolio committee on labour on the proposed amendments to the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
The unexpected decision by Mamagase Nchabeleng, the chairman of the committee, was relayed to the Amcham representatives shortly before lunch yesterday.
It appears that the chairman was seeking legal advice yesterday about the involvement of an American organisation in the South African law-making process.
Shibishi Maruatona, the head of public policy and corporate affairs at General Motors South Africa, who was representing Amcham, told Business Report that he respected Nchabeleng’s decision.
Maruatona said that Amcham had worked well with the government previously.
He confirmed that Amcham had provided input into the parliamentary process leading up to the implementation of the Companies Act and the Electronic Communications Act. Organisations from other foreign jurisdictions do not participate in the parliamentary portfolio committee process. Amcham represents 260 US companies operating in South Africa, who employ about 200 000 workers.
Its presentation, which was available to the public from the start of yesterday’s committee meeting, requested the government to review the proposed legislation for unintended consequences and asked it to “implement a regulatory impact assessment prior to any amendments being gazetted”.
It recommended that the government explore whether the objectives of the act could be met in other ways, such as the enforcement of existing legislation. Amcham’s conclusions questioned whether the focus of the legislation should be on providing additional protection for the 2.72 million unionised workers or the 4.24 million people who were currently unemployed.
“The proposed labour amendments move in the opposite direction to that which is required to grow jobs and carry a raft of unintended consequences. The amendments could mean that South Africa will not be able to attract scarce foreign direct investment which will go elsewhere to developing economies.”
Amcham’s position on the proposed labour amendments are in line with the submissions made by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai when new labour legislation was being drawn up in China in early 2007.
At the time Amcham was severely criticised by international labour organisations for its perceived efforts to dilute Chinese government efforts to strengthen the rights of Chinese workers. In China Amcham warned that foreign corporations would withdraw from China if the legislation was introduced.
Yesterday Amcham’s conclusions echoed many of the submissions made by other local business-related entities.
The SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned that the proposed amendments would increase the cost of doing business and might discourage employment and job creation.
The Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa warned that the proposed amendments would reduce flexibility of South African companies and “make it extremely difficult to be competitive”.
HR City, which presented on behalf of AHI, said that the fear and uncertainty generated by the proposed amendments had already resulted in significant job losses.
The committee hearings continue today.