Pretoria - Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa says extraordinary measures are needed to address the current economic challenges in the country, which is threatening thousands of jobs.
Ramaphosa was addressing the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) annual summit.
He called on the forum, which comprises government, business, labour and the community, to continue discussing pertinent issues with the aim of reaching a common goal because the organisation was the perfect platform to find solutions to thorny issues.
“We find ourselves in an inhospitable situation right now,” he said, as he explained business was facing serious challenges due to declining revenue, while profitability was down and confidence low.
The summit, which is being held at the CSIR in Pretoria under the theme: “powering the economy for job creation and job security”, will address international experiences of energy delivery. Eskom's incapacity to provide electricity to South Africans in the past few months would likely feature prominently during the discussion.
Leaders from the four sectors included in Nedlac were also attending the event which was opened on Friday morning by Labour minister, Mildred Oliphant.
She said interventions already setup in the mining industry do deal with job losses was an example of what can be achieved when stakeholders work together to seek meaningful solutions to challenges.
“We need to restate our commitment to continue to strive to manage and promote social dialogue that seeks to harness dynamic partnership that will facilitate joint action especially at a time when the threat to jobs is staring all of us,” said Oliphant.
Organised labour, which is the voice of workers in Nedlac has, however, taken issue with government’s non-delivery of a comprehensive social security policy proposal.
The group represented by acting Cosatu general secretary, Bheki Ntshalintshali complained that they had been raising the matter within Nedlac for the past 15 years and nothing had been done.
“This is negotiating in bad faith, but more importantly for us, it is undermining of the institution of social dialogue, which is Nedlac itself,” said Ntshalintshali as he addressed the summit.
Labour Bureau