I regularly read the questions posed to the Minister of Employment and Labour in the National Assembly. Some of these questions are designed to boost the minister’s image and others are designed to show up failures of the department.

It is interesting to see very few of these questions are from the ANC. Unfortunately, it appears that the researchers for the ministry are invariably flippant and, quite frankly, ignorant. It would be an interesting exercise to take all those answers and put them through a facts check assessment.

A question was recently asked about the strict enforcement measures taken to ensure that the National Minimum Wage is monitored. The reply explained that inspectors were mostly reactive and if they find non-compliance, the particular dispute will be referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for prosecution.

In essence, what the answer doesn’t tell us is that the inspectorate is so under-resourced that it is unable to conduct much investigation at all. The inspectors are thin on the ground and don’t have the tools of the trade.

The reality is that probably more than 50% of the employees in South Africa don’t receive the National Minimum Wage despite this wage being compulsory. Furthermore, I suspect that more than 70% of our workforce aren’t given the rights as contained in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

A further question was in connection with the practice of fixed-term contracts, sometimes for as long as 20 years. The answer came in a rather truncated form, explaining that “any contract of employment that exceeds three months, the law deems such an employee as permanent”.

Well, simply put, that is not correct. If an employee earns under the threshold as set by the minister, then that employee could be deemed to be permanent. However, a deeming provision is only valid if the contract does not outline a legitimate reason for the length of the contract.

Over and above this, the answer tries to explain that those contractual employees would have the right of recourse through the CCMA despite the nature of their contract. Once again, the answer is so benign it doesn’t answer.

The ministry also explained that “the National Minimum Wage is the floor right that no employee or worker should be paid below it”. This is laughable as we are all aware that the government itself through its extended public works programme pays half the minimum wage.

We are also all aware of thousands of employers who avoid paying the minimum wage in many circumstances. Sadly, our minister seems to believe that the collective bargaining system is based on improving the basic conditions of employment and the “national minimum wage ups”. I’m not sure what that means and what the minister is referring to when he uses the words “ups”.

Another rather interesting question is about the labour disputes at the platinum mines and what was the root cause of the disputes. Thankfully the minister replied, “I am aware of the matter you are raising”.

It is fantastic to hear that our Minister of Employment and Labour knows the enormous labour disputes in the mines. Even more interestingly, the minister assures the questioner that he has to act in a manner that is consistent with our laws.

He goes on to state “he or she cannot intervene in disputes in a manner that is outside the legal framework, in other words, in contravention of labour laws”.

It might be important for me to remind the minister that the CCMA is specifically set up and has laws properly structured to be able to intervene in disputes of this nature and settle these disputes before they turn violent.

The minister must understand and is probably not aware that the CCMA has a highly specialised task force which can be activated within hours to be able to intervene and mediate disputes of any nature.

* Michael Bagraim is a labour lawyer and DA MP.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

Cape Argus

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Minister needs reminding of the vital role of the CCMA