The workers of of South Africa are spending up to 50% of their salaries on transport to and from work.

Workers are wasting not only money but time, and by the time they arrive at work, they are aggravated and tired.

The opening up of rail services to the workers of South Africa is monumental. Workers will rejoice and be able to travel to and from work safely, affordably, and quickly.

This benefit will also be good for employers, as workers will arrive on time and well-rested. Our workers are indeed the backbone of the economy and deserve to be treated with respect at last.

The Minister called on the private sector to mobilise significant private sector financing and technical expertise to augment the limited public sector capacity and capability.

This statement alone shows that the new government is on a path of reform and renewal. It must be fantastic news for the whole country to hear that the finance department intends to spend money on health, education, social protection, community development, and employment programmes. Obviously, from my point of view, employment programmes are essential to developing a workforce fit for purpose.

Unfortunately, our debt service costs are approximately three hundred and ninety billion rand in the current financial year.

A quarter of every rand paid to the Receiver of Revenue is spent on servicing debt. It is about time we restrained spending. We have been told that draft pieces of legislation will be tabled for consideration in Parliament early next year. I am aware that many of these drafts will pertain to labour legislation and job creation.

I cannot do better than to quote the Minister as follows: “We will use our collective efforts to increase the pace and scale of tackling unemployment and building a stronger economy. We will turn the fresh sense of hope, energy, and fellowship into action.”

Much strength to the Minister and his Deputy in their endeavours.

The Government of National Unity is now at least well-positioned to take serious action and heed the call to “tackle unemployment.” Investor confidence has grown, and the stock exchange is positively reacting.

What we need now is for the debating chamber, Nedlac to send labour law reforms in the form of amendments to our Parliament. We don’t know what those suggestions will be, but I have faith that some of these reforms will boost business confidence and reconsider issues such as Employment Equity and National Minimum Wage protection.

Clearly, small businesses should be able to opt out of liabilities arising from dismissals and some of the harsh processes they face at the CCMA or bargaining councils. For instance, during the first year of employment, an employer should be able to dismiss an employee on notice for any reason other than a discriminatory one.

Furthermore, any business with fewer than one hundred employees should be able to hire and fire “at will.” It must be remembered that it is small businesses that generate employment, and we need more than eleven million new jobs as soon as possible. Many systems exempt small businesses from a myriad of laws if they employ fewer than five hundred people.

We need to rethink our system and consider this issue. For instance, why can the government employ people at about half the minimum wage, but the private sector cannot justify this?

If a small business can demonstrate the need to employ more people but lacks the finance, could they receive a proper exemption from the minimum wage? At this stage, they can only be exempt from 10% of the minimum wage, which doesn’t make sense.

Can we consider offering more exemptions to businesses that trade in previously disadvantaged areas? Our unemployment is far worse than all our neighbours’. The labour legal environment is certainly a handbrake on job creation. It’s about time we changed that.

* Michael Bagraim.

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

Cape Argus

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