The option of banning labour broking by government seems to have been factored out of the prolonged debate, but it may just be a careful choice of words, according to the official opposition.
“The ANC has now stopped using the word 'banning'. Clearly they've stopped and I don't know who's got them to, but they don't use it anymore,” says Democratic Alliance (DA) deputy shadow minister of labour Ian Ollis.
Parliament's Labour Committee chairperson Lumka Yengeni says: “The main intention here is to address the problem of labour broking, and making sure the abuse of workers is prohibited and contract work, subcontracting and outsourcing are regulated.”
In the most recent meeting on the matter, the committee voted on and accepted a proposal that looks at regulation, instead of banning of the labour practice, but the DA still rejects it, despite supporting regulation.
Accountability issues
Ollis explains it's because the proposal says primary contractors who take on subcontractors must be held responsible if, for some reason, subcontractors can't pay salaries or hold up their responsibilities.
“It's crazy to have that kind of a proposal. It makes contractual law in SA null and void. If they [primary contractors] have to guarantee the salaries to be paid by the subcontractors then they might as well scrap it [subcontracting] and do it themselves. Some of the members [of the committee] are uninformed of contractual law so they are coming up with law that isn't practical and logical.”
Yengeni says: “The recommendation says, with regard to outsourcing and subcontracting, the Department of Labour should introduce legislation to address the abusive practices by holding all parties liable for the conditions of the worker.”
It is this recommendation that makes Ollis believe the situation would amount to banning labour broking.
“The implication is that the situation for subcontractors is going to be so difficult and almost impossible, that it will be like banning them anyway.”
Ollis adds that it cannot be said for sure if banning is off the table. “Everyone is waiting for the draft law, because all the secrets are in there and we don't know what it looks like.”
When asked if banning labour broking was still an option, Yengeni would only say: “The time for addressing the problem of labour broking has finally arrived.”
She says the April deadline, that labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana set for finalising legislation, would definitely not be met.
Under discussion
“No amendments have yet been finalised. The committee has made recommendations that will be effected by the Department of Labour as soon as the report adopted by the committee is given a green light by Parliament. The amendments and/or redrafting, as per the committee's recommendations, will be drafted and, following the necessary parliamentary processes, a Bill may be signed into law before the year-end,” says Yengeni.
The Department of Labour is proposing amendments to several Acts, which all fall under the Labour Relations Act, and section 198 (temporary employment services) specifically, according to Yengeni. The new amendments would either effectively abolish labour-broking, or increase regulation of all temporary employment services.
While the department's proposed amendments indicate the move towards greater regulation, only the draft amendments will reveal the fate of temporary employment services.
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