Deputy President Paul Mashatile has acknowledged that the country’s efforts to promote economic growth through investments and infrastructure development have yet to yield satisfactory results.
This comes as organised labour on Tuesday called for unified effort in developing solutions for ailing State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), amongst other economic challenges.
Speaking at the Nedlac 2025 Organised Labour School, Mashatile said though substantial improvements in labour conditions - including introducing the minimum wage, the two-pot retirement system, and other policies that cushioned workers and the poor - challenges such as high unemployment, poverty, inequality, crime and gender-based violence persist.
“As a country, while there are changes in our economic patterns, we must admit that the pace of our economic growth and development is protracted and not at its optimum levels,” Mashatile said.
“While the country is trying its best to promote economic growth through the promotion of investments and infrastructure development programmes, these efforts have not yet yielded satisfactory results.
“The current mooted closures and scaling down of production in the steel industry and some of the companies in the mining sector have resulted in massive job losses.”
The Nedlac Organised Labour School takes place every year to evaluate the current state of the labour market and the challenges that workers face in the country.
Zingiswa Losi, President of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), said organised labour has to develop solutions to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of beleaguered SOEs.
“The difficulties facing these SOEs in many instances are dire. If we do not ensure concrete interventions and turnaround plans are put in place and implemented, then we should not be surprised when they later collapse and are privatised,” Losi said.
“We need to insert ourselves into the current debates and programmes being driven by government and business – which are restructuring the economy without labour’s participation.”
She said labour also had to address the devastating impact of budget cuts, austerity, and “neoliberal” policies on public services.
Losi said the crisis at ArcelorMittal South Africa and its potential threats to the steel and motor manufacturing industry required urgent attention to ensure that jobs were saved and the industry and value chain sustained.
Riefdah Ajam, general secretary of the Federation of Unions of South Africa General Secretary (Fedusa), said another aspect of the challenges faced in collective bargaining were backlogs in the courts due to the country’s overburdened and overwhelmed labour court system.
“For years now, Fedusa has been calling for a resolution to this challenge, with prescribed attempts at solutions by the government unable to resolve the capacity crisis,” Ajam said.
“These challenges lead to ripple effects, with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration telling us that its biggest challenge is sitting with the Department of Justice. There was a point not more than two years ago when there were no more than 14 judges employed in the country’s labour courts. This may as well be the case or even worse to this day as budget cuts continue to weaken State capacity.”
Alexio Musindo, International Labour Organisation Decent Work Team Officer director, said while progress has been made, there was need for continuous improvement in risk assessment, worker training, and monitoring systems on Occupational Health and Safety.
Musindo said the International Labour Commission (ILC) had identified gaps in informal workers, precarious employees, and platform-based labourers who often remain excluded from social insurance schemes.
“South Africa’s labour market is at a crossroads, shaped by structural transformation driven by globalization, technological change, and economic shifts,” he said.
“A focus on industrial diversification and productivity growth is essential to ensure that economic transformation translates into job creation and reduced inequality.”
BUSINESS REPORT