Landmark Jobs Summit delivers prospects for job seekers

5 Oct 2018

The Presidential Jobs Summit, under the auspices of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), has delivered a landmark Framework Agreement consisting of high-impact actions to drive job creation, job retention and economic growth. The agreement is an enabler for the creation of an estimated 275,000 jobs annually. 

Social Partners – the government, business, labour and community – made firm commitments to strengthen the “Buy South African” campaign. This will motivate the government, the private sector and individuals to buy South African-made products, which increase domestic demand and, through that, stimulate job creation.

The Framework Agreement commits Social Partners to undertake concrete steps to avoid retrenchment and support companies in distress. This will be coupled with a Rapid Response Team of experts to assist struggling businesses. In addition, we have agreed that the Training Layoff Scheme will be immediately revived and improved to mitigate job losses.

The Jobs Summit was a milestone set by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his 2018 State of the Nation Address to ease the serious unemployment challenge facing the country.

The Presidential Jobs Summit, which was held on 4-5 October 2018 at Gallagher Convention Centre Johannesburg, brought together all NEDLAC constituencies – the government, labour, business and community (civil society). 

The Framework Agreement is the culmination of a collaborative effort that explored solutions for creating and retaining jobs, especially for the youth. Rigorous negotiations and alignment of efforts have led to real commitments by all sectors.

President Ramaphosa has welcomed the framework agreement and the Summit deliberations as a landmark that will bring hope and dignity to unemployed South Africans and inject new energy into the economy alongside the government’s recently announced economic stimulus and recovery plan.

NEDLAC constituencies have signed the historic Framework Agreement, which includes practical actions such as: 

- Investment of R100bn (over five years) in black enterprises and firms in the industrial sector;

- Bizniz in a Box Youth Empowerment Programme to equip young people with entrepreneurial skills and actual business opportunities;

- Commitments at the sectoral and company level to support local procurement of goods and services to boost employment and job retention;

- Finfind youth employment and SMME funding to provide training for unemployed youth;

- R1,5bn for a news Smallholder Support Fund and R1,5bn for the Township Enterprise Fund; 

- Various interventions to create career pathways for the youth through programmes at TVET Colleges, the Installation Repair and Maintenance Initiative, and in the fields of health and, travel and tourism; 

- Expansion of a Hub Model and incubators for SMME development;

- Harambee, working with all social partners, will strengthen its pathway management system to ensure that 1,5-million young people are part of an active network of work seekers and, that 500,000 young work-seekers are able to enter first jobs or on pathways to generating an income to sustain themselves;

- Up-scaling the implementation of the 30% set aside of government spend for SMMEs and co-operatives;

- Strong focus on Early Childhood Development (ECD), including the KYB Enterprise Incubator, to support women-owned ECD centres; 

- Building of 48 catalytic human settlement projects which will provide 635,0000 housing opportunities by 2019;

- Workplace equity and representation on company boards;

- The Framework Agreement sets up a mechanism to address regulatory constraints to investment;

- Reporting by business on executive pay ratios in annual reports;

- Measures to address customs fraud and illegal imports;

- Extension of the Employment Tax Incentive for a further 10 years;

- Establishment nine Agri-parks to promote agriculture and agro-processing and value chain;

- Acceleration of productive land reform;

- Community-based and owned approaches to fast track rural water access;

- Increasing recycling tonnage to 2.7-million tonnes over five years;

- Establishing a Presidential Climate Change Co-ordinating Commission; and,

- Commitment to support the anti-corruption strategy and implementing a zero-tolerance approach to corruption.

Constituencies will now implement the agreed actions in their respective sectors and report back to the President on an on-going basis. All actions will be tracked through a monitoring framework and quarterly reports on progress will be provided to the President to ensure that they have real impact. 

President Ramaphosa has expressed his appreciation for the spirit and content that characterised preparations for the Summit, as well as the positive and extensive interest shown by young South Africans who stand to benefit from the Summit outcomes.

“We have risen to the challenge of unemployment by working together as social partners representing all sectors of society and developing solutions in which we share ownership and pride,” said President Ramaphosa.

“The nation eagerly awaits our speedy and sustained implementation of this historic agreement which brings new hope to our country and to our partners in the global community.”

Issued by The Presidency, 5 October 2018