National Social Dialogue and Strategic Frameworks​​​​

There are two workstreams within this sub-programme:

• National Social Dialogue
• Implementation of Strategic Frameworks

National Social Dialogue

The MTSF recognises that the new approach to growth and decent employment places an enormous responsibility on all the social partners to contribute to, firstly, the recovery as a result of the economic crisis and, secondly, the step-change in the level and composition of economic growth. This is because the core activities and the MTSF as a whole will benefit all sectors of society, but at the same time, there will be instances where sacrifice may be required from all the social partners, especially in the initial phase which demands more “defensive” interventions. The success, therefore, of the developmental state and its pro-employment growth path will depend on the extent to which consensus can be created and the social partners are mobilised behind government’s vision. The growth path must be based upon fostering partnerships with the social partners, and where conflict arises, to institute mechanisms to effectively address these conflicts.

The purpose of this workstream is:

• to coordinate government’s policy input and contributions to social dialogue on economic development matters and consult with the relevant departments; and
• to negotiate national economic development and decent work pacts, which will involve consultation and negotiation with the social partners.

Implementation of Strategic Frameworks

The Framework for South Africa’s Response to the International Economic Crisis, which was adopted by the social partners at NEDLAC on 19 February 2009, recognises that the economic conditions South Africa faces as a result of the international economic crisis require an effective collective response. With this in mind, the Framework Agreement commits the social partners collectively to implementing a wide range of measures, including investment in public infrastructure, a macro-economic policy response, and industrial and trade, employment and social measures.

Central to the Framework Agreement, which is based on the premise of social solidarity, is the recognition that the country’s response must be governed by the following broad principles:

• The risk of unfairly placing the burden of the economic downturn on the poor and the vulnerable must be avoided by taking active steps to guard against the potential of economic shocks to destabilise the welfare of the vulnerable and to increase inequality and poverty;
• All activities aimed at strengthening the capacity of the economy to grow and create decent jobs must be protected and supported as far as is reasonably possible;
• The planned high levels of investment in public sector infrastructure must be maintained, while the private sector must be encouraged to maintain and improve wherever possible its levels of fixed direct investment and corporate social investment programmes; and
• Interventions must be timely, tailored and targeted as is appropriate.

A leadership team, which is comprised of high-level delegations from each of the four social partners at NEDLAC, is tasked by the Framework Agreement with overseeing the development of action plans to ensure its timely implementation, monitoring and evaluation. To support and feed into the work of the leadership team, the Framework Agreement also establishes task teams in each of the following four substantive areas: investment and financing, social interventions, employment and distressed sectors.

The purpose of this workstream is to oversee, monitor and ensure the development and implementation of action plans and thereby the successful implementation of the Framework Agreement as a whole. This will involve coordinating the work of the various task teams set up in terms of the agreement in collaboration with NEDLAC, providing leadership and strategic direction to the relevant state departments involved, and popularising the agreement and its implementation.

This workstream will also coordinate the implementation of other framework agreements that are envisaged such as the economic development and decent work pacts.