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Foundation challenges state labour interference

Johannesburg - The Free Market Foundation (FMF) announced on Monday that it is proceeding with an application for a court date to have a constitutional challenge heard to a clause in the Labour Relations Act.

According to the FMF, S32 of the act forces the minister of labour to impose private labour agreements on employers, employees and the unemployed without considering their interests and without their views being presented or considered.

"Over the six months since launching the challenge, the FMF granted generous extensions requested by the respondents and Confederation of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) beyond the original deadline of July 31 2013. The final deadline expired on September 30 2013," said the FMF.

"Late on September 30 Cosatu, which is not a respondent, asked for a further extension to October 31. This request has been declined and the FMF will now ask the court for a date for the hearing on the basis of the documents before it."

FMF chairperson Herman Mashaba said the FMF has done everything it could to allow everyone concerned ample time to consider and file responses.

"It has been six months. We have been fair and patient, because we want to ensure that all legitimate views are presented to the court in this matter of great national urgency and importance,” said Mashaba.

On March 4 2013, the FMF filed a constitutional challenge in the Gauteng North High Court to Section 32 of the LRA.

"Apart from this being an insult to the minister, it is a significant cause of South Africa having one of the world’s highest levels of unemployment," said Mashaba.
 
The FMF cited 50 respondents, including the minister of labour, the minster of justice and constitutional development and the 48 bargaining councils.

By the original deadline of July 31 2013, the minister of labour, 27 bargaining councils and the minister of justice and constitutional development had responded.

Intervention by Cosatu

Although not cited as a respondent, on the July 31 deadline, Cosatu filed an application to intervene.

"Despite there being no legal basis for admitting Cosatu, the FMF decided not to oppose their application in the interests of inclusiveness, fairness and transparency," said Mashaba.

A request for a further extention to August 31 was granted.

When this deadline passed, another extension was requested and granted to September 30, by which date no answering affidavits were received. A request for an extension to October 31 has been declined.

“We cannot allow something so urgent and important to drag on forever,” said Mashaba.

“That we agreed to extensive delays, despite no obligation to do so, shows our commitment to ensure that all parties are given enough time to formulate their responses."

Mashaba said he had said many times that this is not the road the FMF would have chosen.

"We did not seek this legal confrontation. But I do not want to look back one day and say I saw what was happening and did nothing," he said.

"We must give a voice to those who do not have one, namely the seven million unemployed South Africans, who languish on our streets and in our townships, especially the millions of young people whose youth, energy, human spirit and potential is being squandered by our labour laws."

Winning this case will not end the crisis, according to the FMF, but it will remove a key obstacle which prevents many small and medium businesses from hiring people, especially unskilled youth, according to the FMF.

The FMF annoucement comes a week after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the governor of the reserve bank, Gill Marcus, have urged the government to relax labour laws to allow for new job creation and economic growth.

The IMF report said that more jobs would be created if economic growth were stronger and the labour market “more flexible”.

Nedbank also released a monthly report last week which flagged labour issues as a constraint on South Africa’s investment, production and export capacity.

- Fin24

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