Conference expressed overwhelming dissatisfaction with the slow pace of delivery of basic services, the lack of an effective job creation strategy, continued abject poverty, growing inequality and the ineffective land and agrarian reform programme and strategies for redistribution, financing and capacity building for more productive use of land.

Whilst acknowledging the pivotal role government has played in delivery since the democratisation of our society, conference reiterated its view that the first decade of democracy has not significantly benefited the working poor, the unemployed and many poor communities. This is exacerbated when compared with the gains of the elites and captains of industry, finance and land who have gained massive benefits whilst investing very little in the reconstruction of our society.

We cannot celebrate policies and interventions that have not been able to deal with unemployment, poverty and inequality, the principal concerns of the people. Even if the problem could not have been addressed in 13 years, the policies in place currently have not addressed this core issue with the required vigour and speed.

Conference emphasised its concerns with the persistent high levels of unemployment as indicated in the table below.

Unemployment in South Africa compared to other middle-income countries, early 2000s

Similarly, indications of growing inequality were also highlighted when looking at the share of income. South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies in the world, as illustrated below.

Share of income going to poorest 60% and richest 10% of population in South Africa compared to selected middle-income and Asian countries [1]

Conference called for a more interventionist state that will be on the side of the poor and working people. Only such a redistributive state will shift the balance of power towards poor South Africans. We can no longer tolerate the current state of poverty suffered by so many of our people. Many households, as indicated below, continue to struggle in meeting basic human needs such food to feed their families.

Percentage of households that have difficulty in meeting food needs sometimes, often or always. [2]

In assessing our strengths and weaknesses the conference resolved to re-build people’s capacities where they are lacking and to organise the unorganised communities and workplaces. National struggles for decent, quality and sustainable jobs and improved social security must be linked to local community struggles for free and improved basic services.

The conference affirmed that we build on the proud history of struggle of those who fought before us, and in the spirit of the Freedom Charter, reaffirmed our commitment to the creation of decent and quality jobs and reducing poverty and inequality through the following mechanisms:

Land and Agrarian Reform

The Freedom Charter declares:

" Restrictions of land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all the land re-divided amongst those who work it, to banish famine and land hunger;

All shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose"

We note that there is a persistent shifting of goal posts when it comes to meeting the land and agrarian rights of our people. We believe our leaders must be accountable to the people and to past commitments made, e.g. the 1994 manifesto of the ANC, which made a commitment to redistributing 30% of commercial land within 5 years; a few years later this was extended to meeting this target by 2015.

In addition, there is still a need to implement the resolutions on land and agrarian reform from the 2005 Land Summit. We commit to organise ourselves and to link our work with the existing Land and Agrarian Reform Forums working at local level on IDPs and to build power through mass mobilisation on current land and agrarian issues affecting communities.

We further commit to deepen discussions with farm workers, farm dwellers and deep rural communities, build relationships, deal with substantive issues and mobilise around demands, including but not limited to:

• Various proposals on government policy, law and implementation, e.g. accelerating land redistribution and improving rural livelihoods, infrastructure investment, improved tenure security, land holding options and transformation of the judiciary (Land Claims Court Assessors).

• Demanding our rights through improving access to courts as well as proposing constitutional amendments that will strengthen tenure security and speed up land delivery.

• An audit of land ownership and land-use, focusing in particular on dealing with population numbers and overcrowding.

• Noting the existing backlash from some disgruntled farmers, an exit programme for existing commercial farmers involved in land reform, including some incentives for providing training and making investments after the land transfer.

• Food security for millions of vulnerable people in line with our constitutional right to food. We must develop integrated approaches that encompass school feeding schemes as part of food security and the right to education.

• Expansion of agrarian reform projects and alternative packaging for existing support programmes so that they are more integrated.

We encourage all our land-sector representatives to participate in NEDLAC and other social dialogue institutions at provincial and local level and to link the above processes to a sector summit on agriculture and agro-processing.

Poverty and Inequality

The Freedom Charter declares:

"The national wealth of our country, the heritage of South Africans, shall be restored to the people;

The aged, the orphans, the disabled and the sick shall be cared for by the state."

On poverty and Inequality, the conference noted the challenges that we must overcome, in particular at the level of ideas and policy terrain where difficulties persist in designing pro-poor policies with vision, understanding and compassion.

Conference noted the political challenge of implementation and mobilising political will in the fight against poverty and inequality, which is essential for reconstruction to be accomplished. The gap within policy and between policy and implementation, as well as building the institutional capacities to ensure continued transformation, remains daunting. In this context monitoring and evaluation of programmes is essential, as it reinforces progressive practice.

The creation of sustainable quality jobs is key to tackling poverty and inequality; however such jobs must empower women and promote gender equality if they are to be truly sustainable. Given the adult and child mortality rates, all social activists must mainstream tackling HIV/Aids and respectful use of the environment.

The continued limitation of policy space for engagement is a grave concern for civil society, including the narrow ideological parameters that govern those limited forms of engagement. We recommend the following actions to advance these goals:

- Legislation

• A public process of legislative scanning which will evaluate new laws put in place to determine if they advance our national objectives of tackling poverty and inequality
• An urgent review of legislation and to see whether BBBEE really creates jobs and overcomes inequality or perpetuates inequality
• An urgent review of the budgeting system, as money bills have still not been enacted and the right of parliament to amend the budget is not realised.

- Job creation by government and the private sector

While we recognise that government primarily sets the regulatory framework for macroeconomic policy and for social justice and solidarity, this must be done in the context of continued and honest engagement to develop a degree of consensus with civil society organisations. Other social actors, government, the private sector and the non-profit sector must utilise this enabling environment as we meet our national developmental objectives.

- Private sector

The private sector has not created quality jobs over the past decade and more. Many private sector employers continue to flagrantly disregard the basic labour and health and safety laws protecting workers. Particularly in agriculture, sections of retail, construction, private security and in manufacturing, they have also blatantly exploited non-national workers, undermining the challenges of overcoming xenophobia and building the unity of workers. This encourages the growth of underemployed workers that perpetuates low wages and continued poverty.

We call on the private sector to meet its commitments as set out in the 2003 Growth and Development Strategy, in particular to invest 5% of profits into creating quality jobs. These initiatives further suggest that we revisit the Community Investment Bill.

In pursuance of the goals of job creation and the direct role of government, we must:

Continue to demand full employment as enshrined in major international conventions and principles, in particular the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the charter of the United Nations.

• a.. Review the Expanded Public Works Programme holistically, in particular the NEDLC agreement, which we believe has not been successful. Jobs are short-term and not sustainable.
• b.. Campaign against casualisation and informalisation of employment as they serve only to weaken employees’ bargaining power

- Education

Education is key to creating realising people’s potential and creating jobs. To further realise these goals we commit to:

• A review of SETAs and the quality of skills development programmes to support the objectives of reconstruction and development
• Change the curriculum to respond to developmental needs rather than labour market and profit needs exclusively.

- Health

We demand quality national health insurance for all, which will work with and in rehabilitated quality public health systems (hospital and clinics).

We further demand that home-based care workers work be recognised as they continue to be a valuable service provided by public authorities. Their work must be formalised and they must be covered by basic labour legislation.

- Comprehensive social protection

In societies of extreme poverty and inequality like ours where no universal social security exists, we call for a comprehensive social security cover, including a basic income grant. This is intended to promote social solidarity and dignity for all.

- Civil society vigilance: monitoring and evaluation

We recognise the importance of the role of civil society in ensuring effective implementation of government programmes. For effective democratic and accountable participation, it is imperative that we develop capacity for this, by beefing up research, advocacy and administrative capacities.

We need to develop tools to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of all pro-poor programmes and policies.

Civil society organisations have failed to participate effectively in the various statutory commissions set up in terms of the constitution, in particular chapter 9 institutions, e.g. SA Human Rights Commission, Commission for Gender Equality, Financial and Fiscal Commission, Youth Commission. We must also review these commissions to assess their effectiveness in democratising society and transforming it in favour of the poor and working people.

- Public Service Delivery

The Freedom Charter declares:

"All people shall be entitled to take part in the administration of the country;

Teachers shall have all the rights of other citizens."

The public sector is the key to government-led service delivery and public sector union members continue to support the transformation agenda, which is premised on quality working conditions and a living wage. To fulfil this role we call for:

• a.. The public sector to be fully resourced, vacancies to be urgently filled and internship programmes reintroduced on a large scale, targeting youth graduates in particular.
• b.. The public sector to become a model employer and highly professional, recruiting new entrants by financial incentives/bursaries to make the public sector a career.
• c.. Proper monitoring, evaluation and accountability mechanisms on the implementation of programmes in the public service.
• d.. The Recognition of Prior Learning to be included in the criteria for appointments and promotions within the public service and employment more generally.
• e.. A more systematic discussion on mechanisms of in-service training, which includes considering the best use of SETAs and relevant training institutions. An Integrated approach to public service delivery is essential for the continued transformation of our country.
• f.. Civil society organisations and the public at large to be part of the discussions underway about a Single Public Service.
• g.. A public service summit focusing on quality public service delivery.

We further demand:

• Economic policies predicated on growth with development and not growth and development.
• That government in this context refocus its resources to intervene directly in addressing poverty, unemployment and inequalities. These cannot be left to the mercy of market forces that have no track record of providing services to the poor outside the logic of profit maximisation.
• Better policy and strategy coherence on the part of government and policy interventions that will ensure that macro-economic strategy does not undermine the goals of economic growth and development.
• Quality public, universal and free education for all - in line with the call of the Freedom Charter. Quality public education must lead to the realisation of full potential of all human beings, in line with commitments in the GDS and elsewhere. Government must focus resources on ECD as the strategic point of entry, in ensuring that learners are prepared for effective learning. ECD programmes will go a long way towards freeing women in particular from pursuing educational and job opportunities, as they will be freed from the obligation of care.

Those civil society organisations must engage more systematically and contest the content of local economic development programmes and in that context purposefully ensure that the priorities of the working class and the poor in our communities are reflected in the integrated development plans within local municipalities.

That unions are allowed to play an active role in the transformation of the public service. Lessons can be drawn from the ongoing project between NEHAWU and NALEDI, together with provincial government and Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital.

Civil Society calls for:

• Unions and community based organisations/civil society to ensure improved and proper coordination on issues of common interest.
• All parties and government in particular, to ensure that NEDLAC realises its potential and mandate.

We call on all NEDLAC constituencies to ensure there is an improved coalition between labour and community in addressing unemployment, poverty and inequality.

Creating decent and quality jobs

The Freedom Charter declares:

"The state shall recognise the right and duty of all to work, and to draw full unemployment benefits;

Child labour, compound labour, the tot system and contract labour shall be abolished."

We believe that decent work provides human dignity. To do this the country needs to utilise its natural and mineral resources strategically. Conference calls for the re-nationalisation and restructuring of key strategic industries to serve the people - mines, minerals and energy, e.g. Sasol, Mittal Steel/Iscor - as privatisation and commercialisation has not served our national objectives of tackling poverty and inequality.

We further demand:

• The elimination of import parity pricing and better regulation of trade to serve our developmental objectives
• An increased rate of job creation, with government and private sector agreeing on minimum targets for job creation.
• An urgent review of labour laws, enforcement of fair labour standards, practices and all labour laws to improve worker protection and union rights
• Full quality employment with union rights for all
• Government and the private sector to eliminate all forms of atypical employment including casualisation, informalisation and labour brokerage.
• Transformation of the current expanded public works programme to ensure that it creates decent, quality and sustainable jobs.
• Provision of social benefits for all workers - medical aid, pension/provident fund, access to transport etc.
• Knowledge imparting and skills acquisition initiatives that specifically target young people
• Transformation of SETAs to address the skills shortages and go beyond occupation based training.
• An industrial strategy that increases beneficiation of primary commodities and adds value
• Increased government investment in the economy
• Government to address problems of uneven spatial industrial development, including the review of current housing development projects closer to places of work.
• A review of the fiscal and monetary policies to support a sound industrial strategy, e.g. discourages importation of luxury goods and or import dependency in general, and prioritises local economic development.

The unions must develop clear and transformative demands on wages, conditions of employment and the fair distribution of wealth that build unity beyond the workplace to the communities where workers live.

Unions Include proposals for decent work in their collective bargaining programm

Way Forward

We commit ourselves to work together in a principled unity between all those who demand fundamental changes to the structures and causes of poverty and inequality. We will unequivocally commit and work for a society where human rights, gender equality, social justice and solidarity are cherished and nurtured.

We commit to fight side-by-side to eradicate:

• a.. Hunger, thirst and disease, which exacerbate poverty and inequality.
• b.. Gender inequality and violence against women;
• c.. The marginalisation of workers and communities from shaping their destinies
• d.. Unemployment, poor and unsafe working conditions,
• e.. Infectious diseases such as HIV and Aids, tuberculosis and malaria.

We affirm that our actions are based around the fundamental and inalienable rights of people for a just and egalitarian society.

To achieve this we will use mass organisation and mobilisation, campaigning and advocacy, unity of the working people and international solidarity.

All those present commit to fight side-by-side until we have achieved the goals enshrined in the Freedom Charter, the Reconstruction and Development Programme and this declaration.

The secretariats of all formations present will meet to deliberate on the proceedings and to take resolutions of all commissions and the conference forward.