You can’t both be and not be, someone famously observed. And that’s the quandary facing government.
The government’s alliance of convenience with the trade union, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), is one of the main obstacles to progress in any negotiation involving the government and the private sector.
In order to have a robust economy, a robust dialogue between government, labour and business was needed, reasoned Richard Pike, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of leading broker, AdCorp.
“The problem in South Africa is that government is conflicted because of its alliance with labour. You sit down at Nedlac to debate things and government dances to Cosatu’s tune. Hence, there is no honest broker in the process.”
COSATU has been on a collision course with brokers like Adcorp over the practice of hiring casual labour. The trade union movement has likened casual labour to modern day slavery while labour brokers have defended their business as a practical solution to growing unemployment.