Informal Economy to dominate upcoming Labour Market Indaba

13 November 2008

The influence of South Africa’s labour legislation on the growth of informal economy will top discussions at the upcoming labour market round table discussion summit in Pretoria next Tuesday (Nov 18).

Dubbed “Employment and the Informal economy” the summit forms a third round of the ongoing four-legged labour market policy discussions wherein social partners across the spectrum discuss the findings of a 20 month-long comprehensive research and evaluation project which the Labour Department had commissioned to some of the country’s leading think-tank organizations until March this year.

The commissioning of the research had been informed by popular debates during a series of roundtable talks in 2006 on the extent to which South Africa’s labour environment inhibits/enhances job creation and small business development.

Previous aspects of the research that have been subject to discussion since the series kicked off last month include enhancement of skills development, and the impact of labour legislation on job creation.

During next week’s seminar, discussions will, among others, focus on the research’s identification of the status and size of informal employment within the economy.

The media is invited. Details of venue and time are as follows:

Venue:              Sheraton Hotel

                          Church Street (opposite Union Buildings), Pretoria

Date:                Tuesday November 18

Time:                09:00