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Acting Chairperson of the Board, Mr. Godfrey Selematsela;

Members of the Productivity South Africa Board;

Acting Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Amelia Naidoo;

Members of Executive and Senior Management;

Representatives of the Department of Employment and Labour;

Representatives of organised labour, organised business, and government;

Our social partners and strategic partners;

Distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen.

 

Good morning, Dumelang, Sanibonani.

It is a profound honour and privilege to join you today at this Annual General Meeting of Productivity South Africa. We convene at an exceptionally significant moment—not only for our entity, but for our broader nation—as we celebrate Heritage Month. We meet under an official theme that is both deeply reflective and boldly forward-looking:

 

“Celebrating Our Heritage. Shaping Our Future."

This theme could not be more appropriate for this gathering. It challenges us to execute two vital imperatives simultaneously. First, it compels us to remember and honour where we come from—recognising the people, social partnerships, public institutions, hard-won achievements, and cumulative lessons that have built Productivity SA over many decades.

Secondly, it issues a stern warning that we must never become prisoners of our past successes. It demands that we confront the defining economic question of our era: What must we do differently, better, and more boldly to shape the productive, competitive, and inclusive economy that South Africa urgently needs? That single question must define our mandate and guide our operations going forward.

 

Productivity SA possesses a rich and distinguished institutional heritage. For more than five decades, this entity has stood as a pillar of South Africa's economic development journey. From its inception as the National Productivity Institute in 1969, through its evolution into Productivity South Africa, to its statutory establishment as a Schedule 3A public entity under Section 31 of the Employment Services Act (No. 4 of 2014), the institution has remained focused on its core mission. It exists to promote productivity and employment growth, thereby enhancing South Africa's socio-economic development and global competitiveness.

 

Strong public institutions are not created overnight; they are forged through the accumulated knowledge, commitment, and dedication of successive generations. We build upon the foundation of those who came before us—their trial and error, the relationships nurtured over decades, and the technical methodologies refined on shop floors across our provinces. Most importantly, we inherit a fundamental truth: productivity is not merely about producing more goods; it is about extracting greater value from the resources, skills, technology, and human potential that South Africa already possesses.

 

That mandate aligns directly with the Department of Employment and Labour's vision for a dynamic labour market that stimulates investment, accelerates economic growth, creates employment, and secures decent work. Productivity sits at the exact centre of that vision. When enterprises become more productive, they become globally competitive. When enterprises become competitive, they expand market share, grow, and retain jobs. When workers are equipped with future-ready skills and participate meaningfully in operational decision-making, productivity becomes a source of human dignity, workplace equity, and shared prosperity.

 

Global Benchmarking and Continental Leadership

Ladies and gentlemen, there are moments when objective national data confirms that structural progress is taking root, and we must acknowledge those milestones. Earlier this year, South Africa recorded a remarkable breakthrough in the 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook—published by the Institute for Management Development in collaboration with Productivity SA. Our country advanced ten places, moving from 64^th position in 2025 to 54^th out of 70 measured economies.

This ten-place leap proves that when South Africa focuses systematically on the drivers of competitiveness, rapid progress is achievable. Disaggregating the IMD benchmarking pillars reveals encouraging movement across key operational areas:

• Business Efficiency: Advanced significantly by 15 places, climbing from 57^th to 42^nd globally.
• Government Efficiency: Improved by 9 places, moving from 63^rd to 54^th position.
• Infrastructure Management & Policy Adaptability: Recorded positive upward momentum, advancing 3 places from 62^nd to 59^th.

While we celebrate this progress, we must reject complacency. A global ranking is not our final destination; it is an operational signal. It proves that structural reform works, but it reminds us that deep economic challenges remain. Our national ambition cannot stop at 54^th position. We must build an economy that is highly innovative, resilient, and capable of generating sustainable employment at scale.

 

Beyond our national borders, Productivity SA achieved a historic milestone when it was formally designated as Africa's Kaizen Centre of Excellence during the 10^th Africa Kaizen Annual Conference (AKAC 2025). Hosted in Boksburg under the theme “African Industrialisation through Fostering Competitive Firms and Value Chains on the Continent," this initiative was convened alongside the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the DTIC, and the Pan African Productivity Association (PAPA).

 

This designation elevates Productivity SA from a domestic service provider into a continental knowledge and capability hub for operational excellence and industrial transformation. Africa cannot afford an economic future anchored in low productivity, raw commodity dependence, and fragmented value chains. Our continent must industrialise. Kaizen—the philosophy of continuous improvement—reminds us that transformation begins by asking simple, disciplined questions: How can we do things better? How do we eliminate waste? How do we improve quality? How do we reduce unnecessary costs? How do we shorten lead times? How do we make yesterday's best practice tomorrow's standard? That mindset must become the permanent fabric of South Africa's economic culture.

 

Ground-Level Human Impact & Operational Performance

The Annual Report before us today is far more than a statutory governance document. Behind every performance metric is a real enterprise; behind every enterprise is an owner, a manager, and workers; and behind every turnaround intervention is a business surviving rather than closing. Behind every job preserved is a human family whose livelihood, dignity, and economic stability have been protected.

We must connect operational delivery directly to this human narrative:

• A job saved protects a household from poverty.
• A business stabilised protects an entire local supply chain.
• A resilient SMME becomes a future employer in township and rural economies.
• A worker equipped with productivity skills becomes an enduring asset to South Africa's human capital.

Operational performance during the 2025/26 financial year underscores this real-world impact. Productivity SA delivered strongly despite operating under difficult economic conditions marked by slow growth and fiscal constraints. Of the twelve performance targets set in the Annual Performance Plan (APP), the organisation successfully met eleven, representing an overall 92% APP target achievement rate. This maintains an upward performance trajectory, improving from 85% in 2024/25 and 77% in 2023/24.

 

Let us review the concrete achievements across our core operational programmes:

Programme 2: Competitiveness Improvement Services (CIS) & Workplace Challenge (WPC). This programme supports SMMEs in both the formal and informal economy to strengthen productivity practices and operational efficiency. During 2025/26, the programme:

• Supported 1,553 enterprises across various sectors.
• Capacitated 2,742 entrepreneurs, workers, and managers in productivity techniques.
• Trained 415 Productivity Champions to promote a culture of continuous improvement in workplaces.
• Preserved 3,241 jobs through targeted competitiveness interventions.

Through the DTIC-funded Workplace Challenge Programme, 112 enterprises were assisted. Crucially, in line with our broad-based transformation agenda, 77% of supported enterprises were Black-owned, 48% woman-owned, 20% youth-owned, and 1% owned by persons with disabilities.

 

Programme 3: Business Turnaround and Recovery (BT&R)

Funded through a three-year, R165 million agreement with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), the BT&R programme provides turnaround strategies to companies facing economic distress. Against annual targets, the programme delivered exceptional results:

• Enrolled 95 distressed companies (127% of the 75-company target).
• Preserved 8,820 jobs (235% of the 3,750 job-retention target).
• Capacitated 770 Future Forum members (342% of the 225-member target).

Demographic tracking confirms that 38% of saved jobs were held by women, 30% by youth, and 3.9% by persons with disabilities. Cumulatively since 2020, the BT&R programme has supported 392 companies, safeguarded 37,020 jobs, created 3,147 new jobs, and trained 3,736 Future Forum members in turnaround practices.

Turnaround Case Studies in the Field

The practical power of these interventions is best illustrated through real enterprise case studies detailed in Part G of the Annual Report:

1. National Flags (Pty) Ltd: A Johannesburg branding and flag manufacturer facing operational bottlenecks. Productivity SA established a Future Forum, conducted Gemba walks, implemented 5S audit controls, streamlined batch planning, and developed Service Level Agreements (SLAs) across functional departments. This restored production output, reduced spillage waste, and stabilized operations.
2. Envirosan Sanitation Solutions: Facing slow turnarounds and process inefficiencies. Productivity SA instituted an Early Warning System (EWS), mapped process flows, and eliminated production bottlenecks—enabling the company to sell over 15,000 Eazisoak units within two months.
3. Sawmill Enterprise Interventions: Addressing 54% operational downtime caused by machine breakdowns and log turnover issues. Through Kaizen 5S methodology and Muda (waste) elimination, daily production output increased from 4.75 stacks to 6.19 stacks of lumber per day—a 26.31% operational improvement.

ILO Productivity Ecosystems for Decent Work

In partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), Productivity SA implemented the Productivity Ecosystems for Decent Work project. Combining the ILO's SCORE methodology with Productivity SA's Workplace Challenge approach across 20 footwear and leather enterprises employing 1,430 workers, participating firms recorded:

• 50.3% average overall operational improvement.
• 42.6% improvement in product quality.
• 16.1% improvement in efficiency.
• 40.7% improvement in delivery speed.
• 125% increase in reported employee morale.

These results prove that productivity improvement and decent work are mutually reinforcing.

 

Strategic Alignment with DEL Mandates and the National Development Plan

The work of Productivity SA must be understood within the broader policy context of the Department of Employment and Labour and the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030. The Department has emphasized that the 2026/27 planning cycle demands an urgent shift from strategy formulation to rapid, aggressive implementation. We operate under constrained economic growth, persistent structural headwinds, and high unemployment—where young South Africans bear the heaviest burden.

 

Enterprise health and job creation are inseparable. We cannot generate sustainable employment if enterprises themselves are uncompetitive, financially fragile, or operationally inefficient. Therefore, Productivity SA serves as the core delivery vehicle for enterprise sustainability, retrenchment prevention, and productivity-led growth.

Productivity SA's strategic interventions directly advance key objectives of the National Development Plan:

• NDP Chapter 3 (Economy and Employment): Contributing to raising employment, lowering the cost of doing business, supporting SMME expansion, and fostering a responsive labour market.
• NDP Chapter 9 (Improving Education, Training and Innovation): Building productivity capabilities, training workplace champions, and supporting TVET/artisanal skill development.
• NDP Chapter 13 (Building a Capable and Developmental State): Enhancing public sector efficiency, operational management, and institutional effectiveness.

Furthermore, our demographic reality demands urgency. South Africa is currently within a demographic dividend window—a period where the working-age population is proportionally larger than dependants. However, demographic projections show that this window will begin to close between 2026 and 2030 as the population ages. If we do not equip our youth with productivity skills, foster entrepreneurship, and absorb young workers into productive enterprises today, this demographic advantage risks becoming a missed opportunity.

 

Honest Governance Reflection: Audit Outcomes, ICT, and Financial Realities

Ladies and gentlemen, true leadership requires celebrating progress while confronting operational weaknesses and governance shortcomings with complete honesty. Grounded in the findings of the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) and observations by Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour, we must address our administrative vulnerabilities directly:

1. Compliance and Consequence Management: The AGSA noted material non-compliance regarding PFMA Section 51(1)(e)(iii), pointing out that formal disciplinary steps were delayed because investigations into irregular expenditure were not concluded within the financial year. Furthermore, supply chain management preventative controls require strengthening to eliminate compliance deviations at the point of procurement.
2. Audit Reduction Targets: While historical audit findings have decreased from 14 to 10 findings, the entity fell short of its APP target to achieve a 20% reduction in audit findings. Control deficiencies were impacted by vacancies in key senior finance positions during the year.
3. ICT Infrastructure Vulnerabilities: Parliamentary oversight highlighted that outdated ICT infrastructure and delayed software integrations hinder automated control enforcement, risk detection, and seamless performance reporting.
4. Funding Model and Fiscal Instability: Government provided a baseline allocation of R66.556 million for the 2026/27 financial year. However, total revenue collected in 2025/26 fell short of budget projections (R108.2 million actual vs R131 million estimate) due to severe delays in receiving conditional grant transfers from the UIF, which disrupted BT&R programme rollout. Operating with only three regional footprint offices (Midrand, Cape Town, Durban) to service all nine provinces severely limits our capacity in township and rural economies.
5. Post-Retirement Medical Aid (PRMA) Liabilities: The entity maintains an ongoing, long-term PRMA liability of R12.637 million, creating structural pressure on personnel expenditure.

Colleagues would remember that in the October 2025 Budget Review and Recommendations Report, it was recommended by the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour that 'Productivity SA should expand its productivity enhancement programmes, particularly in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and township economies.

Members of the portfolio committee called for increase collaboration with other relevant government departments and economic development entities to drive industrial competitiveness and job retention.

Parliament again, recommended that the entity's funding model be reviewed to ensure predictable, long-term financial support for its operations- and this could possibly include DEL 'facilitating open communication lines that would include UIF and CF'. It was proposed by members of parliament that DEL should implement a Single Source Funding model funded through Section 12 of the Employment Services Act, read together with Section 40(a) of the Employment Services Act.

 

Executive Management and the Board have already enacted a robust Audit Remediation Action Plan:

• Appointed a permanent Chief Financial Officer and Senior Finance Manager to stabilize financial governance. The vacancy rate with Productivity SA was one of the concerns raised by the Executive and member of the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour- the position of the CEO has since been advertised.
• Enforced mandatory pre-submission reviews of financial and performance reports by internal audit.
• Conducted intensive Supply Chain Management training workshops on PPPFA preference point regulations and Treasury guidelines.
• Initiated ICT infrastructure modernisations, including server node technical upgrades and document management filing frameworks.

All these, I regard as progress towards enhance service delivery and good governance.

Productivity as a Shared National Imperative & Social Dialogue

Productivity cannot remain the responsibility of Productivity SA alone; it is a collective national imperative. Government departments, organised business, trade unions, educational institutions, development finance agencies, and local communities must all actively participate.

 

This consensus was reinforced on 3 September, when Productivity SA partnered with the ILO and NEDLAC to host a regional symposium on advancing productivity and decent work in Southern Africa. The message of that symposium remains our north star: productivity growth must translate into decent work, inclusive economic growth, and improved livelihoods. We must pursue efficiency without sacrificing human dignity, adopt technology while equipping workers, and build enterprises that are competitive enough to succeed globally and resilient enough to protect local jobs.

 

 

A Call to Action and Vision for the Future

As we celebrate Heritage Month, we are reminded that true heritage is defined by what we choose to build for the future. Productivity SA has inherited five decades of technical knowledge, institutional trust, and operational frameworks. The highest tribute we can pay to those who built this institution is not to keep it static, but to modernise it, expand its reach, integrate new technologies, and ensure it remains indispensable to a changing world.

 

I issue a direct challenge to Productivity SA today: Do not view yourselves merely as an entity that implements public programmes. Rise as South Africa's premier national productivity authority, a strategic anchor in the national employment agenda, a continental Centre of Excellence, and a leading knowledge institution.

To the Board, leadership, management, and staff across our regional offices: institutional performance does not happen by chance. It happens because you show up daily, solve complex problems, work with enterprise leaders, engage workers, travel across provinces, and deliver results even under fiscal constraints. Your quiet dedication directly shapes South Africa's economic recovery.

Looking ahead, we envision a Productivity SA that is:

• More innovative and digitally enabled.
• More financially sustainable with a modernized baseline funding model.
• More visible and accessible across all nine provinces.
• More deeply connected to SMMEs, emerging enterprises, informal traders, and organised labour.
• Recognised as Africa's leading authority in productivity policy, research, and continuous improvement.

Conclusion

Acting Chairperson, Board members, and distinguished colleagues, heritage gives us confidence, not permission for complacency.

We honour the past by building upon it. We honour those who came before us by expanding opportunities for those who will come after us. And we honour the statutory mandate entrusted to Productivity SA by ensuring that productivity translates into tangible outcomes: opportunity, dignity, resilience, decent work, competitiveness, and economic inclusion.

Now, we must go further.

We must move from incremental improvement to systemic excellence; from isolated enterprise interventions to a nationwide productivity movement; and from preserving what we have inherited to boldly shaping what South Africa can become.

Our heritage gives us the foundation. Our people give us the capability. Our partnerships and communities give us the strength, and continuous improvement gives us the pathway forward.

Let us continue moving forward, together.

I thank you.

 ​

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PROGRAMME DIRECTOR AND PROTOCOL

Programme Director:

 Chief Executive Officer of the Federated Employers Mutual Assurance Company: Mr Nazeer Hoosen

Chief Inspector of the Department of Employment and Labour; Ms Milly Ruiters

Chief Medical Officer of FEM: Dr Lulama Magubane

 Chief Business Development Officer of FEM: Dr Sanjay Munnoo

Representatives of the National Institute for Occupational Health

Representatives of the International Labour Organisation;

Representatives of organised business and organised labour;

Leaders from the construction, mining and manufacturing sectors;

Occupational health and safety practitioners;

Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning and thank you for the warm welcome.

I am honoured to stand before you today. The Department of Labour is a proud participant in events of this nature.

I am honoured to address this Safetember Health and Safety Conference. Especially as the Federated Employers Mutual Assurance Company marks ninety remarkable years of service to South Africa's workers.

NINETY YEARS OF UBUNTU

In keeping with the theme, ninety years is not simply a milestone on a calendar. It is ninety years of standing behind employers and employees alike when the unthinkable happens, when a worker is injured on a construction site, when a family receives news no family wants to receive, when a claim must be honoured with dignity and without delay. The theme chosen for this conference, "90 Years of Ubuntu: Caring for Workers," could not be more fitting. Ubuntu teaches us that a person is a person through other persons, that my safety at work is bound up with your safety at work, and that an injury to one worker on a site diminishes the productivity, the morale and the humanity of the entire workforce.

On behalf of the Department of Employment and Labour, I extend our sincere congratulations to the Board, management and staff of FEM on reaching this milestone, and our appreciation for nine decades of partnership with government in giving practical effect to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act. This has literally changed the lives of workers in the country for more than nine decades. Please join me as we salute FEM' efforts.

THE DEPARTMENT'S MANDATE AND THE STATE OF COMPLIANCE

The Department of Employment and Labour carries a constitutional and legislative responsibility to protect every worker's right to fair labour practices and to a safe working environment.

 

Through our Inspection and Enforcement Services Branch, our labour inspectors are mandated under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, and related labour legislation to inspect workplaces, investigate incidents, and hold employers accountable where standards are not met.

I will not stand here and pretend that our work is done. Preventable injuries, occupational diseases and fatal incidents continue to occur across our economy, and the construction sector remains one of the highest-risk environments in the country. Every statistic represents a worker who left home in the morning and did not return the way they should have, if at all. That is the sobering reality that must anchor everything discussed at this conference.

Government's response has been to strengthen, not weaken, our regulatory footprint. We continue to expand the capacity and technical skill of our inspectorate, to modernise our compliance and enforcement systems, and to work more closely with Compensation Fund and the mutuals such as FEM, whose claims data gives us early warning of where the greatest risks lie. The Chief Inspector, Milly Ruiters, will take you deeper into the regulatory framework shortly, and I encourage you to engage her robustly.

THE NEW FRONTIER: PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK AT WORK

For much of our history, Occupational Health and Safety has been understood primarily in physical terms, guard rails, hard hats, harnesses, machine guarding etc. These remain non-negotiable. But this conference programme rightly places psychosocial risk at its centre, and I want to spend a few moments on why this matters as much as any physical hazard.

Work-related stress, harassment, bullying, excessive workload, job insecurity and poor organisational culture are now recognised internationally, including by the International Labour Organisation, as occupational hazards.

 They do not leave visible wounds, but their cost is measured in absenteeism, in impaired judgement that leads to physical incidents, in substance abuse, in broken families, and in South Africa's mental health burden. A worker who is psychologically unsafe is also more likely to be physically unsafe, fatigue and distress are precursors to the very accidents our inspectors are called to investigate.

The construction sector deserves particular attention. It combines physically hazardous work with job insecurity, migrant and transient labour arrangements, tight deadlines and, too often, workplace cultures where admitting psychological strain is seen as a weakness. The panel discussion later this morning on addressing psychosocial risk in construction is, in my view, one of the most important sessions on today's agenda, and I look forward to its recommendations.

The Department is alive to this shift. We are reviewing our regulatory and guidance framework to ensure that psychosocial hazards are assessed with the same rigour as physical hazards, and we welcome the technical partnership of the National Institute for Occupational Health, the ILO and industry bodies such as FEM in building the evidence base and the practical tools that employers need.

A CALL TO SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

Government cannot legislate a caring workplace culture into existence. Compliance is the floor, not the ceiling. I therefore call on every employer in this room to move beyond the minimum standard of the law and to build workplaces where reporting a hazard, a physical or psychological one, is treated as an act of loyalty to the organisation, not an inconvenience to be managed.

 

I call on health and safety practitioners and professional bodies, including SACPCMP, to continue raising the bar on professional registration and competence, because the quality of a risk assessment is only as good as the professional who conducts it.

And I call on FEM, in this its ninetieth year, to continue using the depth of its claims experience not only to compensate workers after harm has occurred, but to feed that intelligence back into prevention agenda, and into the kind of medical surveillance and claims-experience insights you will hear about later this morning.

The Department, for its part, commits to continued and closer collaboration: sharper inspection targeting informed by claims and injury data, clearer guidance on psychosocial risk assessment, and an enforcement posture that is firm with those who cut corners and supportive of those who are genuinely striving to do better.

CLOSING REMARKS

Ninety years ago, FEM was established in the belief that workers who are injured in the course of duty deserve to be cared for with dignity. That founding belief remains as urgent today as it was then, perhaps more so, as we confront hazards our predecessors never had to name. Let this conference be remembered not merely as a commemoration of ninety years past, but as the moment our sector recommitted itself to the next ninety, to workplaces where every worker, whether on a scaffold or behind a desk, goes home whole in body and in mind.

I wish you a productive and thought-provoking conference. Let us continue to build, together, a country where Ubuntu is not only a conference theme, but the lived experience of every worker in South Africa.

I thank you.​

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Programme Director, Comrade Gerald Twala;

Deputy Ministers of Employment and Labour, Mr Jomo Sibiya and Ms Judith Nemadzinga-Tshabalala;

Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramakgopa

Mr Anisa khan, AI Business Solutions Lead, Microsoft SA

Prof Vukhosi Marivathe: Professor of Computer Science at University of Pretoria

Prof Michael Sachs: Special Advisor to the President Cyril Ramaphosa

Ms Thandile Zonke: Commissioner- Presidential Climate Commissioner

Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour, Honourable Makhosonke Maneli (online);

Honourable Members of the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour;

Leaders of Nedlac social partners:

 

Organised business: Mr Khulekani Mathe

Organised labour: Mr Mike Shingange

Community constituency: Mr Thembinkosi Josopu

Overall Convenor of government: Mr Sipho Ndebele

 

Executive Director of Nedlac in Absentia, Mr Makhukhu Mampuru;

Acting Executive Director of Nedlac, Ms Nobuntu Sibisi, and the leadership of Nedlac;

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in South Africa, Mr Nelson Muff;

ILO Director-Pretoria Office, Mr Alexio Musindo;

Representatives of organised business, organised labour, government, and the community constituency;

Department of Employment and Labour Entities present,

Representatives of the International Labour Organisation and other United Nations Agencies;

Other International Organisation represented:

Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC)

Pan African Productivity Association (PAPA)

African Union Commission (AUC-Ethiopia)

Management Development Productivity Institute (MDPI), Ghana

Zambia Cabinet Office and National Productivity and Competitiveness Council (NPCC)

Members of the media;

Distinguished guests;

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

It is an honour to address you today at the 31st Nedlac Annual Summit, a vital platform for social dialogue and collective leadership as we navigate the opportunities and challenges brought about by the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and digital transformation.

 

I extend a warm welcome to all participating delegates joining us remotely via the digital platform, as well as to each of you gathered here in person at the CSIR International Convention Centre. Your collective presence, whether physical or virtual is a powerful testament to our shared commitment to inclusive social dialogue and underscores that the conversations we hold here transcend the boundaries of geography. This hybrid gathering reflects the very future we seek to shape: one that is connected, accessible and participatory for all.

 

I extend our profound gratitude to Nedlac for convening this important summit under the theme: “Advancing Inclusive Growth and Decent Work in the Age of AI." This theme resonates deeply with our national priorities of fostering inclusive economic development, job creation, protecting workers' rights and ensuring that technological progress benefits us all.

 

Prior to this Summit, Nedlac yesterday hosted a symposium themed Advancing Productivity and Social Dialogue through decent work in Southern Africa.  At the heart of this theme lies a fundamental truth: a sustainable future is woven from a single golden thread, the inseparable connection between productivity, decent work and social dialogue. Productivity sharpens our competitive edge; decent work anchors our talent by upholding human dignity. Yet neither can thrive without the deliberate, structured engagement of social dialogue, the vital mechanism that channels the voices of workers, communities and enterprises into shared, actionable strategy. These pillars do not stand in isolation; they lean upon one another, forming the very bedrock of economic resilience. Moreover, our collective journey is fortified by our enduring partnership with the International Labour Organisation, whose technical expertise and normative frameworks are indispensable to this endeavour. This cooperation extends beyond our borders—it is a cornerstone for the African continent. As we strive to shape a human-centred digital future, our success can illuminate a path for our sister nations, ensuring that the dividends of AI and the green transition are equitably distributed, advancing the objectives of the African Union's Agenda 2063 and securing a prosperous, inclusive future for all. In this regard, we move beyond silos, affirming that investing in people and their voices is not a cost, but the single most powerful and sustainable driver of long-term productivity.

 

Before we proceed, I wish to express our sincere wishes for the speedy recovery of our Deputy President, Hon. Paul Mashatile, who, regrettably, cannot be with us today. We wish him strength and good health as he recuperates. Similarly, I extend our best wishes for a swift recovery to the Nedlac Executive Director, Mr Makhukhu Mampuru, who is also currently on medical leave. We look forward to his full recovery and return.

 

As we take stock of Nedlac's achievements over the past year, I am pleased to report that Nedlac delivered an outstanding performance, achieving 94% in the 2025/26 financial year. This demonstrates our collective commitment and effectiveness in fulfilling our mandate of fostering social dialogue and consensus-building. Furthermore, Nedlac received an unqualified audit for the same period, underscoring sound governance, transparency, and accountability within our institution. These accomplishments are a testament to the dedication of all social partners and the strength of our collaborative efforts.

 

The past year has seen unprecedented technological change, driven largely by AI and digital innovation. While these advancements hold the promise of increased productivity, improved service delivery, and new economic opportunities, they also pose significant risks, including potential job displacement, widening inequalities, and social disruption. It is crucial that we, as social partners, harness the transformative power of AI in a manner that is inclusive, equitable, and sustainable. Social dialogue remains our most effective mechanism to achieve this, allowing us to build consensus, develop responsive policies, and ensure a just transition for all workers.

 

Today, we will explore several critical areas:

 

a)    Implications of AI and Digital Transformation: Understanding how these technologies are reshaping our economy and labour markets, and what should be the considerations for ethical use of AI and its governance. What would be the role of social dialogue towards realising a human-centred digital economy and responding to the changing nature of work?

 

b)    Skills Development and Workforce Readiness: Identifying practical actions to equip our workforce with the competencies needed for the future.

 

c)    Inclusive Growth and Job Creation: Exploring mechanisms to ensure economic participation benefits all segments of society, creates jobs, and allows for the meaningful participation of small, emerging, and informal enterprises.

 

d)    Just Transition in the Digital and Green Economy: Developing shared perspectives on protecting workers and communities during this transition—ensuring it is as fair and inclusive as possible, creating decent work opportunities, and leaving no one behind.

 

To realise the full potential of AI while safeguarding decent work, we must strengthen collaboration among all social partners—government, business, labour and community. This entails not only sharing insights but also committing to actionable strategies and policy recommendations that promote inclusive growth and social justice.

 

This event must therefore not be a conversation that ends when we leave this room. I challenge Nedlac and all social partners to turn the insights emerging from this Summit, and from yesterday's Symposium convened by Nedlac in partnership with the ILO and Productivity South Africa, into a practical programme of action.

 

Let us use Nedlac as the platform to build a shared social compact on AI and the future of work—one that sets out what we must do, who must do it, and by when. We must identify the skills we need to build, the policies we need to strengthen, the workers and enterprises we need to support, and the safeguards we need to put in place.

 

I therefore call on Nedlac to take this work forward with urgency, bringing social partners together to develop clear and measurable recommendations that can inform government policy, business practice, collective bargaining, and skills development. The test of our success will not be the quality of the conversations we have today, but whether those conversations result in tangible improvements in the lives of workers, opportunities for young people, stronger and more inclusive enterprises, and a more productive and competitive economy.

 

The National Dialogue is already demonstrating the power of taking social dialogue beyond institutions and into the lived realities of South Africans. Its pilot phase, continuing through September, is deliberately testing the process across different communities and sectors, while learning what enables meaningful participation, refining the methodology, facilitation and working arrangements, and strengthening the model before it moves to scale in the new year. Importantly, citizens are not only identifying the challenges they face; they are beginning to articulate practical solutions and shared priorities. This is the work of the pilot phase - to listen, test, learn and refine so that the National Dialogue can grow into a credible, inclusive and genuinely citizen-led national process. Indeed, as we meet here today, National Dialogue pilots are taking place in communities across the country.

 

In closing, I reaffirm our government's commitment to fostering a human-centred digital economy—one that prioritises social dialogue, boosts competitiveness and innovation, protects workers' rights, and promotes sustainable development.

 

Allow me, in these final moments, to underscore the enduring and strategic significance of our continued relationship with the International Labour Organisation. The ILO remains an indispensable ally—not merely a technical partner, but a moral compass and a repository of global best practice that grounds our national efforts in internationally recognised labour standards. As the world of work undergoes profound disruption, the ILO's normative instruments, research capacity and convening power provide us with the evidence-based guidance and solidarity we need to chart a just course. Our cooperation with the ILO is not a static arrangement; it is a living, evolving partnership that we are determined to deepen through technical cooperation, peer learning and joint advocacy. This relationship is all the more critical for our continent, as we work collectively to ensure that Africa's digital transformation is defined not by precariousness, but by prosperity; not by exclusion, but by empowerment. With the ILO walking alongside us, we are better equipped to translate our aspirations into tangible protections for workers, sustainable growth for enterprises, and enduring social justice for all.

 

Let us seize this opportunity to build a resilient, inclusive, and equitable South Africa for generations to come.

 

 

I thank you​

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Programme Director, Mr. Sipho Ndebele, Acting Deputy Director-General for Labour Policy and Industrial Relations;

Acting Executive Director of NEDLAC, Mrs. Nobuntu Sibisi;

Director of the ILO Pretoria Office, Mr. Alexio Musindo;

Acting Chief Executive Officer of Productivity South Africa -   Ms. Amelia Naidoo

Distinguished representatives of the SADC region and other African regions joining us today – from Namibia, Lesotho, Zambia, Botswana, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Ghana and beyond;

Leaders and representatives of organised business, organised labour and the community constituency;

Representatives of government departments, regional bodies and our social partners;

Our panelists, moderators and scene-setters for the day;

Distinguished guests, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

 

Good morning,  

 

I reflect on the powerful opening remarks of the previous speakers; I am struck by how clearly they have set the stage and captured the true weight of our deliberations today.

The representative from NEDLAC reminded us that "many lives depend on the decisions that will be taken today".

I agree whole-heartedly with her and believe that this must be the core concern driving our efforts—the critical nexus between policy, budget/finance, and impact. This policy-budget-impact nexus is the essential pathway through which high-level legislative and policy frameworks are backed by dedicated financial resources to translate commitments into tangible, positive improvements in the daily lives, dignity, and well-being of our citizens.

 

Furthermore, our colleague from the ILO rightly placed immense emphasis on the role of "social dialogue". I strongly agree with his perspective; indeed, if we are to achieve robust, evidence-based policymaking, social dialogue must be at the very center of that process. It is only through systematic social dialogue that we can surface crucial grassroots knowledge—such as the lived realities of the shop floor and the constraints facing small and medium enterprises—to ensure that our policies are built on objective, real-world evidence and local needs rather than top-down assumptions.

 

It is a privilege to stand before you this morning at the opening of this important Symposium, convened jointly by NEDLAC, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Productivity South Africa. I want to thank NEDLAC, ILO and Productivity SA for bringing together, under one roof, the institutions and individuals who carry the responsibility of translating social dialogue from principle into practice across our region.

This gathering could not be timelier as Southern Africa stands at a point where the choices we make about productivity, employment and inclusion will shape the wellbeing of our people for a generation. The theme of this Symposium – Advancing Productivity and Decent Work through Social Dialogue in Southern Africa – speaks directly to that responsibility, and it is in that spirit that I offer these opening remarks.

September is our Heritage Month, which we proudly celebrate in South Africa. This is a season of deep reflection on our rich cultural identities, which the African Union's Agenda 2063 actively seeks to strengthen through the "African renaissance" and pan-African ideals, preserving our collective cultural heritage to foster continental pride and pan-Africanism.

However, we must also recognise that the truest preservation of our heritage and the dignity of our people lies in our ability to protect their rights and secure their well-being in the modern workplace. The struggle for social justice, decent work, and the eradication of poverty is not separate from our heritage; indeed, it is an ongoing commitment to building "The Africa We Want". A prosperous continent based on inclusive growth and sustainable development, aiming at a high standard of living, quality of life, and well-being for all our citizens.

Let me begin with a proposition that is simple to state but not always easy to act on: productivity is not a technical statistic reserved for economists. It is the foundation on which decent jobs are created, on which businesses remain competitive in an unforgiving global economy, on which household incomes rise, and on which the promise of social justice becomes real rather than rhetorical.

Across our region, we continue to confront stubborn unemployment, particularly among young people; persistent skills mismatches; high levels of informality; and the disruptive but also opportunity-laden forces of digitalisation and the green transition.

These are not separate problems to be solved in isolation, as they are different faces of the same underlying challenge. Our economies are not yet generating enough productive, decent work fast enough, or inclusively enough.

Therefore, productivity growth is how we change that trajectory. When workers, firms and sectors become more productive, the gains can fund higher wages, finance further investment, strengthen the tax base that pays for public services, and improve the competitiveness of our industries in regional and global markets, and create jobs.

In shaping this trajectory, we do not operate in a vacuum. Rather, our efforts to advance productivity and decent work should be firmly anchored in and promoted by the African Union and United Nations legislative and normative frameworks.

At the continental level, the African Union provides a clear mandate through Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. Its First Ten-Year Implementation Plan establishes concrete targets, including graduating at least 20 percent of informal economy ventures into the formal economy, extending social insurance coverage to at least 20 percent of workers in the informal economy and rural labour force, reducing underemployment, and cutting poverty levels.

Furthermore, our strategies are deeply aligned with the AU's Ouagadougou Plus10 Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Development, which mandates the prioritization of inclusive labour market governance, youth and women's employment, social protection, and regional partnership.

There is, if I may say, a plethora of legislative framework that should guide our path such as the Abidjan Declaration on Shaping the Future of Work in Africa, which serves as the foundational guiding framework for promoting social justice and decent work on the continent, and the AU's Social Protection Plan for Informal Economy and Rural Workers.

Critically, we must also champion the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, which explicitly calls upon member states to support the economic activities of women in the informal sector and establish systems of social insurance to protect them.

At the global level, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development places decent work at the heart of global development under SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). Specifically, Target 8.3 urges member states to promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, and formalization, monitored directly by tracking the proportion of informal employment.

These global goals are operationalized through the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work and ILO Recommendation No. 204 concerning the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy, which outlines principles to address the diversity of informality through policy coherence, balanced incentives, and compliance.

Additionally, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization remind us that social justice is inseparable from the fundamental rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining.

 

But productivity growth on its own guarantees none of this. Left unmanaged, productivity gains can just as easily concentrate in fewer hands, displace workers without a plan for their transition, or widen the very inequalities we are trying to close.

The direction those gains take, towards shared prosperity or towards exclusion, is determined not by economics alone, but by the institutions and processes through which decisions about work are made.

This is precisely where social dialogue becomes indispensable. It is why NEDLAC, as a statutory institution built on the participation of government, organised labour, organised business and the community constituency, has such a critical role to play, and why institutions like it are being built and strengthened across different African regions.

Indeed, both the AU and UN frameworks explicitly identify social dialogue as the primary vehicle for achieving their development and decent work objectives, acknowledging that the transition to a formal and productive economy can best be facilitated through an integrated strategy, policy coherence, institutional coordination, and active social dialogue.

Social dialogue does three things that no single actor, acting alone, can achieve.

• First, it builds legitimacy. Productivity strategies that are designed and imposed from above, without the buy-in of workers and employers who must live with their consequences, rarely survive contact with implementation. Strategies negotiated through dialogue carry the weight of shared ownership.
• Second, it surfaces grassroots knowledge. Social dialogue brings to light the knowledge that policymakers alone do not have—the lived reality of the shop floor, the constraints facing small and medium enterprises, and the aspirations and anxieties of young workers entering the labour market.
• Third, it manages trade-offs fairly. Every productivity intervention involves trade-offs—between speed and inclusion, between automation and employment, between short-term cost and long-term capability. Social dialogue is the mechanism through which those trade-offs are negotiated, rather than simply imposed on the party with the least power at the table.

Under ILO Convention No. 144 (Tripartite Consultation), we are reminded that systematic consultation among tripartite partners is essential to ensure that policies reflect local realities and needs. Government's role in this is not to stand apart from the process, but to be an active and consistent partner within it, setting an enabling policy framework, investing in skills and infrastructure, and, critically, protecting and resourcing the institutions of social dialogue so that they can do this work credibly and continuously, not only when it is convenient.

I am encouraged that this Symposium has drawn participants from across Africa. The challenges I have described do not respect borders. Our labour markets, value chains and, increasingly, our workers move across regions. A young person's prospects in one country are shaped by policy choices, investment patterns and skills systems well beyond that country's borders.

This is why cooperation on productivity and social dialogue is not a nicety, it is a necessity. Peer learning between our national economic and social councils and equivalent institutions, shared approaches to labour market data, and coordinated positions on issues such as the green transition and digitalisation will make each of our national efforts stronger. I trust that today's panels, covering country experiences, institutional models, enterprise-level transitions and regional cooperation on data and accountability, will generate the kind of practical, honest exchange that turns this ambition into a concrete programme of work.

In closing ladies and gentlemen, the questions before us today are not academic. They concern real people, workers seeking dignity and security in their jobs, young people seeking a first foothold in the labour market, and businesses seeking to remain viable and competitive in a changing world.

How we answer these questions, and whether we answer them together, will determine whether the productivity gains of the coming decade translate into decent work and shared prosperity, or into deeper division.

I want to commend NEDLAC, ILO and PSA for creating this platform, and I want to encourage every delegate in this room to engage today not as a representative of a single interest, but as a partner in a shared regional project.

Government, for its part, remains committed to strengthening the institutions of social dialogue and to working with all of you to ensure that productivity, competitiveness and decent work advance together, not at one another's expense.

I wish you a productive and constructive Symposium.

I thank you.

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Summary: 03 September 2026

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Archive: December 1899

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