Chairperson: Ms Aggy Moiloa-Inspector General

Chief Inspector: Ms M Ruiters

Senior officials of the National and Provincial Leadership of the Department present here today,

Labour Inspectors of the Eastern Cape, Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,​

Opening Remarks 

May I take this time to greet everyone and salute you for showing up for this all important IES Strategy session. Working without a clear-cut strategy is like travelling through a maze. Strategy provides focus, direction and allows us to explore options that lead to measurable output. As John Maxwell puts it, “A vision without a strategy remains an illusion"

Any institution, body or formation that places real value on its mandate sets aside a considerable amount of time and effort to develop a master plan, a blueprint that pioneers its overall direction and guidance.

Our Inspection and Enforcement Services Branch is no exception to this rule, and it is in that spirit that we gather today.

Beyond that, this gathering assists me to interact with inspectors and management under the same roof. I have been able to attend strategy roadshows in the Gauteng and Western Cape Province. I enjoyed interacting with officials and hope for same today. Whilst it is of great value to meet in the field during operations, it is just as important to sit around the table and sketch our strategy.

Why This Strategy, and Why Now

I have been reliably informed that the last strategy developed by this Branch dates to 2009. Colleagues, that is seventeen years ago. In that time, our labour market has evolved into an increasingly complex phenomenon. One that is now characterised, among other things, by non-standard forms of employment such as: temporary jobs; part-time work; temporary agency work; self-employment; gig and platform work; disguised and informal employment. We are seeing rising levels of the informal economy, and the rapid growth of platform and gig work, features that simply did not exist in their current form when our last strategy was written.

The need to adapt, both at policy and at the operational coalface level cannot be overemphasised. Our world of work has changed, and our strategy must change with it.

It is for this reason that I wish to commend and hail the initiative of developing a new IES strategy, one that has richly harvested the pointers and the lessons of the strategy that came before it.

This has not been a quick undertaking. It has taken several years to develop the very strategy that we gather to discuss with you today, and that patience and rigour should tell you something about how seriously this Branch has taken the task.

A Strategy Anchored by Its Sbu -Strategies

This overarching strategy does not stand alone. It is complemented and strengthened by a number of sub-strategies, namely:

• The OHS Strategy
  
  The Enforcement Strategy
• The Advocacy Strategy
  
  The Employment Equity Strategy

Your Role: Adding the Provincial Flavour

This is precisely why you are here today, and why your presence matters. You have an opportunity, right here in this room, to shape these strategies by adding a distinctly Provincial flavour to them. We must be alive to the fact that our provinces are not homogenous. A well-rounded, holistic strategy must take that reality into account.

Whilst the overarching national strategy remains our flagship document, it would be a hollow and incomplete document if it lacked the inputs of the true gamechangers in this inspectorate, and that, colleagues, is you, the inspectors.

It is equally important that we listen to, and embrace, the voice of the Provincial leadership, and I am particularly pleased that they are here with us today to add their weight to this process.

A Call to Participate

I therefore give you permission, and I encourage you, to be part of the shapers of the trajectory of this Branch. Do not sit back today. This strategy belongs to you as much as it belongs to the national office.

Let me remind you: we do not have to always agree. But we must certainly listen to one another. This engagement should be conducted with one clear intent: to enrich the work of our Branch. I encourage every one of you to be part of the history being written here. Participate freely, but respectfully, and make your points sharply and with precision.

Closing Remarks 

These are interesting times. The importance of the work that you do has found resonance at the highest office, the Presidency. Remember, after conquering a mountain, there's always one more mountain to climb. Great success is followed by greater responsibilities. There are still many mountains for us to climb together as we move South Africa's labour market towards full compliance. I have every confidence that, with your input into this strategy, we are equipping ourselves to climb higher.

I thank you.

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