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Economic benefits must be shared equally - Newsroom - 05-09-2014
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says economic growth benefits must be shared by all equally.
“Inequality is an affront to our new democratic order and undermines our ability to extend rights and opportunities to all our people,†he said.
Addressing the 19th Nedlac Annual Summit held in Johannesburg, on Friday, Deputy President Ramaphosa said there is a need for the country to confront poverty and inequality.
He said the high levels of inequality make it harder to reduce poverty when economies are growing.
“As partners, we need to have urgent conversations about how to tackle these domestic constraints such as that we accelerate the sharing of the democratic dividend.
“We need to start by ensuring that our social dialogues processes become effective tools that solve problems,†he said.
Nedlac is a multi-sectoral forum established to provide a platform for dialogue and also brings together people from different sectors who contribute to policy development bringing together the various inputs, strengths and comparative advantages from each sector.
The Deputy President’s participation at the Summit comes against the background of the responsibility assigned to him by President Jacob Zuma to convene social partners at Nedlac to consider issues around wage inequality and national minimum wage.
With regard to the National Development Plan (NDP), Deputy President Ramaphosa said government acknowledges the concerns that have been raised by organised labour.
“We need to engage on areas of disagreement while working together on those areas we agree on, such as the need to speedily eliminate inequality, unemployment and poverty.
“There is no way that any social partner can be left behind in our efforts to achieve the objectives of the NDP,†the Deputy President said.
Deputy President Ramaphosa explained that the NDP sets out the country’s priorities and key targets for the next five years.
“We are working to correct spatial imbalances in economic opportunity and eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens.
“Critically, we are focused on expanding and improving education and skills development appropriate for a growing economy,†he said.
The Deputy President said there is a need to have urgent conversations about how to address domestic constraints, to accelerate the sharing of the democratic dividend.
“As we work to address the challenges of the present, all social partners including government, need to recommit themselves to the founding principles of Nedlac as the Apex forum for national social dialogue and to strengthen their participation,†he said. – SAnews.gov.za