Speech by Hon Adrian John Williams during the National Assembly debate on Employment Services Bill
12 November 2013
Honourable Speaker
Honourable Deputy President
Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Honourable Members
And Most importantly My fellow South Africans.
Firstly I want to state that the African National Congress supports this Bill. We support it today and we will support it in the future. I cant talk for all the parties in the house as some parties change their mind as Mr Tony Leon recently wrote and I quote the DAs flip-flop on employment equity suggests that whatever its other lapses, the ANC now comprehensively dominates the intellectual space and defines terms of the debate within it. Un quote.
Today before this the 4th Parliament and before South Africa we are debating the Employment Services Bill. I have stated this, because it is important for all Honourable Members in this house to understand that this Parliament is nothing without the People. It is important for the People to understand that this Parliament is nothing without the Peoples Participation. Through the Democratic Processes that we all enjoy today, courtesy of the African National Congress lead Mass Democratic Movement, you South Africa, have put us here. You have put us here to make laws that are in your best interests.
Section 8.1 of the Employment Services Bill states :
And I Quote
"An employer may not employ a foreign national within the territory of the Republic of South Africa prior to such foreign National producing an applicable and valid work permit, issued in terms of the immigration Act.
Un Quote. I know many of you at home are deeply concerned with the issue of Non South Africans working illegally within South Africa, The African National Congress Lead Government is deeply concerned about this issue too. So let us work together, the People and the ANC lead Government on a solution that puts the love we all share of humanity above a few peoples lust for wealth.
Over the last 19 and a half years, South Africa has improved so much that non South Africans are flocking here. Today South Africa is a much better country to live in as opposed to the time when the Democratic Alliance predecessors were collaborating with the Apartheid Regime. We as a United Collective, rooted in our mutual love of humanity, we as South Africans must start asking why is it that Non South Africans can illegally gain employment within South Africa?. The simple truth is that a group of people whos lust for wealth is bigger than their love of humanity are Breaking the Law and employing non South Africans illegally. We cannot blame the non South African for this situation. We who put the love of humanity above our lust for wealth must never blame individuals for seeking a better life.
The cause of this concerning situation is the law breaking employers that illegally employ Non South Africans. They do this because they think that they can more easily exploit illegal workers. These inhumane greedy employers use deportation as a threat in order to exploit vulnerable people. They are criminals that exploit in order to accumulate more money in South Africa we basically have Human Trafficking of a Special Type, perpetrated by the greedy employers and where the vulnerable non South Africans rush to what they think are greener pastures and find instead exploitation and humiliation. Only as a Collective rooted in our love of humanity can we put an end to the exploitation and humiliation of our fellow humans. Only through working together will we achieve more. Do not blame the non South African, the blame squarely lies with employers who illegally employ non South Africans. The Employment Services bill states in section 8.2 And I quote The Minister may, after consulting the Board, make regulations to facilitate the employment of foreign nationals, which regulations may include the following measures (a) The employers must satisfy themselves that there are no other persons in the Republic with suitable skills to fill a vacancy, before recruiting a foreign national;
Un Quote.
This section is important because there are occasions where there are no South Africans with the skills required to do a job. And therefore that skilled person must be imported.
However when farmers employ non South Africans to be their labourers, to work excessively long hours and live in hovels and squalor in order make more money ,that is illegal and inhumane.
When factories and offices employ non South Africans as unskilled employees and pay them a pittance and sexually harass them that is illegal and inhumane. When restaurants, hotels and retailers employ non South Africans as their waiters, cleaners and shelf packers because they can exploit them, that is illegal and inhumane.
I call on the South African bourgeoisie to engage with their compatriots who are currently employing illegal non South Africans to put an end to this illegal activity. I call on my fellow South Africans to be sensitive to the plight on non South Africans living in this our beautiful country. We are all People. we are Society, and as an African Society we must not exploit and humiliate one another.
My fellow South Africans I call on you to report all employers that illegally employ non South Africans to your nearest Labour and Home Affairs offices. Brothers and Sisters, I call upon you to Participate in the implementation of the Law and Comments on twitter on facebook doesnt equate to Participation. The first act of participation in a Participatory Democracy is voting. In the upcoming National Election you have the right to choose between the former apartheid collaborators and the Peoples Liberators.
If you dont participate in our Democracy then why did so many people suffer and die in the struggle for our liberation?
During the time when the Democratic Alliance predecessors were collaborating with the Apartheid Regime, the African National Congress lead liberation movement were suffering untold hardship with the aim of creating a People Driven and People Centred Government within a Non Racist, Non Sexist Democratic and Prosperous South Africa. Without the people, without your participation, this government is nothing. Without you, My fellow South Africans this Participatory Democracy is meaningless.
I thank you.
