Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1989, published 76th ILC session (1989)

1. The Committee notes that under the Temporary Removal of Restrictions on Economic Activities Act of 1986, the State President may, by proclamation, suspend, or grant exemption from, the provisions of any enactment having force of law (but excluding an Act of Parliament) if he is of the opinion that circumstances exist under which the application of such law, or compliance with any condition, limitation or obligation relating to the carrying on or exercising of an undertaking, industry, trade or occupation unduly impedes the economic progress of the persons engaged in the carrying on or exercising of that undertaking, industry, trade or occupation, or competition in the fields in question, or the creation of job opportunities.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate any measures taken or contemplated to ensure that the application of the provisions of the Convention is not affected by proclamation made under the Act of 1986.

2. In its previous observation, the Committee noted comments from the International Metalworkers' Federation transmitting a memorandum from the Metal and Allied Workers' Union of South Africa, according to which wages below the minimum fixed were being paid in part of the metalworking industry, in particular at the Transvaal Alloys (Pty) Ltd. The Committee noted that, from the Government's reply to these comments, it appeared that the workers in the metalworking industry were not covered by generally applicable minimum wages rates, since minimum wages were fixed on an undertaking basis by in-house collective agreements; the Government considered that the minimum wage-fixing system contemplated in the Convention was not applicable to this sector, or at least was not applicable to all parts of it. The Committee requested the Government to indicate the consultations carried out with the employers' and workers' organisations in the trade or part of the trade concerned, as required in Article 2 of the Convention.

The Committee notes from the Government's report that the Labour Relations Act provides for the registration of employers' organisations and trade unions which may establish industrial councils on which the parties are equally represented; such councils are registered under the Act for a particular industry and area. In the metalworking industry, the minimum wages being paid in certain sectors are contained in separate collective agreements entered into between some of the trade unions and employers' organisations or individual employers. The Government states that the Wage Act of 1957 is complementary to the Labour Relations Act of 1956 and is primarily designed for the prescription of minimum wages for industries and trades in which employers and employees are not sufficiently organised to permit their negotiating collective agreements. Consequently, minimum wages cannot be fixed in terms of the Wage Act for workers to whom collective agreements apply. The various employers' organisations and trade unions which are parties to the industrial council for the metal industry have, after consultations between themselves, opted for the regulation of minimum wages in that industry by collective agreements.

The Committee takes note of this information.

The Committee notes the information provided in the Special Report of the Director-General on the Application of the Declaration concerning the Policy of Apartheid in South Africa (ILC, 75th Session, 1988) according to which the Metal and Allied Workers' Union, which merged with other unions to form the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), rejected an agreement reached with the employers in July 1987 by certain smaller unions within the industrial council for the metal industry. The Minister of Manpower extended the life of the industrial council agreement of the previous year by virtue of provisions of the Labour Relations Act authorising such extension when requested by both parties and prohibiting strikes during the currency of an agreement.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate the representative employers' and workers' organisations concerned in the metalworking industry which have been associated in the operation of the industrial council machinery for the metal industry and whether they have been so associated in equal numbers and on equal terms. It also requests the Government to communicate copies of any collective agreements fixing minimum wages currently in force in this industry.

3. The Committee notes that the Government's report contains no information on the application of the Convention in the areas of Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei to which the Convention also applies. It requests the Government to provide full information on the application of the Convention in these areas.