FORMALIZATION OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY ACTION PLAN IN

FORMALIZATION OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY ACTION PLAN IN SOUTH AFRICA Theodora Steele (COSATU - Labour) Vanessa Phahla (BUSA - Business) Vukile Nkabinde (DSBD – Government) ILO - Presentation ‘Moving South Africa Forward through Inclusive Economy’ 1

FORMALIZATION OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY ACTION PLAN IN SOUTH AFRICA 1. Background – Reflection on what are the current activities by social partners on the informal economy a) Labour - There is currently a task team coordinated through COSATU for vulnerable workers, which includes the South African Informal Traders Alliance (SAITA) – sharing of information and capacity building for organizing 2

FORMALIZATION OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY ACTION PLAN IN SOUTH AFRICA 1. Background – Reflection on what are the current activities by social partners on the informal economy b) Business - There is currently no activity, however business has discussed the importance of the informal sector to be supported 3

FORMALIZATION OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY ACTION PLAN IN SOUTH AFRICA 1. Background – Reflection on what are the current activities by social partners on the informal economy c) Government - The department of Small Business Development is currently driving the National Informal Business Upliftment Strategy (NIBUS), which has got 5 key pillars – see next slide 4

FORMALIZATION OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY ACTION PLAN IN SOUTH AFRICA • Enabling Legal & Regulatory Environment – – – • Enterprise Development (Financial and non-Financial) – – • • • Business Licensing (Red Tape Reduction - National Municipal based registration database – Pre CIPC) Alignment of by-laws to be responsive to the developmental agenda of info. Bus’s Foreign Traders (Upliftment of locals, partnerships and regulations) Illicit goods - addressing counterfeits, illegal economic activites, etc Social Protection (Decent Work Agenda) Intellectual Property – indigenous products and services Infrastructure (shelter, storage, trolleys, ablution facilities, business parks, etc) Access to Finance Access to Markets (product & quality development, development programs) Training and Development (with mentorship), incubation & Technology, etc Inter Governmental Relations (horizontal & vertical) – coordination system - policy dev, resources, programme dev and implementation) Stakeholder/Partnership Development (Private sector, Business Associations, Labour, civil society, FORUMS, etc) Information (Knowledge) Management – Research, communication, product development, database management system, One-stop-shops, etc 5

FORMALIZATION OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY ACTION PLAN IN SOUTH AFRICA 2. What action are we to take post ITC-ILO Academy – 17 -21 November? a) Individual feedback to our institutions - The partners agreed that they shall give feedback to their constituencies and mobilize further for the formalization and organizing of the informal economy b) Proposed Joint initiatives - Partners agreed to organize and mobilize other stakeholders that are relevant to the informal economy, including other business associations like the Black Business Council; other trade Unions beyond COSATU, e. g. NACTU, FEDUSA; other government departments, e. g. Departments of Labour, Social Development, Treasury, Economic development, etc. - Partners further agreed to engage the Social dialogue institute called NEDLAC to further profile the importance of formalizing the informal economy 6

FORMALIZATION OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY ACTION PLAN IN SOUTH AFRICA 3. Why the mobilization? The partners agreed that mobilizing stakeholders will be key in sensitizing and raising awareness about the importance of the informal economy in addressing the triple challenges of Poverty, Inequality and Unemployment (lack of decent employment). The outcome is expected to be a change of mindset especially with the leaders in government, business, labour and civil society in general 7

FORMALIZATION OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY ACTION PLAN IN SOUTH AFRICA 4. How? - The partners agreed to engage with the ILO country office (Southern Africa) to assist with the technical expertise and resources to organize sessions with stakeholders - NEDLAC will also be organized as an institution to support the mobilization 5. Who? Partners agreed that they develop joint task teams to work towards achieving the set goals 8

FORMALIZATION OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY ACTION PLAN IN SOUTH AFRICA 6. Where? - Work will for now focus within the country and further expand to the region and the continent at large 7. When? The partners agreed that this should be done before the end of March 2015, which will then yield a long term plan with stakeholders 9

THANK YOU CONTACT DETAILS Theodora Steele +27 82 563 6955 theo@cosatu. org. za Vanessa Phala +27 71 382 7788 Vanessa. phala@busa. org. za Vukile Nkabinde +27 12 394 - 5707 vnkabinde@thedti. gov. za 10