The International Labour Organisation (ILO) believes labour market regulations are not too rigid in South Africa and cannot be blamed for high unemployment, it was reported on Monday.
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According to the reports, ILO South African director Vic van Vuuren attributed unemployment to fragile economic conditions, skills mismatches and problems with education.
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He was speaking after the African Development Bank claimed that labour regulations were “excessively rigid” and contributed to youth unemployment.
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South Africa's unemployment rate was almost 25 percent, which equated to almost four-and-a-half million people out of work.
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Van Vuuren said: “When we look at our labour laws and we analyse them and compare them to other best-practice countries, I don't think we have a rigid labour market that is preventing youth employment or employment in general”.
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It was however reported that Adcorp labour analyst Loane Sharp disagreed, and said the World Economic Forum rated South Africa's labour regulation as one of the world's worst.
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Amendment Bills to the Labour Relations and the Basic Conditions of Employment Acts are being considered by Parliament's portfolio committee on labour.
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“They're adding more regulation and what we need is less regulation….[The amendments] are even more restrictive than the Labour Relations Act of the mid-1990s,” Sharp said.
