Employment and Labour Director General unveils a wish to formalise the informal sector

The Director General of Employment and Labour, Mr Thobile Lamati, has said South Africa, along with other BRICS member states are committed to bring on board the informal sector into the mainstream economy as part of normalisation of the labour market.

The Director General was speaking to the media at the end of the 4-day meeting of working group by BRICS states that includes; Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. “As things stands, 20% of South Africa workforce belongs to the informal sector. The challenge is how we transition to the formal sector. On the other hand, India’s informal sector stands at 100%,” Lamati said.

The DG said the meeting also dealt with challenges of creating enterprises that are sustainable while ensuring that the fundamental principles and the rights at work are protected. He also spoke about lessons learnt from the disruptions on the world economy brought by COVID-19. “COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many economic and social processes”, he said.

This summit is to be followed by similar sessions in May and June which will culminate in the Ministerial meeting in September at which a declaration will be prepared for the adoption for the Head of States.

Source: Government of South Africa