Addressing academics and business executives at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs), Motlanthe said, "I don't think our labour laws are an obstacle to the creation of jobs. I think they contain enough flexibility."
Asked at the Gibs function if the government planned to make labour law more business-friendly, Motlanthe said it was a myth that labour laws were stifling job creation. Motlanthe's remarks pleased labour federation Cosatu, which is in alliance with the ruling ANC, while business executives and large companies, as well as Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and National Planning Commission Minister Trevor Manuel criticised the laws as too rigid, saying they make it hard to hire and fire employees.
Motlanthe, however, said the current labour policies had been agreed at Nedlac, the body at which government, business and labour discuss issues of mutual interest, "I know that this year an accord was signed again at Nedlac which now allows for apprentices to be absorbed without those apprentices being treated as full-time employees, so there is flexibility in our labour regime," the deputy president told Times Live.
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