Lumka Yengeni is not fit to serve as chairwoman of labour committee

The recent statements made by labour committee chairwoman Lumka Yengeni (ANC) are a clear indication that the ANC is not interested in a level headed debate on labour brokers. Indeed, the very opposite is true: the ANC appears set on bulldozing through regulations on labour brokers irrespective of what private labour brokers and civil society has to say and to the detriment of those people who rely on labour brokers to find employment.

Speaking in the public hearings on labour brokers, Yengeni stated that labour brokers are "slave traders" and "human traffickers". This is the latest hysterical comment from the ANC and its partners on the matter, none of which are helpful or accurate, but borne of poor judgment and a failure to properly understand the problem.

By turning the issue into a race conflict, the ANC has misrepresented the nature of the problem and further undermined the chances of arriving at a rational solution. This is not the sort of behaviour befitting the portfolio, who should be objective and act at all times in the best interest of good democratic practice.

The DA believes she is not fit to hold this position and we will be approaching the Speaker in this regard.

Her statement on the matter also suggests a lack of understanding of the labour broking environment. It is clear that a decision has already been taken to shut down labour brokers, despite the fact that this would only exacerbate any exploitation by driving it underground.

It is shameful that an arena of public debate has been tarnished by the ill-informed views of the ANC. It sends out a very bad signal on the future of parliamentary debate - that any view contrary to the ANC dogma will not be tolerated.

The DA will be consulting with the speaker of the parliament on this matter in order to raise the following concerns:

• Whether the ANC chaired portfolio meetings will continue to discriminate against certain economic and/or political groupings and deprive them of their right to fair representation.

• Whether it is official ANC policy to define economic activity according to race, and whether such a classification implies a moral judgment on an entire people.

The racist and uninformed statements made by members cannot be tolerated in a free and fair society - particularly in the crucial arena of public debate.

Serious questions remain as to how worker exploitation needs to be addressed, and yet the focus of Yengeni seems to be to vilify labour brokers at all costs.

Statement issued by Andrew Louw, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of labour, August 27 2009

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