Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Unemployment Convention, 1919 (No. 2) - South Africa (Ratification: 1924)

Measures to combat unemployment. In replying to the 2004 direct request, the Government indicates in a report received in November 2009 that it has embarked on reviving the comprehensive operation of employment services. An Employment Services Bill is being developed, taking into consideration the provisions for employment services and the coordination of public and private employment services. The Regulations for Private Employment Agencies (Employment Services for Gain) will be reviewed in line with the new employment services legislation. In its General Survey of 2010 on employment instruments, the Committee recalled the historical background in which Convention No. 2 was adopted in 1919. Convention No. 2 recognized the existence of private free employment agencies and required member States to coordinate the operations of private and public agencies on a national scale. However, the most recent international labour standards, such as the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), which has been identified as a governance Convention by the 2008 Social Justice Declaration; the Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88), and the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), recognize the role played by public services and private employment agencies to achieve an optimal labour market functioning and thus, the realization of the right to work. In its contribution to the 2010 General Survey, the Government of South Africa indicated that almost all Articles of Convention No. 88 are addressed in the current legislation. It also indicated that the existing regulations on private employment agencies under the Skills Development Act, 1998, allow for registration of the agencies. The Committee noted that the Government of South Africa is considering ratification of Convention No. 88 (General Survey, op. cit., paragraph 710). The Committee invites the Government to provide information in its next report on the adoption process of the Employment Services Bill and the revision of the Regulations for Private Employment Agencies (Employment Services for Gain). It would also welcome information on consultations that may have been held with social partners concerning the ratification of Conventions Nos 88, 122 and 181.