Pretoria – Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Labour has expressed satisfaction with public hearings on the Unemployment Insurance Amendment Bill that were held this week.
“The step taken by the Department [of Labour] to amend this piece of legislation is indeed correct and will do wonders in assisting our people impacted by unemployment. The committee wishes to reassure all the participants that their views will reflect in the final product of the Bill,” said committee chairperson Lumka Yengeni.
The intention of the bill is to empower workers, who have just lost their employment, by extending the benefits that they are usually entitled to after losing their jobs.
The bill is intended to empower poor people by extending unemployment benefits to a wide range of citizens affected by unemployment, including public servants and learners, who are undergoing learnership training
“The public hearing is reaffirmation of correctness of Parliament’s approach to involve ordinary people in the legislation formulation process. It is very good for people to say what kind of legislation they want,” she said.
The public hearings on the Bill on Wednesday were attended by labour representatives, academics, employers’ association, and the general public, among others.
Most of the representatives welcomed the amendments, and voiced desirability of the bill as a matter of urgency.
The committee chairperson said the next step would be for the committee to sit down and discuss the input from submissions.
“This law would at least cushion our people during the economic downturn period, hence all political parties are unanimous regarding its speedy finalisation,” said Yengeni.
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