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At the dawn of South Africa’s democracy, the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) was launched in 1995 to establish social dialogue as a cornerstone for policy making and development in South Africa. Underpinning Nedlac is the importance of consensus building on socio-economic policies between the social partners to promote sustainable inclusive development in South Africa. Yet, the social partners appear unable to reach consensus and forge lasting pacts to make significant inroads on key development issues. The current deadlock on the National Minumum Wage (NMW) dialogue at Nedlac is one such example. This calls on stakeholders to critically engage on the future of social dialogue for policy making and development in South Africa given the pressing challenges of growth, unemployment, poverty and inequality.

The Inclusive Economies project of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) will convene a roundtable discussion in collaboration with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and Rethink Africa to discuss key insights from the 2015 Transformation Audit report of the IJR on Searching for social and development pacts in South Africa. Stakeholders will have an opportunity to engage in-depth with the implications of the findings for consensus building and social dialogue to promote inclusive development in South Africa. Furthermore, the discussion will explore driving forces behind the current deadlock on the National Minimum Wage dialogue and consider recommendations for repositioning social dialogue in South Africa to promote the creation of an inclusive economy.