The effectiveness of codes of conduct of selected South African mining companies in regulating labour standards: window dressing or genuine regulatory instruments?
Inequality and injustice are deeply rooted within the South African mining industry, and have been since at least the discovery of commercially viable diamonds in 1868, followed by gold in 1886. From the labour policies of the past, the effects of globalisation, and the dysfunctional labour relationships on many mines (as depicted by the Marikana tragedy of 2012) arise mismatched regulatory patterns on labour relations. Labour patterns in the mining sector are continuously shifting, yet the foundations of labour regulation have remained largely the same, focusing primarily on protecting employees who are in a standard employment relationship at the expense of non-standard workers. This has left many workers in non-standard employment relationships inadequately protected by the labour framework. Nonstandard mineworkers generally lack full-enabling rights, including the ability to exercise their rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining effectively. In addition, they face challenges when exercising their right to a working environment that is not harmful to their health and safety, leading to the worsening of their already dire socio-economic conditions. The state is battling to protect these workers from exploitation, but continues to legislate, primarily attempting to widen the definition of those who qualify to access rights under the legal framework. Notwithstanding these attempts, numerous workers at mines remain inadequately protected, thereby stimulating regulatory debates on new ways of organising non-standard workers. One such mechanism, which continues to gather traction in the regulatory debates is the use of codes of conduct to offer protection to workers who, by virtue of the arrangements of their work, cannot organise or access the full rights under the applicable legal framework. Codes of conduct have been popular in many sectors, such as the apparel industry but have not been fully tested in the mining context, leaving many questions around whether they can be labelled genuine regulatory instruments or whether they are mere window dressing tools. Through an assessment of codes of conduct, tracing their development, place in the regulatory spectrum and usage by mining companies in South African mines, this thesis assesses their effectiveness in protecting non-standard workers' rights. Questions on whether such instruments can be viewed as genuine complementary regulatory instruments are raised, focusing on the weaknesses of these instruments. This dissertation offers recommendations for redesigning codes of conduct to make them more legitimate, effective and democratic instruments in the regulation of labour standards at mines.
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