COSATU Today, Wednesday 2 December 2009

COSATU, with about 8000 workers from SACCAWU and SATAWU, has rejected the submission from Sun International’s chief executive officer to put off the investigation team while the perpetrators of racism are still inside Sun City.

COSATU’s demand is very clear that the operations manager and the racist security companies, Falcon and 247, must go now.

Racism and discrimination at Sun City is there. It has been there for years and is still continuing. Why wait for the investigation? COSATU members are subjected to discrimination, sexual harassment and slavery led by security companies and labour brokers under Sun City.

COSATU is still demanding a full investigation into some officials and politicians of the North West provincial government and the disbandment of the gambling board. Workers suspect that there is corruption in the board. Therefore COSATU demands that the gambling board must be investigated, and to find out who are the shareholders of 247 Security Company and the Boinelo Heritage Tours operation.

Interdict or no interdict COSATU’s protest action is going on, in particular, fighting against racism, discrimination, sexual harassment and corruption.

1.2 DENOSA wishes COSATU a happy 24^th birthday

Asanda Fongqo,DENOSA Communications Officer, 1 December 2009

DENOSA has joined other fellow affiliates in wishing the giant federation COSATU well on its 24^th birthday.

COSATU has made notable strides in the betterment of the lives and socio economic well being of the working class. The federation has taken a centre stage in influencing socio-economic policies of the country by championing a social dialogue through NEDLAC.

Progressive labour laws have emerged from the existence of this enormous workers movement.

COSATU has been able to locate its struggles not only in workplaces but within the communities as well.

DENOSA notes continuing challenges that still face the working class and the broader public and DENOSA is committed to working hand in hand with our federation in dealing with those challenges.

The union emphasizes the backing of COSATU as an ideal federation to effectively and vehemently drive the working class agenda. DENOSA further appreciates COSATU’s continued efforts in speaking for the poor majority.

DENOSA reiterates its vigour to work collectively with the federation in the overhauling of our plummeting health system and in improving the working conditions of all health workers.

Happy birthday COSATU!!!

1.3 NUMSA salutes COSATU on its birthday

Castro Ngobese, NUMSA’s National Spokesperson, 1 December 2009

NUMSA has joined other affiliated unions in saluting COSATU on this august occasion of its 24^th anniversary birthday.

COSATU remains a beacon of hope, a voice of conscience and a shield to the many workers who face on a daily basis the brutal Capitalist exploitation, casualisation, sexual harassment and victimization and abuse at the point of production to the benefit of the Capitalist bosses.

NUMSA regards this COSATU anniversary as a milestone in the many ongoing class struggles waged by the workers and the poor for decent and sustainable livelihoods. This anniversary is taking place in the midst of the global capitalist crisis from which our country is not insulated. On a daily basis workers are being retrenched in Capitalist owned industries, Capitalist banks are repossessing the houses of the workers and the poor, deepening poverty is infesting the majority of our people, thousands of workers are being lost and buried as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the workers and the poor are victims of crime. It wreaks havoc on working class and poor communities. Skyrocketing transport and living costs further impoverish the poor. These and many social ills brewed by the inhumane and barbaric Capitalists are making the lives of the workers and the poor disastrous and miserable.

NUMSA is confident that COSATU as the voice of the voiceless and down-trodden will be in the forefront of these struggles as part of changing the lives of the workers and the poor. These socio-economic challenges call on our giant Federation to champion a revolutionary agenda that transfers the wealth of our country to the people as a whole as encapsulated in the Freedom Charter.

NUMSA recommits itself to work with our sister Unions and COSATU to achieve the noble goals of the 2015 Plan. The Plan is consistent with the strategic objectives of the Freedom Charter as adopted by the parliament of the people in 1955.

As we celebrate this milestone, NUMSA declares to, within COSATU, put together the foundation for a socialist manifesto as the concrete alternative to the brutal and barbaric capitalist system that reduces our society to constant crisis and misery.

Happy Birthday COSATU!

1.4 NUMSA gives Mayor Wayile thumbs up for banning labour brokers

Castro Ngobese, NUMSA’s National Spokesperson, 1 December 2009

NUMSA has applauded the revolutionary decision taken by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan led by, Zanoxolo Wayile, to ban the usage of labour brokers by the municipality.

The decision affirms that Wayile and his Council are agents for a revolutionary agenda and change.

The people spoke and declared in 1955 when they converged in Kliptown to draw-up the Freedom Charter that ‘child labour, compound labour, the tot system and contract labour shall be abolished’. In 2009, years later the Nelson Mandela Metro, named after the revolutionary stalwart, is heeding that resolve as demanded by the people in 1955.

This affirms that the Freedom Charter should serve a political programme and agenda by government as we build a better life for all. We are conscious that their will be those inside and outside the movement that will not agree to the radical implementation of the Freedom Charter. Their objection to the implementation of the Freedom Charter will not be based on its progressiveness and viability, but based on their new-found and entrenched economic and class interests.

This calls on other municipalities, provincial and national government departments to move with speed in banning the usage of labour brokers within their respective departments. NUMSA calls on the permanent employment of all labour brokering workers in accordance with the ANC’s elections manifesto commitments to created decent work.

1.5 CWUSA’s commends ANC-led government

Oupa Lebogo, CWUSA General Secretary, 1 December 2009

The decision by the ANC-led government to engage different industries in an attempt to fully understand their issues is commendable.

One such meeting happened on 17^th November 2009 when President Zuma interacted with the creative arts industry.

In his address the Honourable President challenged emphatically the arts practitioners to unite for the sake of reinforcing and strengthening their voice. He added that such unification efforts would result in much needed progress in the resolution of a plethora of difficulties in the industry. It is a call that has also been made by the former Arts and Culture Minister, Dr. Pallo Jordan, during his term of office.

CWUSA wishes to place it on record that a unifying structure has been in existence since 2007. It was a culmination of protracted discussions to merge two bodies in the industry, the then Performing Arts Workers Equity (PAWE) and the Musicians Union of SA (MUSA). An inaugural and historic congress took place in JHB on 5-7th September 2007 which led to the birth of the Creative Workers Union of SA (CWUSA).

The significant launch of CWUSA was addressed by the ANC Alliance leadership, namely the then Deputy President of the ANC, and current President, Jacob Zuma, COSATU General Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, and the General Secretary of the SACP, Blade Nzimande.

This august event was attended by the Creative Arts Industry luminaries like Ray Phiri, David Phetoe, Letta Mbulu, Nothembi Mkhwebani, Sipho “Hot Stix” Mabuse just to name a few, who witnessed the industry engaging in efforts to curb individualism within itself and plant a seed of a collective approach to challenges.

It is the arts practitioners’ responsibility to swell the ranks of organized labour in the industry, represented by the Creative Workers Union of SA (CWUSA). We will continue to mobilize, organize and inform those outside the ambit of CWUSA to come on aboard, amid and an acute shortage of resources.

CWUSA has been engaged in some meaningful interventions for artists which include:

1. The meeting with the Minister of Labour, Membathisi Mdladlana, which resulted in the research to determine whether the sector has an employer/employee relationship at the different workplaces as per the nature of the sector.

2. The convening of an anti-piracy workshop with other stakeholders like SARS, DTI, RISA, SAPS Commercial Crime Unit, etc.

3. The ongoing engagement with the private sector with the sole aim of launching a holistic Social Security Plan.

CWUSA does not have time to tabulate all the other collective and individual victories achieved since the union’s inception, which include:

· The current payments of repeat fees by the SABC – our brainchild

· The recent involvement in the save our SABC campaign

· The SABC march in which we participated, resulting in the collapse of the board

The unity call by the President seems to suggest that there have been no collective efforts to achieve a common goal by this sector. We are of the opinion that people choose what to see and what to ignore. We are mindful of CWUSA’s constraints in terms of visibility, but the least beneficiaries of our efforts should do, is to acknowledge us.

The CWUSA is still at the crawling stage. Let’s join hands to capacitate it rather than pretend it does not exist. In the event that communication and marketing of CWUSA has had shortfalls, we concede, but we also invite all those outside CWUSA to come on board and claim their rightful spaces and reap the benefits thereof. Is it not time to dump our individualistic approach, lest we “perish as fools” to borrow from Dr. Martin Luther King? The quicker we realise the power of our collectivity the better.

The Imbizo model by the President must also happen at the Provincial level, where the MECs for Arts and Culture will take the lead. This would ensure alignment with the national priorities, and thus demonstrate government’s commitment to service delivery at all levels. The CWUSA therefore proposes the following as a way forward after the historic President Zuma’s Imbizo on the 17^th/11/09/:

Provincial Imbizos and a National Creative Industry Summit

· All inputs to be presented in a structured form by the data collectors elected by the Provincial Imbizo participants. To arrive at data collectors’ numbers, it would be advisable for them to be guided by the number of regions e.g. KZN = 11 Regions which translates to 11 data collectors or task teams. This approach will also help the Imbizo organizers in terms of attendance of the National Imbizo to be held in 2010.

· Convening the National Creative Industry Imbizo in 2010. The Provincial Imbizos’ inputs will determine the agenda for the national Creative industry Imbizo.

· The formation of an inter-ministerial task team to work on the logistics of the National Creative Industry Imbizo, taking into account the nature of the industry.

· The commencement of the Truth/Reparation/Arts/Process (TRAP) to be led by the CWUSA in conjunction with the National Department of Arts & Culture.

1. South Africa

2.1 NUMSA urges South Africans and the world to fight HIV and AIDS

Castro Ngobese, NUMSA’s National Spokesperson, 1 December 2009

NUMSA has joined the people of South Africa and the world on the World Aids Day to fight the HIV and AIDS pandemic that continues to wreak havoc in working class and poor households.

The Metalworkers support the renewed courage and commitment displayed by the new ANC administration in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This renewed courage and commitment buries the past denialism and bookish quotes of the pandemic associated with the past administration under the stewardship of Thabo Mbeki.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is the major cause of death in our country, far above the road related deaths. We commit ourselves in working with government, NGO’s, faith-based organizations and youth formations in defeating the scourge of the pandemic in line with the HIV National Strategic Plan.

We further dip our red banners in memory of all the workers who perished this year 2009 as a result of the pandemic. Their names are engraved in our hearts and minds as we lend a hand of solidarity to those who are infected and affected by the pandemic.

2.2 NEHAWU calls on South African to join hands in the fight against HIV and AIDS

Sizwe Pamla, NEHAWU’s Media Liaison Officer, 1 December 2009

NEHAWU has called on all South Africans to support and participate in all initiatives that seek to create awareness and promote actions to combat HIV Aids during the world Aids Day 1st of December and beyond. The union urges its members and the broader society to take a personal and a collective responsibility to stop new infections and know their status by testing regularly for HIV Aids.

We all need to play our part in the fight against Aids because it is a threat that can only be defeated through unity and decisive leadership. It has inflicted the single greatest reversal in the history of human development and has become the greatest challenge of our generation.

The biggest challenge in the fight against this disease is discrimination suffered by those who are living with the disease in the workplace and broader society and ignorance is the source of the discrimination.

We call on our political leaders, business leaders and ordinary South Africans to offer support to all the progressive organizations that are working together to promote acceptance of those who are living with HIV and AIDS and in trying to combat the disease.

We are encouraged by the leadership role that the administration under the leadership of President Zuma is playing in trying to mobilize our society to help bring AIDS out of the shadows, and spread the message that silence is death.

The union also challenges all fathers, husbands, sons and brothers to support and affirm the rights of women and to protect their families from the risks that are posed by HIV and Aids.

2.3 ANC concern over the sale of misoprostol on the streets

Dumisa Ntuli, ANC Gauteng, 1 December 2009

The ANC in Gauteng is concerned about the shocking reports on the sales of misoprostol in the streets of Soweto particularly as reported at the Chris Hani Baragwanath taxi rank which apparently induces labour.

The most worrying factor is that the street- peddler allegedly works in partnership with people employed by the Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital. The ANC does not understand why people rush to street peddlers because abortion is legal in South Africa. We take this opportunity to warn those who would be clients of the dangers and risks of illegal abortion.

ANC calls upon the renewed spirit of the South African Police Services to prevail upon these criminals who rip profits out fetuses. These street peddlers are dangers to society. This is the worst of crimes and those liable under the employ of the hospital should face the full mighty of the law.

The organization also calls upon the department of health to consolidate its control measurers including instituting internal investigations to reach to the bottom of this evil practice. The health department investigation should be promptly and effective as the street peddlers continue to do damage and take advantage of desperate and vulnerable .Those who have information to assist if such knowledge is disposed of to the benefit of the police and the entire South Africans.

2.4 CWUSA laments the demise of indigenous languages in South Africa

Oupa Lebogo, CWUSA General Secretary, 1 December 2009

Historical Background

South Africa’s apartheid government discriminated against indigenous languages by decreeing a language policy that gave recognition only to Afrikaans and English. This was mostly effective in the more urbanised city centres where the quality of service delivery in the public sector was much better than that found in the more rural homelands.

In general their policies were aimed at making Africans view their languages as inferior and less competent while holding colonial languages in high esteem. Indeed, knowledge of these languages becomes an important weapon in the search for employment. It has since been seen as a mark of education and a major contributor to one’s socio-economic advancement.

The late Alan Paton’s book was titled “Cry the beloved Country”, ably translated by another literary icon, the late Prof. Sibusiso Nyembezi, as “Lafa elihle kakhulu" in Isi Zulu. One could hazard a guess as to what prompted this very thought-provoking title. My observation of late is agreeable to the title.

One would ask: What makes you revert to such a title? The onslaught on the indigenous languages in our country is disturbing to say the least. The languages used by the majority of South Africans have been relegated to second-class status, ironically, 15 years into democracy. The tools that are used to perpetuate this debilitating status quo are the media, schools and other public entities like the courts (where a belated effort has just commenced to conduct proceedings in indigenous languages).

It must be borne in mind that language is culture and these are inseparable. If you divorce them, then we will be back to full-scale colonialisation. Our languages articulate our collective approach to any issue at hand e.g. in IsiZulu “Injobo enhle ithungelwa ebandla”, loosely translated reads “two heads are better than one for the ideas to be shared” – Tswana version – Kgetsi ya tsie e kgona ke go tshwaragangwa – Venda version – Munwe muthini a u tusi mathuthu.

Our socialization at an early age emphasized collectivism instead of individualism. Don’t you wonder why today poverty levels are so high because we have engaged in new expressions like “mind your own business”, which are not in tune with our upbringing. We take our children for academic advancement to former Model C schools and they are given English as a medium of instruction. We are like sheep ready for slaughter without agreeing conditions, we don’t even insist on a relevant vernacular (Tswana, Xhosa, Tsonga etc.). Yet languages are the choices of parents. Our children go home and still continue speaking English there, play, talk and possibly dream in English, our clan names are also under threat in the process - Qwathi, Phoka, Mntungwa etc. one wonders” Why so much voluntary colonialisation?

As if schools were not enough, then one listens to another culprit, the television, of 46 million citizens of SA. Not a single indigenous language is used to greet, at least in the morning. How will our indigenous languages be developed if they are not used? The majority of license payers are voiceless, a contradiction.

The demise of the indigenous languages poses another threat, that of job losses. Many teachers who majored in our indigenous languages are already jobless. The same would go for other sectors - translators, interpreters, performers, authors, publishers etc. Television is still to flight a Tsonga, Swazi or Ndebele production. Are these languages only good for news bulletins and no other programmes?

We notice these days that the advertising industry uses half-baked words in our languages spiced with some “township lingo”. Quo vadis, indigenous languages of SA? Do we have to go into a cultural revolution to reclaim our languages that are under siege? In 1974 the Nairobi conference on the teaching of African Literature in schools was held to demonstrate the seriousness attached to the indigenous languages by others. South Africans can learn from that constructive action.

One of the COSATU campaigns is the creation and retention of decent jobs. How many workers will continue to lose their jobs if we don’t protect and utilise our indigenous languages to the fullest. If we need to do so through a movement or campaign so let it be. Our children are quickly becoming voluntarily colonialised; hence they are today defined as ‘coconuts’. Is that what we want?

There is also the issue of the Constitution, which spells out that there are 11 official languages, maybe 12 with the inclusion of the sign language. Why therefore do we have the English language dominant in all spheres of our life? Do we still wonder why we don’t have the following words in indigenous languages – computer, technology, software etc? We cannot be apologetic about the issue of pumping resources into the development of our indigenous language. The government, who were voted in by the same majority who speak the indigenous languages, must put their money where their mouth is.

We salute Mrs. Nkosi who recently fought tooth and nail for her child to learn Isi Zulu. We need to emulate such brave efforts, since most of us might not have such resources at our disposal. Let us defend our indigenous languages as a collective. We call upon structures like the Pan South African Language Board(PANSALB), South African Council of Churches (SACC), National Heritage Council (NHC), Department of Education, Department of Arts and Culture (DAC), Human Rights Commission (HRC), and others relevant to the cause, to come on aboard so that we nip this demise of the indigenous languages in the bud. If it is unattended we might be judged very harshly by history - that we attained political freedom bloodlessly yet ignored cultural freedom to the detriment of our nation. What identity can be claimed without the visibility and usage of our indigenous languages? We can’t experience political freedom on the one hand, and cultural bondage on the other. There are also dangers of sidelining our indigenous languages.

Policy and Implementation Challenges

The general outcry about the disjuncture between policy and implementation continues to be at play even in the language arena. Whilst the Constitution is very clear on the need to bring about parity of esteem in the 11 official languages, very little has been done in government in ensuring that the ideals of the Constitution are realized. Does the National Language Policy Framework commit government into using all the 11 languages or just five languages? Fifteen years down the line this is not happening. Are we in power?

Inadequate Funding for the Promotion of Indigenous Languages

The National Language Services Unit located in the Department of Arts and Culture continues to receive the lowest budget from the Department, which allocation impacts negatively on the development, promotion and protection of our indigenous languages. If this trend is not addressed we will continue to bemoan the state of the indigenous language development. How often do we hear that African Languages are not developed enough to be languages of business, science and technology?

Thus in 1996, Chinua Achebe, in a speech entitled “The African Writer and the English Language” said: “Is it right that a man should abandon his mother tongue for someone else? It looks like a dreadful betrayal and produces a guilty feeling. But for me there is no other choice. I have been given the language and I intend to use it” (unquote)

Conclusion

The only way to change above perceptions and attitudes about our indigenous languages is through a detailed programme of decolonising the mind. We therefore call for an Indigenous Languages Indaba for Advancement (ILIFA) where constructive and productive engagement would be experienced that would lead to the saving of our indigenous languages from their imminent demise.

3. International

3.1 Trial date for Dr. Mkhumane killer

Sipho Msibi, Mpumalanga SSN Convener, 2 December 2009

The Swaziland Solidarity Network [SSN] Mpumalanga province led by, Sipho Msibi, SSN Convener, wishes to inform and invite all comrades and friends on the murder trial of the person who robbed us the late Deputy President of The People’s United Democratic Movement “PUDEMO” Dr. Gabriel Thandokuhle Mkhumane. The trial will be taking place on 7 December 2009 in Nelspruit.

The widow and the kids will highly appreciate moral support on this day and we also hope as Mpumalanga SSN that the truth shall emerge eventually as we do not want to believe that this thug was alone he must tell us who did he planned and kill Mkhumane with.

Mluleki Mntungwa (Communications Officer)

COSATU ICT Unit

1-5 Leyds Cnr Biccard Street

Braamfontein

2007

P.O.Box 1019

Johannesburg

2000

South Africa

Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24

Fax: +27 11 339-5080/6940

E-Mail: mlu...@cosatu.org.za

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