COSATU Today
Our side of the story
Thursday 9 February 2012
Contents
Workers
Ø COSATU condemns Seardel group closures
Ø City of Cape Town loses Metro Police Appeal
Ø COSATU Gauteng press statement on mass dismissal of Gautrain bus drivers
Ø COSATU Northern Cape Provincial Executive Committee statement
Ø Decisions of COSATU Mpumalanga Provincial Executive Committee
South Africa
Ø ANC’s Nationalisation Report
International
Ø COSATU affiliated unions NUMSA – NEHAWU – POPCRU and CEPPWAWU host World
Federation of Trade Unions Presidential Council
Ø COSATU welcomes WFTU to South Africa
Announcements
Ø The fight against the Secrecy Bill is not over!
Workers
COSATU condemns Seardel group closures
Tony Ehrenreich, COSATU W Cape Provincial Secretary, 9 February 2012
COSATU is outraged by the announcement of the Seardel group threatening to
close a number of companies that would effectively put hundreds of workers
out of a job. These workers are in many instances single parents from the
townships, whose family depends on their income.
Seardel as a group has taken millions of rand from government programmes to
shore up their company and they were meant to restructure the operations and
make it more effective .The money seems to have been pocketed as the cars
and bonuses of directors are as extravagant as always and the companies are
still struggling.
COSATU calls on the unions and the workers to resist the attempts to close
the companies, and COSATU will do all it can to assist them in this process.
Often companies who manufacture here close down there companies and then
import the products from China and they just sew the Proudly SA label into
the clothing. This gives them a chance to sell cheap Chinese imports and
make super profits.
The consumers also have a role in saving SA companies. If they buy SA
products they should check that it has the Proudly South African label on
the clothes. We know that there are allegations that the unions are involved
and we refute this as being untrue, the unions have invested their
investments to save the Seardel group.
cid:image001....@01CCE70E.37208BE0City of Cape Town loses Metro Police
Appeal
Tahir Sema, SAMWU National Media and Publicity Officer, 9 February 2012
The City of Cape Town on Tuesday this week lost their appeal to the Labour
Appeal Court in the metro police disciplinary matter.
“In 2007 metro police officers went along the N2 to hand over a memorandum
to the then Mayor, Helen Zille, concerning their grievances. Following that
action the city wanted to discipline staff according to an abridged
disciplinary procedure which was not in compliance with the National
agreement. The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) successfully
interdicted the city and it is that judgment the city appealed against” said
Mario Jacobs, SAMWU Cape Metro Regional Secretary.
The labour Appeal Court (LAC) Judgment, delivered by the Judge President of
the Labour Court, Dunstan Mlambo, commented that “The appeal is clearly
misconceived and must fail”.
More strikingly is the fact that the city complied with the Labour Court
ruling which made their appeal application academic. The LAC ruled that, on
that basis alone, the city’s application had to be dismissed. The Appeal
Court also ordered the city to pay the cost of their court application.
Jacobs said that this amounts to a few hundred Thousand Rand which could
have been used to deliver much needed services.
“The ruling of the Labour Appeal Court confirms the correctness of the
position taken by SAMWU. It further confirms that collective agreements are
binding on the parties thereto and must as such be respected” said Jacobs
COSATU Gauteng press statement on mass dismissal of Gautrain bus drivers
Dumisani Dakile, COSATU Gauteng Provincial Secretary, 9 February 2012
COSATU in Gauteng has observed with serious concern the dismissal of about
three hundred bus drivers by the Gautrain. We have noted that these
dismissals are taking place when there is a serious challenge of
unemployment, poverty and inequalities and the economic outlook of the world
is very bleak.
We will be seeking an urgent meeting with the management of the company in
an attempt to find a lasting solution to the impasse between them and the
workers.
The workers have a genuine problem about their working conditions which
needs to be addressed and attended to by management, instead of resorting to
dismissal. Dismissing workers without attending to the causes of the strikes
with not help or assist the situation.
We hence call upon both the government and management of Gautrain to
urgently come to the table to resolve the problem. COSATU in Gauteng has
already approached both management and the company for a meeting to resolve
the matter.
COSATU Northern Cape Provincial Executive Committee statement
Anele Gxoyiya, COSATU N Cape Provincial Secretary, 8 February 2012
COSATU in the Northern Cape held the first meeting of the Provincial
Executive Committee meeting from 6-7 February 2011 in Kimberley. The PEC
which was attended by representatives from the affiliates of COSATU
discussed the following issues:
· Political
· Organisational
· Socio-economic
· International
The PEC was also addressed by the MEC for Health on the challenges facing
the health department in the province as per our decision to invite the
different MECs to give the PEC briefings on the programmes of the different
departments. After extensive deliberations the PEC took the following
decisions in line with the COSATU programme of action.
1. ON POLITICAL ISSUES
· We condemn the statement of the national chairperson of the NYDA
wherein he called for the banning of trade unions in education. This shows
the shallow understanding of trade unions, for the teachers are workers in
their own right and have a constitutional right to belong to trade unions of
their choice
· We will never allow any form of counter-revolution to derail our
unions from our programme of fighting for the emancipation of the working
class from the triple crisis of poverty, unemployment and inequalities.
Andile must just concentrate in his own challenges that are facing him which
are not concerning the federation and leave COSATU affiliates alone
· The by-election of Strydenburg where the ANC lost to an
independent candidate who was supported by the opposition parties is a cause
for concern to us. We need to meet in an alliance ten-a-side as soon as
possible to develop a strategy to defend the ANC gains in the province
· We advise the Premier of the Northern Cape to desist from pulling
the cabinet to court when the MEC for Economic Development and Finance
appears in court on charges that are not related to his work as the MEC. If
she indeed respects the rule of law she must refrain from that behaviour as
it portrays her as someone who does not respect an institution of the same
government that she is serving
· This is setting a precedent that they will never be able to
sustain, as public servants can also do the same if one of them is appearing
in court for any allegations of crime. If they so wish to leave their posts
during the case, let them do so by taking unpaid leave so that an acting
cabinet can be appointed to continue with government work
· The federation takes offence in the use of our slogan “An injury
to one is an injury to all” by any of our alliance partners in inappropriate
platforms as this seeks to vulgarize the COSATU slogan
· We will call for a bilateral with the ANC in the next two weeks to
make an assessment of the performance of the current provincial government
as well as progress on the implementation of the resolutions of the Alliance
Summit and the Alliance Economic Summit
· We view the calls for the reshuffling of the cabinet as
opportunistic and smacking of malice, since there has been no proper
assessment made at any level to come to that conclusion
· We will engage the SACP on the common programme for mobilisation
of the working class masses on the ground
· It is critical for us to have a strong and functional SANCO on the
ground so as to avoid the emergence of opportunists who masquerade as
representatives against the ANC government. We will meet with the leadership
of SANCO in the province to make an assessment of the state of the
organisation and chart the way forward
· We call on all the members of the alliance to be loyal to the
organisational principles and not to individuals, and to maintain high
levels of discipline
· COSATU is a fearless voice of the voiceless and we have always led
our campaigns successfully without those that are opposed to the ANC
leadership
· We will fight corruption at all fronts without the help of the
opposition. As much as we will never lobby the opposition, we don’t want the
opposition to lobby us
2. ON ORGANISATIONAL ISSUES
· COSATU in the Northern Cape is united and all affiliates speak
with one voice. We condemn the mischievous faceless people who pose as
concerned members of COSATU affiliates and seek to score cheap political
scores
· We call on the media to be careful of being used by faceless
people to sow divisions within the federation because we will not allow that
to happen
· COSATU in the Northern Cape is growing from strength to strength
despite the challenges that are faced by a few of our affiliates
· There is a need for the affiliates to intensify membership service
and embark on an extensive recruitment campaigns
· We will engage the Departments of Labour and of Agriculture about
the joint visits to the farms to look at the conditions of farm workers
· We will embark on mass trade union and political education through
our Provincial Educators and/or Organisers between May and June 2012
· The membership of the affiliates continues to fluctuate as a
result of outsourcing and privatization as well as retrenchments
3. ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES
· We welcome the recent launch of Corruption Watch as an important
and progressive achievement in the history of the working class
· We are confident that this initiative will go a long way in
intensifying our fight against corruption
· We reaffirm our call for the provincial government to stop
outsourcing and privatising public services as this is a fertile breeding
ground for corruption
· Our view is that given a chance the state will have the capacity
to deliver services at a cheaper cost as there will be no profit
maximisation and that will help to create decent jobs
· We are of the firm view that those that are delaying the
implementation of the Alliance Summit resolution on outsourcing and
privatization are the beneficiaries from the tenders that they continue to
issue
· All COSATU affiliates are geared up and ready to take to the
streets on 7 March 2011 during the national strike against labour broking
and e-tolling
· We will march to the Department of Labour and to the Premier’s
office and we hope that the Premier will avail herself to receive the
memorandum this time around
· We welcome the takeover of the fleet management by the Provincial
Government as a step in the right direction; however we are concerned at the
location of the function to the Department of Public Works it is a transport
function. Our view is that fleet management is the competency of the
department of Transport, Safety and Liaison
· We are committed to the implementation of the Basic Education
Accord and call on all the members of COSATU to participate in the
forthcoming elections of School Governing Bodies and avail themselves for
elections
· All workers who are parents must play a meaningful role in the
education of their children through being involved in school activities as
parents
· We note the decline in matric results and commit ourselves to
helping the Department of Education to achieve better results through our
involvement in our children’s education
· Despite the decline there are learners who performed exceptionally
well and we congratulate them on their achievements and wish them well in
their future endeavours
· The influx of working class children to tertiary institutions
leading to stampedes in some instances has led to the death of a parent
earlier this year. We convey our sympathy to the family of that parent
· We are of the view that such incidents will be reduced when the
Northern Cape gets our own university and we call for the speeding up of the
process of establishing a fully fledged university in the province
4. INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
· We reaffirm our support for the people of Somalia and the
affiliates are going back to the members to raise funds and collect clothes
and food for donation at the end of March 2012
· The Situation in Somalia is a direct result of the effects of
climate change and we call on the workers to support initiatives that seek
to keep our environment clean
· We note the recent tight contest for the position of Chairperson
of the African Union and we hope that South Africa will mobilize enough
support to win the elections
Decisions of COSATU Mpumalanga Provincial Executive Committee
Fidel Mlombo, COSATU Mpumalanga Provincial Secretary, 7 February 2012
INTRODUCTION
COSATU in Mpumalanga held a very successful Provincial Executive Committee
meeting on 2-3 February 2012 attended by the majority of affiliates and
COSATU locals. The Provincial Executive Committee meeting discussed amongst
others the following:-
DEVELOPMENTS IN CUBA
The PEC discussed the development in Cuba and welcomed the convening of the
first national conference of the Communist Party of Cuba under the
leadership of President Raul Castro the brother of comrade Fidel Castro.
The PEC noted and acknowledged that Cuba has always been a beacon of hope
and the glue that held all peace-loving people and organisations across the
globe, that there is an alternative to the evil system of capitalism and
that a better world is possible.
ON THE MPUMALANGA MATRIC IMPROVED RESULTS
The PEC welcomed, appreciated and congratulated the matric class of 2011 for
their dedication, hard work and commitment for the improved Mpumalanga
matric pass rate from 56,8% in 2010 to 64,8% in 2011.
The PEC further congratulated and commended the teachers organised under the
South African Democratic Teacher Union (SADTU) for their tremendous work,
commitment and sacrifices to produce these substantial increase in the
Provincial pass rate.
The PEC however noted the disparities and structural inequalities that still
define and characterise our education system in the country and in the
province. After seventeen years of democracy the historically disadvantaged
schools are still characterised by overcrowding, lack of learning and
teaching materials and poor infrastructure, while the former model C schools
are well resourced.
The PEC vowed to collaborate and participate in all initiatives aimed at
further improving the quality of education in the province.
ON THE BOOING OF BOTH COSATU AND SACP LEADERS IN THE ANC PROVINCIAL GENERAL
COUNCIL MEETING
The PEC noted with disbelief and regret the howling and booing of both the
COSATU and SACP Provincial Secretaries during the ANC PGC held on 10-11
December 2011 at the Elijah Mango College of Education for speaking out
against corruption.
The PEC commended the COSATU Provincial Office Bearers in the manner they
have handled this matter.
ON THE ANC PROVINCIAL CONGRESS
The PEC received a comprehensive report on the developments regarding the
ANC Provincial Congress in Mpumalanga.
The PEC reaffirmed its position on this matter based on COSATU previous
decisions which are as follows:-
The PEC appreciated that it is correct for workers to always be vigilant
about the direction and posture of the ANC because the ANC is a disciplined
force of the left that is expected to always be biased to the working class
and the poor.
· To defend the ANC leadership elected at Polokwane and all the ANC
resolutions that emerged from Polokwane.
· To defend our glorious movement, the ANC from the New Tendency
whose agenda is self-enrichment through corruption, greed and crass
materialism.
· To strive for a leadership that will be committed to forge the
unity of the ANC in the Province.
· To strive for a leadership that will be committed to fight against
corruption in the Province.
· To strive for a leadership that will be committed to asserting the
hegemonic position of the working class as the primary motive force.
· To strive for a leadership that has a struggle record and are
politically experienced
The PEC further appreciated:
· The cohesion among progressive structures in the province on this
matter.
· The collaboration and possible merger of the two progressive
groupings within the ANC in the province on this matter
· The confidence and respect COSATU commands among the progressive
structures in the province.
Guided by the COSATU principles the PEC further mandated the COSATU POBs to
engage with the following structures and emerge with a leadership collective
that will be accommodative to the working class and the poor:
· All those who support the Polokwane agenda and its leadership
· All progressive structures in the province.
· All coalitions that are prepared to work with COSATU as the
advanced detachment of the working class.
N.B. COSATU in the province will always maintain its status of being the
moral compass and a fearless spokesperson of the most downtrodden.
ON THE COSATU PROVINCIAL CONGRESS
The PEC reaffirmed its previous decision to hold the Provincial Congress on
19-20 July 2012 at the TUT eMalahleni Campus.
The PEC endorsed 28 February 2012 as the deadline for all affiliates to
confirm their membership for congress credentials.
The PEC further endorsed the following structural meetings to prepare for
congress.
i. COSATU staff to meet on weekly basis and deal with all
logistical arrangements for congress.
ii. COSATU Provincial Secretariat forum meeting to meet on monthly
basis and deal with all administrative issues regarding the congress.
iii. The COSATU POB’s to meet at least once a month and deal with
all political management of congress.
ON THE STATE INFORMATION BILL
The PEC decided to mobilise COSATU members in large numbers to attend the
Public Hearings conducted by the National Council of Provinces on 23
February 2012.
The PEC mandated the POB’s to lead COSATU presentations in these public
hearings and defend the COSATU position on this matter.
ON THE PROVINCIAL SHOP STEWARD COUNCIL MEETING
The PEC encouraged all affiliates to mobilise their members to attend the
Provincial Shopsteward Council meeting in large numbers to be held as
follows:-
Date : 8 February 2012
Venue: Sasol Club, Embalenhle
ON THE NATIONAL STRIKE AGAINST LABOUR BROKERS
The PEC received a comprehensive report on the state of readiness regarding
the National strike on 7 March 2012.
The PEC then resolved to hold two protest marches at the Emalahleni
municipality and the other at the Mbombela Municipality.
ON THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION
The PEC noted with regret the reports of corruption in the province.
The PEC noted that corruption is slowly destroying the moral fibre of our
society.
The PEC believes that corruption steels from the poor.
The PEC appreciated the collaboration between COSATU and the SACP in the
Province in fighting against corruption.
The PEC then decided that a protest march against corruption be held on 7
March 2012 at the Mbombela municipality to deliver a memorandum to the
Premier of the provinces.
ON MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS
The PEC welcomed the idea of celebrating the May month as part of the ANC
Centenary celebrations.
The PEC endorsed two May Day celebrations in the province at Embalenhle
stadium at the Govan Mbeki Municipality and Thulamashe stadium at the
Bushbuckridge municipality.
ON SOLIDARITY WITH SWAZILAND
The PEC reaffirmed the COSATU position in support of the people of Swaziland
in their struggle for democracy in Swaziland.
The PEC then decided to:-
· Convene a Provincial Tribunal on Swaziland in March 2012.
· To blockade all the Swaziland border gates on the 12 April 2012 in
solidarity with the working class of Swaziland.
South Africa
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NUMSA dismayed at ministers’ statements on ANC’s Nationalisation Report
Irvin Jim, NUMSA General Secretary, 8 February 2012
“In our country - more than in any other part of the oppressed world - it is
inconceivable for liberation to have meaning without a return of the wealth
of the land to the people as a whole. It is therefore a fundamental feature
of our strategy that victory must embrace more than formal political
democracy. To allow the existing economic forces to retain their interests
intact is to feed the root of racial supremacy and does not represent even
the shadow of liberation.”
(Morogoro Conference of the ANC, meeting at Morogoro, Tanzania, 25 April - 1
May 1969)
The National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) is extremely
disturbed and dismayed by the statements made by two ANC Ministers in the
Mining Indaba during the course of this week, in Cape Town.
Numsa as part of a Cosatu delegation in the ANC Economic Transformation
Committee (ETC) did have the opportunity to see the Nationalisation Report
last week but we were not given copies as the Report was embargoed.
We were advised that the Report would be tabled in the ANC NEC and the NEC
was to define the process on how the Report was to be circulated in the
branches of the ANC and to components of the Alliance for debate in
preparing for the coming ANC National Policy Conference.
We find it very disturbing that the Report has been unofficially released to
the media before the structures of the ANC and its Alliance could see it.
We further find it quite unfortunate that two ANC ministers have found it
fit to use the Report in support of their private views against
nationalisation of mines and other strategic economic sectors. As we show
below, the ANC NGC in 2010 was unanimous in support of the nationalisation
of mines and other strategic economic assets in the country.
Numsa takes the view that both Minister Susan Shabangu and Trevor Manuel
have acted completely without any ANC mandate in deciding to speak for the
ANC government and for the ANC and the Alliance that there will be no
nationalization of mines and key strategic sectors in the economy. Their
unilateral pronouncement goes completely against the ANC’s position which
says – it is the ANC who leads government and not government leading the
ANC. Numsa therefore reject with contempt their cheap manipulation of our
democratic processes in the movement.
We have also noted that in the recent past right-wing global rating agencies
have been doing the same in threatening our movement should nationalisation
take place. These seek to make sure that there is no fundamental change in
the vested Apartheid white monopoly economic interests, thus guaranteeing
that black people in general and Africans in particular remain at the bottom
of South Africa’s economy and society and detained forever in poverty,
unemployment and inequality.
Below we restate in our view, the current and historic position of the ANC
and its Alliance on this extremely important matter of nationalisation of
mines and strategic economic assets of the country.
A. Nationalisation and ANC Policy
1. The basic revolutionary socio—economic programme of the ANC is the
Freedom. The core tenet of the Freedom Charter states that:
“The national wealth of our country, the heritage of South Africans, shall
be restored to the people; The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the Banks
and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as
a whole; All other industry and trade shall be controlled to assist the
well-being of the people; All people shall have equal rights to trade where
they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and
professions.”
In this regard we fail to understand the constant refrain that
nationalisation is the ANC policy because in our understanding the
representatives of our people who gathered in Kliptown in 1955 adopted this
policy position of the ANC.
2. The restoration of the wealth of the country to the people is, has
been, and will always be, at the heart of the struggle to liberate all South
Africans, today and tomorrow.
3. The transferring to the ownership of the people as a whole of the
mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and monopoly industry is the
basic foundation and only basis upon which lasting peace and a common
nationhood can be created in South Africa.
4. To reinforce these fundamentals of the liberation struggle, the ANC at
its Morogoro Conference further stated that:
“In our country - more than in any other part of the oppressed world - it is
inconceivable for liberation to have meaning without a return of the wealth
of the land to the people as a whole. It is therefore a fundamental feature
of our strategy that victory must embrace more than formal political
democracy. To allow the existing economic forces to retain their interests
intact is to feed the root of racial supremacy and does not represent even
the shadow of liberation.”
5. The roots of South African racial supremacy would be well nourished if
the existing economic forces were to be allowed to retain their interests
intact. This is a very self-evident truth. In South Africa, real poverty is
black and African, and wealth is white and European.
6. In the 2010 ANC National General Council – the policy forum of the ANC
– the Economic Transformation Commission reported thus:
“There was greater consensus in the commission on the nationalisation of
mines and other strategic sectors of the economy. The NGC therefore mandated
the NEC to ensure further work be done, including research, study tours and
discussions, and to report to the Policy Conference for decision at National
Conference in 2012.”
7. We have quoted the documents above to show the centrality, the
revolutionary significance, of the unchanging core demand of the liberation
struggle in South Africa – to return the basic wealth of the country to the
people as a whole.
8. All ANC Policy and other documents have always faithfully reiterated
this demand. The demand to return the wealth of the country to the people as
a whole, including by transferring this wealth into the hands of the people
(nationalisation) is a central and defining feature of the ANC. To deviate
from this is un-ANC.
B. Revisionism, distortion and vulgarisation of the main strategic
objective of the struggle for liberation in South Africa
1. The restoration of the basic wealth of the country to the people was,
and still is, the essence, the reason, the strategic objective, of the
struggle for liberation in South Africa. Only this could end racial
supremacy and Colonialism of a Special Type (CST). Only this could guarantee
peace, equality and restore the dignity of all the people of South Africa.
2. It is now clear that long before the 1994 democratic breakthrough,
elements of English, Afrikaner and African elites had begun to work very
hard to dilute the essence of the struggle for liberation in South Africa,
by peddling a version of freedom and democracy that would allow the
essential existing economic forces to retain their interests intact. Thus
the new South Africa after 1994 was handed down a constitution offering
democratic freedoms but in essence made private property sacred in a country
in which the majority had no property – to be more precise, the country’s
constitution fails to address the land stolen from our people through the
1913 Land Act!
3. Since 1994, we have seen a progressive watering down, weakening and
erosion of the essential and basic revolutionary demand of the liberation
struggle – the returning of the wealth of the land into the hands of the
people as a whole.
4. A very dangerous revisionist tendency is one that simply re-interprets
the demand in narrow legalistic and technical terms, and thus attempts to
convince us that some of the reforms (charters, taxation, and BBBEE) the ANC
government has put in place since 1994 amount to “transferring the wealth of
the land into the hands of the people”.
5. A further equally dangerous tendency is simply to vulgarise and distort
the core revolutionary demand of the liberation struggle – the demand to
transfer all the major wealth of the country into the hands of the people,
thus restoring the country to all its people – by simply reducing it to the
question of the nationalisation of mines, and even this is further mired in
financial and technical obstacles!
6. The core revolutionary demand of the freedom struggle in South Africa
is very clear: The national wealth of our country, the heritage of South
Africans, shall be restored to the people! It is all the “national wealth”
and not just the mines, which must be restored to the people. All other
industries must be subordinated to the imperative to develop the people and
provide for them. This distortion seeks to diminish and conceal the other
wealth which must equally be restored and transferred to the people as a
whole.
7. Implicit in the demand is not just the revolutionary need to uproot
racial supremacy and restore the dignity of all our people, but also a very
strong anti-imperialist demand.
8. A most vulgar postulation is one that simply says after 1994, we are
all free to share in the country’s wealth, and it is now each person for
themselves and all the government has to do is make the country business
friendly. Thus all over the country we find business and enterprise
promotion NGOs and sometimes these are assisted by monopoly industries.
C. The persistence of white monopoly capitalism in South Africa, post 1994
1. Anyone with the barest minimum of knowledge about the state of the
South African economy and society, 17 years after “democracy” will not fail
to notice the persistence of white domination of the economy and society,
notwithstanding the small sprinkling of black and African capitalists.
2. The South African economy continues to be dominated by the
Minerals/Energy/Finance Complex which is largely white owned. The white
population continue to in fact grow their domination of social and cultural
life of the country.
3. Poverty and unemployment are largely black, and African, with African
females and youths faring the worst.
4. South Africa has become the most unequal place on Earth today. At the
bottom, of course are black and African people, and at the top, are white
people. The facts to illustrate this are there for all to see.
5. Black and African people are condemned to inferior public sector
education and health facilities, while the white population enjoys first
world schools, hospitals and shopping malls. Of course the trick today is
that there is no Group Areas Act and you are simply told to get on with it
as an individual and make your money and you will join the white population!
6. As a result of the lamentable failure to radically restore the basic
wealth of the country to the people as a whole, 11 percent of the South
African School system accounts for more than 70 percent of Matric passes.
7. An average white male in South African earns anything above R19 000, 00
per month while a black male earns just about R2 400, 00!
8. Ultimately of course, the life expectance of a white person in South
Africa today stands at about 70 years, while that of a black person is at 48
years – some 22 years less!
D. The struggle continues, and it is a class struggle!
1. At Numsa we are not surprised that the 2010 ANC NGC Resolutions which
clearly indicated that there was consensus on nationalisation are being
manipulated and shoved into the dustbin.
2. At Numsa we are not surprised that rather than investigate what the
most appropriate forms of nationalisation of mines and other strategic
sectors of the economic would be, the ANC Report has done everything to
confirm that nationalisation of the mines would be a “disaster” for South
Africa. Knowing the dominance of white monopoly capital in general and white
mining and financial capital in particular, our political and social life
post 1994 we did not expect anything less than this distortion of the ANC
NGC Resolutions.
3. Further, we at Numsa do not think that the struggle to restore the
wealth of the country to the people as a whole will ever be won via research
teams and Conference Resolutions. As a working class, and industrial working
class formation our experience teaches us that capital concedes nothing
without a fight!
4. Thus we are not surprised that elements deployed by the ANC in
government to implement ANC policies have been very busy trying to assure
capitalists that government in South Africa does not belong to the ANC and
that it is not government policy to nationalise! Those ANC deployees who
advocated the neo liberal macro economic framework in 1996 continues to
champion a failed and discredited neo liberal policy framework which stands
in direct opposition to the ANC’s progressive and revolutionary agenda as
contained in the Freedom Charter.
5. The people who voted this government into office suddenly do not exist.
This is as it should be, as the dominant class in this country is that of
white monopoly capitalists!
6. At Numsa we must serve notice to the people of this country: the black
and African working class are fast losing patience at the pace at which
their conditions of extreme poverty are being dealt with.
7. The success and sustainability of the 1994 democratic breakthrough in
this country rests on the extent and speed of restoration of the wealth of
the country to the people as a whole, including transferring the national
wealth to the people. Anything less than this is a recipe for disaster.
8. At Numsa we will continue to mobilise the working class and to demand
in the revolutionary alliance for the speedy implementation of the entirety
of the Freedom Charter.
9. In the ANC Policy Conference Numsa will demand for the restoration of
the basic wealth of the country to all the people as a whole.
10. In the National Conference of the ANC this year Numsa will
demand the transferring – nationalisation – of the mines and other strategic
economic sectors into the hands of the people as a whole. This is what we
understand the struggle for liberation, democracy and equality in South
Africa to be all about. Anything short of this is a betrayal of all our 100
years of struggle and sacrifice against racist white monopoly capitalism.
International
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COSATU affiliated unions NUMSA – NEHAWU – POPCRU and CEPPWAWU host World
Federation of Trade Unions Presidential Council
Castro Ngobese, NUMSA National Spokesperson,
Sizwe Pamla, NEHAWU Media & Liaison Officer,
Nkosinathi Ndwandwe, POPCRU Acting National Spokesperson,
8 February 2012
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) affiliated unions,
namely National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the National
Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU), Police Prisons and Civil
Rights Union (POPCRU) and Chemical Energy Print Paper and Allied Workers
Union (CEPPWAWU) will be jointly hosting the meeting of the World
Federations of Trade Unions (WFTU) Presidential Council as from Thursday 9
February 2012 –until- Friday 10 February 2012 in Parktonian Hotel,
Braamfontein, Johannesburg, Gauteng province.
This follows the successful hosting of the International Conference on
Building a Socially-Owned Renewable Sector in South Africa organised by
NUMSA which was held at Vincent Mabuyakhulu Conference Centre, Newtown,
Johannesburg.
This meeting, coincides with the centenary celebrations of the leader of our
alliance, the African National Congress (ANC), and solidify the historical
role played by class orientated trade unions movements or federations of the
world in our struggle for liberation, peoples power and socialism. This
meeting of the WFTU will be attended by more than 70 trade unions
formations, representing the four corners of the world, namely Latin
America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
The current global capitalist onslaught as permeated by the global crisis of
Capitalism presents a strategic opportunity for class orientated trade
unions of South Africa and the world to forge close links geared towards
deepening working class internationalism and solidarity. Never before has
working class internationalism, universalism, more important than now.
This is the fact made possible by the very expansion of Capitalism all over
the globe! The class orientated and revolutionary formations of Africa and
the world need to rally and identify itself with broader struggles of the
working class in other parts of the world to reverse the barbarity and decay
of Capitalism!
This Presidential Council will be held under the strategic theme,
“Capitalist Crisis, Barbarism or Socialism”.
Later on Wednesday 08 February 2012, a Gala Dinner was hosted by WFTU to
honour prominent South African trade union and liberation movement
stalwarts, such as Moses Kotane, Moses Mabhida, Lesley Masina, Michael
Harmel, Eric Mtshali, JB Marks, John Nkadimeng and Nelson Mandela.
This Gala Dinner was addressed by General Secretary of the WFTU, and the
ANC’s message will be delivered by ANC President Jacob Zuma via a recorded
message. A number of ANC, SACP, COSATU and its affiliates were present at
the Gala Dinner.
The President of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Comrade
SDUMO DLAMINI, will address the Presidential Council on Thursday 9 February
2012, at 09h15am, Parktonian Hotel, Braamfontein. The General Secretary of
the South African Communist Party (SACP) Comrade BLADE NZIMANDE will also do
the same on Friday 10 February 2012, at 11h00am, Parktonian Hotel,
Braamfontein.
A Shop Stewards Council meeting will be held on Friday 10 February 2012,
starting time 14h00pm, Recreation Centre (Behind Parktonian Hotel), Cnr
Simmonds and Juta Streets, Braamfontein, Johannesburg. The speakers are
General Secretaries of WFTU GEORGE MAVRIKOS, NUMSA IRVIN JIM and NEHAWU
SLOVO MAJOLA.
The militant and agitated metalworkers welcome the delegates to the WFTU
Presidential Council. We wish the WFTU a successful Presidential Council in
our shores. The working class is awaiting its revolutionary outcomes in
order to deepen the crisis!
<http://www.wftucentral.org/?language=en>
http://www.wftucentral.org/wftulogoen.gifCOSATU welcomes WFTU to South
Africa
Bongani Masuku, COSATU International Relations Secretary, 8 February 2012
COSATU has welcomed the Presidential Council of the World Federation of
Trade Unions (WFTU), which, for the first time in its history, is being
hosted in our country and continent.
The history of the WFTU is tied to our own history of struggle against
apartheid and colonialism, as well as capitalism in general on our continent
and throughout the world.
We congratulate our affiliates who are hosting this historic event - NUMSA,
NEHAWU, POPCRU and CEPPWAWU - and wish them every success in their hosting
of this important event in the calendar of working people all over the
world.
COSATU continues to call for the unity of working people all over the world
and will continue to demand that all trade unions work towards unity in
order to build and consolidate working class power.
In taking a firm stand against the triple evils of apartheid, colonialism
and capitalism, the WFTU has expressed the deepest sympathy for the
suffering of most working people in the developing world, and shared the
trenches in our own struggle against apartheid.
This history will be well narrated this evening when our stalwarts and
veterans who benefitted from the solidarity of the WFTU are honoured.
Amongst them are: Moses Kotane, Moses Mabhida, Lesley Masina, Michael
Harmel, Eric Mtshali, JB Marks, John Nkadimeng and Nelson Mandela.
COSATU wishes the Presidential Council successful deliberations and hopes
that it will put at the centre of its deliberations the critical question of
working class unity and the struggle to defeat neo-liberalism in the era of
a deepening global capitalist crisis, where humanity has confirmed even more
that capitalism is not the future. An alternative is needed now and that
alternative is socialism.
Announcements
r2k logoThe fight against the Secrecy Bill is not over!
Jayshree Pather, Right 2 Know, 9 February 2012
The National Council of Provinces has scheduled public hearings for the
discussion of the Secrecy Bill. This is an opportunity to put pressure on
this important house of parliament to reject the Bill in its current form.
In Gauteng, the NCOP Hearings will take place on 14 February 2012 at the
following venues:
• Mamelodi: Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
Venue: Vista College Mamelodi (9am-4pm)
• Sharpeville: Sedibeng District Municipality
Venue: Sharpeville Community Hall corner Seeiso and Zwane Street (9am-4pm)
This is your opportunity to make your voice heard about the Bill. Attend the
hearings to demand:
• A public interest defence clause that will protect community activists and
whistleblowers
• A clause defending the Promotion of Access to Information Bill and
community rights to access to information held by the state
• A commitment to a culture of transparency, social justice and community
development
For more information, or to get involved, contact the Right 2 Know Gauteng
Working Group Organiser, Bongani Xezwi, on 071 043 2221.
We have the right to know! Let the truth be told!
www.r2k.org.za
Patrick Craven (National Spokesperson)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
1-5 Leyds Cnr Biccard Streets
Braamfontein
2017
P.O.Box 1019
Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24
Fax: +27 11 339-5080 / 6940
Mobile: +27 82 821 7456
E-Mail: patr...@cosatu.org.za
