COSATU Today, 8 February 2012
Patrick Craven
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Our side of the story
Wednesday 8 February 2012
Contents
Ø Resolute municipal workers mobilise towards COSATU march and wage negotiations
Ø Scrap the tollgates, ban labour brokers, says NUM
Ø NUM pours cold water over the mining indaba
Ø SAMWU opposes irregular reinstatement of senior manager
Ø State of the Nation address: COSATU’s expectations
Ø Shabangu and Manuel out of order
Ø Global fund payment is seven months late - our life-saving programs will close
Ø Sanco marches against corruption
Ø Sejun organisation and campaign launch
Workers
Resolute municipal workers mobilise towards COSATU march and wage negotiations
Tahir Sema, SAMWU National Media & Publicity Officer, 8 February 2012
The South African Municipal Workers Union, SAMWU, has already begun mobilising Municipal Workers to partake in what is likely to be the biggest mass protest the country has seen in a decade or more – we vow to have every Municipal Worker out and participating in the nationwide strike against labour brokers and e-Tolling, which would take place 7th March.
Fellow South Africans from all walks of life are encouraged to participate in the mass awakening that would unite the working class under one banner. We must force the Government and the ruling party the African National Congress to scrap the exorbitant e-Tolling system and ban modern day slavery (labour broking).
This protest action will set a precedent, in terms of mass action. The working class and poor of this country will no longer sit back and be taken for granted.
Apart from scrapping the Toll road projects, Government must investigate as to who was responsible for steam-rolling these projects past all the relevant processes. This for us is highly suspicious, given the amounts of money involved in the various Toll road projects.
The Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, the Wild Coast and the Cape Winelands Toll Highway Project were all done without proper consultation with stakeholders and the public.
Drastic changes are required, to ensure that the working class and poor have jobs, food and are dug out of the trenches of poverty and inequality. The current system and climate that we find ourselves in is certainly not conducive to the majority.
SAMWU is still fighting labour broking in some Municipalities. The Unions struggle for a living wage is set to continue this year as well. We are busy formulating our demands. We will not back down easily, workers deserve nothing less than an environment free of labour brokers, exorbitant charges in the form of e-Tolls and a decent living wage.
Scrap the tollgates, ban labour brokers, says NUM
Lesiba Seshoka, NUM National Spokesman, 8 February 2012
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) calls on the South African Road Agency Limited (SANRAL) and the Ministry of Transport to scrap the tollgates erected as part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Programme. The NUM is of the view that these tollgates are costly and would have a very negative effect on the economy of Gauteng as well as serious negative repercussions on jobs.
The NUM appeals to civil society to join the COSATU organised protests against both these tollgates and the ban for labour brokers. “We cannot allow these to continue. These tolls must be removed and the ban for labour brokers must happen now” says Frans Baleni, the NUM General Secretary.
The NUM will in the weeks that lie ahead campaign vociferously for the banning of labour brokers and the removal of the tollgates. “We will not rest on our laurels until those that have to make the decisions make the required decisions” says Baleni.
On the banning of labour brokers, the NUM appeals on the state to be more decisive in taking action to eliminate the blood suckers.
NUM pours cold water over the mining indaba
Lesiba Seshoka, NUM National Spokesman, 8 February 2012
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is perturbed that year-in and year-out, the mining industry hold a mining indaba in Cape Town with no positive and tangible spin-offs. The indaba has become a cheap talk-shop with no fundamental change emanating from its deliberations.
Though it is held annually, the fatalities in the mining industry remain sky-high with the 2011 fatalities being at 123 down with only five from 128 in 2010. Many mining companies continue to work against government ‘s job creation plan retrenching thousands of workers.
DRD has just threatened to retrench 1800 workers, Uranium One and Harmony ‘s Evander are just some of the many who are hell-bent at increasing joblessness. The inequalities in society remain and the communities are exploited with no tangible returns though mining takes place in their vicinity.
The NUM views the mining indaba as a platform where captains of the mining industry gather to lament and cry foul about the reduction of their ill-gotten gains. For example, almost all of them cry foul that safety stoppages are a hindrance to production whilst they fail to improve the safety standards in their mines.
It is disappointing that an industry that brought nationalisation upon itself through dragging its feet on the transformation front continues to cry foul about super-taxes proposed in the ANC ‘s nationalisation research and want to reduce investment in mining to a cheap loot.
The NUM rejects the industry ‘scare-tactics that investors would disappear if debates on the future of mining are put on the national agenda and pours cold water over the industry ‘s claim that it is head and shoulder above when it comes to transformation.
It is in that view that the NUM concludes that the Mining indaba is nothing but a cheap gathering of the bourgeoisie gathering to fool the poor that everything is being done to offer redress.
SAMWU opposes irregular reinstatement of senior manager
Tahir Sema, SAMWU National Media & Publicity Officer, 8 February 2012
The South African Municipal Workers Union in Limpopo is disappointed by the manner in which the Municipal Council of Mokgalakwena Municipality has dealt with the matter relating to the disciplinary process of Mr. Henry Thobejane and the sanctions thereof.
It is our view as a labour movement that the outcomes of disciplinary processes should be respected without looking at the position of an individual. Our members have been expelled from this Municipality and Council has shown no interest in engaging with us to find alternative solutions to our affected members but on this matter they find it convenient to re-instate a senior manager, who was found guilty on 26 counts, including financial mismanagement and theft.
This can only mean that someone is abusing political power at the expense of due processes. If the Council finds it proper to ignore the outcome of a disciplinary process then such should be applicable to all members of staff. We demand reconsideration of all cases wherein our members were expelled.
The above is clear demonstration that this Council is lacking the capacity required to understand labour related processes, we are calling on the Municipality to do the right thing. It will come as a surprise should we find that there was political interference from an ANC structure, which directed this Council to re- instate the Manager in question.
Councillors must always be informed by principles and not factions when making a decision. We are affording this Council 14 days in which to do the right thing, which is to effect the outcomes of the disciplinary process - failing which - we will mobilize our members and community members, to ensure that such outcomes are enforced. Sadly, there is a tendency in this region which allows business interests to supersede issues of serve delivery.
South Africa
State of the Nation address: COSATU’s expectations
Patrick Craven, COSATU National Spokesperson, 7 February 2012
COSATU is looking forward to President Jacob Zuma’s fourth State of the Nation Address on 9 February 2012. We congratulate him and his many achievements so far, and expect him to continue to roll out the policies in the ANC election manifesto, which prioritised the following areas:
- Creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods
- Education
- Health
- Rural development, food security and land reform
- The fight against crime and corruption.
We are sure that Comrade Zuma will acknowledge the four ground-breaking accords signed last year by government, business, labour and civil society, on some of the biggest challenges we face - basic education, skills development, local procurement and green jobs. We look forward to hearing how government plans to play its part in taking them forward as quickly as possible.
a). Job creation
Although there was a small fall in the number of unemployed in the second half of 2011, the levels of unemployment are still intolerable. By the more realistic expanded figure which includes discouraged workers 7 504 000 people (36%) are still jobless.
It is estimated that 40% of the unemployed are new entrants into the labour market, who are almost likely to be young people. Statistics further show that 41% of the unemployed are between the ages of 25 and 34. In addition, 62% of the unemployed have less than secondary school education and 33% have completed secondary education but have no tertiary education. In short, 95% of the unemployed do not have tertiary education.
In addition the long-term unemployed, i.e. people who have been unemployed for more than a year, account for 60% of the unemployed. This means that most of the unemployment in our economy is structural in nature. Furthermore it is highly possible that what appears initially as cyclical unemployment quickly evolves into long-term structural unemployment. The fact that job losers and new entrants command a large fraction of the unemployed shows that our economy is not absorbing labour.
Part of the problem with youth unemployment is the continued apartheid networks that hinder African youth from gaining a foothold into employment. A study conducted in 2002 found that being African reduces the odds of being employed by 90%, in comparison to being white.
Despite similar qualifications, whites are on average 30% more likely to be employed than Africans. Furthermore, being female reduces the chances of being employed by 60% compared to being male and the chances of a female being self-employed are 93% less than being male.
COSATU hopes the President’s speech will contain good news on progress in implementing the plans contained in the New Growth Path and Industrial Policy Action Plans. These plans - restructuring the economy from one dominated by mining, heavy chemicals and finance, to one that is labour-absorbing and environmentally sound - remain the key to reaching the government’s goal of creating five million decent, sustainable jobs by 2020.
In particular we hope to hear concrete measures to expand manufacturing industry, and the beneficiation of our own resources. These must include substantial cuts in interest rates and the depreciation of the rand to encourage new investment in job-creating industries, and to make South African exports globally competitive.
b). Decent work
While the unemployed suffer most from the poverty that still stalks our land, the army of the working poor also continues to expand, with the growth of casualisation and labour broking. About 60% of all workers employed in the formal economy earn less than R2500 a month, 34% earn less than R1000 and a staggering 15% earn less than R500 a month.
The federation urges Comrade Zuma to recall the 2009 manifest commitment to “avoid exploitation of workers and ensure decent work for all workers as well as to protect the employment relationship, introduce laws to regulate contract work, subcontracting and out-sourcing, address the problem of labour broking and prohibit certain abusive practices.”
We urge the President to reject the demand of business to relax ‘inflexible labour laws’ so that they can exploit their workers even more ruthlessly. On the contrary we hope to hear how the government will strengthen these laws - so that workers are better protected from exploitation, poverty pay, unfair dismissal, and are able to work in a safe and healthy environment - and to enforce these laws more effectively to spare workers from the most extreme forms of exploitation.
We also hope to hear the scrapping of plans floated by the Minster of Labour to impose draconian restrictions of workers’ constitutional right to strike.
We are sure that the president will have noted our intention to take to the streets on 7 March to demand the banning of labour brokers, these human traffickers who hire out casual workers. These workers generally have no contracts, no fixed hours, and no employment benefits such as sick pay or maternity leave. It would be great news if we were to hear the president announce that labour broking is to be banned!
The federation once again looks forward to the President rejecting the idea of a youth employment subsidy, a policy rejected by the ANC’s NGC in 2005, which will lead to a further erosion of wages and conditions and mass retrenchments of workers once they reach the age limit for the subsidy.
c). Sustainable livelihoods
The expansion of social grants is one of the ANC government’s finest achievements, and we look forward to hearing that the level of these grants will rise at least in line with inflation. It is intolerable that 50% of the South African population live on 8% of national income and that millions of the poorest South Africans are kept alive only because of access to grants, which now account for 58% of household income for those in the lowest income quintile.
As well as fighting for improved wages and better conditions for workers and the poor, COSATU calls on government to join our fight to curb the exorbitant pay for executives, which has made us the world’s most unequal society, something which an ANC government should not be prepared to tolerate.
The government should ignore advice about ‘excessive’ wage settlement from employers like Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson who last year took home the highest-ever monthly earnings ever recorded in a single year – an unbelievable R627.53 million in salary, perks and share options. In 2008 his total remuneration was R16.64 million and R24.13 million in 2009, so his 2010 income represented an increase of 2501% over two years.
d). Education
COSATU is sure that the President will congratulate the learners and teachers on the improved matric pass rate but trust that this will not lead to any complacency.
We expect the President to back his Ministers of Education on their efforts to improve the quality and availability of education, so that we can produce the skilled and qualified workers which we will need if we are to meet our job-creation targets.
The crisis in education persists. The poor’s children remain trapped in inferior education with wholly inadequate infrastructure. 70% of (matriculation) exam passes are accounted for by just 11% of schools, the former white, coloured, and Asian schools.
12-year olds in South Africa perform three times less than 11-year olds in Russia when it comes to reading and 16-year olds in South Africa perform three times less than 14-year olds in Cyprus when it comes to mathematics. Yet white learners perform in line with the international average in both science and mathematics, which is twice the score of African learners.
It is estimated only 3% of the children who enter the schooling system eventually complete with higher grade mathematics, 15% of grade 3 learners pass both numeracy and literacy, 70% of our schools do not have libraries and 60% do not have laboratories, 60% of children are pushed out of the schooling system before they reach grade 12.
In 1997, approximately 1.4 million learners entered the system in Grade 1. The matriculation pass figure of 334,718 learners in 2009 means that 24% were able to complete matriculation in the minimum of 12 years. Lastly, 55% of educators would leave the profession if they had an opportunity to do so. This is symptomatic of an ineffective and dysfunctional education system.
That is why COSATU has resolved to campaign to adopt the worst performing schools, which we have been visiting and will continue to monitor, and we are mobilising support for the teachers, learners and administrators in their efforts to turn the situation around. We call on the government and all alliance formations to coordinate this campaign and ensure maximum benefit.
We hope that Comrade Zuma will welcome and support the firm commitment made by teachers’ unions to ensure that teachers must be at school at all times, teaching, and not abusing the learners, in particular the girl children.
The federation also hopes for good news on the rapid implementation of the commitment in the ANC 8th January 2011 statement that “in line with the vision of the Freedom Charter, and the resolution of our 52nd National Conference, we are committed to progressively introduce free education up to undergraduate level.
The federation also hopes to see progress on the construction of the two universities in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga, which will create more opportunities for higher education and could also create around 20 000 much
needed jobs.
e). Health care
COSATU expects Comrade Zuma to spell out his total support for the excellent work of Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, particularly his determination to press ahead with the National Health Insurance Scheme, despite the rantings of all the vested interests in the private healthcare sector.
Most of our public health facilities are a disaster – derelict, under-staffed, under-resourced and short of essential supplies of drugs and equipment. Nothing less than a root-and-branch transformation of the entire system will start to provide the poor majority with the quality of service presently available to the rich minority. The NHI is the only way to achieve this goal.
We also continue to support the government’s excellent HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment programme.
f). Rural development, food security and land reform
Two years of flooding in parts of the country have highlighted the potential threat to food security. This makes it more vital that the President commits the government to accelerate land reform and assist the new farm owners to use their land productively, which can create jobs and produce food.
Rural development must focus on building rural institutions, social and economic infrastructure, skills development and the promotion of non-farm activities, especially agro-processing, with particular emphasis on rural women and youth empowerment
On land reform, COSATU opposes the process by which the state relinquishes publicly owned land in order to make up for land redistribution, whilst racial, gender and class concentration of ownership of land still persists. Instead, we call for the productive use of state-owned land by co-operatives and a policy to deal with expropriation of unused or unproductive land, including land currently used for game-farming, golf-estates and land held for speculative purposes.
A key element is the maintenance of adequate balance between industrialization on the one hand and agriculture and rural development on the other.
g). Crime and corruption
COSATU has warmly welcomed recent bold steps by the Minister of Finance to take over the Health Department in Gauteng, the Departments of Police, Roads and Transport in the Free State, five departments in Limpopo, and the earlier takeover of the Eastern Cape Department of Education.
The evidence that Comrade Gordhan has produced to justify his takeover in Limpopo has provided the clearest possible proof of a massive problem of mismanagement of public money, fraud, and corruption.
It is a cancer which is eating away at the heart of our democracy, driven by the capitalist culture of ‘me-first’ and ‘get as rich as possible as fast as possible’, which is now invading our democratic institutions and liberation movement.
We also welcome the many other initiatives from government, including the sacking of two ministers and suspension of the head of the SAPS. But are worried at the slow rate at which perpetrators of corruption are being brought to court and convicted. We hope to hear more good news of successful investigations, arrests and prosecutions of those alleged to be involved in this looting of our wealth.
COSATU also looks forward to a firm assurance from the President that the Protection of State Information Bill will be radically redrafted to ensure that it can never be used to classify evidence of crime and corruption as ‘secret’ or to criminalise whistle-blowers who expose such information.
Through its launch of Corruption Watch on 26 January 2012, COSATU is playing its part in the national campaign to end this scourge and we are confident that it will provide workers and all South Africans a safe haven to report corrupt activities in confidence, without fear of victimisation.
One important policy which we hope to hear the President supporting is provincial and municipal authorities employing their own workers to carry out public works, rather than putting them out to tender, which creates more opportunities for corruption and shoddy work by tenderpreneurs.
h). Walmart
COSATU hopes the President will back his three ministers who are insisting on the Competition Tribunal imposing more stringent conditions on Walmart’s take-over of Massmart. The world’s biggest company has a terrible industrial relations record and its entry into other countries has led to massive job losses, as it compels all retailers to adopt its own cut-throat tactics in order to compete and survive.
We fear the loss of jobs not only in retail stores but manufacturers, service providers, and small businesses, arising from the company’s procurement practices, whereby they secure the cheapest products from anywhere in the world, regardless of how badly the workers who make them are treated.
The Local Procurement Accord which aims to accelerate the creation of 5 million new jobs by 2020, and the attainment of the goals of the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP 2), by promoting local procurement. Yet the Walmart-Massmart merger will have exactly the opposite result – more cheap imports produced in poverty-pay sweatshops and more factory closures and retrenchments in South African manufacturing.
i). E-tolling
The federation hopes to hear the president announce that the government is going to completely scrap the Gauteng e-tolling system and quash rumours that it is going to do no more than reduce the price of the tolls. We are utterly opposed to the commodification of more and more public services and believe that our roads are a public asset, not a commodity to create massive profits for private companies.
These tolls will have a particularly devastating effect on workers who have no alternative but to drive to work because of the lack of a proper public transport system. They will lead to big price increases in the shops to cover the increased cost of transporting goods, and some companies may even be forced out of business and have to retrench workers because of their increased transport costs.
j). COP17 and Climate Change
The Green Economy Accord aims to create 300 000 new jobs by 2020, in economic activities such as energy generation, manufacturing of products that reduce carbon emissions, soil and environmental management and eco tourism and we look forward to the President outlining how the government is going to take its plans forward.
k). Conclusion
As COSATU said in its 2011 end-of year statement: “Unless we embrace radical economic programmes, and in particular develop the capacity of the state to intervene in the economy and drive development, we are doomed. Unless we can build the capacity of local governments to take back areas they have outsourced, whilst increasing funding so as to discourage the use of more tenders and use their resources for service delivery and job creation, we shall not realise the dream of many for a better life.
“Unless we mobilise citizens to be more active, led by a conscious working class that can drive campaigns against corruption, and to transform education, in particular to get all dysfunctional schools to work as learning institutions, and unless we can defeat HIV and introduce the NHI to fix our hospitals, we are doomed.”
We are now urging the president and his government to join us is this drive to stop the rot and get back on course to implement our national democratic revolution.
Shabangu and Manuel out of order
Ngoako Selamolela, SASCO President, & Themba Masondo, Secretary General, 8 February 2011
The South African Students Congress (SASCO) has noted with disappointment comments on nationalisation attributed to Ministers Susan Shabangu and Trevor Manuel. At the Mining Indaba held this week the Minister in the Presidency, Trevor Manuel and Minister of Mineral Resources Susan Shabangu reassured the captains of industries that nationalisation of the mines will not happen.
These Ministers have consistently arrogated themselves as security guards at the gates of white monopoly capital and neo-liberalism.
Ministers Shabangu and Trevor Manuel must be reminded once more that they are not the final arbiter on the discussion on nationalisation of the mines. In the Mining Indaba last year, Minister Shabangu boldly declared that nationalisation would not happen in her life time. We found it offensive that whereas ANC structures and mass democratic movement in general are yet to engage the ANC research report on nationalisation, Shabangu and Manuel have already jumped the gun to propagate for the so-called ‘resource nationalism’.
As far as we are concerned, the ANC has not taken a decision on whether or not mines should be nationalised. It is therefore incorrect of Ministers Shabangu and Manuel to reassure capitalists that nationalisation is off the agenda whereas there is no decision on the matter.
As SASCO, we will constructively engage the ANC report on nationalisation when released for discussion. We will continue to fearlessly advance our view that mines and other commanding heights of the economy must be nationalised as a step towards socialisation of means of production.
Global fund payment is seven months late - our life-saving programs will close
Nonkosi Khumalo, TAC Chairperson, 8 February 2012
Dr Aaron Motsoaledi
Minister of Health
6 February 2011
Dear Minister
Global Fund payment is seven months late - our life-saving programs will close
We are recipients of South Africa's Global Fund Round 6 grant. We expected payments from the Global Fund in July 2011 and January 2012. This grant funds life-saving programmes that we implement. These payments are late. Some of us have continued to implement our Global Fund sponsored programmes using reserve funds and other income, but we can no longer continue to do this. The consequence is that our programmes will have to close and many people will have to be retrenched.
The Department of Health is the Principal Recipient of the grant. It is unclear to us why the grant has been delayed continuously. Our understanding is that the Global Fund systems are extremely complex and that the Fund is not satisfied that the Department of Health has met its stringent criteria. We also understand that the effort to consolidate the Round 6, Round 9 and Round 10 grants into a single stream has contributed to the delay.
Whatever the reasons, we know that each of us has made a great effort to meet the demands of the Principal Recipient and the Global Fund. It is unfortunate that the Global Fund has failed to make contingency plans and defaulted its payment.
The situation is now dire. We therefore request your urgent intervention to help get the Global Fund to meet its commitments so that we receive our money before the 15th of February.
Also, nearly every payment from the Global Fund has been late. This is not a sustainable way to fund programmes. We ask that the Department of Health and Global Fund meet and commit to paying our expenses for July to December 2011 and our current tranche for the period January to March 2012. We also ask for a commitment to making all future payments on time.
Thank you for considering our requests.
Yours sincerely,
o Community Media Trust
o Humana People to People
o Mindset
o Redpeg
o Society for Family Health
o Soul City
o South African Department of Health Global Fund Round 6 recipients
o Treatment Action Campaign
Announcements
Sanco marches against corruption
Tshepo Phetlo, Acting Chairperson, SANCO Tlokwe Branch, 8 February 2012
The South African National Civic Organisation is holding an Anti-corruption march which is taking place at the Tlokwe Local Municipality in the North West province.
The march comes amid political tensions that have taken the main stage in the North West province and especially the Tlokwe local municipality. The march will be supported by other Alliance structures as this is the main alliance programme that seeks to Red-card Corruption.
It is in this context our view that this march should never be regarded as a march against our democratic government or the leader of the ANC led movement that is the ANC. In our view the ANC is not corrupt neither does it support corruption nor those involved in corrupt activities.
The march will take place as follows:
Ø Date: Thursday 9 February, 2012
Ø Time: 10h00 am
Ø Venue: Ikageng Stadium
International
Sejun organisation and campaign launch
Bong’nkhosi Ntshangase, SEJUN Convener, 8 February 2012
The Swaziland Economic Justice Network (SEJUN) – a coalition of non-profit organisations seeking to open up space, in the quest for alternatives, for the people of Swaziland to engage on issues that impact on their livelihoods - invites the public to the official launch of the organisation together with that of its ERADICATE POVERTY AND HUNGER CAMPAIGN (LIJAHA SISU).
This is a campaign that is based squarely on a food sovereignty framework that embraces the fundamental right to adequate food. At the core of the campaign is the fight for agrarian reform, with the aim of facilitating equal access to land and ultimately addressing the food security problem currently dogging the country. Agro-ecology is promoted by the campaign as a sustainable model of food production and a better alternative to the highly polluting models of agriculture, and one that has the potential to mitigate the effects of climate change and environmental damage.
With this campaign, the network seeks to ensure that the dream of eradication of poverty and hunger is realised for the most poor and marginalised of communities. It hopes to realise this goal through empowering ordinary people with the necessary tools, knowledge or skills to fight the scourge of poverty.
We hope to build a vibrant economic justice movement with the capacity to challenge obtaining economic injustices and social inequalities from their historical foundations, as opposed to only tackling the immediate symptoms of a deep-rooted problem.
Joining us in this all important event is a panel of speakers to be drawn from an array of organisations occupying the local civil society space.
Date: February 11, 2012
Time: 9:30 am
Venue: Ezindwendweni High School, Lavumisa
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: pat...@cosatu.org.za
