Media Monitor 20 November 2009

New faces of militancy in Cosatu have emerged following the expulsion of Willie Madisha from Cosatu, the quiet retreat of its general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi from the forefront, and the changing nature of the relationship between trade union federation and Cosatu.

Irvin Jim is one of these faces. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa's (Numsa) general secretary is a hardcore communist who took over as Numsa boss last year.

Jim has been a driving force in pushing for radical policy changes in the ANC, something that has earned him respect among his peers in the labour movement; while some ANC leaders see him as a thorn in the side of the alliance.

But, unlike his predecessor Silumko Nondwangu, who was more amenable to the ANC, Jim is proving a hard nut to crack.

Under Thabo Mbeki's leadership, many in the ANC and government saw Numsa as one of the more pliable trade unions within Cosatu.

Not long after he took over, Jim launched a scathing attack on Planning Commission Minister Trevor Manuel and former Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni for their conservative economic policies.

And earlier this month, Numsa stepped up its campaign for policy changes when it called for the nationalisation of the personal wealth of ANC BEE tycoons Tokyo Sexwale and Patrice Motsepe.

In a similar vein of defiance, when Cosatu as a federation supported former Eskom chairperson Bobby Godsell over former CEO Jacob Maroga, Numsa as an affiliate dissented and weighed in on Maroga side.

Speaking to the Mail & Guardian recently, Jim lashed out at senior ANC leaders, including Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, ANC secretary general and treasurer general Gwede Mantashe and Mathews Phosa for saying nationalisation was not ANC policy.

"I don't know what Freedom Charter people are reading and which conference of the ANC has changed it," he said. "The Freedom Charter we know says the people shall share in the country's wealth. The national wealth, the heritage of our country shall be restored to our people. The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and monopoly industries shall be transferred to the hands of the people. All other industries and trade shall be transferred to assist the wellbeing of our people.

"In a country where unemployment is so high, you must tamper with the current macroeconomic policies. The government must ensure that the Freedom Charter is executed," argues Jim.

He says unless the government puts nationalisation at the centre of its policy, service delivery will remain a pipe dream for the poor.

"We support service delivery, but we think we are setting the movement for failure with absolutely no vibrant programme, especially in conditions of inequality.

"Political power without economic power is a shell. There must be a sense of urgency and political will to begin to say something has to be done to change the structure of accumulation in South Africa, which benefit a tiny minority and maybe few black individuals who are part of that particular discourse."

This week, Jim slammed newly appointed Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus after her decision to keep interest rates unchanged.

"This conservative interest rates policy stance constitutes a wrong premise for [Marcus] particularly when in its own statement the [South African Reserve Bank's monetary policy committee] stated that economic growth is expected to remain below potential for some time."

Jim said Numsa would lobby the government to cut interest rates by 5% and to weaken the currency to boost struggling sectors and economic growth in the country.
"If you go to the United States, you will see interest rates are almost zero percent. We are a developing country, but we continue to have high interest rates."

1.2 Taxi drivers on the march

IOL, 20 November 2009

South African Transport Workers' Union (Satawu) members marched to Gauteng public safety offices yesterday to give the department an ultimatum to respond to their demands.

Satawu's Gauteng general secretary, Xolani Nyamezele, said MEC for Public Safety Khabisi Mosunkutu had 14 days to respond to their call for the formalising of the taxi industry and improvement of employment conditions for taxi drivers.

1.3 More Transnet troubles

MMANALEDI MATABOGE, Mail& Guardian, 20 November|

Senior managers are to call for the entire board to step down after Ramos is accused of victimising Gama. Mmanaledi Mataboge reports

A confidential dossier drafted by a group of senior Transnet and Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) employees accuses former Transnet boss Maria Ramos of trying to block the now suspended TFR chief executive, Siyabonga Gama, from succeeding her.

Senior managers who spoke to the Mail & Guardian said they would call for the entire board of Transnet to step down.

The dossier was submitted to the chairperson of Parliament's portfolio committee on public enterprises, Vytjie Mentoor, the Black Management Forum and the ANC Youth League, among others.

The M&G is in possession of the dossier, which accuses Ramos of "victimising" Gama. It says that when allegations against Gama concerning irregularities with two procurement contracts came to her attention in October last year, she dismissed them as "baseless" and "utter rubbish".

But at her last Transnet board meeting -- when a decision about her successor was about to be made -- she surprisingly raised the same allegations, the dossier says.

"Judging by the flip-flopping of the former group chief executive [Ramos] on the charges against Gama, there is a clear victimisation attempt," it reads.

Sources sympathetic to Transnet told the M&G in September that Ramos presented a draft report on Gama to the board at the last meeting because she had received it only on the eve of the meeting.

Gama's court application to overturn his suspension, in which he made similar allegations against Transnet's acting group chief executive, Chris Wells, was dismissed in October. Wells was the group chief financial officer during the Ramos era. Ramos is now Absa's group chief executive officer.

Transnet lawyer Paul Pretorius said in an answering affidavit at that time that the counter-allegations against Wells might require investigation, but that they would not render Wells liable to the same charges as those brought against Gama. Judge Brian Spilg dismissed Gama's urgent application with costs. Transnet spokesperson John Dludlu said the allegations were "vexatious and unfounded." Adding "We reject any insinuations of impropriety in relation to the conduct of the board's current and former members."

Gama was suspended two months ago. Disciplinary action against him is being handled by Wells.

Gama is accused of allocating a contract to refurbish 50 locomotives to Sibanye Trade & Services, which allegedly had little experience of renovating locomotives.

He is also accused of awarding a R19-million contract to General Nyanda Security Risk Advisory Services (GNS), a security firm linked to Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda. Gama had authority to approve contracts to a maximum of R10-million.

The document accuses the Trans-net board under the chairmanship of Fred Phaswana of failing to take action against Ramos for bringing allegations against Gama to the board's attention months after she knew about them.

"An inference might be made that she did not view them in a serious light as she then claimed, unless she had other ulterior motives, after she saw that Gama was in the race as her successor," the dossier says.

Phaswana has since left Transnet to take up a position as chairperson of the Standard Bank group.

The M&G has learned that the Transnet succession plan that would have seen Gama succeed Ramos began polarising staff at the parastatal from as early as February 2008. The confidential dossier charges that it was around that time that efforts to thwart the possibility of Gama taking over began.

The M&G has seen letters between Transnet employees suggesting the severe tensions sparked by the succession plan. Some white employees wrote of their fear that they would be removed from their positions and replaced by their black colleagues.

The dossier from black senior employees concludes that Gama was seen as a threat to white colleagues. "[He] has proven to possess leadership qualities that have threatened some white colleagues who may have had ambitions to occupy the highest office within the Transnet group."

In July, just after Wells told Gama of the board's intention to charge him, Gama wrote to Wells saying that it was puzzling he was being investigated for allegations Ramos dismissed.

"When the anonymous tip-off was received, I had the opportunity to discuss its contents with the then group chief executive, Ms Maria Ramos, who dismissed them as baseless and utter rubbish," he wrote. "I am amazed that subsequent to that discussion [there] emerged an investigation that I was not informed of."

The black employees' dossier accuses Wells of full knowledge of and participation in the procurement process and says he tried to force United States company Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) to drop its black economic empowerment partner, Sibanye.

"Wells was a key participant in actioning the way forward on the 50 like-new [locomotives project] and mainly took decisions that further exposed Transnet and brought it into disrepute about its view of the participation of the BEE partners in this economy," it says.

"What actions has the board taken against Wells for his part?" the dossier asks.

It details a sequence of events relating to the 50 like-new locomotives contract, which indicates that Wells was well aware of the procurement processes followed and any subsequent variations to the process. Wells refused to comment on the matter, saying through his spokesperson John Dludlu: "There's a formal process under way and we'd like to await its outcome."

In September Randall Howard, general secretary of the South African Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu), which represents most of Transnet's employees, accused Ramos of being part of a conspiracy to prevent Gama's appointment as the new head of Transnet.

Ramos refused to respond to M&G questions, saying through her spokesperson, Patrick Wadula, that she was no longer a Transnet employee and cannot comment on matters related to the transport utility.

Transnet response
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to respond to the claims.

All your questions were included in the allegations which formed part of the founding affidavit filed by Mr Gama. Both the application and the subsequent leave to appeal were dismissed with costs by the South Gauteng High Court. Consequently, the allegations are vexatious and unfounded and therefore rejected. These include the aspersion cast on Mr Wells, the acting group chief executive, who has always acted in the interest of the company, fulfilling with his fiduciary duties as a director of the company. We reject any insinuation of impropriety in relation to the conduct of the board’s current and former members. Given the need to ensure the integrity of the current disciplinary process in relation to the suspended chief executive of TFR it would be inappropriate to comment further. That said, the company reserves all its rights.

1.4 Unions do well in defending Godsell inside labour

Terry Bell, Business Report, 20 November 2009

Genuine trade unionists and their organisations hold no brief for bosses and for capitalists of whatever colour or stripe. But they are also aware that there are times when it is perfectly feasible to be on the same side as an employer on a particular issue.

Apartheid was a classic example, where the principle of majority rights happened to coincide with the interests of modern - and modernising - capital. It was, as the more ideologically inclined might note, a case of the revolutionaries being prepared to steady their aim by resting their rifles on the shoulders of tomorrow's foes as together they faced a common, racist, enemy.

For unionists, it was a matter of seizing the chances offered, while never forgetting that bosses remain bosses; that, for many employers, an anti-apartheid orientation had more to do with profit than principle.

But when capitalists - for their own purposes - agree that certain laws are unjust, they will at least tacitly support the moral right of unions and other democratic forces to be no respecters of those laws: in the face of injustice, morality trumps legality. So there are times when unions, as part of the broader democratic movement, and capitalists can find common ground.

This was the situation during the transition from our racially exclusive past to the present, non-racial parliamentary democracy. In that transition period, Bobby Godsell, the recently departed chairman of Eskom, was the president of the Chamber of Mines and one of Anglo American's younger stars.

He was then - and remains - a free marketeer, but one who opposed the concept of an ethnic state as much as he opposed the idea of a classless society. He was and is, as National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) general secretary Frans Baleni agreed this week, an anti-racist capitalist.

This was something Godsell made clear in a 1993 interview in which he referred to what was then happening as the "rapid retreat from commandist notions" that had given rise to the centralised racist tyranny of apartheid.

He welcomed the demise of that system and, as Baleni stresses, worked with the likes of Cyril Ramaphosa to help bring about a negotiated settlement.

Ramaphosa was the general secretary of the NUM. Before that, as a lawyer, he had worked with Anglo American where he had dealings with Godsell - and holds him in high esteem.

The NUM has 11 000 members working for Eskom and there is no record of them raising any questions about Godsell as chairman. However, many of them were far from complimentary about now departed chief executive Jacob Maroga.

These were all reasons why Baleni came to the defence of Godsell when Godsell was accused by the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) and the Black Management Forum (BMF), among others, of being a racist. This certainly did not indicate, as the ANCYL claimed, that Baleni had become a "spokesperson for white monopoly capital".

Baleni has again pointed out that, apart from anything else, such accusations make examples of real racism more difficult to counter. It was a point also taken up by Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. Both union leaders diplomatically refer to "outsiders" who had no right, morally or legally, to interfere in the Eskom debacle. Some unionists, anonymously, but less diplomatically, feel that self-interest lay behind much of the interference.

As one noted: "BMF people support this thing (Godsell is a racist) because they think, if we do so, tenders will come; for the Youth League, they think: 'This is a ticket upstairs'."

Whatever the motivation behind the allegations of racism, they have thrown into sharp relief the role of trade unions and the state, as well as exposing worrying attitudes towards corporate governance and the manner in which Eskom, in particular, has been run.

What many within the labour movement are now realising is that much of the furore surrounding Godsell, Maroga and Eskom exposed an attitude that sees party political demands as more important than law based on the egalitarian principles of the constitution; that narrow, sectarian interests are being advanced in the name of transformation.

The responsibility for this must be shared by all parties. Ignorance of constitutional provisions may have motivated elements such as the BMF and the ANCYL. A similar accusation can be laid at the door of the government. And it is successive governments, shareholder proxies for all citizens, that must accept most of the blame for the mess at Eskom. The labour movement also bears responsibility for not campaigning more loudly and more vigorously against what has been a disaster in the making for more than the past decade.

The roots of the problem go back 25 years to when the apartheid state scrapped Eskom's capital fund. That was followed in the new dispensation by its commercialisation, turning it from a public service into a putative cash cow for the government.

This concentration on the bottom line provided R15 billion for government coffers, but at great cost. Coal stocks were sold, capital expenditure cut to a minimum and short-term planning meant Eskom was caught short by the coal price boom.

According to one NUM official: "We should have made more noise, but at least it's now all out in the open."

1.5 NUMSA condemns xenophobic attacks

Mxolisi Ncube, Zimbabwean, 19 November 2009

JOHANNESBURG – The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), on Thursday condemned the re-eruption of xenophobic attacks in Cape Town, which have displaced an estimated 2 500 predominantly Zimbabwean foreign nationals.

The attacks erupted on Tuesday, with South Africans accusing the African immigrants of stealing their jobs and competing with them for scarce social services.
“NUMSA notes with deepest concern and condemns with the contempt it deserves, the re-eruption of xenophobic attacks in our country,” said Irvin Jim, the General Secretary of NUMSA in a statement. “About 2500 Zimbabwean and other migrants from across the African continent had to take shelter and refuge at government buildings in De Doorns. “This represents a gross reminder of what happened last year when xenophobic eruptions broke out in different parts of our country. Last year's xenophobic attacks caused the deaths of more than 70 and the displacement of over 120 000 people.” NUMSA called on authorities to move swiftly and take appropriate action to ensure that these xenophobic attacks are eliminated once and for all. “Over and above short-term measures that include getting the law to take its course, government needs to adopt a radical programme to tackle the problems of persisting poverty and high unemployment rate, widening inequality, the disconcerting state of service delivery, corruption and crime,” added Jim. “We reiterate our stance that at the centre of this programme must be the objective for restoring the wealth of our country and productive capacity to the people as a whole, rather than an enrichment of a few politically connected individuals who would find no problem in joining yesterday’s oppressor to exploit the masses.”

NUMSA said that it found it “extremely disturbing” that labour brokers were actively involved in promoting xenophobic attacks. “They destroy the quality of jobs and once this is done, cut and paste workers between precarious jobs,” said Jim. “In all this labour brokers take advantage of undocumented migrant labour as a source of cheap labour and therefore more profits. This strengthens our case for labour brokers to be abolished. “As NUMSA we have streamlined a fight against xenophobia in our daily operations against economic exploitation and all forms of discrimination. “We call on all the people of South Africa, the working class and poor in particular to reject xenophobia and redirect struggles against capitalism as the fundamental problem.”

2. South Africa

2.1 Zuma warns councillors on Tembisa look-in

CHANTELLE BENJAMIN, Business Day, 20 November 2009

COUNCILLORS could find themselves out of work if they continue to ignore community issues, President Jacob Zuma said after a surprise visit to Madela Kufa Section 2 township in Tembisa yesterday, where angry residents have staged protests over service delivery failures.

The settlement, where xenophobic violence occurred last year, was established in 1992 yet residents are still using pit toilets, have no electricity and are sharing one tap.

Zuma said the fact that councillors were not addressing these problems almost 20 years after the informal settlement came into being, was a “serious problem”. He said he planned to raise this matter with the African National Congress (ANC) provincially and regionally.

“I will report what these people say about the performance of their councillors and the leaders will know what to do. Those who are not working have no reason to remain in position,” he said.

Zuma, accompanied by ANC spokeswoman Jessie Duarte and former safety and security minister Charles Nqakula , also met Tembisa station commander George Manganya yesterday to discuss concern about the area’s high crime rate, and residents’ unhappiness about the poor relationship between police and their community policing unit.

In the latest police statistics — 2008-09 — Tembisa was listed among the top 20 stations countrywide for car hijacking and residential robbery. Zuma said Manganya believed crime in the informal settlements could be greatly reduced with proper lighting. “He believes development of the squatter camps could also decrease crime,” Zuma told the media after the meeting.

Zuma said the establishment of a satellite police station was also being considered in the area, as were the provision of police vehicles equipped for offroad driving because of the poor roads . “The commander says he has enough staff and he showed us statistics which show crime has gone down a bit, although housebreaking seems to have increased and murders are still occurring.”

Collet Lephalala, a resident of Madela Kufa Section 2 since 1992, said they had been made many promises by the government but they still did not have proper toilets, safe drinking water or houses. The only tap in the area is situated next to a pile of rubbish and children have been bitten by rats, which apparently flourish in the area.

2.2 Cronin backs Malema

Zukile Majova, Sowetan, 20 November 2009

SACP deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin has thrown his weight behind ANC Youth League president Julius Malema’s call for the nationalisation of mines.

He also dismissed ANC general secretary Gwede Mantashe’s utterances about the proposed nationalisation of mines.

In this week’s edition of Cosatu’s online publication, Umsebenzi, Cronin says: “Some comrades have tried to argue against Malema on the grounds that the Freedom Charter nowhere actually uses the word ‘nationalisation’.

“This is literally true, but frankly it’s not a very convincing argument.

“As Malema puts it: ‘They are talking English, not politics’.”

2.3 ‘Expose all corruption’

Sowetan Reporter, 20 November 2009

The SACP has welcomed the government’s move to set up an inter-ministerial committee to fight corruption in the public sector.

On Wednesday government spokesman Themba Maseko said the committee would ensure action was taken against all persons involved in corrupt practices.

Yesterday SACP spokesperson Malesela Maleka said: “Corruption must be fought wherever it occurs as corruption is more often than not tantamount to stealing from the poor.”

He said those guilty of corruption must be exposed.

2.4 Protests prod ANC into refocusing

By MSINDISI FENGU Dispatch online, 20 November 2009

THE provincial executive of the ANC said service delivery protests in many of its municipal councils had forced it to refocus priorities.

This was after hundreds of disgruntled residents of Mnquma Municipality in Butterworth marched to the municipal offices demanding service delivery.

Heavily armed police officers kept a watchful eye as the residents from Nqamakwe, Centane and Butterworth brought the small town to a standstill, with traffic disrupted in the main Umtata Street for 30 minutes.

Their grievances with the municipality included stalled RDP housing projects, construction and maintenance of roads, electrification of households and schools, provision of sanitation facilities and water to public institutions and households, rural development, provision of community halls, support for agricultural projects and the tarring of roads to local hospitals.

ANC provincial spokesperson Mlibo Qoboshiyane said yesterday the provincial executive committee had taken note of the problems faced by Mnquma communities.

The embattled ANC-led Mnquma Municipality had been the stage of political infighting among ANC councillors, with some suspected of having links with the opposition Congress of the People.

A report compiled by the ANC’s Amathole region, tabled during its regional conference three months ago, highlighted how political squabbles within the ruling party had affected service delivery to communities.

Mnquma Concerned Residents’ spokesperson Luzuko Kawe said yesterday residents were only interested in the delivery of services not in political infighting.

“There is lack of administration; whenever we talk to the municipality, we are told about Integrated Development Programme processes. We don’t want that … we want practicalities.”

Qoboshiyane said it was not easy handling the Mnquma issue because some dejected councillors, suspended by the ruling party, had chosen to undertake court processes.

“We are saying let’s refocus all (ANC-led) councils and deal with infightings.

2.5 Older SACP elements in no mood to spoil party

AUBREY MATSHIQI, senior research associate at the Centre for Policy Studies, Business Day 20 November 2009

THE strategic alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will break under one of two conditions, or a combination of the two.

First, the split will occur when the tasks of the national democratic revolution are complete — that is, when the fundamental goals set during the liberation struggle have been attained. Second, the break will occur when contradictions, ideological and otherwise, between the different components of the alliance have become so antagonistic that continuing with the arrangement has become untenable.

The challenge facing the tripartite alliance in our post-apartheid setting is twofold. The most immediate of the two challenges lies in the multiclass character of the ANC. The second is a consequence of the understanding that the transition to socialism is not linear in character and content. This means that conditions for a transition to socialism must be created in the belly of the domestic and global reality of capitalism.

In other words, struggles for socialism are not going to wait for either the demise of capitalism, or the completion of the tasks of the national democratic revolution. And therein lies the problem.

Since the creation of a socialist society is not the historical function of the ANC, how should the ruling party and its left allies engage with policy options that take into account the multiclass character of the ANC if the policy choices of an ANC government are deemed detrimental to the interests of the working class? When the ANC claims the working class as a key force for social, political and economic change, how should this be reconciled with its multiclass character and the contention that the ANC has a bias towards the poor and the working class?

Are the ANC and the alliance the best tools for the mediation of class conflict and contradictions, or should the alliance be reconfigured in a manner that seeks to resolve these contradictions and conflicts through democratic electoral contests? Should a ruling party with an electoral mandate fight policy battles in an alliance that consists of entities that have no such mandate, and should the SACP and Cosatu continue giving electoral support to a ruling party whose policy orientation will, at times, be a product of the dominant position of so-called class enemies of the working class in society and the ANC?

I suspect that Buti Manamela of the Young Communist League (YCL) has been mulling over these questions, hence his statement the other day that in future congresses of the SACP, the YCL will seek to convince its parent body to contest elections independently. The parents , as you know, have argued consistently that the SACP is not a narrow electoral machine. That is precisely the point. Manamela wants the SACP to be a broad electoral machine.

The difference in opinion between the SACP and the YCL on this question suggests the possibility of a third condition under which the alliance may split — that is, this may one day happen when generational pressures within both the ANC and the SACP force the two parties to go their separate ways. We must remember that the desire of young communists for electoral independence is probably shared by the ANC’s young Turks, who see in these communists nothing but a career-limiting nuisance.

Seriously, though, the position of the young communists is informed by the meagre policy returns in relation to the energy investments made by the left in policy battles with the ANC. It appears that the returns are disappointing also to the extent that the juice of the fruit of support for the presidential ambitions of Jacob Zuma seems to drip more down the cheeks of the “class enemies” of workers who toiled for Zuma’s political and electoral victories.

The irony is that within the ANC many are convinced the left has stolen the fruit bowl of the ruling party. Unfortunately for Manamela, the older generation in the SACP is in no mood to abandon the benefits of riding in the ANC’s election cart.

3.International

3.1 Unionist Kearney dies

IOL, 20 November 2009

International Textile, Garment & Leather Workers' Federation general secretary Neil Kearney has died, the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu) has announced.

Sactwu spokesman Andre Kriel said yesterday that Kearney had died of a heart attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh, early yesterday.

The 59-year-old unionist died while executing his international trade union duties. He leaves behind his wife, Jutta, and their two daughters, Nicole and Caroline.

Kearney had been with the federation for 21 years and he died before its four-day 10th world congress, which starts on December 1 in Frankfurt, Germany. - Sapa

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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