COSATU Media Monitor, 6 February 2012

Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi warned yesterday that a planned strike next month would be followed by more industrial action throughout the year, if the government went ahead with its version of the proposed labour law amendments.

Year-long negotiations at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) have reached a deadlock over draft amendments to the Labour Relations Act, Employment Equity Amendment Bill, the Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill, and the Public Employment Services Bill.

The bills include a proposal to criminalise labour broking and another to limit temporary employment. Cosatu’s definition of temporary work, employment equity rules and other ambiguities have upset business, resulting in delays.

Speaking at a provincial shop steward council meeting as he sought to mobilise workers ahead of the March 7 strike, Mr Vavi presented some of the proposals on the table at Nedlac. One strongly supported by labour was the "application of the principle of equal pay for work of similar value to temporary employees". But Mr Vavi said business was opposed to this.

"Already the government is on board ; we are happy it is pursuing it. But we want to pursue that demand in the context that there is no labour broker. It is of critical importance that government stick to that. If we can get that accepted as law then half of our problems are resolved."

Mr Vavi said the government had allowed for one more round of Nedlac negotiations before the strike action took place, but he was not optimistic about a significant agreement being reached.

"There is disagreement in the approach between us and the government. Government is insisting on regulating labour brokers. We are saying you can’t regulate these fellows, get rid of them," he said.

Cosatu was opposed to a proposal tabled by business representatives that trade unions and employers should engage in negotiations for 60 days before a legal strike can ensue, lengthening the current 30-day period, Mr Vavi said. He also revealed that a key issue during the talks was the proposed amendment to section 21 of the Labour Relations Act.

"They want to amend section 21 … so that when the union seeks recognition by being significantly represented in the workplace, by acquiring 51% representation, they say temporary staff should not be counted as part of that 51%. This is very dangerous," Mr Vavi said.

Labour also rejected proposals geared at boosting small-business growth, by way of limiting employee rights in companies with staff of 10 to 50 employees, and which had existed for less than two years, he said.

John Botha, business representative at Nedlac, said business was opposed to equal pay for work of equal value because companies’ performance and prevailing economic conditions were a factor in determin ing wages. "If you appoint a person during the current economic crisis you should be allowed to appoint them at a minimum wage, because times are tough. "

1.2 March against labour brokers

Laea Medley, Daily News, 6 February 2012

Cosatu is planning three marches in KwaZulu-Natal as part of a 2-million worker national stayaway campaign, in an effort to put an end to labour brokers.

The marches will take place on March 7 in Durban, Newcastle, and Richards Bay.

Speaking at a Cosatu meeting in Durban yesterday, General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said more than a third of workers were employed by labour brokers.

“That’s why Cosatu will be going on strike on March 7 to demand that we must have a total burning of the labour brokers. Labour brokers cannot live side by side with the demand of decent work, it's impossible to achieve that demand,” Vavi said.

Cosatu provincial secretary Zet Luzipo said: “Our freedom and liberation cannot be achieved if we are still victims of labour brokerage.”

Luzipo said labour brokers “suck vulnerable people who are desperate for employment”.

“Labour brokers must be banned because they are nothing but the worst forms of super exploitation. The success of our March 7 plan of action will and must send a clear message to both our government and business that we cannot exist side by side with labour brokers.”

1.3 Gautrain strikers to be dismissed

Citizen, 6 February 2012

The Gautrain bus drivers who participated in an illegal strike will be served with dismissal notices as the bus service remained suspended on Monday morning, the Bombela Concession company said.

"The disciplinary process was completed on Friday night and those drivers that participated have already started receiving letters of dismissal," spokesman Errol Braithwaite said.

"MegaExpress will put plans in place today [Monday] to re-instate the bus service as soon as possible."

On February 1, the drivers ignored an ultimatum that required them to return to work by 3pm. A court interdict was issued last month compelling drivers to return to work.

Braithwaite said the drivers launched their own court application to block disciplinary hearings, but this was dismissed by the Johannesburg Labour Court. Some of the drivers were fired.

The Gautrain bus drivers, who used to be members of the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union, had left the union and were now acting independently.

Last month, drivers went on strike because they wanted MegaExpress, the Gautrain bus operating company, to provide them with transport from their homes to their place of work every day.

1.4 Num members rebel against union

Dewald van Rensburg, News24, 5 February 2012

The unprotected strike, paralysing the Impala Platinum (Implats) flagship mining complex in Rustenburg, which led to the dismissal of all 17 200 underground workers, represents a rebellion against the National Union of Mineworkers (Num) by its members.

The outcome will be crucial test of Num’s ability to serve as the fulcrum of labour relations in the platinum sector.

It is at Implats that Num has its most compelling monopoly on negotiations – to the extent that its recognition agreement with Implats virtually excludes other unions with it being the sole negotiator for all professional levels.

The strike arose from Num’s assenting to a large increase for one category of workers, causing other workers deep discontent.

A brief strike by rock drillers at Implats’s No 14 shaft on January 12 within a week culminated in a strike by all 5 000 rock-drillers at the complex.

After practically all the rock drillers were dismissed, the strike extended to the entire workforce.

Two weeks later no official demands have yet been made on negotiations conducted, because workers are refusing to negotiate through Num and Impala refuses to negotiate with the committee the strikers appointed to circumvent the union.

Strikers to whom Sake24 chatted during the past week on a visit to Implats’s hospitals vented their spleen against their union, maintaining they would fight their battle without Num.

They are demanding a massive increase for the lower professional levels, in particular for rock drillers, in reaction to the once-off 18% increase for miners, a comparatively high professional level.

According to Implats, Num approved the selective increase without demurring, but Num now claims it was opposed to it from the start.

Strikers at Implats however said that Num had “remained silent” after the miners’ increase was approved.

“We don't want 18%, we want R9 000 – after tax,” a number of rock drillers told Sake24. These workers currently receive around R6 000 a month.

“We also heard this figure,” said Implats spokesperson Bob Gilmour. The mining group nevertheless refuses to negotiate with any representatives other than Num.

Sydwell Dokolwana, Num’s regional secretary in Rustenburg, shrugged off the demands as a cynical canvassing attempt by a competing union which was seizing the strike as an opportunity to recruit Implats workers.

“It was a recruitment strategy. They came here and told the people: ‘We are with you and we will fight to the death for your demands.’ ”

This competitor is the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), which in 2003 broke away from Num in Mpumalanga and recently established itself in the platinum industry.

In October last year Amcu used a strike to force mining contractor Murray & Roberts Cementation (MRC) to recognise it at Aquarius Platinum’s Everest Mine, where MRC was supplying the labour force.

In 2010 Amcu also called a strike at mining group Xstrata to gain recognition.

Strikers at Implats said Amcu appeared on the scene after the rock drillers had already begun their strike and their own community had been refused access to the mine’s management.

It now appears that the rock drillers’ committee has aligned itself with Amcu – a dangerous development in the platinum sector with its fairly recent history of union strife in the platinum sector (in the late 1990s).

The rebellion by Num members therefore does not come out of the blue.

Num’s unpopularity among members of the Implats workforce was also dramatically illustrated in 2009 when union leaders grimly attempted to end an unprotected strike. Num deputy president Piet Matosa was stoned when he tried to address strikers and apparently lost an eye in the process.

Last year, during an unprotected strike at Lonmin’s Karee shaft, Num was also unable to get workers to return to work.

Cosatu in North West issued a statement berating Implats and Amcu, but also warned the strikers to register their unhappiness at Num with Cosatu.

Num ‘accepted selective increases’

Num says Impala Platinum unilaterally introduced the controversial increase for miners and had merely “informed” Num.

According to Sydwell Dokolwana, Num’s regional secretary in Rustenburg, Num had from the start opposed the selective increase.

“We demanded that they should rather re-open the wage negotiations and pay the rock drillers more,” he said. The union would endeavour to have the money being paid only to miners distributed more widely.

“I want to put this unequivocally: we support the rock drillers.”

But Implats expressly denied that Num had ever made such proposals. “Num never have any objections to the adjustment for a single category,” said Implats spokesperson Bob Gilmour. “They were totally supportive.”

The reason for the increase was the increasing competition for skilled miners between platinum groups in the region.

Num also insisted that “most” of its members were not really on strike, but instead were being intimidated by a small number of troublemakers and Amcu.

They would return to work if Implats could provide enough security, said Dokolwana.

There had indeed been a couple of roadblocks, but the intimidation was mostly non-physical, said Gilmour.

There might be individuals telling the workers not to go to work, “but we can do nothing about that”.

According to him, security has been stepped up and outsiders are not permitted in the hostels.

But on Thursday Sake24 had little difficulty entering the hostel complex with a car full of passengers, and speaking to the workers.

The threshold

Num has fallen victim to its own success after negotiating a virtual monopoly at Implats in 2007, which forced out the last remaining minority union in the group, Uasa.

An agreement was basically reached with Implats that no other union or workers' group would in future be permitted at Implats – the reason for the current impasse.

The 2007 decision was the result of a process forcing out smaller unions from Implats since 1997, ensuring Num’s monopoly.

In 1997 Implats divided its workforce into three bargaining units and permitted only those unions with 35% of the workers in one of these categories. Only Num and forerunners of Solidarity and Uasa remained. By 2006 only Num and Uasa were left.

The three units then merged and in 2007 Num and Implats negotiated a new threshold – 50% plus one, leaving only Num.

Such a high threshold for recognition is unusual and at most other mines Num has to negotiate together with a number of minority unions. This agreement makes it highly unlikely that Amcu will be recognised, but could end in a bitter struggle to persuade Implats to abandon the agreement.

This week Implats retreated behind the agreement and flatly refused to meet either the rock drillers’ committee or Amcu.

All complaints and disputes have to be raised by Num, declared the mining giant. Any liaison with representatives other than Num would violate the recognition agreement, a statement issued on Friday said.

1.5 Implats lifts earnings amid mass firings

Dineo Faku, Business Report, 6 February 2012

IMPALA Platinum (Implats), which axed 17 200 employees last week for participating in an illegal strike, announced on Friday that it was expecting higher profit for the six months to December.

In a statement on Friday, Implats said it expected headline earnings a share and basic earnings a share to be between 60 percent and 70 percent higher year on year at R5.52 to R5.87.

However, the company’s labour woes continue at its Rustenburg operation where production ground to a halt because of the illegal strike.

Implats, which produced 1.74 million ounces of platinum in the 2010 financial year in South Africa and Zimbabwe, was losing 3 000 ounces of production a day due to the strike.

While the 17 200 employees were fired for participating in an unprotected strike, Implats has given the employees an opportunity to reapply for their positions.

“We don’t know how many people will be hired back, it depends on how many reapply. The process will start in due course, we are still busy with dismissals,” Implats spokeswoman Alice Lourens said on Friday.

The strike began when 5 000 rock drill operators downed tools to demand an 18 percent increase in salaries. They were excluded when salaries of miners were hiked.

At the heart of the strike are union rivalry claims. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has blamed the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) for intimidation. However, AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa said the strike was an issue between management and the NUM. The AMCU is not recognised at Implats because it has not requested organisational rights.

Last month Implats chief executive David Brown announced his resignation. Terence Goodlace, the former Metorex chief executive, has been appointed to take over from July.

Implats shares fell 1.59 percent to close at R167.97 on Friday.

1.6 Implats starts re-employing workers after strike layoffs

Alistair Anderson, Business Day, 6 February 2012

IMPALA Platinum ( Implats ), the world’s second-largest producer of platinum, started re-employing thousands of workers on Monday to get its Rustenburg operation back on track after two weeks of strikes.

The company has dismissed more than 17000 striking workers to end a strike that threatened its long-term profits.

Implats had been losing roughly 3000 ounces of platinum a day since 5000 rock-drill operators went on strike at the mine on January 27. Later, about 12000 other miners joined the strike in a show of solidarity.

The company has been supplying its customers from a pre-existing stockpile.

The rock drillers, who have specialist skills, demanded a bonus based on the company’s need to retain them. Other workers last year received a salary increase as part of a retention scheme. This led to an unprotected strike.

Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, said on Sunday that Implats’s fire-and-rehire strategy would result in workers getting new contracts with fewer benefits.

He said companies often "encourage workers to split away from the unions but then can’t deal with the wild strikes that will come to haunt them".

"Our appeal to the management is that we are prepared to intervene and help get a settlement, but this re-employment strategy, which will mean that they get rid of all the conditions that have been won by workers historically for many years, is going to backfire in their faces," Mr Vavi said.

The strike was not resolved because of a spat between two unions over representation of the workers. The rock drillers wanted to be represented by the Association of Mining and Construction Union (Amcu) instead of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

The NUM is the official representative of Implats workers, as 70% of the company’s 47000-strong workforce in South Africa and Zimbabwe belong to the union.

"We could not negotiate with Amcu as they were not the official representative," said Impala spokesman Bob Gilmour.

1.7 Seardel to axe up to 1 500 jobs

Nompumelelo Magwaza, Business Report, 6 February 2012

At least 1 500 jobs in the clothing and textile industry are on the line as Seardel proposes to retrench workers in the face of shrinking margins.

In a move that could dent the government’s efforts to protect and create jobs, the clothing and textile maker said on Friday that it had no choice but to retrench workers at its Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal operations in an effort to combat low margins.

In its interim results for the six months to September last year, the company stated that its clothing operations delivered a R50 million operating loss, up from R20m in the corresponding period in 2010.

Meanwhile, the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) promised to “vehemently” fight the proposed job losses.

It is déjà vu for Seardel. In 2008 the company was rescued by Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) from financial distress. However, it still had to close some divisions and retrench 4 000 workers.

Seardel chief executive Stuart Queen said on Friday that the company proposed to the unions to right-size, citing margin pressures, which eroded selling prices.

He said: “The company has continued making a loss in its clothing division and this has squeezed our margins and input costs. We have decided to review this and eliminate low-margin production across the board.” He added that the move was also an attempt to balance its order books.

Queen said the textile industry found itself in tough trading conditions with rising input costs and retailers opting for imports.

Depending on the consultation processes under way, Seardel proposed to dismiss 1 000 workers from its Western Cape factories and 500 workers from the Ladysmith factory in KwaZulu-Natal.

The consultation process, which took up to 60 days, Queen said, would determine the outcome of the proposal.

Sactwu said the organisation received a notice on January 26, informing it that approximately 1 498 weekly paid employees across four factories might lose their jobs.

“We will vehemently resist these proposed job losses,” Sactwu general secretary André Kriel said.

The notice by Seardel stated that the firm’s clothing division had performed poorly and suffered substantial losses.

“The workers are not yet retrenched, the consultation procedure as required by section 189 of the Labour Relations Act is now being implemented,” Kriel said.

He added that the union was informed that Seardel anticipated a closure of one of its production lines, the Profortune operation, by the end of next month. In the event of retrenchments affected workers would receive all the retirement fund withdrawals due to them, Kriel promised.

Meanwhile, Textile Federation executive director Brian Brink said the industry was facing continuous difficulties owing to illegal imports.

He said this made business extremely hard for the industry as clothes were sold below market price. “Even though we have customs controls, more effort is needed to strengthen security at all points of entry into South Africa.”

HCI, which owns Seardel, said in a statement earlier this year that 2012 “should hopefully see further operational improvements at this clothing and textile conglomerate without the shareholder (HCI) having to resort to drastic cutbacks in its operations”.

It suffered a major setback when its application for financial distress relief funds was rejected by the Industrial Development Corporation in 2009.

1.8 DRDGold to axe 1 800

Fin24, 6 February 2012

Gold producer DRDGold [JSE:DRD] could cut up to 1 800 jobs when it stops mining two shafts at the embattled Blyvoor operation, it said on Monday.

DRDGold "has resolved to suspend all further mining at Blyvoor's low-grade number four and six shafts with immediate effect," the company said in a statement.

This was at the recommendation of Blyvoor's board of directors. DRDGold owns a 74% stake in the Blyvoor gold mine, south of Carletonville, in Gauteng.

Blyvoor had given notice in terms of section 189(3) of the Labour Relations Act to trade unions the National Union of Mineworkers and Uasa. The unions and Blyvoor would begin a 60-day process to try and seek consensus on job cuts.

"These measures follow a decline since April 2011 in recovery grades to below cut-off at the two shafts, which are used mainly to pump water from underground to surface and into Blyvoor's surface recovery circuit," DRDGold said.

"Both shafts failed to respond to turnaround efforts since the introduction of business rescue proceedings in the second half of last year."

Blyvoor had undergone business rescue proceedings in terms the new Companies Act since June after DRDGold said it would no longer finance Blyvoor, which had needed about R80m to keep going until the end of 2011.

In November, DRDGold announced it had accepted an expression of interest from mining company Village to buy its stake in Blyvoor for R150m.

DRDGold said it had told Village about the decision to stop mining the two shafts and was "of the view that the proposed sale will not be negatively affected by it".

DRDGold said the pumping of underground water from the two shafts would not be affected by the cutbacks for the time being.

"Production from Blyvoor's surface recycling circuit and at its principal number five production shaft, from which it plans to access an additional 400 000 ounces it is seeking to acquire from the AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] Savuka Mine, are also not affected by the decision," the company said.

1.9 Hunt for workers’ money hots up

Yazeed Kalmaldian, Sunday Argus, 5 February 2012

A trade union’s hunt for its missing millions, invested in two separate funds, is heating up, with a commission of inquiry into one of the companies, Pinnacle Point Group, set to start tomorrow.

The SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) has been battling to regain workers’ pensions totalling R360 million.

Tomorrow the Cape Town offices of law firm Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs will be the venue for the latest inquiry around shares in Pinnacle, worth R260m, bought by Sactwu. These shares are now reportedly not worth a cent after the property developer went bust.

A second inquiry has been unfolding to recoup R100m from Canyon Springs Investments 12. This insolvent company borrowed the money from Trilinear Empowerment Trust, which held workers’ provident fund savings.

Andre Kriel, general secretary for Sactwu, told Weekend Argus the union would consider legal action “after due process”, so that the “guilty go to jail for a long time”.

“You eat an elephant bit by bit. We will recover the money bit by bit. Even though it’s unpalatable, we’re prepared for a long process,” he added.

The Canyon Springs inquiry has already been through five rounds of interrogation in Cape Town, with the last session running from January 24 to 30.

This inquiry is led by Tony Canny, head of forensics at law firm Eversheds, and has revealed that Canyon Springs borrowed the cash from Trilinear without a proper loan agreement, nor a repayment date. It has failed to repay a cent.

Former deputy minister of economic development Enoch Godongwana and his wife Thandiwe were Canyon Springs directors. Kriel said Godongwana confirmed during an inquiry session that he would repay some funds.

“We are in talks with Godongwana on how much will be paid. Our eyes are focused on what happened, and we want to recover as much as possible,” he said.

Kriel added that the union had also received repayment pledges from other companies linked to Canyon Springs.

“Workers will get all their money that they have invested. We are going to search every corner for this money.”

They had, however, discovered that some of the money had been sent overseas.

“We are going to pursue that,” said Kriel.

On the repayment pledges, Kriel said they hoped to recover money “directly from people involved, and through the sale of assets of Canyon Springs”.

“The owner of another company that worked with Canyon Springs will repay R4m. A Canyon Springs subsidiary will repay R10m.”

While this was a small sum in relation to the total, he said it was a start.

Kriel explained that the provident funds were managed by an independent boards of trustees, half of whom were employee trustees, and the remainder employer trustees. Investment decisions were taken by them.

“These investment decisions have never been discussed in the union structures, nor has it in any way been taken by the union structures,” Kriel said.

But he added that the workers’ savings should never have been invested in Pinnacle Point, “because it builds golf courses which are playgrounds for the rich”.

“We are looking inside the union as to why this happened. We are doing an internal reflection.”

He confirmed that “not all the retirement fund monies have been lost”.

“I have been assured by the respective retirement funds that they still have enough funds left to pay every single worker who retires the full share of what withdrawal benefits are due to them. The rumour that is being spread that workers have lost their lifesavings is mischievous,” Kriel charged.

Countrywide, the savings of 25 000 workers had been affected by the Canyon Springs debacle. The union represents 100 000 workers nationally.

A stumbling block in the Canyon Springs inquiry is that the two main protagonists involved in the alleged fund fraud are unwilling to appear for questioning.

Canny said Richard Kawie, who acted as a Sactwu consultant, did not appear before the inquiry’s last session. Kawie had received R9m, and was directly linked to the flow of money between Trilinear, Canyon Springs and his business entities.

Kawie has been arrested in connection with fraud and is out on bail.

Sam Buthelezi, owner of asset management company Trilinear, has “refused to co-operate”.

He was also arrested in connection with fraud and is out on bail.

Canny said they wanted to push on with their investigation to find “poor textile workers’ monies that have been lost”.

“The people responsible must be pursued. We are waiting for instructions from Sactwu to continue with the inquiry,” he added.

Meanwhile,

Kriel said the union was “considering what next step to take”.

“The inquiry has revealed what has happened with the money, and where it has gone to. We have a good idea of what has happened with that.

“Our primary objective (now) is to help recover as much monies as possible, and to prosecute those who are found guilty of any wrongdoing.”

The DA said on Friday that it would contact the police’s commercial branch to investigate Godongwana’s “dishonesty”.

Haniff Hoosen, the party’s spokesman on economic development, said the DA had already laid charges against Godongwana.

“Godongwana has claimed that he was an innocent bystander in the stealing of workers’ pension funds.

“His actions suggest the opposite… These are hardworking citizens, and vultures have stolen their money. These are the reasons why poverty will continue,” Hoosen said, adding that he would also ensure that Godongwana and Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel account to Parliament’s economic development portfolio committee.

He added that Sactwu “must be held responsible for getting the money back”.

“Ultimately the union should be held responsible for what happened.

“It can’t be right that workers entrust unions with their life savings, and then the union says that they have done their best to get the money back.”

Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said in his January 26 speech at the launch of independent corruption watchdog Corruption Watch that trade unionists “know that unions are not paragons of virtue”.

“Workers’ pension funds are being gambled away, leaving some workers to retire with only a pittance. We must leave no stone unturned to bring those who squandered R100m to justice,” said Vavi.

“Some workers complain that their leaders have been corrupted, and that trade union officials are paid off by employers to turn a blind eye to their abuse.

“This type of corruption results in a situation whereby we have agents of the capitalist class within the workers’ movement who labour day and night as conveyor belts for capitalist interests,” Vavi said.

1.10 Male nurse fired for raping depression patient

Sunday World, 5 February 2012

A male nurse has been fired for allegedly raping a patient suffering from depression at a Potchefstroom hospital in the North West, officials announced.

"We went through a disciplinary process where the man was found guilty and was fired," says North West health MEC Magome Masike. "The moral fibre of our society is actually going down."

Brigadier Thulani Ngubane of the North West police says the 24-year-old man will appear in the Potchefstroom Magistrates' Court on February 16 in connection with the alleged rape. which occurred on January 19.

"The patient was admitted to the hospital for depression. She was sitting in a TV room when she was called by the male nurse to the linen room," Ngubane says.

"According to information received, the victim followed the suspect because she thought he was calling her to give her medicine.

"It is alleged that the suspect drugged the victim with medicine before raping her," Ngubane says.

"The suspect used rubber gloves during the rape and disposed of them in the dustbin," says Ngubane.

The woman reported the rape, which occurred on January 19, to the hospital authorities and the man appeared in court for the first time on January 21 when he was released on R1000 bail.

Masike says the provincial health department has apologised to the woman and the community.

"We believe that hospitals [should be] safe places and we are quite disappointed," Masike says.

Cosatu North West spokesperson Solly Phetoe condemns the incident.

"If he is a member of the Cosatu union, and is [found] guilty of the offence, we call on the union to dismiss this member immediately and not to represent him at the hearing," says Phetoe.

"We cannot allow this kind of person to practise in our hospitals any more," he says and adds that patients suffering from mental illnesses should be treated at psychiatric hospitals.

Last month, a male nurse from a Bloemfontein hospital appeared in court on a charge of raping a terminally ill cancer patient. The woman has since died.

2. ANC

2.1 Malema verdict divides ANCYL

Chandrè Prince, Sipho Masondo & Dominic Mahlangu, Sowetan, 6 February 2012

The ANC Youth League has been thrown into disarray after the guilty verdict against its president, Julius Malema, was confirmed. Some provinces are lobbying for early leadership elections.

The ANC's disciplinary committee of appeals' decision to uphold an October 2011 guilty ruling against Malema has not only exposed divisions within provincial structures of the league, but has also reopened the succession debate.

In his verdict, Cyril Ramaphosa, chairman of the committee, found Malema, his secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa and spokesman Floyd Shivambu guilty of ill-discipline, bringing the ANC into disrepute and sowing divisions within the party.

The other three youth league leaders - deputy president Ronald Lamola, deputy secretary-general Kenetswe Mosenogi and treasurer Pule Mabe - had their suspended sentences overturned after they were accused of having "barged" into an ANC leaders' meeting.

While the Eastern Cape and Western Cape have pledged their support for Malema, other provinces are divided, with some warning that his time is up.

In Gauteng, members have started discussing "leadership options", saying that waiting until the Mangaung elective conference would be "suicidal" for the league.

KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo have seen a surge in anti-Malema sentiment and ANCYL members say the "discontent" is spreading.

The deputy secretary-general of the ANCYL in KwaZulu-Natal, Siboniso Duma, said: "The ANC is the oldest and wisest political organisation. It fired the likes of (Tennyson) Makiwane and Bantu Holomisa, and it will continue to take such decisions no matter how painful they are."

The verdict, said Duma, will remind ANC members many generations down the line that "no one is above the ANC".

Duma would however not be drawn on who should take over from Malema. "We think it is premature to announce that, but there are many capable people in the provinces. For now Ronald Lamola should step in as the deputy."

Procedurally, he said the ANCYL should disband and that a special congress should be called to elect new leaders. The elected leaders, said Duma, will have to work overtime to unite all the structures ahead of the party's conference.

"We can't afford to go there as we are. Malema has caused serious damage to the party, it is bleeding and could do so for a long time if we are not careful."

Mpumalanga's youth league executive called for a "rethink" from the ANC regarding the problems facing the league.

The secretary of the league in the province, Clarence Maseko, said the organisation had been assaulted and "imprisoned" by its own members.

"Never had a revolutionary youth movement had to conduct its organisational autonomy under such difficult conditions. It is imprisoned," he said.

In North West, members want the league to fast-track the national general council meeting to elect a new leadership. The decision by the appeals body took centre-stage at the ANC Eastern Cape's provincial executive meeting yesterday, with the youth league saying it would not back down from fighting for Malema's reinstatement.

Said ANCYL Eastern Cape spokesman Nkosinathi Nomatiti: "We are still 100% behind Malema. We are not giving up on a political solution. We are still hopeful that the mitigating process will yield positive results."

Labelling Ramaphosa's verdict as "unfortunate", Nomatiti said its consequences would be far-reaching and could be damaging to the ANC itself. "It would be terrible if the ANCYL effectively becomes a desk of the ANC without any political autonomy. Saturday's outcome does give that perception," he said.

But two senior Eastern Cape youth league members said the province was divided over Malema, but members feared raising their objections.

Gauteng youth league provincial executive members called for a "Plan B". Provincial chairman Lebogang Maile, who last year unsuccessfully challenged Malema for the presidency, has emerged as the possible candidate.

2.2 ANC readies for future without Malema

Setumo Stone, Business Day, 16 February 2012

THE AFRICAN National Congress (ANC) is preparing for a political future without Julius Malema, whose combative leadership of its youth league divided the ruling party on issues of policy and succession and prompted disciplinary action that led to him and his allies being suspended at the weekend.

Although Mr Malema has been given 14 days to appeal against his sentence, analysts say it is unlikely the party will change course.

Already, his rivals in the league are punting league treasurer Pule Mabe to succeed him.

The reversal in fortunes for Mr Malema, once viewed by President Jacob Zuma as a future ANC leader but who campaigned against a second ANC term for Mr Zuma, also largely clears the way for Mr Zuma to be re-elected ANC president in Mangaung in December.

Mr Zuma appears to have emerged much strengthened from the ordeal, and analysts say potential rivals would hesitate to go up against him now.

Political analyst Eusebius McKaiser said yesterday the ANC and Mr Zuma had emerged looking "incredibly strong".

"Nothing short of a very dramatic factor will be enough to make people think about voting for an alternative candidate to Mr Zuma," Mr McKaiser said.

Political analyst Mari Harris of research group Ipsos Markinor agreed, saying: "Julius Malema overestimated his support, both in the country and in the party."

Amid confusion yesterday as to when the sentence against Mr Malema would take effect, ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu clarified that he could remain in his ANC posts until the 14-day period of appeal in mitigation had elapsed, SABC News reported.

Mr Malema attended the ANC’s national executive committee meeting in Pretoria as a full member yesterday.

"The national disciplinary committee of appeal said that they have a chance to go and mitigate, so until such mitigation has taken place, the sanctions will not kick in," Mr Mthembu said yesterday.

"There is another matter…. It is a matter of comrade Julius’s case of 2010 because he got a suspended sentence, but I think the leadership has decided there is no particular hurry," he said.

Mr Mthembu’s statement followed a "clarification" issued by the party on Saturday in which it contradicted spokesman Keith Khoza’s claim that the suspension would take effect immediately.

Presenting the findings on Saturday, appeals committee chairman Cyril Ramaphosa said the committee would "determine an appropriate sanction after hearing evidence of mitigation and aggravation of sanctions that the parties may wish to present".

Mr Ramaphosa said referring the matter back to the disciplinary committee was in the interests of justice and was necessary in keeping with the spirit and objectives of the ANC’s constitution.

He emphasised the importance of discipline in the organisation, saying it was "one of the key pillars in the life of ANC".

An insider says Mr Malema is in a precarious position as a second-time offender. Saving his ANC membership card, and the league presidency, seem impossible.

Succession could feature prominently on the agenda of the youth league’s national executive committee when it meets on Wednesday and Thursday.

Political analyst Steven Friedman said the league leadership had imposed itself on the members and that had been tolerated because it suited the agendas of certain members of the national leadership.

That could change in Mr Malema’s absence.

Prof Friedman said the league’s leadership battle would not be about restoring democracy, but rather a struggle between individuals in a scramble for control. Aspirants for Mr Malema’s position had begun to position themselves before the disciplinary committee announced its verdict last year.

At the weekend an SMS was apparently doing the rounds within youth league structures, lobbying for Mr Mabe to succeed Mr Malema.

Once Mr Malema’s closest ally, Mr Mabe reportedly broke ranks with his suspended youth league colleagues, arguing against the decision to appeal the sentences.

In Mr Malema’s absence, league deputy president Ronald Lamola would assume Mr Malema’s duties, according to the league’s rules.

League secretary Sindiso Magaqa is also seen as a possible candidate. The league would need to hold a special congress to elect a new executive, but Mr Lamola would act as president until then.

The dark horse in that race would be the youth league’s Gauteng chairman, Lebogang Maile, who stood against Mr Malema last year, withdrawing only when it became clear that he would not win.

2.3 Brutal politics of ANC puts Malema backers in a dilemma

Sam Mkokeli, Business Day, 6 February 2012

The timing of the announcement of Julius Malema’s fate — slap bang in the middle of a meeting of the African National Congress’s (ANC) national executive committee — speaks volumes about the brutal politics at play in the ruling party.

While it may not have been the intention of the party’s national disciplinary committee of appeals, the timing of its press conference came across as a challenge to those members of the executive who sympathise with Mr Malema: speak up now or forever hold your peace.

The ANC’s top leaders held a scheduled executive meeting in Tshwane — from Thursday until yesterday. Saturday’s outcome of Mr Malema’s appeal was a crucial event, as he is an important player in the ANC’s succession debate.

Mr Malema’s sympathisers were deprived of a chance to step back, and perhaps question the process at the next bimonthly meeting. The matter unfolded before their unprepared eyes : discuss this here and now, or never.

Not that this was the first national executive committee meeting to generate bad news for Mr Malema. When he was charged in September, he was served with disciplinary papers on a Friday morning — a few hours before the meeting. While the decision to charge him was not surprising, it nonetheless upset his and his supporters’ rhythm.

Party leaders say the national executive meeting that followed was as tense as the one that led to the recall of former president Thabo Mbeki . But all members were afforded an opportunity to speak on any matter. President Jacob Zuma was present at the meeting, as Fikile Mbalula — a known supporter of Mr Malema’s — took the floor to complain.

Some among Mr Malema’s backers stood up, often emotional, saying they were victims of a presidential clampdown. However, this failed to have the charges withdrawn, which eventually led to his conviction, which was upheld by the appeals committee at the weekend.

This weekend’s appeals committee announcement — which effectively banished Mr Malema to the wilderness — helps Mr Zuma’s cause hugely. His most vocal critic has to go and herd cattle as he once intimated — tongue in cheek or not. The president is looking very comfortable on his way to re-election in December.

Mr Zuma is a master of political chess, with loads of patience and a predator’s instinct. He pounces only when he is convinced of his timing.

With Mr Malema sinking, his supporters on the national executive committee will have to watch their step. Some of them will be mindful that the president is monitoring their every move, and directing their every word. Among them are wealthy politicians, such as Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale, who seems to thrive on tough times like these.

Mr Sexwale found himself on the wrong side during the Mbeki presidency. The same is happening under Mr Zuma.

However, other leaders cannot afford to sing and dance to Mr Malema’s tune, a political rebel who can only be saved by a political "tsunami" in Mangaung. That is a distant dream.

Mr Mbalula is one of those whose future is tied to Mr Malema’s fate. The youth league has been campaigning to install him as secretary-general in December, to replace Gwede Mantashe, a staunch ally of Mr Zuma. In order to get to Mr Zuma, you need to go through the stubborn defence Mr Mantashe provides for his boss. Mr Mbalula would be better off watching that the sinking Polokwane ship doesn’t drown his dreams. The campaign to hand him the ANC’s third-in-command position looks dead, as dead as Mr Malema’s career.

If Mr Mbalula aspires for higher positions in the near future, he will need to distance himself from Mr Malema or his legacy, insiders say.

Other politicians likely to suffer are treasurer-general Mathews Phosa, and deputy secretary-general Thandi Modise. They are sympathetic to Mr Malema’s cause. As the Mangaung conference nears, and Mr Zuma is as strong as he looks, it may be difficult for the two to get enough support to return to their positions.

What is known as the "top three" — Mr Zuma, deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe and Mr Mantashe — seem set for re-election, an ANC leader says. Separating them would be difficult.

Mr Zuma and Mr Motlanthe are civil to each other, but there are signs that the "top two" are not in sync. It may be a question of good cop, bad cop. While Mr Zuma often entangles himself in his tongue, and sometimes his actions, Mr Motlanthe presents himself as a thoughtful politician. That positions the Number Two as a reasonable leader, hence Mr Malema’s use of his name, saying he is a candidate for the top post.

While Mr Zuma’s leadership weaknesses are many, removing him seems impossible at this stage.

Nobody captured it better than Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi last year when he told a parable of riding on the back of a lion: if you get off, the lion will feast on you. Mr Zuma has signalled to the remaining part of Team Malema that they are better off on the back of the lion.

2.4 Who will replace Malema?

Deon de Lange, IOL, 6 February 2012

Speculation is mounting as to whether Julius Malema’s deputy in the ANC Youth League will step up to fill his boots.

Analysts believe Malema’s political future is finished after the ANC’s national disciplinary committee of appeals (NDCA) upheld a ruling by the national disciplinary committee (NDC) which in November found Malema and other youth league leaders guilty of sowing divisions within the ANC and bringing the party into disrepute.

Although Malema will continue serving as leader of the ANC Youth League until further notice, the appeal committee’s decision has fuelled debate about succession within the league.

The charge of barging into a meeting of the ANC’s top six officials was set aside by the appeal committee, which lets Malema’s deputy, Ronald Lamola, deputy league secretary-general Kenetswe Mosenogi and treasurer Pule Mabe off the hook and free to fight for his position.

The organisation may be forced to call a national conference to elect and mandate an entirely new leadership.

Lamola, seen as a staunch ally of Malema, could face a challenge from Mabe, who previously challenged Malema for the youth league leadership.

The NDC’s decision to suspend Malema for five years was upheld by the appeal committee when it delivered its verdict on Saturday. However, it also decided that Malema could give evidence in mitigation before the national disciplinary committee, but that the ANC would in turn be allowed to argue in aggravation.

For Malema, this means the length of his suspension could either be reduced or increased.

When the NDC found Malema guilty it also decided that he serve a two-year suspension as a result of pleading guilty to sowing divisions during his first disciplinary hearing in 2010 – and that this would run concurrently with the five-year suspension.

While the chairman of the appeal committee, Cyril Ramaphosa, made no mention on Saturday of whether or not the earlier suspension would take immediate effect, ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said it would.

But the ANC at the weekend distanced itself from the statement. “Cde Keith has already apologised for speaking out of turn and without a mandate on a matter that resides with the NDC and other leading structures of the ANC,” Mthembu said in a statement.

Speaking to Justice Malala on The Justice Factor on Sunday, Mthembu said people should not be “so hasty to remove people from their desks” and to allow “ANC processes to take their (course)”.

“We are a very serious organisation. We are not a kangaroo court. The ANC processes issues properly.

“Indeed, the leadership, including the NDC, will study and interpret the impact of the NDCA ruling with regard to the previous (2010) disciplinary case and act accordingly,” he said.

“Acting accordingly means also informing those who you are acting (against). It does not mean that we should then – as spokespersons – be speaking out of turn without any mandate on these matters.”

Mthembu told Independent Newspapers on Sunday: “These matters are in the jurisdiction of the NDC and the ANC leadership structures.

“That is all we are prepared to say for now. We think it would not be proper for anybody to suggest that, until these internal processes have taken hold, comrade Malema should not go to an NEC meeting. He remains ANC Youth League president until these processes have taken their course,” he stated.

Malema sits on the NEC by virtue of his presidency of the youth league but it could not be established whether or not Malema was attending the NEC meeting in Pretoria at the weekend.

Pressed for further clarification on Sunday, Mthembu said the NDC and the NEC should be left to deal with the matter in their own time “so that we don’t goad them into hasty action”.

“The appeals committee did not say anything on the previous (2010) disciplinary case. So the structures of the ANC, including the NDC that found on that previous case, must say what is the process moving forward.”

Writing online for Politicsweb, political analyst Eusebius McKaiser argued on Sunday that the ANC “forgot” to confirm whether or not it had informed Malema that his previous sentence now took effect.

“This is a loose end that will cause confusion for a day or three. They need to inform him in order to give effect to the previous suspended order…

“At any rate, given the hype and public confusion, the party would do well to, first, inform Malema of the implication and, second, to explain this to a confused public,” he added.

It was also not clear whether ANCYL secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa must publicly apologise to Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba within five days or whether this too could wait until he had argued in mitigation of his sentence. Malema, Magaqa and Malema’s right-hand man, Floyd Shivambu, whose three-year suspension was also upheld on appeal, have 14 days in which to do so.

Given that Malema continued to mock Zuma in public – by singing songs about the “shower man” causing the youth league problems – even as his disciplinary proceedings were under way, analysts have suggested that Malema could end up with an even stiffer sentence after evidence is heard in mitigation or aggravation of his sentence.

“The chances of a reduced sentence are zero… All that (arguments in mitigation) will achieve is to keep Malema politically on a life support system for a little while longer. It will not stave off the eventual outcome – political demise,” McKaiser argued.

Another possibility is that Malema may challenge the ANC in court. City Press on Sunday quoted “lawyers close to the case” as saying Malema had already “started preparing papers” in case he decided to go that route.

However, political analyst Karima Brown noted that, while this was technically possible, Malema had effectively closed that avenue himself by having previously taken other ANC members to task for dragging the party to the courts over internal disputes.

“So in a way (Malema) has already made the decision for himself. But he is a desperate man at this stage.

“He might want to go that route if he feels desperate enough to try to hang on (to the youth league presidency), because he needs to stay alive in the ANC structures for his political campaign to unseat Jacob Zuma to continue,” she told Malala on Sunday.

This view was supported by McKaiser, who noted that the “political cost of a court battle would ruin Malema”.

“For a man who will need political allies when possible tax evasion and money laundering charges surface, this would be a strategic misstep,” he added. Both Sars and the Hawks are investigating Malema’s financial dealings.

2.5 Malema may mobilise the ‘walking wounded’

Moshoeshoe Monare, IOL, 6 February 2012

It will be a fatal error for Julius Malema to believe that Zuma’s enemies are his friends. Some of Zuma’s opponents actually celebrated Juju’s demise on Saturday.

Now that the appeals committee has confirmed his conviction, he is unlikely to get a reprieve from the national executive committee (NEC) – whose majority can neither be described as Malema or Zuma supporters.

A significant number of NEC members respect chairman of the appeals committee Cyril Ramaphosa. They will therefore not view his panel’s decision to uphold Juju’s conviction as politically motivated. Even Malema holds Ramaphosa in high regard.

Therefore, the NEC – which is the highest decision-making structure between conferences – might not review his conviction despite a few members, including his friend, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, who believe Malema was a victim of political persecution.

He could only hope the ANC’s elective conference will resuscitate him from what he perceived as his crucifixion for championing nationalisation and his leadership preference (he doesn’t want Zuma and Gwede Mantashe to do a second term).

I don’t see the NEC wasting its time discussing Malema unless he reveals explosive and embarrassing secrets about Zuma.

Alternatively, a regime change in Luthuli House could revive Malema’s career, if Zuma’s successor decides to grant him a pardon. But who said Zuma will be replaced in Mangaung, or his successor will automatically be Malema’s friend?

Malema is also hoping Mbalula will be the party’s next secretary-general. Still, no single individual can decide to overturn the outcome of disciplinary processes .

It will be suicidal if he decides to approach the courts, as this route is frowned on and viewed as “un-ANC”.

Another blow to Malema is that the winter policy conference is highly likely to kick out his dream for the nationalisation of mines.

Malema often forgets he is no Zuma. He is unlikely to pull off a “Friends of Julius Malema” fan club. He confuses his populism for popularity. This is why he easily dismisses opinion polls.

His arrogance, opulent lifestyle and harrying politics have alienated potential fans.

But it will be a mistake to underestimate his power or write him off completely.

Deputy Science Minister Derek Hanekom is unlikely to commute Malema’s suspension sentence during mitigating arguments.

Therefore, Juju will finally vacate his office in Luthuli House. He will withdraw from the scene, retreat to Limpopo and start plotting clandestinely for Zuma’s downfall.

He will surely mobilise the so-called walking wounded (a term coined by Cosatu’s Zwelinzima Vavi in reference to those hurt by Thabo Mbeki). The list is growing – from fired civil servants, sulking politicians to Zumaphobes.

The fallout between erstwhile comrades has also fractured the alliance, creating a loose and shaky anti-Zuma block on one side and an equally wobbly faction of Zuma supporters on the other.

Malema will try to link with the “Friends of Thabo Mbeki” or perhaps the anti-Zuma block (some in the Gauteng ANC) who want Kgalema Motlanthe to succeed Zuma.

But they have nothing in common. In fact, some do not want to be seen with Juju. But who said Zuma supporters in 2007 were a homogenous lot? They were bound by a fierce antipathy towards Mbeki.

However, Malema must not forget that some of his comrades – especially his funders – were actually attracted to his power.

Those who saw his influence in Limpopo as a stepping stone to their careers and business ventures might now find him a useless and spent force.

2.6 Do we have a new Houdini of ANC succession?

Aubrey Matshiqi, Business Report, 6 February 2012

If the national disciplinary committee of the African National Congress (ANC) had done the right thing by allowing Julius Malema and his ANC Youth League co-accused to argue in mitigation of sentence, the demand for coal, meat and alcoholic beverages would have spiked as anti-Malema revellers celebrated well into the early hours of yesterday. Instead, they are morose because the national disciplinary committee of appeal upheld the convictions but decided to refer the matter back for argument in mitigation and aggravation. If the disciplinary committee sticks to its original sentences or elects to impose harsher sanctions, we cannot rule out the possibility that the matter will zigzag its way back to Cyril Ramaphosa and his appeal panel.

However, Malema, league secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa and spokesman Floyd Shivambu face the real risk of the disciplinary process ending with much harsher sentences.

Given the fact that there were celebrations in parts of Polokwane after Saturday’s announcement, has Malema come to the end of his political road?

There are two responses that are worth noting in this regard. Some are of the view that anti-Malema celebrations in Polokwane constitute evidence of dwindling support for Malema in the ANC, while others are of the view that the hundreds of young people who tried to storm Luthuli House in support of him last year are a sign that he still enjoys considerable support within the party.

While there is no doubt that Malema still has support, the question is whether this support is located in parts of the ANC that matter the most in relation to the political outcome of the disciplinary process. The question is whether Malema will succeed in having his suspension put on the agenda of the ANC’s national executive c ommittee (NEC). If he does, the political debate in the NEC will end in one of two ways. That he has significant support in the ANC, and whether it extends significantly to the leadership of the party, will either be confirmed or it will be disproved.

For me, the real issue is whether Malema, like his former role model, President Jacob Zuma , is the Houdini of ANC succession battles. It seems to me that several nooses are beginning to tighten around Malema’s neck.

First, there is the National Treasury noose. The intervention by the Treasury in the affairs of the Limpopo government is an administrative measure that will undoubtedly deliver political outcomes.

We must bear in mind that the reality and perceptions of corruption have become potent weapons in ANC battles. To the extent that tenders and government contracts form part of war chests in factional battles, factions with access to certain levers of state power will, at times, try to destroy the corruption supply lines, real or perceived, of political opponents. This, in the case of Malema and what is seen as his Limpopo cartel, may lead to the prosecution and, therefore, the neutralisation of leading figures of the Limpopo faction. Also, we cannot rule out the possibility that steps will be taken to insulate the security cluster from attempts to turn it into a weapon against Zuma.

But one of the biggest challenges Malema faces stems from the success he achieved as one of the heroes of the 2007 Polokwane project. The way in which he achieved that success, and how he tried to deploy it against the president, has imposed an image crisis on him that has caused Zuma’s allies and detractors to act jointly in defence of the image of the party in a manner that has become prejudicial to the interests of Malema and his supporters. Further, this image crisis is going to make it difficult for those who are seen, or see themselves, as challengers to Zuma to associate themselves openly with attempts to unseat the president of the ANC if, in their estimation, Malema is going to end up in the political cemetery. That said, the battle against Malema and attempts to dethrone Zuma will most probably become decoupled at some point. If this happens, what will it portend for Zuma and his anti-Malema opponents if Malema falls?

• Matshiqi is research fellow at the Helen Suzman Foundation.

2.7 Malema verdict tackles the symptoms not the problem

Steven Friedman, Business Day, 6 February 2012

THE African National Congress’s (ANC’s) appeals committee may have ended Julius Malema’s career, but not the turmoil in the ANC. Since Malema is a symptom and the turmoil the problem, the weekend leaves the ANC in no better shape than before it disciplined Malema. And, while axing him will be popular with many at the grassroots, the way in which the ANC’s disciplinary arms have chosen to handle him and the other ANC Youth League executives leaves it in poorer health.

In principle, Malema still has options. Claims after the appeals committee announced its decision that he had immediately ceased to be president of the league because a suspended sentence had taken effect were inaccurate — the result of sloppy reporting compounded by an ANC spokesman who does not understand its rules — and were later rejected by the ANC. The suspended sentence does not take effect unless an ANC disciplinary vehicle activates it and by the end of the weekend none had.

So Malema still has his power base for now. His lawyers could persuade the national disciplinary committee, which must hear evidence in mitigation of sentence, that he deserves only a slap on the wrist. If that fails, he could petition the ANC national executive committee (NEC) or appeal to its national conference at the end of the year.

But in reality, Malema seems to be running out of options. The tone of Cyril Ramaphosa’s presentation on Saturday suggested the appeals committee wants mitigating evidence heard so that the process can seem credible, not because it feels the sentences were too harsh. The sentence might be reduced slightly, but a lengthy suspension is almost certain. Even if the disciplinary committee lifts Malema’s five-year suspension, the suspended sentence is hanging over his head and it is hard to see how the ANC could avoid imposing it.

The appeals to the NEC and the national conference in Mangaung would work only if the faction that finds Malema useful continues to fight for him and is strong enough to win. This is not impossible — at the weekend, the NEC rejected an attempt by secretary-general Gwede Mantashe to overturn the nationalist camp’s victory at Limpopo’s ANC conference; members of the faction that finds Malema useful claim this shows their strength in the NEC. But it may not be worth the faction’s while to fight hard for Malema when it can find others in the league to serve its purpose.

The analogy that is sometimes drawn between Malema’s position and that of Jacob Zuma when he was fired by Thabo Mbeki does not hold. The anti-Mbeki faction had pinned its hopes on Zuma and was forced to rally around him. The nationalist faction does not need Malema because other league leaders have escaped suspension and could do what he has been doing for the faction. (League secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa must apologise to Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba if he wants to stay in office and reports say he will do that.)

Some are already pitching to become the new Malema: since the job can be done by anyone who does (roughly) what they are told, replacing him may be cheaper than backing him. And, while there is strong opposition to Malema and his group in the league, the incumbents are probably safe until the next league election, and the next p resident will serve the nationalists as faithfully as the last one.

So Malema — and league spokesman Floyd Shivambu — are likely to be removed from office. But this will make little or no difference to the ANC. It is becoming clearer each day that Malema’s power and popularity are a figment of his and the media’s imagination. His lack of power in the ANC was confirmed when he came 17th in December’s election for the Limpopo provincial executive. His lack of grassroots support was confirmed when he could mobilise fewer people than the annual gay pride march, and when township and shack settlement residents partied when the disciplinary committee threw the book at him. He is a symptom of the ills plaguing the ANC, not their cause.

Malema did not create the scramble for positions, the use of office to gain wealth and the use of that money to buy office, which ANC documents bemoan — he is simply a tool of those who did. Whether he stays or goes, the politics with which he is associated will remain. If Malema departs and this triggers a power struggle in the league, the nationalists may be weakened at Manguang. Youth activists don’t make decisions, but they are energetic campaigners and the faction needs them to do the leg work if it decides to challenge Mantashe and other ANC leaders.

But, whether or not there is a shift in the balance of power, the ANC will remain locked in a battle between the nationalists and their opponents whatever is done about Malema. And the disciplinary process has made it more difficult for it to prevent the decay the fight for positions has brought.

No governing party in a democracy can prevent competition for posts — to try is to worsen the problem by driving it underground. So the ANC will not end its crisis by trying to bring back the old days when there was less contest because there were no material benefits for the winners.

It needs not to stamp out contest but to ensure it is fair. The first step is to protect the right of all members to take part — this means defending their right to say what they want and getting tough on anyone who tries to prevent that by bullying or bribing. The disciplinary approach endorsed at the weekend does exactly the opposite.

Malema is no innocent victim. But he has been punished for his role in expressing opinion, not in preventing others from having their say.

He is punished for saying that Mbeki cares more about Africans than Zuma — not for storming a stage in 2010 to try to bully Justice Minister Jeff Radebe . He is sanctioned for remarks on Botswana that were crass and embarrassing but no threat to democracy in the ANC — not for driving his opponents out of a hall in Limpopo or ignoring a court order in the Eastern Cape.

The message is clear: ANC members can bully and bend the rules, as long as they don’t criticise leaders or deviate from policy.

This insistence that the problem is not unfair contest but contest itself will worsen the problem.

Disciplinary action against Malema and his colleagues was long overdue. Many questions have been raised about how they came to control the league and they have broken democratic rules. Getting tough on these infractions would have signalled to the ANC that its leaders are serious about internal democracy. But cracking down on the expression of opinions rather than on antidemocratic conduct will send the opposite message — that they are more interested in driving contests into back alleys than in making sure they are fair.

The ANC’s leaders need to get tough — but in defence of fair contest, not in an attempt to stamp it out. Until they do, the crisis the disciplinary action was meant to address will deepen.

3. South Africa

3.1 So many Questions: Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini

Chris Barron, Sunday Times, 5 February 2012

Cosatu told the Press Freedom Commission it wants tighter control of the print media. Chris Barron asks Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini ...

You've said you support an independent media?

Yes, we support an independent media, there's no doubt about it.

But you want it to be more tightly regulated?

We believe it cannot regulate itself.

Can the media be independent if it is regulated by outsiders?

An independent media must also be a responsible media. It cannot have a free-for-all where it can write whatever it likes and it cannot be challenged.

People take complaints to the media ombudsman all the time, and in most cases he rules in favour of them. Why do you want to change this system?

The media must be regulated. It can't be free to write what it likes without being contested. There are instances of huge irresponsibility by the media.

Is there a sinister motive at work, do you think, or is it just a matter of genuine mistakes being made?

In many instances the media has got involved with political factions. Not the media as a whole, but individuals. They take sides.

Can't newspapers have an editorial line?

Look, the media just relies on lies and secrets and secret sources.

In your submission you talk about brown-envelope journalism, but the only example I know of concerns a former ANC premier.

There are other cases.

Are you saying the media ombudsman doesn't act when evidence of this is brought to him?

I'm not saying that. Just that Cosatu is not happy with self-regulation. You can't have that, it's not working.

Do you support the ANC demand for a media appeals tribunal?

Cosatu does not support that. Though you should have a regulatory structure it should not be a structure that leads to a court punishing media people for issues they publish.

In your submission you criticise the media for being pro big business and the free market. Is this why you want tighter control?

If the media reported on issues that affect workers every day in the same way they cover the interests of big business, we'd have no problem.

So you want some outside body telling newspapers what they should write about?

Look, we would not be having this debate if the media had transformed itself. They have put themselves in this situation. They have shown that self-regulation doesn't work.

The only alternative is outside regulation. Won't this lead to interference in editorial decisions?

It doesn't automatically lead to that. It's how you structure the regulation.

Isn't the bottom line here that you want a media that reflects your own ideological preferences?

We are saying that the media is owned by capitalists and private interests, therefore it is biased to that class and not to society as a whole. Their interests are to maximise profits and not to reflect the interests of the people at large.

Isn't it in the interests of the people at large to expose corruption like the media does?

Let me give you a short example: 18000 Implats workers are on strike. The media reports they're on an illegal strike, but they don't report that they are challenging the employers to raise the salaries of workers. That's not important to them.

You seem to be saying the media must be told how to do its job?

No. The media currently is responsible to its own class and it reports favourably to this class. They are not reporting the views of the working class.

So you want them to be told what to write about?

The media cannot regulate itself. It's not working.

Your real problem seems to be that the media are not writing the stories you think they should writing.

The media in South Africa does not reflect the issues or aspirations or views of the working class, only issues affecting the ruling class.

Isn't the answer then to start your own newspaper?

We are working on that. One day we will have a powerful working-class newspaper.

3.2 Lapsley slams ‘culture of greed’

Mogomotsi Magome, Pretoria News, 6 February 2012

Renowned anti-apartheid activist Father Michael Lapsley has bemoaned the culture of greed and corruption in SA, saying it is the biggest threat to the country’s prosperity.

Lapsley was deeply involved in the liberation Struggle and was expelled from SA and forced into exile for his political activities. He lost both hands and sight of one eye when he was a victim of a letter bomb sent to him by the apartheid government while he was in Zimbabwe in 1990.

Lapsley, an Anglican priest, told the Pretoria News on Sunday that the growing extent of inequality was a ticking time bomb for the country, and needed urgent attention.

“The road to the project that we dreamt of during the liberation Struggle is very rocky and still very long. The main challenge we have is the growing extent of greed and corruption.

“What we see now is that political elites have lost sight of what the liberation Struggle was for. We need to ask ourselves what it was that made us fight against apartheid.

“There are some worrying signs that seem to suggest that we have forgotten what it was that we were trying to achieve when we fought apartheid,” said Lapsley.

According to Lapsley, the wealth gap in SA made it the most skewed nation in terms of economic inequality in the world and this did not bode well for a county that overcame so many obstacles.

“If you look at the public display of individual wealth by some of our political elites when there is so much poverty in this country, it really means that we need spiritual and moral transformation.”

He said the centenary of the ANC should be used as a time to reflect on whether the liberation movement had achieved what it was meant to.

Since his recovery from the horrendous bombing that would change his life for ever, Lapsley has never stopped his work towards enriching the rest of humanity.

Through his Institute for Healing of Memories, Lapsley has travelled across the country, African continent and the world working with communities struggling to come to terms with the negative impact of the past. The organisation works with people from a diversity of backgrounds, including refugees, offenders, sufferers of HIV/Aids and victims of domestic violence.

This has seen him taking part in workshops in countries including East Timor, Rwanda and Northern Ireland.

“My work with this organisation which I founded in 1998 has been about that journey that we have travelled to get to where we are and also about the journey that I have travelled personally.

“Since the bombing, I have travelled a long journey getting good medical treatment, but I also needed healing and support which I received in abundance.

“I moved from being a victim to helping others who need healing and support to deal with the horrendous things that happened in their past. Even prisoners need healing because as much as most of them have done horrendous things in the past, they have also had horrible things done to them,” he said.

He said the work of NGOs was being undermined by the lack of funding due to global economic challenges.

“It is a global phenomenon not just here in South Africa but across the world. Here we are challenged mostly because there is not enough financial support from the government and most NGOs rely on international funding.

“Those are the countries that are currently facing serious economic challenges and it has affected how much they fund NGOs on the African continent,” said Lapsley.

Lapsley will this year publish a memoir titled From Freedom Fighter to Healer, in which he will share his journey from the liberation movement to his current work as a healer of communities.

“I believe I have lived fully and am satisfied that even if I die tomorrow I would have made my contribution and received as much as I could have from this world,” said Lapsley.

3.3 No crowds for Common

Junior Bester, IOL, 5 February 2012

The promised 1 000-strong crowd failed to materialise for a second Rondebosch Common event yesterday, but that didn’t stop those who did turn up from objecting vociferously when mayor Patricia de Lille sent mayco member Grant Pascoe in her place to accept their memorandum.

De Lille’s absence was “unacceptable”, declared Cosatu’s Tony Ehrenreich, who is also the ANC leader in the city council, as the crowd jeered at Pascoe.

Yesterday’s meeting attracted only about 100 people. But the events were a far cry from the previous Friday when the police sprayed protesters with blue dye, arrested 41 people and drew widespread criticism.

All except Proudly Manenberg’s Mario Wanza, who was arrested before he even reached the Common, were released earlier this week without charge. Wanza was, however, charged with public violence and released on R500 bail.

Yesterday the Casspirs were back as part of a strong police presence, but they remained parked and unused.

The memorandum was handed to Pascoe by Wanza. De Lille had previously referred to him as an “agent of destruction”.

Ehrenreich said although he was not impressed at De Lille’s absence yesterday, he was “thrilled that so many people from different communities were present here today”.

“We will be discussing the next gathering with the various organisations,” he added.

The protesters gathered in front of a flatbed truck which served as a stage for a number of speakers from different organisations.

Other than Cosatu and Proudly Manenberg, they included the Ruyterwacht Tenants Association and the Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance. Mike Hoffmeester, of the Bishoplavis Forum, denied they were “agents of destruction”.

“We are agents for change. If this city is truly for the people, then why do they build houses for us away from the city like in Blikkiesdorp. They must build us houses in the city.”

He added: “Last week we took away the last weapon the government can use against us – and that is fear. They tried to scare us but they did not succeed. For the first time in our lives we feel liberated and we are getting stronger every day.”

Wanza reiterated that the protests had only just begun, and that golf courses across Cape Town would be targeted.

“It is time for the city of Cape Town to set a date for a sit-down so that we can talk about our issues.”

Pascoe said after signing for their memorandum that the city would examine the matters raised, and “assess the demands”.

Meanwhile, an event planned yesterday by members of Occupy Cape Town, who accused Cosatu of hijacking their initiative, attracted only a handful of people.

The organisers of the meeting, in Salt River, had sent out an invitation to the media, but Weekend Argus was asked to leave soon after proceedings started.

3.4 Workers' pension funds can empower Cosatu, says report

Sowetan, 6 February 2012

The Congress of SA Trade Unions should use workers' pension funds to exert its power in the mining sector. This is a suggestion contained in the ANC task team report on how government can intervene in the mineral sector.

The report says Cosatu has already invested workers' pension funds in a number of mining companies but has given its power away by having the private sector to manage these investments.

It encourages the labour federation to work together with the state using the pensions of the workers to control key mining companies.

It says the combination of government and union pension holding already represents a significant holding in many mining companies.

"Such state and union special purpose vehicles (SPV) could be reinforced with the BBBEE (broad based black economic empowerment) holding where appropriate."

The report says many countries were using state and pension schemes to control key mining companies such as Brazil and Finland.

It says ideally black economic empowerment companies, government and union holdings should be consolidated into SPVs that would have a greater influence on the company in balancing shareholder returns with developmental goals.

3.5 A potentially big blow for e-tolling

Thabiso Thakali, Saturday Star, 4 February 2012

The implementation of Gauteng’s controversial e-tolling system has been dealt a potentially crippling blow.

Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele has shelved a proposed piece of legislation for now that would have given the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) punitive powers to charge non e-toll paying motorists under the soon to be implemented Aarto.

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act, intended to remove most traffic offences from the courts and introduce a system of demerits has been piloted in Joburg and Tshwane.

The proposed law which was published in 2010 for public comment had sought to extend the reach of Aarto to cover toll offences – meaning the proposed public disobedience campaign to not to paying e-tolls could lead to demerits on a driver’s license, and its ultimate loss.

Although not all fines under the Aarto Act carry a demerit point, experts believe a driver who passed more than 12 e-toll gantries a day without paying would be liable for demerit points deduction if the Bill came into law.

“A single drive around the toll ring roads would mean you could lose your driver’s license if they associated the offence of not paying e-tolls to the demerit system,” said Howard Dembovsky, chairman of the Justice Project SA – a motoring lobby group. “There is currently no legislation including Sanral Act that caters for automated toll gantries or e-tolls.”

Yesterday Ndebele’s spokesman Logan Maistry told the Saturday Star that the proposed Transport Law Enforcement and Related matters Amendment Bill of 2010 had been put under review together with the Gauteng e-tolling system.

“The Minister has put the Bill under review and it is subject of a continuing review alongside the Gauteng e-toll system.The Sanral Board is looking at this together with the Treasury and other stakeholders,” he said.

Gauteng e-tolling opponents Cosatu, the DA and other motorists lobby groups vowed to fight tooth and nail to ensure that no law was passed that would impose punitive measures on residents who refuse to pay the tolls.

“It makes us more determined to stop these tolls if a body like Sanral would have such punitive power [in so far as threatening to motorists suspending the license for failing to pay tolls].

Its absolutely shocking,” said Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven. “Throughout the whole process of introducing these tolls there has been in adequate consultation including on the proposed laws. How could the government not see how controversial this would be? Clearly there is a lot that is wrong with how everything around the tolls was done.”

Automobile Association’s Gary Ronald said he was aware that the government was looking at alternative legislation to enforce the tolls.

“We would definitely not like that kind of a proposed legislation to proceed into law,” he said. “It would be unfair to pass such a law that is biased to one project in Gauteng only.”

Jack Bloom, the DA leader in the Gauteng legislature said it was “disturbing that somebody was trying to crack the whip on unwilling public” to force them to pay the e-tolls that have been rejected by majority of Gauteng residents.

“We knew about the Bill and that they were trying to use Aarto to enforce the tolls. This was a desperate measure to get compliance but there would have been a huge counter reaction to it,” he said. “If the Bill goes to Parliament after the review, the DA will scrutinize it carefully and consider legal challenges.”

3.6 Shabangu ‘unlikely’ to clarify state’s role in mining

Allan Secombe, Business Day, 6 February 2012

It appears Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu will offer markets little comfort on one of the most pressing issues for investors hesitant about putting money into projects in SA, when she addresses the Mining Indaba tomorrow.

Her speech is expected to touch on the government’s mineral beneficiation strategy, amendments to the mining laws, compliance with the mining charter, transformation of the sector and the perennial matter of the industry’s health and safety track record.

Ms Shabangu will address the indaba at the Cape Town International Convention Centre after attending a meeting of the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) national executive committee at the weekend. The deliberations of this meeting will be fed into an ANC policy meeting in June for a final decision in December.

"We will come to a conclusion that is responsible. We will not be reckless, as some people want us to be," Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant said at a Brand-SA roundtable discussion last night.

Given the sensitivity of the issue within the party, where some factions are demanding that the state play a greater role in the sector, while other more senior members are calling for a more pragmatic approach, staff at the Department of Mineral Resources believed Ms Shabangu was unlikely to raise the topic tomorrow.

"It is a real pity that one of the most pressing issues affecting the sector will not be aired to bring some comfort to that largest gathering of mining executives, financiers and lawyers on the continent. It’s a real opportunity lost," said Peter Leon from law firm Webber Wentzel.

The delegates will be looking for answers on how the codes of good practice in the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act will affect the mining charter and whether it will override the charter governing the black ownership levels of mining groups, set at 26%.

The ANC commissioned a study into the state’s role in the resource sectors of a number of countries. The revised report is said to discourage asset grabs as unconstitutional; as well as the state buying stakes in companies, because of the enormous expense and risk involved.

The report is believed to favour increased taxes and royalties, as well as more beneficiation of minerals, which would encourage job creation, and lead to higher values for exported products. It also suggests export levies to ensure security of supply of key commodities.

A debate is raging in the coal sector, where Eskom is concerned that lower-grade coal for its plants could be sold abroad for far higher prices, putting the utility under cost and supply pressures. Delegates a t the McCloskey coal conference last week said the parties had talked and that tempers had cooled.

Indaba stalwart, Anglo American CEO Cynthia Carroll, who has been one of the most outspoken corporate delegates on issues affecting mining in SA, will not attend this year after doctors advised her not to travel abroad for two months after a horse-riding incident. Her speech will be delivered by Anglo American SA head Godfrey Gomwe.

3.7 Nationalisation taken off the table at mining indaba

Sharda Naidoo, Mail & Guardian, 6 February 2012

Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant has set the tone for the four-day Investing in Africa Mining Indaba, which begins on Monday, by bringing home the message that nationalisation is off the table and that South Africa is open for business. "As we speak, nationalisation is not a policy of the government or ANC," he said.

Oliphant was speaking at a precursor roundtable discussion on Sunday night, organised by Brand South Africa in Cape Town, as the ANC national executive committee (NEC) was wrapping up discussions on its economic policy documents, one of which dealt with the controversial proposal by now ousted ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema to nationalise mines.

The tabling of the documents could not have been timed better. Not only did the ANC squash the nationalisation policy, an appeals committee also upheld Malema's suspension from the ruling party's structures.

ANC sources said Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu will give delegates a taste of the new resource nationalism plan in her opening address on Tuesday while President Jacob Zuma will use his State of Nation address on Thursday -- when the indaba ends -- to end the nationalisation debate and reassure investors.

The "land grab style" of nationalisation dominated talk at the indaba last year, giving investors and mining bosses jitters and creating market uncertainty for the past two years.

This year delegates from around the world, braving the blistering heat in Cape Town, will hear about the government's model to increase control of the country's $2.4-trillion non-energy mineral wealth and push up taxes on mining companies' profits and exports.

"I can't put my head on the block about nationalisation but we are definitely going ahead with the beneficiation policy. We want a model where everyone works together, the private sector, state-owned enterprises and government, that benefits all South Africans," said Oliphant, indicating that government was moving more towards a centralised model where government consolidates all its resource assets.

'Comparative advantage'
He added: "We're still not realising the considerable potential presented by our comparative advantage in minerals. Investors need to realise that they can't just come here and grab and go. The industry has not been committed to beneficiation over the years. That is going to change. There will be new rules."

The National Development Plan, the New Growth Path -- which has a 5-million jobs by 2020 target -- and the associated Industrial Policy Action Plan all call for an increase in beneficiation of strategic minerals as a way to enhance value of exports and stimulate investment in manufacturing. As it stands, raw minerals are exported out of the country and the finished product is imported.

Oliphant said the value chain sectors targeted for beneficiation are iron ore and steel, energy commodities, autocatalytic converters and diesel particulates, titanium and jewellery.

These are some of the interventions contained in the ANC's five economic policy documents, which Oliphant said will be released for public debate from Monday before it goes to the ANC's policy conference in June and taken to the elective conference in December.

But given the debate between government officials and the private sector at the roundtable discussion, the new resource nationalism plan is also likely to sit uncomfortably with investors and mining companies.

Apart from increased regulation around safety and rehabilitation of mines and transformation targets, one of proposals on the table is state control through rent share, and growth and development.

Some of the interventions include a 50% tax on the sale of mining rights, a wind fall tax of up to 50% on super-profits (defined as a return on investment of 22%), a reduction in the royalty tax from 4% to 1%, a super ministry merging five ministries to police minerals governance and a rent share of mining rights.

Investment regime
But BHP Billiton South Africa chairperson Xolani Mkhwanazi emphasised: "If the mining regime disadvantages the investment regime, then investors will look at a country with more competitive regulation."

The perceived over regulation of the industry, talks of nationalisation and infrastructure constraints were some of the main reasons why South Africa missed the resources boom that followed the 2008 global financial crisis.

Mining, once the highest contributor to South Africa's gross domestic product, now only accounts for 6% and it has shed more than 100 000 jobs since the financial malaise. Poor or lack of infrastructure was identified in national treasury's medium term budget statement as choking the mining industry and stumping growth.

There were also stinging comments from Oliphant about mining companies creaming profits but their poor record on the safety, environmental, transformation and community development side.

"Where has all those profits gone to. The realities on the ground show there has been no transformation. Mines implement non-sustainable income generating projects that are not yielding any benefits to the communities and most are not creating jobs. Government will push for that to change."

But Bheki Sibiya, head of the Chamber of Mines, hit back saying government needed to more decisive around legislation and its engagement with companies. "Mining is one of the top five priorities of government, yet Zuma, as president of both the ANC and our country, has never once engaged with the mining industry."

He added to the debate around the mining industries lack of competitiveness compared to other mining investment destinations such as Canada and Australia.

"Yes, our record on safety is poor. We hang our heads in shame but we're working on it. We're learning from the Australians, who have an excellent safety record, even though we don't like them as a country. But we're losing to other jurisdictions because we struggle with railway, electricity and water infrastructure," he said.

Public, private engagement
He cited the Northern Cape as an example, saying more public, private engagement was needed: "We have 85% of the world's manganese reserves there, but only 23% of the world market. We need to work as team South Africa to win. We're supposed to be equal partners. Sometimes we score a goal, then celebrate and forget to score another goal."

Sibiya called for the super highway between Sishen in the Northern Cape and Saldanha Bay port along the Western Cape coast opened up to everyone.

This was after Peter Tamane of South African Mining Development Association, representing the junior minors, pointed out that infrastructure and lack of access to the ports was constraining growth of the smaller players.

He said getting resources out through Saldanha cost almost 80% less than using Coega, for example. Sibiya added that Coega was a "failure" and had become a "white elephant because it was built by government for political reasons".

The deputy minister retorted that the presidential infrastructure coordinating committee, which was set up in July last year, would deal with some of these issues.

National Planning Commission Minister Trevor Manuel will also lead a panel discussion that will scrutinise the infrastructure problems in the context of the importance of mining and resources in the growth and development of the economy. He will ask: "Could South Africa miss the boat?"

More than 6 000 individuals representing more than 1 000 international companies and about 40 African and non-African government delegations are expected to flock to the Mother City over the next few days for the Indaba. They include fund managers, mining analysts, investment bankers, government officials and chief executives of global and local mining companies.

While it's a talking shop, the beginnings of my big deals are said to have been facilitated in previous years at the indaba.

3.8 SABC boss furore

Moffet Mofokeng, Sunday Independent, 5 February 2012

A top supporter of President Jacob Zuma, with neither a matric certificate nor top management experience is set to land the R2m job as chief operating officer (COO) of the financially-crippled SABC.

And the SABC has decided to advertise the strategic, second-most powerful post only internally, for only three working days and, according to newly appointed group chief executive officer Lulama Mokhobo, matric is not a requirement for the post.

The requirements for the job, one of the key positions in the corporation’s turn-around strategy, have been tailor-made to suit Hlaudi Motsoeneng – essentially an ANC deployee at the SABC – because he has no matric and has no managerial experience at that level, according to insiders.

He is the same man fingered by an SABC internal audit probe as having lied about having a matric certificate when he applied for a position at the broadcaster’s Bloemfontein office several years ago.

Should Motsoeneng land the job, he would possibly become the only COO of such a major public institution without matric.

The move has plunged workers in the financially struggling organisation into panic, asking how a person without an undergraduate qualification could be the second in command of an organisation with a R4.7 billion turnover.

At e.tv, for example, Bronwyn Keene-Young is the chief operating officer. She has a masters degree from Wits University and an LLB.

Before her appointment at e.tv, she co-founded the Media Monitoring Project in 1993. Another COO Graham Wayne Dempster, of Nedbank, one of the country’s top banks, is a qualified chartered accountant and has experience in retail banking.

The Sunday Independent learnt that Mokhobo advertised the COO job on Friday, but apparently deleted parts where academic qualifications were required ostensibly to ensure that Motsoeneng, who does not even have a matric but has strong political backing, qualified for the position.

Staff at the SABC are now questioning the deletion of the academic qualifications from the advert and the three working days allocated to prospective candidates to apply for the job. Applicants have until Tuesday to apply.

They argue that the position needed someone with suitable qualifications and Motsoeneng, who is said to have Zuma’s ear, was not the right candidate.

The advert states that the person who would be appointed to the job should be a “commercially astute executive, with broad ranging experience of success in broadcasting”, have “well developed negotiation and relationship-building skills at the most senior level” and the “ability to translate and promote the integration of new business objectives into financial, human capital and organisational development changes on an ongoing basis”.

Approached for comment, Motsoeneng said “I don’t want to comment on this issue” and added: “speak to the CEO. She is here with me” before handing over his cellphone to Mokhobo.

The CEO said the job did not require a degree and was open only to all SABC employees. “We are looking for a candidate who understands the business of the SABC. We don’t have the time to be in a state of inertia. It does not require a degree to run a business operation. That does not require an MBA. Anybody internally can apply for this job. We are very clear that we are not opening it to everybody,” she said.

She said the position did not require technical skill but an understanding of how business operations are run.

“You need the ability to oversee complex situations”. Responding to claims that the advert is tailor-made to suit Motsoeneng, Mokhobo said: “If we (had already) decided on Hlaudi, we would not have advertised the position. We would have given it to him.”

For over four years now, the SABC has not had a permanent COO and a chief technology officer.

In stark contrast to Motsoeneng, Solly Mokoetle, the last person to occupy the position permanently in 2006, had a masters degree in journalism from Canada’s Carleton University and 25 years experience in broadcasting. Twelve of those years were spent in executive management at the SABC. He also obtained advanced management and finance qualifications.

His successor Charlotte Mampane, who occupied the COO post temporarily, had a masters degree in management from Wits University, an honours degree from Unisa and management certificates from Wits Business School.

Mokhobo is the sixth SABC CEO – including those who were appointed on an acting capacity – to be in charge of the broadcaster since 2009. Before her, there was Dali Mpofu, who quit after accepting a R14 million settlement, Gab Mampone, who left under a cloud, and Mokoetle, who was also paid millions of rands before his departure.

Former chief financial officer Robin Nicholson, who also acted in the CEO’s post, has taken the SABC to court for unceremoniously terminating his contract. Phil Molefe, who was the last executive to act as CEO, has returned to his job as group executive responsible for TV and radio news.

Communications Minister Dina Pule has now given Mokhobo until March to fill the vacant posts. The vacancies are so contested within the ANC because each faction is looking at controlling the broadcaster and the people who are in charge of it.

A senior staff member not authorised to speak to the media, said: “Where have you seen such a senior position advertised for three working days? This is really bad. Where have you seen a big corporation like the SABC with a COO without qualifications?”

“It is very clear from the way this matter is handled that it is tailor-made for Hlaudi. He simply tells us at meetings that he does not have matric. He says: ‘I don’t care. I don’t have matric and I don’t need matric to be where I am.’ He openly says this in meetings all the time. It is shocking.”

Hannes du Buisson, the president of the Broadcasting, Electronic Media and Allied Workers Union, confirmed that his union received “concerns and complaints” about how the advertisement was worded.

“I have received quite a lot of complaints from staff about why there is no qualifications requirement in the advertisement.

“It is vague. I can’t say it was drafted for him but there is suspicion. There is a perception it is fait accompli, he will get the job,” Du Buisson said.

Communication Workers Union spokesman Matankana Mothapo said they would support Motsoeneng’s appointment.

“Let’s not talk about his qualifications. Let’s talk about skills. He understands the SABC. In the shortest time he has been at the SABC, he has done well. We are happy with him,” Mothapo said.

In May 2008, the SABC was plunged into turmoil when its board suspended former CEO Dali Mpofu, who had a day earlier suspended ex-news chief Snuki Zikalala for allegedly leaking a confidential document to ANC treasurer Mathews Phosa.

The document in question related to a labour case involving Motsoeneng, who was at the time a current affairs executive producer for Lesedi FM. Motsoeneng was fired in 2007 and Mpofu pushed Zikalala to reinstate him, but Zikalala refused.

Motsoeneng, according to an internal audit document, misled the SABC about his qualifications when he landed a job as a junior reporter in 1996. The SABC had tried, at least on more than two occasions, to obtain Motsoeneng’s matric certificate but failed.

The Zuma camp, which triumphed in Polokwane in 2007, needed to take control of the SABC in a bid to clean up his image. In the run-up to the Polokwane conference, those in the Zuma camp complained Mpofu, who was said to be in Thabo Mbeki’s camp, favoured the former president with positive coverage, and Motsoeneng was his nemesis.

4. Comment

4.1 Tale of two townships: How unions cripple education

Tebogo Monama, Sowetan, 6 February 2012

THE National Youth Development Agency caused controversy two weeks ago when it proposed that teaching be declared an essential service.

Predictably, the biggest murmurs came from the teacher unions who wield a lot of power in schools.

The South African Democratic Teachers Union's (Sadtu) general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said the call "was naive, attention-seeking and shows little understanding of the inequalities in education".

If teaching is declared an essential service, the Labour Relations Act will treat teachers like health care workers. This means the law would have to be amended to limit their right to strike and "any conduct in contemplation or in furtherance of a strike".

South Africa's education system is in a crisis, with pupils failing in large numbers. Excuses for this abound. Lack of resources and support from the department are among those often cited by teachers.

But at the core of improving the system is a committed teaching force.

Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, has been silent on the suggestion that unions should be prevented from striking. She was one of the founding members of Sadtu, the biggest union, in 1990. So, could it be the reason why she would be reluctant to tame the power of the organisation she helped to establish.

Sadtu are signatories to the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign which affirms that teachers should be on time, on task, prepared and conduct themselves professionally.

The code also compels the Department of Education to provide all the necessary resources for highly qualified and supported teachers and infrastructure that is essential to effective teaching and learning.

But are teachers abiding to the contract? Pupils in some schools in the Eastern Cape - the worst performing province in the country - have not been taught since schools opened this year. Teachers in the province have been on a go-slow for reasons that no one can understand other than mere politicking at the expense of pupils. It does not help that the department is run by maverick Modidima Mannya, who is consistently at loggerheads with the provincial Sadtu leadership which campaigned for his employment in the first place.

A few years ago, pupils in schools in Alexandra Township, north of Johannesburg, were hardly in class because of teacher squabbles.

In 2008, there was a row over teachers who were seen as lazy. The department fired 28 teachers from KwaBhekilanga Secondary School, which obtained a 45.9% matric pass rate in 2007. The pass rate dropped to 27.7% in 2009. In 2010, they got 49% and it increased to 70.6% last year.

Parents in the township, not unions, had taken charge. It was decided that decisions in schools would be made jointly by parents and teachers. They said the union would have minimal say in school affairs. As a result, the community was able to turnaround their schools. Now teachers are in class and on time.

The opposite is happening more than 40km away from Alexandra - in Soweto. The Sadtu Johannesburg central branch is the union's biggest branch with more than 10000 members. The union wields a lot of power in that region - and they know it.

Teachers and especially principals live in fear of the union. What the union says is gospel. There are a number of instances where the union has dictated to the Department of Basic Education who to appoint as principals.

Meadowlands Secondary School does not have a principal after Moss Senye was suspended last year. He is currently facing criminal charges for assaulting a pupil who was apparently disruptive in class. Every time he went to court, schooling in Soweto came to a standstill because all the teachers went to court to support him.

Gauteng's department of education appointed George Maluleke as caretaker principal, but he has not been able to run the school because Sadtu and the National Association of School Governing Bodies are objecting to his appointment.

Last year, pupils were locked out of the school, demanding the reinstatement of Senye and co-accused teacher Fancy Phehle.

The school obtained 52.2% in 2009, 56.7% in 2010 and 58% last year.

Last year, Gauteng MEC of education, Barbara Creecy, said that the average matric pass rate of Soweto schools was 63% in 2010, compared to a provincial average of 79%. In 2009, it was 58% compared to a provincial average of 72%.

Soweto schools have better resources than schools in Alexandra, but their results are totally different, due to the level of commitment of the teachers. Teachers in Alex decided to put the pupils education first, unlike their Soweto counterparts.

There is therefore a link between the performance of schools - or lack thereof - and the strength of Sadtu. Where Sadtu wields greater power, for example in Eastern Cape and in Soweto, the results are terrible. And where the union has taken a back seat as in Alex, the results speak for themselves.

Declaring the profession an essential service would be a recognition by the government that education is in a crisis and it needs to be fixed for the sake of the pupils.

· Monama is education reporter

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

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