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COSATU Today
Our side of the story
5 November 2009
Contents
1.Workers
1.1 COSATU and NUM demand reinstatement of workers at JIC, Sindile, and
Iron Gate
2. South Africa
2.1COSATU Northern Cape Supports Minister Sexuale's call to demolish
shoddy RDP houses
2.2 YCL responds to the ANC statement on Mathew Phosa
2.3 ANCYL calls for criminalisation of alcohol advertisement
2.4 Media Statement by Minister Blade Nzimande on the transfer of Skills
Development and Training Sector
2.5 Gauteng Economic Recovery Summit
3. Letters
3.1 Corruption and wasteful expenditure in government
1.Workers
<http://www.num.org.za/> 1.1 COSATU and NUM demand reinstatement of
workers at JIC, Sindile, and Iron Gate
Solly Phetoe, COSATU NW Provincial secretary, 5 November 2009
The Congress of South African Trade Unions, jointly with the NUM,
demands the immediate reinstatement of all workers who were dismissed by
JIC, Sindile and Iron Gate, which are contractors at the Barplats mine
(Crocodile River Mine) in Madibeng.
1600 workers were dismissed under the so-called 'commercial contract'
signed between contractors and Barplats mine on behalf of the employees.
The commercial contract is a sell-out contract which cannot be accepted
by the Federation and its members in the Province.
NUM and Barplats signed a memorandum of understanding in June 2009 that
all workers employed by the contractors will be employed full time by
the mine. But we are now in November 2009 and both the Barplats
contractors and their BEE shareholders are very happy with their
families while the 1600 workers have been unemployed for over four
months, on the street with no food and no work.
COSATU demands that all workers must be reinstated at the end of this
week, or there must be a clear programme on when those poor workers will
be back at their work.
The engagement with JIC, Sindile and Iron Gate has wasted our time for
over four months.
COSATU is preparing a protest march by 14th November 2009 to Barplats
demanding the unconditional reinstatement of all workers.
2. South Africa
2.1COSATU Northern Cape Supports Minister Sexuale's call to demolish
shoddy RDP houses
Anele Gxoyiya, COSATU Northern Cape Provincial Secretary, 4 November
2009
The Congress of South African Trade Unions in the Northern Cape has
fully supported the call by the Minister of Human Settlements, Comrade
Tokyo Sexwale, for the demolition of the poorly built RDP houses, so
that they can be rebuilt with the desired quality.
It is indeed a shame and an insult to our people to allow them to stay
in brick shacks under the guise of service delivery. However we want to
take the call further and call for a forensic investigation of all the
shoddy projects in the province so that the culprits, both in
construction and in government, are brought to book.
Our call is consistent with our resolve to fight corruption with
everything we have. In fighting corruption that does not mean we should
start with this government and leave the tendencies that manifested
themselves in the past fifteen years, no ways. Corruption is corruption
even if it happened many years ago; it can't be left unattended.
It is therefore our view that in these tender processes, for every
corrupt government official there is a corrupt businessman and vice
versa. Hence it is important that if our government wants to root out
corruption, both the corruptors and the corrupted must be harshly dealt
with.
It is saddening to note that our people are still living in conditions
of squalor even though claims are made that their lives have been
improved through the provision of shelter. We do not just want shelter.
We need decent houses for our people. Such badly built houses must be
removed from the statistics of service delivery as they do not qualify
to be there. In fact we need to have statistics of the low quality
houses that they built for our people before they ran away to form COPE.
We are aware that the quality of the houses is influenced by the levels
of looting between the corrupt officials and the corrupt business
people. The poor the quality the more looting is bound to have taken
place. This is what we mean by the diversion of resources into greedy
individuals' pockets.
This tendency of paying constructors in full before their projects are
completed and thoroughly inspected must come to an end. These are the
tendencies that lead to nation-wide service delivery protests. People
are not protesting against their legitimate government, but rather they
are protesting against corruption and corrupt elements within our public
service.
No one should take the comments of the honourable member of COPE serious
because it was during his term of office that houses in Soul City were
build with bricks that are below standard. The honourable member of
COPE was the MEC for local government and housing when those houses and
many others in the province were built. It was his department during
his term in office that started with the contravention of the housing
code by undermining the fundamental principles of "quality and
affordability".
When we made noise and raised concerns about the poor workmanship at
that point, he was the one who jumped to the defence of those projects.
We cannot allow people like this to want to score cheap, selfish
political gains with the mess they created and ran away. Our people are
intelligent enough, they might be poor but they will never be misled by
hypocrisy.
He is one of the people that ran away from the ANC because of the stance
it took in Polokwane against corruption, cronyism and patronage and
today he wants to play a moral game.
We are convinced now, more than ever, that the ANC remains the only
vehicle for the liberation of our people from poverty, unemployment and
conditions of squalor.
But off course the ANC will be able to do all this within the confines
of a reconfigured alliance.
Our call goes to the department of human settlements and traditional
affairs in the province to speed up the implementation of the Minister's
instruction to fix the damages that were caused by government to our
people from as far back as when people like the honourable member of
COPE and others were in government.
2.2 YCL responds to the ANC statement on Mathew Phosa
Alex Mashilo, YCL Provincial Secretary, Wednesday 4 November 2009
The YCLSA in Gauteng has noted the ANC's statement released on Tuesday 3
November 2009 directed towards the YCL.
This was informed by our condemnation of utterances made by the ANC
Treasurer General Mathew Phosa at the global haven of capitalism -
Britain, when he said that nationalisation is neither the policy of the
ANC nor government.
We believe that the ANC, particularly its leadership cannot lead society
from a watered-down and deliberate selective interpretation of the
Freedom Charter (1955). We remain firm on our position for
nationalisation and socialisation of the commanding heights of the
economy, as supported by the ANC Youth League.
The ANC's 1969 Strategy and Tactics states that the movement's
"nationalism must not be confused with chauvinism or narrow
nationalism...with the classical drive by an elitist group among the
oppressed people to gain ascendancy so that they can replace the
oppressor in the exploitation of the mass". Our contention as the YCLSA
is that certain policies and practices promoted from the point of formal
liberation in 1994 serve to hide and erode the actual content of the
National Democratic Revolution (NDR) as articulated over the years.
Confusions that the 1969 Strategy and Tactics warned against were
entrenched along with the economic stranglehold of what the ANC's 1979
Green Book identified as the enemy. The economic interests of the ruling
class that thrived during and through colonialism and apartheid were not
only allowed to remain intact. The White Monopoly Capital's (WMC)
ownership and control of the economy of our country were intensified for
so long as a few, Black exploiters joined as subordinates in the
exploitation of the mass.
All this were advanced and defended with the Freedom Charter gathering
dust. The Charter spelled in no uncertain terms that "the national
wealth of our country, the heritage of South Africans, shall be restored
to the people; the mineral wealth beneath the soil, the Banks and
monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as
a whole". As the YCLSA we shall not allow to be recruited to an
ideological sleep during which the economic interests of those who
flourished from national oppression, class exploitation and gender
domination are advanced.
We reiterate our position that there are sections of leadership in our
country who may find it difficult to implement the Freedom Charter in
its progressive form not because it is not viable, possible and noble,
but because of their new found economic interests. It is clear to every
thinking being that such leaders, by either default or design, represent
at the same time their new, private economic interests as they oppose
nationalisation and socialisation of the commanding heights of our
economy.
Our determination for nationalisation and socialisation remains
unshaken. We shall continue our campaign in this area until the national
wealth of our country, the heritage of South Africans, the Banks and
monopoly industry, are restored and transferred to the ownership of the
people as whole. The realisation of this objective will go a long way
towards the elimination of socio-economic inequality that is ravaging
our country, among others into corruption, crime, the many service
delivery crises and self-centred factional battles for the control of
our formations.
2.3 ANCYL calls for criminalisation of alcohol advertisement
Floyd Shivambu, ANC YL National Spokesperson, 04 November 2009
The African National Congress Youth League has re-affirmed its position
on the complete illegalisation of alcohol advertisements in all media
channels, including Television, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines and
Billboards.
The call for the banning of alcohol advertisements is linked to the
Youth League's broader campaign to reduce the consumption and abuse of
alcohol, drugs and substances in our communities. We will soon be
meeting with the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa
The abuse of intoxicating substances and alcohol in particular does not
only negatively impact the wellbeing of the individuals consuming them,
but distorts society and leads to other grave social ills such as crime,
rapid spread of HIV/AIDS, poor health, low success rates in education,
etc.
The ANC 52nd National Conference political report quoted a government
scientific survey which read:
"Accordingly, in the past five years the areas with the greatest number
of violent crimes were identified as those that are poor and
economically depressed. These areas, which account for more than 50% of
violent crime in South Africa comprise only 169 police station-areas out
of 1 136 police station-areas in the country. The socio-economic
profile of these areas is similar. There are few recreational
facilities. Unemployment is high. There are many dysfunctional families.
There are many shebeens and other alcohol outlets and the levels of
substance abuse are very high".
Further than that, the Medical Research Council's Alcohol and Drug
Abuse Research Council scientifically say that the effects of alcohol
dependence include the following:
* Alcohol misuse is causally implicated in a range of chronic
health problems (e.g. cirrhosis of the liver). However, many of the
primary effects of alcohol misuse occur from episodes of acute alcohol
intoxication.
* Acute alcohol intoxication is associated with increased
mortality and morbidity arising from intentional and non-intentional
injuries.
* Acute alcohol intoxication is also associated with unsafe sexual
practices and increased risk of contracting a sexually transmitted
disease.
* Alcohol misuse, combined with poor nutritional status, increases
susceptibility to opportunistic diseases by compromising the immune
system.
* The misuse of alcohol during pregnancy has been linked to fetal
alcohol syndrome in infants.
* Alcohol misuse also impacts on the criminal justice system, with
evidence of associations between drinking at risky levels, committing
crime, or being a victim of crime.
Against these realities, South Africa cannot continue to celebrate
alcohol and normalise it as part of our society. Coupled with the
illegalisation of alcohol advertisement, the ANC YL will advocate for
the following as decisive interventions to stop the free flow of alcohol
in our communities:
* Call for increased levels of law enforcement on illegal alcohol
and drugs traders, including those who sell alcohol to people under the
age of 18.
* Call for greater investment in sporting, arts and recreational
activities and facilities in communities and set a programme to attract
more young people to partake in these activities.
* Form partnerships with relevant government departments in the
intensification of the campaign against alcohol, drugs and substance
abuse.
* Call for establishment of youth-friendly rehabilitation centres
and programmes in communities to revive youth that are addicted to drugs
and alcohol.
* Campaign for a legislative intervention on the number of years
young people are eligible to buy alcohol, with a focus of increasing the
number of years from 18 to 21.
* Call for immediate legislation on the illegalisation of Liquor
Outlets closer to schools and institutions of higher learning.
The ANC Youth League will stop at nothing in ensuring that alcohol
consumption in South Africa is radically reduced and all alcohol
regulations and laws are properly enforced by our law enforcement
agencies. We need a broader coalition of all stakeholders, including
Unions, Civil Society formations, Non-governmental organisations,
Community based organisations, Churches, Social Clubs and private
individuals to join the campaign against alcohol, drugs and substances.
The ANC YOUTH LEAGUE CALLS ON THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN BEING PARTNERS
TO THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST ALCOHOL, DRUGS AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE TO CONTACT
THE ANC YOUTH HEAD OFFICE. Those interested in should contact Ontiretsi
Pilane on 0796954396 and opil...@anc.org.za <mailto:opil...@anc.org.za>
.
2.4 Media Statement by Minister Blade Nzimande on the transfer of
Skills Development and Training Sector, 4th NOVEMBER 2009
From Sunday, 1 November 2009, the Department of Higher Education and
Training assumed responsibility for the skills development and training
sector in government. This is an exciting development in the
post-election restructuring of government to be more responsive to the
developmental, social and economic needs of our country.
We are now responsible for a range of institutions and public entities
which were previously distributed across both the Departments of
Education and of Labour. The Ministry of Higher Education and Training
also hosts the secretariat of the Human Resource Development Strategy
for South Africa, which is led by the Deputy President.
The creation of the Ministry and Department of Higher Education and
Training provides an opportunity, at a critical moment in our history,
for the creation of a coherent and single post-school education and
training system that is structured both to meet the aspirations of youth
and adults and to ensure that education, training and skills development
initiatives respond to the requirements of the economy, our rural
development challenges, and the need to develop an informed and critical
citizenry.
During 2010, the Ministry will work with stakeholders to develop a
policy framework for a diverse post school education and training system
which will be responsive to identified challenges and our collective
aspirations, including transformation imperatives.
The Further Education and Training College Sub-system
The Further Education and Training (FET) College subsystem has grown and
changed over the last fifteen years, and further changes are anticipated
with the move of the Colleges to a national function. Challenging work
lies ahead to make Colleges institutions of choice for many more young
people and adults.
The shape of our post-secondary system is not appropriately balanced
between Universities and Colleges, and whilst access to universities
must be increased, enrolment in Colleges must double in the next five
years.
We will consolidate the institutional base for FET colleges in
partnership with the skills development system and improve
responsiveness to the needs of the economy. We will work closely with
the National Board for Further Education and Training to review the
impact of the some of the recent changes, particularly in the management
and governance structures. The NBFET and the Ministry have agreed on an
urgent national audit on individual institutional of governance and
administration.
The Skills sub-system
Despite gains made to date in the area of skills development and
training, the Ministry of Higher Education and Training must address a
number of challenges which have limited the effectiveness of the policy
intentions. These include:
* How to build a viable system of education and training that will
respond to the needs of adults and youth: the self-employed; the
unemployed; those with unrecognized skills; as well as the employed
* Improved coordination between the SETA system and education and
training institutions, particularly FET Colleges and Universities of
Technology
* Negative perceptions of SETAs performance, management and
governance
* The unblocking of funds in the National Skills Fund which must
include a review of systems, procedures and of decision making
* Inadequate alignment of industry needs and provision of training
and skills development and in particular the need to increase the supply
of artisans and technicians.
* Finalisation of industrial policy action plans to improve the
effectiveness of skills development efforts. This is necessary to ensure
the alignment of the Sector Skills Plans of the 23 SETAs to steer skills
development strategies for the development of the labour force of our
country.
The relocation of the skills development subsystem into the Ministry of
Higher Education and Training thus provides an opportunity to
reconceptualise strategies for skills development within the larger
unified higher education and training system with positive potential
impacts on the post school education and training system.
In meetings with the National Skills Authority (NSA) (which is
responsible for advising the Minister on Skills Development policy) we
have agreed that:
* The NSA needs to be strengthened in order to perform its
expert advisory role
* The NSA must have administrative, policy and research capacity
to support its work
* Alignment of the work of the NSA with HRD-SA is a priority
* The relationship between the NSA and other statutory bodies
needs to be strengthened
Supporting the NSA to fulfil its important functions is a priority for
my Ministry. A strategic planning session of the NSA with the Ministry
is scheduled for the first week of December.
I have appointed the Director General for Higher Education and Training
as the Chairperson of the NSA during this important period of transition
in order to strengthen relationships between my Department and the NSA.
This is an interim arrangement until a new NSA Chairperson is appointed.
I wish to also announce that after consultation with the National Skills
Authority, I will be gazetting the extension of the National Skills
Development Strategy II and current SETA licence by 1 year, from March
2010 to March 2011. I have informed all the Chairpersons of the Board of
SETAs as well as their CEOs of this decision.
It is my considered view, supported by the NSA, that this extension is
important to ensure alignment of the National Skills Development
Strategy with HRD-SA and to allow some deliberation on the way forward.
Current mechanisms contained in NSDS II will be emphasised in the
Service Level Agreements between the DHET and SETAs for the 2010
financial year in order to ensure alignment with government's strategic
priorities and to focus on immediate priorities such as:
* SETA/FET College partnerships (particularly on training and
placement)
* The provision of opportunities for work-based learning to
accompany formal learning in Colleges and Universities of Technology
* Skills for rural development and cooperatives
* The training layoff scheme
* Intensified artisan training
SETAs will to continue with their current mandate and implement their
2010/11 Service Level Agreements as well as contribute to the new
strategies to finalize NSDS III.
These extensions will ensure both continuity and change. Service
delivery will continue, and be consolidated whilst the new Department of
Higher Education and Training will take forward inclusive processes,
with its social partners, to renew and refresh strategies, policy and
institutions in order to strengthen the skills and human resource base
of the country.
We will be actively pursuing collaborative relationships between the
SETAs, the NSF, universities - especially universities of technology -
and FETs in order to seek ways to release funds to grow the skills base.
We are working to ensure the smooth incorporation of the skills
development and training component and look forward to building a
strong, focused and performance team in the Department with an overall
goal of creating synergy between formal education and workplace
training. The move is set to overhaul the education and training
landscape in South Africa and we invite the private sector and civil
society to actively participate and join the skills revolution in our
country.
2.5 Gauteng Economic Recovery Summit
3. Letters
3.1 Corruption and wasteful expenditure in government
Siboniso Nkomo, 4 November 2009
I am an ordinary South African worried about our Government. The Finance
Minister will have to borrow money to ensure that the country is able to
fulfill its obligations.
I am making a humble appeal that you force the comrades in government to
reduce spending on themselves in the form of :
1. Salaries
2. Houses
3. Cars
4. perks
5. All form of wasteful expenditure.
6. Meeting in hotels for Administrations
7. Food (I believe too much money is spent on food by government)
At this stage our country can not afford this. Please put more pressure
on them to stop this. Another point I want to raise is that within
government if someone has stolen money it is not enough to suspend that
person with pay. Fire the person and pay the balance of their package
Let's get the Law change to accommodate the following.
1. Recover the money they have still.
2. Sell all their asserts
3. Confiscate their pension (if the law does not allow make an
amendment)
4. Confiscate their life policy.
5. If their kids have policies for education or trust fund any
future benefit that must be taken away as well.
This will send a massage that if I steal from the state I will not only
loose my credibility my job but it will be my livelihood as well.
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