COSATU Northern Cape Provincial Executive Committee statement
The Congress of South African Trade Unions in the Northern Cape held the
first meeting of the Provincial Executive Committee meeting from 6-7
February 2011 in Kimberley. The PEC which was attended by representatives
from the affiliates of COSATU discussed the following issues:
. Political
. Organisational
. Socio-economic
. International
The PEC was also addressed by the MEC for Health on the challenges facing
the health department in the province as per our decision to invite the
different MECs to give the PEC briefings on the programmes of the different
departments.
After extensive deliberations the PEC took the following decisions in line
with the COSATU programme of action.
1. ON POLITICAL ISSUES
. We condemn the statement of the national chairperson of the NYDA
wherein he called for the banning of trade unions in education. This shows
the shallow understanding of trade unions, for the teachers are workers in
their own right and have a constitutional right to belong to trade unions of
their choice
. We will never allow any form of counter-revolution to derail our
unions from our programme of fighting for the emancipation of the working
class from the triple crisis of poverty, unemployment and inequalities.
Andile must just concentrate in his own challenges that are facing him which
are not concerning the federation and leave COSATU affiliates alone
. The by-election of Strydenburg where the ANC lost to an
independent candidate who was supported by the opposition parties is a cause
for concern to us. We need to meet in an alliance ten-a-side as soon as
possible to develop a strategy to defend the ANC gains in the province
. We advise the Premier of the Northern Cape to desist from pulling
the cabinet to court when the MEC for Economic Development and Finance
appears in court on charges that are not related to his work as the MEC. If
she indeed respects the rule of law she must refrain from that behaviour as
it portrays her as someone who does not respect an institution of the same
government that she is serving
. This is setting a precedent that they will never be able to
sustain, as public servants can also do the same if one of them is appearing
in court for any allegations of crime. If they so wish to leave their posts
during the case, let them do so by taking unpaid leave so that an acting
cabinet can be appointed to continue with government work
. The federation takes offence in the use of our slogan "An injury
to one is an injury to all" by any of our alliance partners in inappropriate
platforms as this seeks to vulgarize the COSATU slogan
. We will call for a bilateral with the ANC in the next two weeks to
make an assessment of the performance of the current provincial government
as well as progress on the implementation of the resolutions of the Alliance
Summit and the Alliance Economic Summit
. We view the calls for the reshuffling of the cabinet as
opportunistic and smacking of malice, since there has been no proper
assessment made at any level to come to that conclusion
. We will engage the SACP on the common programme for mobilisation
of the working class masses on the ground
. It is critical for us to have a strong and functional SANCO on the
ground so as to avoid the emergence of opportunists who masquerade as
representatives against the ANC government. We will meet with the leadership
of SANCO in the province to make an assessment of the state of the
organisation and chart the way forward
. We call on all the members of the alliance to be loyal to the
organisational principles and not to individuals, and to maintain high
levels of discipline
. COSATU is a fearless voice of the voiceless and we have always led
our campaigns successfully without those that are opposed to the ANC
leadership
. We will fight corruption at all fronts without the help of the
opposition. As much as we will never lobby the opposition, we don't want the
opposition to lobby us
2. ON ORGANISATIONAL ISSUES
. COSATU in the Northern Cape is united and all affiliates speak
with one voice. We condemn the mischievous faceless people who pose as
concerned members of COSATU affiliates and seek to score cheap political
scores
. We call on the media to be careful of being used by faceless
people to sow divisions within the federation because we will not allow that
to happen
. COSATU in the Northern Cape is growing from strength to strength
despite the challenges that are faced by a few of our affiliates
. There is a need for the affiliates to intensify membership service
and embark on an extensive recruitment campaigns
. We will engage the Departments of Labour and of Agriculture about
the joint visits to the farms to look at the conditions of farm workers
. We will embark on mass trade union and political education through
our Provincial Educators and/or Organisers between May and June 2012
. The membership of the affiliates continues to fluctuate as a
result of outsourcing and privatization as well as retrenchments
3. ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES
. We welcome the recent launch of Corruption Watch as an important
and progressive achievement in the history of the working class
. We are confident that this initiative will go a long way in
intensifying our fight against corruption
. We reaffirm our call for the provincial government to stop
outsourcing and privatising public services as this is a fertile breeding
ground for corruption
. Our view is that given a chance the state will have the capacity
to deliver services at a cheaper cost as there will be no profit
maximisation and that will help to create decent jobs
. We are of the firm view that those that are delaying the
implementation of the Alliance Summit resolution on outsourcing and
privatization are the beneficiaries from the tenders that they continue to
issue
. All COSATU affiliates are geared up and ready to take to the
streets on 7 March 2011 during the national strike against labour broking
and e-tolling
. We will march to the Department of Labour and to the Premier's
office and we hope that the Premier will avail herself to receive the
memorandum this time around
. We welcome the takeover of the fleet management by the Provincial
Government as a step in the right direction; however we are concerned at the
location of the function to the Department of Public Works it is a transport
function. Our view is that fleet management is the competency of the
department of Transport, Safety and Liaison
. We are committed to the implementation of the Basic Education
Accord and call on all the members of COSATU to participate in the
forthcoming elections of School Governing Bodies and avail themselves for
elections
. All workers who are parents must play a meaningful role in the
education of their children through being involved in school activities as
parents
. We note the decline in matric results and commit ourselves to
helping the Department of Education to achieve better results through our
involvement in our children's education
. Despite the decline there are learners who performed exceptionally
well and we congratulate them on their achievements and wish them well in
their future endeavours
. The influx of working class children to tertiary institutions
leading to stampedes in some instances has led to the death of a parent
earlier this year. We convey our sympathy to the family of that parent
. We are of the view that such incidents will be reduced when the
Northern Cape gets our own university and we call for the speeding up of the
process of establishing a fully fledged university in the province
4. INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
. We reaffirm our support for the people of Somalia and the
affiliates are going back to the members to raise funds and collect clothes
and food for donation at the end of March 2012
. The Situation in Somalia is a direct result of the effects of
climate change and we call on the workers to support initiatives that seek
to keep our environment clean
. We note the recent tight contest for the position of Chairperson
of the African Union and we hope that South Africa will mobilize enough
support to win the elections
For more information please contact the COSATU N Cape Provincial Secretary,
Anele Gxoyiya @ 082 829 1961
