COSATU Media Monitor 21 Nvemer 2008

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Congress of South African Trade Unions

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A digest of media reports - not the views of COSATU

Friday 21 November 2008

1 Workers’ issues

1.1 Education chief is ousted by workers

1.2 NUM calls for mining audit

1.3 Teacher unions call for public talks on capping of fees

1.4 Union wants rural grant for teachers

1.5 ‘Stop beating up inspectors’

2 ANC/Alliance

2.1 Mpshe out of order, says Popcru

2.2 Investigate Mpshe, says ANC

2.3 Election tops agenda as ANC leaders meet

2.4 Motlanthe enters COPE fray

2.5 Change name today or else ... ANC tells COPE

2.6 Macho and sexist

2.7 Analysts slam ANC 'hate speech'

2.8 Hustling in Limpopo

3 South Africa

3.1 Eskom to review tariff hike plan

4 Comment

4.1 Social justice is essential to solve crisis, unions insist

1 Workers’ issues

1.1 Education chief is ousted by workers

Eddie Botha, Investigations Editor, Dispatch, 21 November 2008

IN AN open revolt in the middle of the matric exams, about 400 angry education staff members forced the department’s most senior official out of her Zwelitsha head office.

The drama reached a climax on Wednesday, when superintendent-general Nomlamli Mahanjana was told by protesting employees to take all her belongings and leave.

Her departure followed allegations by a senior department source who said staff members accused Mahanjana of:

l Appointing junior staff members to senior positions;

l Ignoring conditions of service in her three-year term;

l Interfering with the department’s procurement processes; and

l Meddling in the cancellation of a R5million project management contract to oversee the building of schools.

Tensions have simmered in the provincial HQ since Monday when South African Democratic Teachers’ Union and National Health and Allied Workers’ Union members embarked on a go-slow.

A top-ranking department official, who watched the toyi-toying crowd surround Mahanjana in the parking area, told the Daily Dispatch the employees also warned her to stay away from the department’s Stirling offices in East London. “They said she will never come back,” said the official, who added that they stopped short of physically threatening Mahanjana.

Yesterday, MEC Mahlubandile Qwase placed Mahanjana on compulsory leave and later appointed acting deputy director- general Mthunywa Ngonzo in her place in an acting capacity.

Sadtu’s Mxolisi Dimaza said the complaints against Mahanjana were valid and the union stood by its members’ actions.

“We have seen this coming for a long time and have warned the department about it.”

Qwase later said in a statement the unions had raised issues with some members of senior management citing alleged corruption and nepotism, as well as issues of outstanding payments and salary level disparities. The MEC promised to address the workers’ complaints by December 3.

Qwase, however, condemned the way union members had ejected Mahanjana from her office. “This may create a wrong precedent in dealing with misunderstandings between management and labour.”

One of the allegations against Mahanjana revolves around the cancellation of a management contract awarded in February 2007 by the Public Works Department to PE-based management consultancy firm Bham Tayob Khan Matunda (BTKM).

Following the contract’s cancellation, and after new tenders were called, Mahanjana recommended to her Treasury counterpart Newman Kusi to override the recommendation by the Education Department’s evaluation committee to award the two-year R11m tender to the highest scoring bidder – locally- based Pink Storm Properties management consultancy.

Mahanjana said the contract should instead be given to LDM, the second bidder, because it was felt that Pink Storm did not have the capacity to complete the contract. However, the department recently decided not to renew LDM’s second year term.

This happened after the Daily Dispatch reported that BTKM had informed the Premier’s Office and Education Department in February that it intended suing “for damages flowing from the unlawful repudiation” of its contract with the department.

1.2 NUM calls for mining audit

IOL, 20 November 2008

The National Union of Mineworkers has called for the release of the presidential audit on health and safety in the mining industry.

They made this call following the second day of the union's National Executive Meeting in Vereeniging.

"The way the report has been held up gives suspicion that it may contain controversial safety details.

We believe that the audit will reveal the true status of safety standards in the various mining companies," said NUM general secretary Frans Baleni.

The audit report on health and safety in the mining industry was commissioned by former president Thabo Mbeki in October 2007, after 3200 workers were trapped underground at Harmony Gold's Elandsrand mine.

Two weeks back, Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica told the SA Chamber of Mines that the report had been completed and handed over to current president Kgalema Motlanthe.

She said at the time that the findings would be made public once Motlanthe had gone through the report.

But NUM believes the delay further contributes to slack safety standards in mines.

"The NEC noted with serious concern the escalating number of workers who perish in the line of duty.

Over 180 mineworkers have died so far and thousands others have been injured while thousands more suffer from respiratory diseases," Baleni said.

He also called on the department of labour to "beef up its inspectors to ensure that building sites adhered to proper safety measures".

Among other issues discussed by the NEC were gender equality in the mining sector, employment equity, and women and child abuse.

"The NEC reiterated its support for the 16 days of activism against women and child abuse and called on men to refrain from any deviant conduct of abuse," he said.

Allegations that the Congress of The People (COPE) was poaching NUM members affiliated with the ruling party by telling them that provident funds would have been paid to them on November 17 were also discussed.

"NUM condemns the conduct of Shikotas in recruiting its members on false pretences of pension fund withdrawals.

The NEC further reiterates its support for the ANC and that it will campaign to ensure a resounding victory in the elections," Baleni said.

The meeting is expected to come to a close on Friday. –Sapa

1.3 Teacher unions call for public talks on capping of fees

Rochelle de Kock, Herald, 20 November 2008

TEACHER unions are calling on the education department to engage in public discussion about the proposed capping of school fees.

This comes after reports of a leaked discussion document, drawn up by the education department, that considers the prospect of capping school fees.

SA Democratic Teachers‘ Union (Sadtu) Eastern Cape secretary Mxolisi Dimaza said the government had not discussed this “serious issue” with the union yet.

“We need to find a system that will work the best. The system needs to be evaluated before we can make any decisions. How will this affect the quality of education? And what if they let go of some teachers?” he asked.

National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA (Naptosa) Eastern Cape chief executive Peter Duminy said a debate was necessary to determine how to deliver affordable education to all.

“The cost of education is incredibly high. Most of the funds are spent on supplying teachers where there‘s a need. The capping will allow the department to use the funds on the school itself.” Duminy said capping could create a problem by supplying education that was of a poorer quality.

“Escalating fees is a cry from parents seeking quality education,” Duminy said.

Former Model C schools are funded by the government, although for some schools the money is barely enough to cover the schools‘ water or electricity bills.

Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools chairman Mike Randell said some schools‘ budgets were as high as R7-million a year. So if the R80000 they received from government was capped, it would have no major impact.

“If the school fees are dropped drastically, for some schools it could mean less maintenance and sports at the schools. The quality of the education could drop drastically.”

Randell said capping fees could be unlawful because it was school governing bodies and parental bodies that determined the fees. “Capping instils fear for some schools because it puts them under terrific strain,” he said.

This drastic shift in the way schools were funded could see many pupils moving to private schools in a bid to maintain a high quality of education.

Several government schools in Nelson Mandela Bay and surrounding areas declined to comment on the proposal, saying they had not been officially briefed by the department

St George‘s Preparatory school principal Jonathan Liss said: “The government should rather look at helping out schools that are struggling. If parents can and want to pay the fees, they should be allowed to.”

1.4 Union wants rural grant for teachers

Sne Masuku, Sowetan, 20 November 2008

The National Teachers Union wants the government to put pressure on Education Minister Naledi Pandor to force provinces to implement rural allowances for teachers.

The union (Natu) says it is almost a year since the decision was made but teachers
have not received any money.

Natu was responding to reports that pupils at a school in Eastern Cape refused to
write the physical science exam because they had not been taught the subject for
most of the year.

Natu vice president Anthony Pierce said the problem was not unique to Eastern Cape.

“There are many schools in other provinces that are also experiencing a shortage of teachers, especially in maths and science,” Allen Thompson said.

“Many teachers that have remained loyal to their schools will move to urban areas or, even worse, to the private sector.”

Thompson said this action had left schools with no choice but to employ people who have only passed Grade 12.

“We have raised this with the Federation of Trade Union on November 4 and Finance Minister Trevor Manuel was present. The response was that provinces were given their rural allowances.

“We are worried that when schools re-open more schools in rural areas will have
bigger shortages.

“There are schools where teachers go to work barefoot because they have to cross a
river. Which qualified teacher would want to work under such conditions and not be compensated?” he asked.

In the January 2008 Gazette R500 million was set aside for rural allowances, with the beneficiaries being public servants who have proof of working under difficult conditions.

Thompson said at a number of meetings with national education teams, unions asked about the allowances. They were told that provincial education departments had been given the money, he said.

“We want to know why the provinces are not implementing the incentives if they
already have the money?” he asked.

National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa’s president Henry Hendricks said they had not received any complaints of anyone not receiving allowances.

1.5 ‘Stop beating up inspectors’

Mary Papayya, Sowetan, 20 November 2008

Worker union Cosatu in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday expressed concern over the increased number of assaults on labour inspectors by employers.

Union spokesman Thulani Gabela called on Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlane
to investigate the conduct of both the regional and provincial directorate of labour in the matter.

“We want to know why nothing is being done to ensure that why the department of labour’s legal services department is not not giving legal and trauma support to the
inspectors or bringing the employers to book.”

In October a labour inspector was severely beaten by the owners of a Transport company in Pietermaritzburg.

In another incident an official was severely beaten attacked at a Ladysmith printing firm. where he was conducting a follow-up inspection. He was beaten and suffered a cut on the face. The assault left him with a swollen lump on his head and cracked the ribs, while his jacket and shirt were torn.

Gabela said in the Pietermaritzburg incident the employer had allegedly burnt an
employee with a chemical.

“The inspectors wanted to obtain various forms to be completed by the employer as part of the report of a workplace accident and to register the company in terms of the labour legislation.”

Labour inspectors now feared inspecting workplaces because of the assaults, Gabela said, and lack of support.

In a statement Mdladlana condemned the violent attacks and warned that no one was above the law.

“Those found to be guilty of such an offence will be dealt with with the full might of
the inspectorate,” Mdladlana said. “An inspector has the power to visit any employer at any time to conduct inspections.

“Anyone who obstructs or hinders an inspector is breaking the law.”

Mdladlana said since both incidents had been reported to police, the names of the companies and their owners were being withheld.

The department of labour had opened an obstruction case in terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act against the employer and a criminal charge had also been laid for the assault of the inspector, he said.

2 ANC/Alliance

2.1 Mpshe out of order, says Popcru

IOL, 19 November 2008

National Director of Public Prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe was making a buffoon of himself by creating the impression that ANC President Jacob Zuma's trial was nothing but political persecution, Popcru said on Wednesday.

In a statement, Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union spokesperson Benzai Ka-Soko said Mpshe was committing a wide range of blunders.

"Amongst a plethora of those blunders is his controversially suspicious recharging of Mr Jacob Zuma immediately after the latter was elevated to the podium of president of the ruling party."

Ka-Soko said this had created the impression that Zuma's trial was nothing but political persecution.

"He knows very well that the dissolution of the Directorate of Special Operations (The Scorpions) has now, surely and effectively, become a fait accompli," he said.

The parliamentary processes of the promulgation of the dissolution and subsequent establishment of the new unit were almost complete.

Ka-Soko said it was all buffoonery of Mpshe to use a recent conference of the African Prosecutors' Association at Emperors' Palace as a platform to launch his political tirade against the ruling party.

The reasons for the dissolution were clearly known and that fact that delegates from Botswana, Namibia, Malawi and Mozambique had expressed their concerns about it was immaterial.

This was because political conditions in South Africa were fundamentally different from those countries, said Ka-Soko.

"Mpshe knows very well that one of the problems with the DSO was its baggage of the old-order human resources whose activities were a serious concern to the majority of people in this country."

He also knew there were concerns that the unit was playing a partisan political role as manifested through the Browse Mole Report and its intelligence-gathering role, said Ka-Soko.

"Their notorious conduct of leaking information about individuals before formally charging them was and still is unprofessional and generally out of order to say the least."

He said the list of reasons for the dissolution of the Scorpions was endless and it was staunchly believed that the new police's Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation would manage to produce results in terms of crime prevention. – Sapa

2.2 Investigate Mpshe, says ANC

IOL, 20 November 2008

Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Mokotedi Mpshe should be investigated for violating ANC president Jacob Zuma's rights, the party said on Thursday.

Mpshe and the NPA should be investigated for unlawful conduct and for violating Zuma's constitutional rights, ANC treasurer general Mathews Phosa wrote in a letter addressed to the Public Protector.

"We are aggrieved by the unconstitutional, unprofessional and unlawful conduct of the NDPP director Mokotedi Mpshe."

The NPA and Mpshe had subjected Zuma to "the torture of public condemnation and loss of reputation".

"We therefore request that the Public Protector investigate and make findings that the NPA's discriminatory selection of Zuma for prosecution, repeated violation of his fair trial rights... have been unlawful, invidious or in bad faith," Phosa wrote.

Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Chris Nicholson's judgement also featured prominently in the letter.

In September Nicholson ruled that the NPA's decision to recharge Zuma with corruption was invalid.

Phosa also commented on remarks made by Mpshe during an interview with City Press newspaper on Sunday.

"We contend that Mpshe's latest statements reflect a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct in which inflammatory press releases, media interviews and false... misleading statements are often used to prejudice the rights of president Zuma," Phosa wrote.

In the interview Mpshe said he was adamant that "Nicholson was wrong. Completely wrong".

This statement, according to Phosa "disregarded any court rulings".

"Nothing can undermine the rule of law more than a prosecutor's admission that its decisions to prosecute would be arrived at or based on political considerations... and that Judge Nicholson's ruling will be disregarded as wrong even 14 years from now," Phosa continued.

Phosa also asked the Public Protector to consider a ruling he made in 2004, indicating that the NPA's prosecution had violated Zuma's rights.- SAPA

2.3 Election tops agenda as ANC leaders meet

Christelle Terreblanche, 21 November 2008

Countering threat of Cope at polls a major concern

Damned if they do, damned if they don't. This more or less sums up the predicament the ANC faces when it deliberates over the next three days on whether to call early elections to counter the threat that the Congress of the People (Cope) may present at the polls.

But early elections could also see the party being tripped up by its own disarray in branches and regions across the country.

The ANC's top decision-making body between conferences meets today for the first time since September, when it was decided that former president Thabo Mbeki should step down.

The 86-strong body will this weekend spend time picking over the consequences that move has unleashed: the resignation of cabinet ministers and deputies and the emergence of Cope - which ANC president Jacob Zuma has conceded could pose a "serious challenge" to the ruling party.

He told shop stewards in Polokwane yesterday: "Why do I say the challenge is serious? Because we have (individuals) who have been members, singing the same songs and reading from the same page, but they are now gone.

"Someone who knows every corner of the house is now outside the house," he said.

ANC spokesperson Brian Sokutu would say only that the NEC's three-day meeting would discuss the challenges confronting the organisation - but discussing the challenge posed by the breakaway party being formed by Mosiuoa Lekota and Mbhazima Shilowa will undoubtedly be a major focus.

Insiders have hinted that time will also be spent assessing top-level efforts to unite the party.

There have been tensions around how to deal with a steady stream of defections to Cope, with Zuma urging dissidents to resign, while his party deputy, President Kgalema Motlanthe, and ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe initially took a more conciliatory approach.

It is also understood that there will be discussion about Zuma's remarks on the campaign trail: advocating that truant learners and teenage mothers be sent off to faraway schools to complete their education. Sources have suggested that Zuma will be told that his comments don't carry the stamp of a collective mandate.

Events of the past two months have opened up unprecedented dilemmas for the ANC. The NEC is likely to review and endorse its legal steps taken to prevent Cope from using its name, which it believes is an integral part of the ANC's Freedom Charter legacy.

The legal wrangle could tie Cope up and make it difficult for it to contest by-elections set for December 10, unless its candidates go up as independents.

Cope hopes to field candidates in up to 55 by-elections in the Western and Northern Cape and the Free State.

The ANC has instructed its branches to conclude their lists for candidates for deployment after next year's elections this month. Usually a fraught process, it now carries the additional risk of excluded ANC members deciding to take their chances with Cope.

Defections by ANC leaders in provinces such as the Western and Eastern Cape have caused instability.

An Eastern Cape provincial general council called for December 5 by the ANC's leagues - women, veterans and the youth - will debate disbanding the entire provincial ANC, which pre-Polokwane pushed for a third term for Mbeki.

2.4 Motlanthe enters COPE fray

Xolani Mbanjwa, Pretoria News, 21 November 2008

President Kgalema Motlanthe has entered the fray in the tug-of-war between the ANC and the breakaway Congress of the People (COPE), telling an audience at Fort Hare University in the Eastern Cape that the idea for the name came from ANC stalwart, ZK Matthews.

Delivering the ZK Matthews memorial lecture yesterday, Motlanthe said: "As president of the Cape Provincial ANC, he (Matthews) planted the idea of the Congress of the People in his presidential address to the ANC conference".

His remark came as attorneys acting for COPE told the ANC the party had no claim to the name and would challenge its efforts to prevent Cope from using it in court.

COPE was given until Thursday to cease using the name and destroy materials carrying it and its logo of a congress wheel, in terms of a letter of demand issued by the ANC. But COPE attorney Deon Bouwer told Independent Newspapers the party - to be launched on December 16 - was standing firm.

ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte said on Thursday the party would go ahead with a High Court application for an urgent interdict to force Cope to stop using the name, in order to "preserve" the ANC's history and "prevent the landmark Congress of the People of 1955 being used to advance other people's political aspirations".

However, Bouwer told Independent Newspapers the historic event did not belong to the ANC.

"When you look at the ANC's historical documents on their website there is no instance where they claim the name Congress of the People.

"That is a historic event and is not the sole property of the ANC," said Bouwer.

In a letter to the ANC on behalf of COPE, Bouwer questioned why the ANC wanted to go to court when the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was already engaged in examining COPE's application to register as a political party.

Chris Job, a patent and trademark attorney acting for the ANC, said COPE's refusal to accede to the ANC's demand made high court action "inevitable".

"We will apply for an urgent interdict at the Pretoria High Court as early as next week," he said. We want to have a court hearing as soon as possible. We want the hearing to be heard before December 16.

"We want to move urgently on this matter," Job said.

The ANC would object to COPE's registration as a company and its applications to register its trademark and as a political party, he said.

Bouwer said this was premature, "because the IEC and the registrar of trademarks have not completed their processes". "The ANC should have waited to object to the IEC and the registrar of trademarks. Why did they have to go to court?

"Although COPE has registered as a company with (the companies' register) Cipro, the ANC has a year in which they can still object to it.

"The process to register a trademark takes up to two years and... the registrar of companies can still order COPE to use another name if a third party objects in the next 12 months," said Bouwer.

He said the ANC should follow the rules and lodge its complaints with the IEC, and the registrars of companies and trademarks.

"We are saying to the ANC: don't suppress us, but follow the rules. We have nothing against objections but this (squabble over the name) is not an urgent matter for the court.

"I would be surprised if the court saw this matter as urgent, because the IEC and relevant bodies are dealing with the applications," Bouwer.

Meanwhile, the Pretoria High Court on Thursday postponed indefinitely the ANC's earlier application for an interdict to prevent the fledgling party using the name SA National Congress (SANC), brought on the eve of the national convention where it was decided to form a new party.

Bouwer questioned why it had taken the ANC almost two weeks to act over COPE's name, when it had received wide publicity in the meantime.

He has told the ANC that COPE will seek a punitive costs order against it if it decides to go ahead with the urgent action and loses the case.

He denied the name would cause confusion among voters, as the ANC has claimed - and which is something the IEC will have to decide on.

2.5 Change name today or else ... ANC tells COPE

Anna Majavu and Sapa, Sowetan, 21 November 2008

The ANC has given the Congress of the People until today to change its name or face legal action but COPE said yesterday it would not change its name in response to legal threats.

COPE’s attorney, Deon Bouwer, said: “The ANC has never used the phrase ‘congress of the people’ as a trademark.”

Bouwer also denied that the ANC was, “in many political circles and amongst its supporters” commonly referred to as the Congress of the People.

ANC spokesman Jessie Duarte said: “The ANC will seek an urgent interdict to prevent the use of this name.

“The ANC has a responsibility to prevent the landmark Congress of the People of 1955 being used to advance other people’s political aspirations.”

Meanwhile, Independent Democrats’ deputy president Simon Grindrod defected to the COPE yesterday afternoon.

“We need to break the patterns of voting along the lines of race,” he told Sowetan .

“The ID is diverse racially. I had no problem with the ID’s philosophy, but Cope has a very real prospect of beating the ANC at next year’s elections, and sadly, the ID does not.”

Grindrod said he had discussed policy with the party’s interim leadership.

“I can assure you, they’re not offensive to any moderate-thinking South African who believes in the future of their country.”

Cope executive member Phillip Dexter, who along with Cope heavyweights Mluleki George and Leonard Ramatlakane, flanked Grindrod at the media conference, said Cope was working “flat out” to finalise draft policy documents. Drafts on education and agriculture were already complete.

ID leader Patricia de Lille said she was “surprised and disappointed by Grindrod’s resignation”.

2.6 Macho and sexist

Anna Majavu, Sowetan, 21 November 2008

Loudmouth Malema not kingmaker and must be disciplined – Asmal

ANC stalwart Kader Asmal has lambasted the ANC leadership for failing to act against ANC youth league leader Julius Malema.

He also accused the new ANC leadership of being part of the elite but trying to project itself as pro-poor.

“What is this pro-poor? Look at the composition of the NEC – there are millionaires, billionaires. What is the pro-poor policy?” he asked.

Asmal also described a recent statement by ANC president Jacob Zuma, about separating pregnant girls from their babies and sending them to faraway schools, as “macho and sexist”.

“What political parties who can’t handle fundamental issues do is become macho,” Asmal said. “So we will attack pregnant young girls at school rather than the men who impregnate them.”

Speaking to Sowetan from his hospital bed in Cape Town, Asmal said Malema was a member of the ANC national executive committee and national working committee.

He therefore “speaks for the ANC unless he is clearly repudiated and there is no evidence yet that he is being repudiated”.

“I am surprised that both the NEC and national working committee are not reining him in. And rein in means, in the end, take disciplinary action,” Asmal said.

The former ANC NEC member and minister said that by keeping quiet when Malema made his controversial statements, the party leadership was an accomplice in his errant behaviour.

“To attack a premier in the presence of the president of the ANC, what kind of arrogance is that? Silence there means complicity,” he said.

Asmal also hit out at the ANCYL Gauteng leader Jacob Kawe, who told a Swapo rally in Windhoek last month that opposition parties were cockroaches who should be destroyed.

He said his statement “is redolent [stinking] of genocide”.

“When you call people cockroaches, dead snakes or dangerous snakes, you are putting guns in peoples’ hands to kill or to destroy movements,” he said.

“It is very important that true members of the ANC reject these extraordinary statements.

“We must give up the idea that people like him [Malema] are kingmakers. There is no doubt that there are elements in the NEC who depend on the Young Communist League, ANCYL and other tendencies, to separate themselves from the others.

“Then, when the whole question of the list process takes place, you seem to be more vociferous, but being vociferous should never be associated with political

insight or acumen.”

Asmal also did not have kind words for ANC national executive members Cyril Ramaphosa and Trevor Manuel.

They recently said even Nelson Mandela was difficult as a youth leader.

“It is gruesome to compare Malema with Nelson Mandela because [Mandela] never said you had to kill your opponents.”

Asmal also hit out at what he called “the militarisation of language” within the ANC.

“We have ‘kill, kill’ and ‘meet fire with fire’ as the new minister of safety and security [Nathi Mthethwa] said twice now.”

Asmal warned that Malema’s inflammatory statement last month that “under Mbeki the resources of the country were distributed to certain individuals and a certain tribe”, was “introducing tribalism for the first time in the ANC”.

“I mean Hitler arose in Germany by using populist so-called heroic language, the fascists do that, right? Stalin did that too, right? Stalin played tribalism, and it is very dangerous.

“Silence here is very dangerous.”

Malema has been the subject of bad publicity since his controversial statement last year that the ANC youth was prepared “to kill for Zuma”.

Earlier this week the ANC NWC released a statement accusing the media of running a campaign to belittle Malema.

But Asmal said the NWC was wrong to blame the media for Malema’s bad publicity woes.

“Idiotic populists depend on the oxygen of publicity.

“The more outrageous the statement the more publicity you get, which is a shame.”

He said it was “dangerous” for the ANC to allow “someone like Julius Malema to set the intellectual tone”.

Former president Thabo Mbeki’s climate “of intellectual intimidation” was totally wrong but the kind of statements being made by ANC leaders these days were “much worse”.

Asmal said he had no intention of leaving the ANC.

“There is no other movement for me to join,” he said.

2.7 Analysts slam ANC 'hate speech'

Xolani Mbanjwa, Pretoria News, 20 November 2008

Political analysts say that both the ruling party and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) have not condemned "hate speech" and political intolerance strongly enough.

They've warned that if it isn't nipped in the bud, political intolerance could erupt into full-blown violence - and seriously damage South Africa's international reputation.

South Africa's apartheid history and current high rate of violent crime - including the recent spate of xenophobic attacks - provide ready conditions for things to get out of control, the analysts said.

However, they have also pointed out that levels of political violence are far lower than they were in the past.

Recent clashes between ANC supporters and those backing the fledgling Congress of the People (COPE) have brought the issue into sharp focus, with accusations and counter-accusations flying.

Somadoda Fikeni, chairperson of the Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape, said: "We are seeing things which haven't been seen in South African politics, particularly in the ANC, where two provincial congresses and the ANC Youth League conference were disrupted by their own members.

"This (political intolerance) is a continuation of those divisions.

"It is a worry because we are a violent country," said Fikeni.

He said South Africa had "rested on its laurels" since the transition to a democracy in 1994, believing that "democracy would be on auto-pilot and drive itself".

"But what we see now is a political leadership that has not condemned these actions continuously as it should and you cannot place blame on a particular political organisation," said Fikeni.

However, he said the ANC was at fault for not placing the need to heal rifts within it "above factional interests".

"There is psychological warfare in the fights between the ANC and the new party.

"One group believes democracy will be better served in a new opposition, another group is waiting to see if they still have a political career in the ANC before they jump ship, while others would rather remain in the ANC and fight for what they believe in," said Fikeni.

Political analyst Professor Roger Southall said "diminishing" levels of political tolerance present a danger in the run-up to the elections.

"It's not the level we had hoped for. It's not there. It is interesting that after the 1994 elections, the assumption was that the political situation in South Africa was normalising democratically," said Southall. Now, he said, there was an increased danger of political violence because of a contest for access to financial resources and influence.

"This struggle is seen as offering access to resources and that is why we see the danger of areas, fiefdoms and territories, where political parties are trying to protect their constituencies".

Southall was critical of the "inadequate" condemnation of hate speech and intolerance by political leaders and the Independent Electoral Commission.

He was also critical of ANC president Jacob Zuma for describing ANC defectors to COPE as "snakes".

Other prominent ANC leaders have labelled supporters of the new party "dogs" and "cockroaches".

"The problem is that the ruling party is making different statements. They are not talking in one voice. We have good guys and bully boys, with leaders like Pallo Jordan and President Kgalema Motlanthe talking rationally, while no one is dealing with statements by (ANC Youth League president) Julius Malema. That is dangerous.

"The ANC should be saying we are going to win this election and there is nothing we should fear from the new party.

"They should be reining in the members who have disrupted the meetings of the new party," said Southall.

But ANC spokesperson, Jessie Duarte, said it was "unfair" to only point fingers at the ANC. She said COPE was responsible for inciting ANC members.

Duarte said that since the Orange Farm incident where ANC supporters chanted "Kill Lekota, Kill Shilowa" the ANC had condemned the disruption of meetings - but she said COPE supporters were guilty of provoking ANC members.

"In Philippi in Cape Town their members sent SMSs to our members inviting them to the meeting.

"They burned ANC T-shirts, flags and membership cards and no one said anything about how inflammatory is that.

"But we let that pass (though) that was a serious omission by you (media). It was appallingly shocking that that was never mentioned.

"In spite of that, the ANC is acting against its cadres who are disrupting these meetings," said Duarte, who added that anyone who had proof that ANC members were involved in disrupting meetings should bring such to ANC offices.

"Where we've seen our members disrupting these meetings we are following up to rein them in.

"But to blame the ANC without evidence is unacceptable," said Duarte.

COPE interim chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota said the ANC was to blame for political intolerance.

"The ANC wants it and the ANC likes it," said Lekota.

He defended his supporters, saying what happened in Philippi had not been repeated after COPE condemned it, but said the ANC had disrupted seven Cope meetings in the past few weeks.

"Where is Jacob Zuma when it comes to condemning these acts? I don't see him.

"I don't hear him calling people to order.

"At public meetings, you don't teach your members to call us poisonous snakes, because you are characterising us as things to be destroyed.

"That hate speech encourages its (ANC) members to continue," said Lekota.

2.8 Hustling in Limpopo

Matuma Letsoalo, Mail & Guardian, 21 November 2008

African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma used his election campaign in Limpopo this week to down play the crisis engulfing the organisation, repeating to anyone who cared to listen that his party will rule until Jesus Christ returns.

Amid fears that the ANC is slowly losing control in one of its traditional strongholds Zuma used his campaign to send a strong message to his detractors and the soon-to-be-launched splinter party, the Congress of the People (Cope), that the ANC still commands support in the poverty-stricken province.

He labelled those resigning from the ANC to join Cope, which is led by former Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota as "sell-outs and dangerous snakes".

Accompanied by senior party leaders, including ANC treasurer Mathews Phosa, ANC provincial chairman in Limpopo Cassel Mathale, former Limpopo premier Ngoako Ramathlodi and former Gauteng Premier Mathole Motshekga, the ANC president was in full election campaign mode.

Zuma's first stop was at Motlhotlo village, near Mokopane, where community members complained about the forced removals by Anglo Platinum, which is mining in the area, and accused the company of reneging on promises of compensation.

Community members accused ANC councillors of colluding with Anglo Platinum and told Zuma that unless the problem was resolved they would not vote for the ANC. Zuma promised he would ask Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica to intervene.

Throughout his two-day tour of the province, Zuma boasted of the ANC's achievements in the past 14 years, claiming it was the only party that cared about the plight of the poor.

He promised that an incoming administration under his leadership would increase pensioners' monthly grants and reduce levels of poverty and unemployment.

Although the ANC's alliance partners have blamed its macro-economic policies for the high level of unemployment, Zuma assured business leaders at a gala dinner on Tuesday that his party has no intention of changing its economic strategy.

Limpopo businessman Peter Verveen said that although Zuma's assurances were important, he had expected him to give the business community some clarity about the schism within the ANC.

"I would have liked him to say how the breakaway will impact on business... The decision [to fire former president Thabo Mbeki] attracted a lot of reaction from all sectors of society and caused a huge amount of uncertainty. We wanted him to reassure us on those uncertainties. We wanted more clarity about his visit to the province. How sure are we that the ANC will be able to rule us tomorrow? This must be part of the campaign," said Verveen, adding that he was unhappy that the ANC had not asked Limpopo Premier Sello Moloto to address the gala dinner.

"What is disturbing for me is that the premier did not speak. It would have been proper that he was afforded an opportunity to speak as the first citizen of the province. The premier is still a member of the ANC. The fact that he did not speak shows that the ANC has not resolved the divisions within the party," said Verveen.

Moloto fell out of favour with Zuma after he supported Mbeki's bid for re-election as ANC president last year.

The premier cut a lonely figure at a rally at the University of Limpopo, where Zuma addressed thousands of students. He walked away from the podium after Zuma started singing his trademark song, Umshini Wami, while Zuma's lieutenants danced along.

3 South Africa

3.1 Eskom to review tariff hike plan

Fin24, 20 November 2008

South Africa's state-owned utility Eskom will review its plan to raise tariffs on power in light of the global financial turmoil, the company's spokesperson said on Thursday.

Eskom, which provides 95% of South Africa's power, said it would raise tariffs as part of its efforts to raise money for its R343bn new power investment programme.

"The recent international financial and economic developments have necessitated that we review our assumptions that underpin the tariff application," spokesperson Fani Zulu said in an emailed statement.

He did not elaborate on what the review would entail.

South Africa's power regulator last approved a total 27% tariff hike in June this year, short of a 53% hike requested by Eskom.

"The application will be submitted once the review has been completed. This will happen in the coming weeks," Zulu said.

Another Eskom official said last week that consumers were strained already on the back of the global economic crisis, adding the utility might not be able to get through the increases it had hoped for.

Eskom is battling to meet demand in Africa's biggest economy. It has been rationing electricity since January, when the national grid nearly collapsed, leading to a five-day shut-down of mines in the world's biggest producer of platinum and second-largest miner of gold. - Reuters

4 Comment

4.1 Social justice is essential to solve crisis, unions insist

Terry Bell, Business Report, 21 November 2008

It's back to the future as far as global trade unions are concerned - and with very good reason. The unions, internationally, are now demanding a seat at all tables where discussions will be held and decisions made about the economic future of the planet and, in particular, the way out of the current crisis. They want to ensure that the majority of the world's population is not again held hostage by the big, rich, powerful and greedy.

That is what happened after World War 2. Then the powerful industrialised nations of the North turned their backs on the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, the British economist whose ideas had influenced policies that helped provide alleviation from the economic collapse of the 1930s.

As the war raged, Keynes foresaw that the big, rich and powerful might again become dominant to the detriment of the majority, especially in the developing world. His fears were realised.

Instead of a global banking system geared to provide incentives for equitable trade and the redistribution of wealth, which Keynes proposed, the world was presented - courtesy of the big and powerful - with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

These institutions, particularly the IMF, ensured that the poor became subject to renewed manipulations by the rich. And so was laid the foundation for the economic cancer of deregulation and privatisation, for the gods of ever-increasing profits and never-ending growth.

The fundamental flaw in this system, and the extent of the horrors it was capable of causing, was largely masked during the years of booming global growth. This situation seduced many unions into a belief that their sole role was to ensure a bigger slice of an ever-expanding pie for their members.

Such illusions have now been shattered, with the International Labour Organisation this month predicting a surge in global unemployment from 190 million to 210 million by next year. According to these estimates, the numbers of the working poor - those people living on less than $2 (about R20) a day - will also increase by 100 million, with 40 million of these people surviving on less than $1 a day.

Once again, most of the suffering will occur in the developing world, but Europe and the US are not immune. There are daily horror stories in the European media about the scale of retrenchments and the growing unemployment rate, although this is still a far cry from South Africa's official rate of more than 23 percent.

France and Germany now have official unemployment rates approaching double figures. However, as most pundits note, these are still early days in what is probably the greatest financial crisis in history.

This is why the international trade union movement has demanded that "government leaders and central bankers must not repeat the calamity of the 1930s"; that they "must put in place a co-ordinated recovery plan targeted at stimulating the real economy nationally and globally".

Labour's proposals invoke the unemployment benefit schemes and public works programmes associated with Keynes, insisting that demand should dictate supply in an equitably regulated environment.

This is the thrust of the Washington declaration of the global unions, issued to coincide with last weekend's Group of 20 meeting. It warns: "History has shown that crises on this scale lead to social and political instability with unpredictable and often tragic results."

It is to history that many others are looking for answers: German booksellers report that sales of the 19th century writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels have risen 300 percent in recent months.

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