Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 29 June 2016
Norman Mampane
Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin…
All Young workers are urged to participate in #YCLSA Election Youth Rally this weekend at Joburg City Hall!
‘Whoever sides with the revolutionary people in deed as well as in word is a revolutionary in the full sense’-Mao
Our side of the story
Wednesday 29 June 2016
‘Unity and Cohesion of COSATU to Advance the National Democratic Revolution’
COSATU Cares!
Contents
Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
Ø COSATU Eastern Cape holds Regional cluster Shopstewards Councils in seven areas
Ø SACP to picket at the SABC and at the ANN7 in support of workers and against the SABC's apartheid-style draconian censorship of news
South Africa
Ø Final nominees for Public Protector top job
Ø ANC welcomes ConCourt acceptance of Treasury Report
Ø Matric Intervention Camps
International-Workers’ Solidarity!
Ø Quality assurance of higher education well underway
Workers’ Parliament!-Back to Basics…
COSATU Eastern Cape holds Regional cluster Shopstewards Councils in seven areas
Theo Steele, COSATU National Organizing Secretary, 29 June 2016
The Congress of South African Trade Unions in Eastern Cape has scheduled Regional cluster Shopsteward Council in seven areas this week and early July 2016.
All Shopsteward Councils will be addressed by COSATU CEC members and the meetings, amongst others, will focus on the following aspects;
Ø Opening of Local Warrooms, with a detailed Programme of Action [PoA]
Ø Releasing of Volunteers and Shopstewards to enable Warrooms to function
Ø Resourcing Warrooms to address workers issues and also do election work
Ø Facilitate town-based meetings for workers
The Shopsteward Councils are scheduled as follows;
Ø Chris Hani Council to be held on the 29th June
Ø Alfred Nzo Council to be held on the 30th June
Ø OR Tambo Council to be held on the 30th June
Ø Sarah Baartman Council to be held on the 5th July
Ø Amathole Council to be held on the 5th July
Ø Buffalo City Metro Council to be held on the 6th July
Ø Nelson Mandela Metro Council to be held on the 7th July
All comrades are urged to contact the Provincial Office for all related logistical arrangements.
Looking forward for all workers to attend
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SACP to picket at the SABC and at the ANN7 in support of workers and against the SABC's apartheid-style draconian censorship of news
Lucian Segami, SACP Gauteng Provincial Spokesperson, 28 June 2016
The South African Communist Party (SACP) will next week picket in support of the workers who have been suspended at the SABC and dismissed at the ANN7.
The pickets will include a memorandum urging the SABC to reverse its apartheid-style draconian censorship of protest footages and to bring to an end the ongoing administration and governance decay prohibiting the public broadcaster to deliver on its public mandate responsibilities.
Last week the SABC suspended three workers and the Guptas owned ANN7 dismissed eight workers. Yesterday, 27 June, the ANN7 dismissed the ninth worker.
The SACP condemns in the strongest terms possible the contemptuous manner in which the Guptas treat workers in violation of the Basic Condition of Employment Act and the Labour Relations Act, among other labour laws.
The SACP fully backs the Congress of South African Trade Union’s demand for the ANN7 to reinstate the dismissed workers with immediate effect!
The SACP in Gauteng Province will in due course announce further details of the pickets after completing all due processes in terms of municipal by-laws and other regulations pertaining to public gatherings.
Failure by the SABC and the ANN7 to accede to the demands will be met with rolling mass action in the form of marches.
Issued by the SACP
- See more at: http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=5430#sthash.gVAvTY07.dpuf
South Africa
Final nominees for Public Protector top job
SAnews.gov.za, 28 June 2016
Cape Town – The Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee, established to facilitate the appointment of the new Public Protector, says 73 candidates were nominated for the top job.
Dr Makhosi Khoza, the Chairperson of the committee, said out of this list, seven other names that have done rounds in the various media platforms were declined after members of the public did not make formal written submissions.
Others were removed from the list after the committee was unable to get hold of the nominees, leaving 59 people on the pool of eligible for shortlisting.
“Seven candidates, including [Former President Nelson Mandela’s wife] Ms Graca Machel, [State prosecutor] Advocate Gerrie Nel and former Finance Minister Mr Nhlanhla Nene, are among those who declined their nominations.
“There were other verbal nominations, such as the former President Thabo Mbeki, former Deputy Chief Justice Moseneke and Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza.
“These nominations were not formally sent to the Committee and they have been subsequently declined,” she said.
Those that have made final list include former Asset Forfeiture Unit head Willie Hofmeyr, High Court Judge Sirajudien Desai and Deputy Public Protector Kevin Malunga.
She said this when announcing the final list of candidates that will be considered for the shortlisting process ahead of interviews in August.
The Committee’s chairperson said the names and CVs of candidates can be accessed via Parliament’s website and social media platforms.
She said when members of the public click on a person’s name on the Parliament’s website, they will be redirected to the candidate’s CV.
Members of the public are encouraged to scrutinise these names and CVs and send their comments or objections to the committee.
Khoza said the Committee will soon send a questionnaire to nominees, and the information received from the questionnaire will assist in the processes of shortlisting and during the interviews.
Candidates are expected to return the questionnaire by Friday, 8 July 2016.
“The Committee is very impressed with the calibre of nominees and applicants received and says this is an indication that South Africans thoroughly applied their minds in putting forward their nominees.
“Once the comments and objections process is closed, the Committee will commence with the short-listing process, the details of which will be communicated in due time.
“Interviews are still scheduled to take place after the August 2106 Local Government Elections,” she said.
Khoza said members of the public are encouraged to scrutinise the list of nominees and CVs and send their comments or objections to vram...@parliament.gov.za, for the attention of Mr Vhonani Ramaano.
The full list will be published on www.parliament.gov.za.
The deadline for comments or objections is Friday, 8 July 2016. – SAnews.gov.za
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ANC welcomes ConCourt acceptance of Treasury Report
Zizi Kodwa, National Spokesperson African National Congress, 28 June 2016
The African National Congress (ANC) has noted reports of the Constitutional Court's (ConCourt) acceptance of the National Treasury report filed to it and giving effect to the remedial action in the Public Protector's report on the security upgrades at the President's homestead in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal.
The ANC welcomes the ConCourt's acceptance of the Treasury report as this brings to finality the determination of the amount to be repaid by the President for non-security upgrades at his private residence. The Constitutional Court is the final arbiter on all matters before it.
We trust therefore that its decisions will continue to be respected by all.
Issued by
Zizi Kodwa
National Spokesperson
African National Congress
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Matric Intervention Camps
Raphasha Matome, SADTU Limpopo Provincial Secretary, 27 June 2016
SADTU Limpopo support and appreciation for matric Intervention camps by LDoE (Limpopo Department of Education) and all Stakeholders
SADTU hereby throws all its weight in support of efforts taken by LDoE (Limpopo Department of Education) and all Stakeholders by hosting Special Camps for matric learners of Vuwani Schools.
The Union further condemns attempts by some people who tried to jeopardise/disrupt the arrangement of picking-up such learners to the camps around Vyeboom areas.
We hold high in our esteem and praise parents who stood against attempts by some individuals who wanted to disrupt and stop the picking-up of learners into the busses taking learners to the camps. These are forces of darkness and backwardness, that they will stop at nothing to disrupt the education of our children. We call on all the communities to stand on their toes to fight back and protect the right to education for all our children.
SADTU will stay in support of teachers who put everything aside and prioritise the education of our children.
To us, this is a revolutionary task implemented in the right direction towards achieving our 2030 Vision of creating a learning nation.
Prepared by SADTU Limpopo Province Secretariat
International
Quality assurance of higher education well underway
Education International, 28 June 2016
The importance of student centred learning was emphasised by Education International to mark the completion of the first phase of activities of the Enhancing quality through innovative policy and practice project on 9 June.
The Enhancing quality through innovative policy and practice (EQUIP) project aims to support higher education stakeholders in meeting the challenges arising from the introduction of the 2015 version of the Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).
It has offered stakeholders three workshops and two webinars on quality assurance of higher education. The five events took place over the past six months and brought together representatives from higher education institutions and quality assurance agencies, as well as students and voices from the labour market to explore the consequences of the introduction of the ESG 2015.
The events addressed:
· Changes in external quality assurance as a result of the ESG 2015
· The implications of the new focus on learning and teaching in the ESG 2015
· Student-centred learning (SCL)
· Admission, progression, recognition and certification in view of the ESG 2015
· New modes of delivery, including e-learning and dual education programmes
· The enhancement of programmes by connecting internal and external quality assurance
Nine principles
In his presentation at the EQUIP final training workshop on the ESG 2015 on 7 June, the Chair of the Higher Education and Research Standing Committee of Education International/European Trade Union Committee on Education, Jens Vraa-Jensen, highlighted the nine basic principles of SCL from the teachers’ perspective:
1. SCL requires an ongoing reflexive process.
2. SCL does not have a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution.
3. Students have different learning styles.
4. Students have different needs and interests.
5. Choice is central to effective learning in SCL.
6. Students have different experiences and background knowledge.
7. Students should have control over their learning.
8. SCL is about ‘enabling’, not ‘telling’.
9. Learning needs cooperation between students and staff.
Stressing the implications of SCL, Vraa-Jensen noted that there should be no standardised tests or curricula, as well as no “one size fits all” approach to planning and study structure.
He insisted on respect for and protection of academic freedom – including the freedom to learn for the students – as well as necessary continuous professional development, and sufficient time given to teachers to prepare and evaluate classes.
He criticised the casualisation of employment in education, the deterioration in working conditions for many European teachers, and highlighted the difficulties in achieving achieve a work-life balance in current institutional contexts.
Conclusion
Vraa-Jensen concluded that:
· Successful higher education institutions in a period of austerity are inextricably linked to the creation of supportive academic work environments
· Permanent employment is a pre-condition for creating supportive work environments
· Academic staff need to be involved in meaningful decision making through collegial governance structures and their representative unions
· There is an urgent need for improving professional development for academic staff
· Autonomy in research remains the key factor explaining job satisfaction in otherwise difficult conditions
· Academics are not against accountability but the evaluation of teaching should be focused on improving teaching quality
· Unnecessary administrative burdens must be reduced and more administrative support is needed
· Goals and developments of the Bologna Process need to be better communicated towards the academic community
Next stage of EQUIP
The EQUIP project now moves on to the analysis and study of implementation challenges, good practices, and proposed approaches to solving these challenges. Several focus groups will be organised to this end in the spring and early autumn of 2017. All the information gathered through the project will contribute towards a study and recommendations to be published at the end of 2017.
A wide range of training material on the ESG 2015 is available here
A comparative analysis of the ESG 2005 and ESG 2015 can also be downloaded.
Announcements
Enabling COSATU Members to Tweet Effectively
NB: @cosatu2015 has been revamped and now it’s @COSATU2015_
Introduction to COSATU Official Twitter Accounts
Ø @COSATU2015_
Official tweets on current affairs, ideological disposition and for a Question & Answer platform
Ø @COSATU TODAY @_cosatu
Seconds- COSATU roving official tweets on events, quotable sound-bites on speeches/interviews, newsflash etc.
How to Register a COSATU Member Twitter Account
Ø Go Google and type twitter/sign up
Ø Versions of name/surname must be completed
Ø Choose a username/password and don’t forget them
Ø Update your profile; picture, bio
o Picture size should be 700k
o Bio-short narrative who you are
Ø Examples of Bio; Africa's largest Federation Official tweets, the home of the toiling classes across the world, with more than 2million membership...Amandla! Johannesburg, South Africa · http://www.cosatu.org.za
Ø Choose who to follow and type @COSATU2015_ and @COSATU TODAY @_cosatu
Ø And you’re skinning in the game through COSATU tweets
Communicating messages that matter is like artwork
Social Media generation is here and is unavoidable
‘Let’s skin in the game of COSATU Tweets’
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Norman Mampane (Shopsteward Editor)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
110 Jorissen Cnr Simmonds Street
Braamfontein
2017
P.O.Box 1019
Johannesburg
2000
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 339-4911 Direct 010 219-1348
E-Mail: mam...@cosatu.org.za
