Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 21 June 2022 #CosatuGenderConf2022

[Norman Mampane]

COSATU TODAY
#2022YearofWorkersParliament
#COSATU National Gender Inaugural Conference underway at Kievietskroon around Pretoria
#GenderStruggle
#InternalDemocracy
#WorkerControl #EndChildLabour
#Back2Basics
#JoinCOSATUNow
#ClassConsciousness
Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin
‘Whoever sides with the revolutionary people in deed as well as in word is a revolutionary in the full sense’-Maoo

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Our side of the story
Tuesday, 21 June 2022

‘Deepen the Back to Basics Campaign, Consolidate the Struggle for the NDR and Advance the Struggle for Socialism’
All workers urged to take Covid19 vaccine jabs!
Organize at every workplace and demand Personal Protective Equipment Now!
Defend Jobs Now!
Join COSATU NOW!

Contents

* Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!

* COSATU National Gender Inaugural Conference Program
* COSATU Gauteng supports POPCRU picket at SAPS headquarters in Pretoria
* POPCRU to picket at the SAPS HQ over trainees’ conditions
* Cosatu Western Cape is shocked by another accident that led to the injury of 35 Farm Workers on the R45 near Klapmuts

* South Africa

* COSATU President’s Opening Address: COSATU National Gender Conference
* Remarks by the Minister Of Human Settlements, Mmamoloko Kubayi, COSATU Inaugural Gender Conference, Tshwane, 20 June 2022
* COSATU Free State taken aback by the AG report on FS municipalities<http://mediadon.co.za/2022/06/20/cosatu-free-state-taken-aback-by-the-ag-report-on-fs-municipalities/>

* International-Workers’ Solidarity!

Ø App promotes migrant workers’ rights in Mauritius
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
COSATU National Gender Inaugural Conference Program
20-22 June 2022
DAY 1: MONDAY 20 June 2022 2nd Deputy President – Louisa Thipe
Time
Item
Responsible Person
08h00 -10h00
Delegates Arrival and Registration
All
10h00 – 10h05
Opening & Welcome
Louisa Thipe
COSATU 2nd Deputy President
10h05- 10h10
Singing of Nkosi Sikelel’ Africa
ALL
10h10 – 10h15
Presentation & Adoption of Credentials/Apologies
Deputy General Secretary
10h15– 10h30
Conference Opening Address
Zingiswa Losi
COSATU President
10h30 - 10h40
Programme outline and Adoption
Freda Oosthuysen
10h40- 10h45
Introduction and Acknowledgement of Guests and Institutions present
National Gender Coordinator

Messages of support by Alliance Structures
10h45 – 11h00
SACP
ANC

11h00-11h30
Outlining of the nominations and elections processes
Bheki Ntshalintshali
11h30-11h50
Women Empowerment, Gender Equality, Gender Based Violence and Femicide as a National Question
Maite Nkoana-Mashabane
Women,Youth and Person with Disabilities-
Ministry in the Presidency

National Gender Inaugural Conference Proposed Program
20-22 June 2022
DAY 1: MONDAY 20 June 2022 - Continues
Time
Item
Responsible Person
11h50-12h10
Employment Equity Commission (EEC)

* Status of women and transformation in the world of work.
Ms T. Kabinde
EEC – Chairperson
12h10-12h30
HEALTH BREAK

12h30-12h45
Commission for Gender Equality (CGE)

* Reflection on private and public sector: promotion of Gender Equality in the Workplace
Tamara Mathebula
CGE Chairperson
12h45-13h30
COSATU Draft Mid Term Vision Framework document

* Tackle challenges facing workers and the labour movement in a new form including new concepts of “The World of Work
Zola Saphetha
COSATU CEC
13h30-14h30
LUNCH

14h30-15h00
Addressing young women’s access to Decent Work, Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights

* The barriers young women face to economic security and leadership
Caroline Ntaopane
ActionAids S.A. Chapter
15h00-15h30
Men Care 50/50 Program

* Attitudes and Behavioural change men participating in Unpaid Care Work
Vusi Cebekhulu
Sonke Gender Justice
15h30-16h00
Amended Legislative Framework on GBVF
John Jeffrey
Deputy Minister of Justice

DAY 1: MONDAY 20 June 2022 - Continues
Time
Item
Responsible Person
16h00-16h15
Health Break

16h15-16h35
Addressing the issues of mainstreaming vulnerable sectors on economic empowerment, affordability, and access to Decent Human Settlement
Ms Mmamoloko Kubayi
Minister of Human Settlement
16h35- 17h00
Shifting the Economic Power – Leave No One Behind

* Strengthen engagement of women in the Economy
Adv. Brenda Madumise
Wise4Africa
17h00
Conference Day One Adjourned

* Delegates depart – DINNER at the HOTELS booked by AFFILIATES


Day Two: TUESDAY 21 June 2022 President – Zingiswa Losi
Time
Item
Responsible person
09h00-10h00


NGCC Activity Report

Draft COSATU 35-yr Gender Review Draft report

* Identify areas for development, policy reform and Bargaining Agenda for Gender (BAG)
National gender coordinator

Liesl Orr – NALEDI Research Institute
Senior Researcher focusing on Gender and Organisational Renewal
10h00-10h30
Commission for Conciliation,Mediation & Arbitration(CCMA)

* Current Statistical cases on CCMA and Labour Court on SH, Violence & Harassment and its precedencies
Ms. Boitumelo Makoena
Senior Commissioner for Collective Bargaining
10h30-11h00
International Labour Organisation (ILO)

* Global Experiences on the Implementation of ILO C190/R206 challenges and good practices versus National Legislations
Joni Musabayana
ILO DWT-Pretoria Director
11h00-11h30
HEALTH BREAK

11h30-12h00


The Rights to Equality, Inclusivity, Diversity: a fight against Discrimination and Stigma on Vulnerable groups that are proportionately affected by all Forms of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work.


Masingita Masunguta
ABOVERNormal

►Maggie Mmekwa
DENOSA Tshwane Gender Regional Secretary
► Mpho Buntse
Communication and Project Associate
Access Chapter 2 – LGBTIQ+
►Simphiwe Mabhele
ILO HIV and AIDS Technical Specialist
12h00-12h30


Making Decent Work A Reality: Violence Free Workplaces & World of Work
Mike Shingange – 1st Deputy President

► Boitumelo Moloi
Deputy Minister of Employment & Labour (DEL)
►Dr. Chana Pilane-Majeke
Deputy Minister Public Services & Admin.
►Lisa Seftel
NEDLAC Executive Director

Day Two: TUESDAY 21 June 2022
Time
Item
Responsible person
13h30-13h30
LUNCH

13h30-14h30
Nomination information continues
Election Team
14h30-14h45
Outlining of Commissions
NGCC member
14h45-18h00
Commissions

* Organisational Developments
* Mainstreaming Gender Issues through Collective Bargaining, Decent Work for All
* World of Work Free from Violence and Harassment
* Gender transformative just transition and Climate Change
* Building Gender and Working -Class consciousness & Political Development

All participants
18h00
Conference Adjourned


Day Three: WEDNESDAY 22 June 2022 Freda Oosthuizen- Treasurer
Time
Item
Responsible person
09h00- 12h00

Commission Report Backs
Commission Chairs and Scribes
12h00-12h30
Announcements of Elected National GOB’s
Election Team
12h30-13h00
Conference Declaration
National Gender Secretary
13h00-13h15
Closing Remarks
National Gender Chairperson
Conference closes

For more information contact:
Gertrude Mtsweni
COSATU National Gender Coordinator
Email: gert...@cosatu.org.za<mailto:gert...@cosatu.org.za>

_________

COSATU Gauteng supports POPCRU picket at SAPS headquarters in Pretoria

Louisa Modikwe, COSATU Gauteng Provincial Secretary, 21 June 2022

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in Gauteng supports the picket by the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) at the South African Police Service headquarters in Pretoria on 22 June 2022.

We condemn SAPS for exploiting police trainees and failing to pay their stipends for the past two months. This practice by SAPS management is common in government departments where trainees are treated unfairly and undermined. It started with non-payment of teacher assistants and student nurses and now has escalated to police trainees.

The continuation of such practices by government is an illustration of its disregard for workers and their rights. We will advance our fight against unfair treatment of workers and defend our members against this heinous act by government.

As part of unity and solidarity of workers, we call on our affiliates in Tshwane to release members and shop stewards to attend the just picket by POPCRU.

We also call on police management to pay the stipends and fix the living conditions of trainees with immediate effect.

Issued by COSATU Gauteng

____________

POPCRU to picket at the SAPS HQ over trainees’ conditions

Richard Mamabolo, POPCRU National Spokesperson, 17 June 2022

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) in Gauteng province will be having a picket at the South African Police Service (SAPS) headquarters in Pretoria, where a memorandum of demands will be handed over to the National Police Commissioner over the inhumane, undue conditions trainees are being subjected to, including demanding answers for the discrepancies which led to over 545 trainees not having received their stipends over the past 2 months.

This picket will be taking place following various other pickets which have recently taken place in the DCS in the Groenpunt and Sasolburg Correctional Centres, wherein the management wants to impose illegal shift patterns, and another at the Malmesbury Correctional Centre in the Western Cape Province wherein members are dissatisfied over a long list of outstanding matters, including the lack of adequate security at various correctional centres which have seen numerous escapes at the centre, the shortage of personnel, illegal shift patterns, the lack of promotion policy and the discrimination against members’ spouses, wherein the department introduced a policy instructing members to declare if they are married or are having any affairs with foreign nationals.

These pickets are a clear indication yet of brewing dissatisfaction among members of the criminal justice cluster who have for far too long been subjected to unsavoury working conditions and are increasingly running out of patience.

They are also part of a build-up towards the POPCRU National Day of Action as determined by the recent provincial congresses across the country.

The Gauteng picket will be taking place as follows;

Wednesday, 22 June 2022

SAPS HQ, Pretoria

10am to 2pm

Media houses are hereby invited to cover the handing over of the memorandum of demands.

Issued by POPCRU

______________

Cosatu Western Cape is shocked by another accident that led to the injury of 35 Farm Workers on the R45 near Klapmuts

Malvern De Bruyn, Cosatu Western Cape Provincial Secretary, 21 June 2022

Cosatu Western Cape has learned with great shock about another accident that happened on Monday 20 June 2022 on the R45 Road near Klapmuts. Thirty-five (35) farmworkers were injured when the truck they were travelling in overturned. This is another huge accident since the last accident on Monday 04 January 2021 near Worcester, which took the lives of three farmworkers.

Government and Farm Owners has done nothing to protect the vulnerable farmworkers who must travel every day in these dangerous conditions. How many people must die before the Farmers, Provincial and National Government intervene to ensure that farmworkers are treated as human beings and being transported in safe modes of transport.

Cosatu is calling on the Minister of Employment and Labour to ban the transportation of farmworkers on trucks. We are also calling on the Law Enforcement Agencies to thoroughly investigate this matter to ensure that justice be served. Cosatu is also calling on the Farm Owner to look after the families of the injured farm workers and that they be paid in full while at home due to injuries sustained in the accident.

Cosatu wishes all the injured farmworkers a speedy recovery.

We once again call on the Human Rights Commission to investigate this matter, because we are of the view that the rights of the farmworkers have been infringed.

Cosatu will be monitoring the situation closely and the matter will be discussed at our next PEC Meeting and Alliance Meeting respectively to discuss a campaign against these irresponsible farmworkers and Government including the Provincial Government.

We will also explore the option of engaging our lawyers to investigate the possibility of instituting civil claims on behalf of the farmworkers.

South Africa

COSATU President’s Opening Address: COSATU National Gender Conference

Zingiswa Losi, COSATU President, 20 June 2022

Comrade. chairperson,

Leadership of COSATU, 1st Deputy President Mike Shingange and the collective National Office Bearers

Members of the Central Executive Committee and leadership of the Affiliates,

Alliance leadership present

Provincial leadership of COSATU

Invited guests both National and International

officials, and our members of the federation

Comrades it is indeed a real pleasure to address you today as we open this historic gender conference of the Federation. It has been a long time in coming. The challenges facing women, not only our members and their families, but women workers across the nation are immense.

Women are under siege, not only from the pandemic of gender-based violence, but also workplace discrimination. Unemployment is higher for women.

Yet the responsibilities women face are not less than those faced by men.

A great deal of work has been done in preparation for this conference. The research package provided outlines the stark socio-economic realities facing women, the girl child, and the LGTBQI plus communities.

Our task as we meet over these next few days is not just to commiserate about these challenges. Nor is it solely to elect leadership to lead the NGCC.

Our most important task is to leave here with a clear plan of action on what we as COSATU at all levels, from the local to national, from provinces to Affiliates, are going to do over the next few months as we head to our National Congress in September and more importantly the next few years to champion, lead and advance the causes of gender equality, emancipation and empowerment.

The challenges facing women, girls and the LGBQIT plus communities are immense.

The levels of gender-based violence in South Africa are a living nightmare for our people. We cannot be proud that it is estimated that half of our women and girls are raped in their lifetime.

We cannot feel proud that when our girls go to school, daughters go to university, wives go to work, that they will at some point be exposed to sexual harassment and violence.

We are proud that our Constitution speaks to gender equality and prohibits discrimination including for gender and sexual orientation.

Yet we are failing that progressive Constitution when we see incidents of corrective rape of members of the LGBQTI plus communities.

Our unemployment rate is a ticking time bomb. We cannot sustain a society where 45% of working age adults are unemployed. Yet the stats are worse for women, for women in rural areas, for women with disabilities.

A nation where 75% of young people are unemployed cannot rest easy.

Government has made massive efforts since 1994 to try to overcome the legacies of apartheid and colonialism. 60% of the national budget is spent on the social wage.

This includes free housing, basic education, school meals and tertiary education for the poor. It includes social grants and the SRD grant dispensed to 27 million of the poor.

These must be applauded.

Yet we are also seeing these hard-won gains being eroded by the decade of state capture and corruption, by collapsing State Owned Enterprises and Municipalities, by a ballooning national debt and the result austerity cuts to the budget.

It is no exaggeration to state that these are the most trying times for our people and vulnerable communities in particular since 1994.

We have made gains on the legislative front at Nedlac and at Parliament.

Our Constitution, the product of many decades of struggle and whose inspiration is the Freedom Charter, is bold and progressive and places equality, including gender and sexual orientation at its heart.

It recognises the right to a better life for all and the obligation upon the state to improve the lives of citizens and assure them of their socio-economic rights.

In September 2020, Parliament passed the three Gender Based Violence Amendment Acts. These will be powerful tools in the fight against GBV. They tighten search and seizure, arrest, bail, testimony, sentencing and parole conditions in favour of the complainants.

They prohibit the employment of persons convicted of Gender Based Violence crimes from positions of authority over vulnerable persons. They require government to populate a National Register with all persons convicted of sexual offences.

The Employment Equity Amendment Act was recently passed by Parliament and is now before the President for his assent.

It will help strengthen existing employment equity laws. Companies wanting to receive state tenders must be in compliance with this Act and the National Minimum Wage Act.

The Compensation of Injury of Duty Amendment Bill is nearing the final stages of Parliamentary approval. It provides for the inclusion of 900 000 domestic workers under the Compensation Fund.

It also recognises post-traumatic stress which many women workers experience, as a condition that workers can claim compensation for.

The National Minimum Wage Act came into effect in 2019 at R20 an hour for the NMW with farm workers pegged at 90% or R18 and domestic workers pegged at 75% of R15. Farm workers were equalised to the NMW in 2021, benefitting more than 800 000 farm workers.

Domestic workers equalised to the National Minimum Wage in 2020 which is now R23. This has benefited the more than 900 000 domestic workers.

This is a 53% massive increase for domestic workers in 3 years in the midst of an economy in a recession. Farm workers have seen a 27% increase in these 3 years.

Engagements are taking place with government for those sectors of the EPWP and CWP workers who have not equalised with the National Minimum Wage to do so over the near future. Some of their sectors have reached the National Minimum Wage.

The Civil Unions Amendment Act came into effect two years ago. It requires Home Affairs officials to officiate any same sex couple seeking to marry.

The Labour Laws Amendment Act came into effect in 2017. It provides 10 days paid parental leave for fathers and mothers in the cases of surrogacy and same sex partnerships. It provides for 10 weeks paid leave for 1 parent when legally adopting a child 2 years and younger.

The other parent is entitled to 10 days paid parental leave.

The National Gender Based Violence Council Bill is now before National Economic Development and Labour Council [Nedlac]. It provides for the establishment of a Council composing of government and civil society to oversee the nation’s efforts to combat Gender Based Violence.

Government ratified ILO Convention 190 on Combatting Sexual Harassment and Violence in the World of Work in 2021.

We must now go through our legislation to ensure that all of its progressive provisions are captured in law.

We must develop training programmes for members to ensure they are empowered.

We must wage campaigns at the workplace to hold employers accountable for a safe working environment.

We have won important victories on the socio-economic front at Nedlac.

Covid-19, our economic and governance crises have required all to champion social dialogue and social compacts.

We worked closely with government and business to ensure that over R64 billion was released from the UIF to ensure that 5.5 million workers in the private sector had money to take care of their families.

This was credit free and constituted more than 40% of the UIF’s assets. It was the largest source of stimuli into the economy.

We have put pressure on government to distribute and extend the R350 SRD Grant which has benefited more than 10 million unemployed persons.

With all of its many challenges, painful delays and the small amount, it has still provided badly needed relief to the poorest of the poor.

It needs to be fixed, to be extended and to be raised to the food poverty level. It provides a foundation for a basic income grant.

The Presidential Employment Stimulus has been allocated R18 billion this year and has helped to provide more than 500 000 work opportunities to young graduates and workers, enabling them to earn at least the National Minimum Wage, gain experience and gain confidence. Engagements are taking place to expand it to create at least 1 million work opportunities.

Government has allocated R35 billion under the Bounce Bank Scheme to help SMMEs. We need to encourage women entrepreneurs to apply for such funding.

We have been discussing the need to accelerate land reform, be it for rural residents seeking to set up their own farms, or urban residents seeking land to build a home or business on.

What we need to be saying louder is that women, farm workers, rural residents and residents of informal areas should be at the front of that queue.

These victories and demands will remain progressive words on paper, unless we wage campaigns to ensure they become a living reality for workers across South Africa.

Comrades if we are to be honest, then we need to undertake serious introspection on our organisational capacity to wage battle.

When last did COSATU and all its Affiliates undertake a real national strike that shut down the economy?

Many, many years.

Our October 7 Day of Action and our May Day events do not shut any sector of the economy down, let alone the country. Affiliates struggle to wage sector wide strikes.

Some reasons are beyond our control, e.g. workers who are highly indebted and simply cannot afford to lose a day’s wages.

Others are because we have allowed a gap to grow between us and our membership.

Others are because our organisers are more interested in quoting philosophy and the palace politics of the ANC.

We need to learn from the recent strike that NUM led at Sibanye and others from SARS and UNISA to the clothing and textile industries.

What are the key lessons we must learn?

Are workers aware of the current campaigns that Affiliates are waging? Are we aware? What are the timeframes, steps, interventions and indicators for those campaigns? If we don’t know, then there is a problem.

We receive complaints from members about Affiliates who ignore their pleas for help all the time. We receive complaints from the CCMA about shopstewards who are poorly prepared to represent their members at hearings.

Besides lunchtime pickets at COSATU House and Nedlac during the 16 days of activism, what is our programme on the ground not in hotels against Gender Based Violence?

Have we made sure all Affiliates are empowered to help implement the three Gender Based Violence Amendment Acts?

Or the Employment Equity Act?

We have scored important victories like the National Minimum Wage, the UIF TERS, parental leave, etc but Affiliates with a few exceptions are not training their members, shopstewards and organisers on the technical aspects of those laws.

Instead, we are outsourcing their implementation to the good heartedness of the employer and a Department of Labour’s handful of inspectors.

Instead of using these victories to recruit members and wage new battles, we are allowing them to die a natural death in legal textbooks.

We have become so used to the hotel and conference lifestyle that we have forgotten how to be activists on the ground, in Motherwell and Umlazi.

There are pockets of success that we must pick up on. Last week Limpopo went on a recruitment drive in Lephalale. Gauteng went on a recruitment and vaccination drive of farm workers near Pretoria.

This is what back to basics must look like.

We have elected leaders of our Gender Committees in all Provinces. We will be electing leaders of our national gender committee.

We are elected comrades to lead our gender campaigns. To be on the ground. To ensure all Affiliates, all members and all organisers are mobilised. We are electing you to develop a vibrant and militant programme that will make a difference not to parrot slogans.

We are not electing comrades so they can become Councilors, Member of Provincial Legislatures or Member of Parliaments. If comrades are here for that, they are in the wrong conference.

Whilst we wage campaigns in South Africa, against Gender Based Violence in Mitchell’s Plain and for safe working conditions in the mining industry, let us not forget to show solidarity with those workers struggling around the world.

We were proud when the Free State organised donations for Cuba.

KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng have been raising the cause of eSwatini time and again.

Recently we held pickets and supported billboards on the struggle of the Palestinians.

Let us do likewise for Venezuela, Western Sahara and many other countries where workers are under siege. Let us continue to raise gender rights at Southern African Trade Union Coordination Council [SATUCC], International Trade Unions Confederation [ITUC], World Federation of Trade Unions [WFTU] and the International Labour Organization [ILO].

Comrades allow me to conclude, that

Our tasks here this week are critical.

We must not leave here only having said revolutionary words, but more importantly to leave with a comprehensive programme of real action, that will inspire workers, that will capture the attention of the public, that will motive government and business into action and that will make a difference in the lives of workers on the ground.

I am hopeful that we will live up to this task.

I thank you.

Matla!
______________
Remarks by the Minister Of Human Settlements, Mmamoloko Kubayi, COSATU Inaugural Gender Conference, Tshwane, 20 June 2022
Programme Director
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our basic premise is that our democracy is only sustainable when all of us live in a just and free society. We all know that this conference has been occasioned by the fact that, there remains in our society, a gender imbalance that cannot go unchallenged. Women are still victims of the triple challenges of class, gender and race. Nowhere else is this gender imbalance more apparent than in the economic sphere. It is an indictment on all of us that women are still largely doing unpaid work. It is an indictment on the democratic government that the face of poverty in South Africa remains a black woman.
Given this reality, what is it that we need to do to ensure that the status of women in the economy tomorrow is better than what it is today?
What is it that we are doing as women leaders that shows that we are acutely sensitive to the unique challenges faced by women in mainstream economic activities?
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey of the second quarter of 2021, published by Statistics South Africa, the South African labour market is more favourable to men than it is to women. The survey further revealed that men are more likely to be in paid employment than women regardless of race, while women are more likely than men to be doing unpaid work. In the same quarter, the rate of unemployment amongst women was 36,8% compared to 32,4% amongst men. The unemployment rate amongst black African women was 41,0% during this period compared to 8,2% amongst white women, 22,4% amongst Indian/Asian women and 29,9% amongst coloured women. This means that in addition to the gender discrimination, racial discrimination is still a heavy burden to women in the world of work.
Research also indicates that working class LGBTQ+ women are faced with quadruple oppression that of class, gender, race and sexual orientation. Once again, we are reminded that the odds are heavily stacked against women in the economy.
This discrimination of women at all levels and sectors of the economy is a running thread that has to be broken. Fortunately, the union movement has always been ahead of the curve in recognizing the important role that women play in the economy and in society broadly. It is the worker’s movement that has largely civilised the world to understand that women are just as capable in the workplace and any other sphere of the economy, as men are. By hosting this conference, you are once again demonstrating that you are the primary motive force for creating a just and free society. I will be looking forward to the outcomes of this conference because they help us to advance gender struggles in our work.
Our country has some of the most progressive laws in the world, including full constitutional protections against gender discrimination. However, there is a gap between the lived reality and what is promised in the legal framework. Our struggle to create a just and free society has to be focused on closing this gap.
Closing the gap has to include economic participation without which the emancipation of women will remain but a dream. It is in this context that the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP) which was developed with the participation of all social partners, including labour, emphasized the notion of reconstruction as a way of making the economy more inclusive. It was agreed amongst all role players that as the economy recovers from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, it should be reconstructed in a manner that is more inclusive of all the vulnerable, which includes the youth, women and LGBTQ+ community.
The corroding malfeasance that took root in the past decade and continues to weigh heavily on our efforts to rebuild and recover our economy must be defeated. It is now more than ever that the social partners must find one another to forge a comprehensive social compact that will underpin the collective efforts to rebuild our economy.
The new consensus amongst government, business, labour and civil society for building an inclusive and sustainable economy has to incorporate gender mainstreaming.
In this regard, the Mass Public Employment Programme which is an integral part of job creation and protection has to be strengthened to make our recovery more inclusive, especially for women. It is for this reason that the government has expanded the Public and Social Employment Programme for direct beneficiaries to rise from 850 000 to over one million South Africans. So far, more than 80% of participants were young people, and over 60% were women.
To increase the pace of empowerment of women entrepreneurs, the Department of Human Settlements has approved a procurement framework on its grants to include 40% set aside for Women, above 15% for Youth; 5% for Military Veterans; and 5 % for people with disabilities. More broadly, women participation in all aspects of the recovery has to be increased so that we can also increase the share of women employed in the formal sector from the current level of just over 40%.
The speed with which we improve the economic fortunes of the previously disadvantaged will also determine the pace in which we can implement spatial transformation. This is because the creation of decent and sustainable human settlements is inextricably linked to access to sustainable economic opportunities.
In the Department of Human Settlements, the demand for housing includes BNG (Breaking New Ground formerly known as RDP), which is mainly for indigent households and social housing which is mainly the missing middle or those who cannot get a bond in a bank but they do not qualify for BNG houses. With poor economic performance, the demand for BNG rises very fast. What is desirable is for the demand for social housing to increase so that money from the fiscus spent on housing can be reduced or redirected to other social protection programmes.
The Department will be changing the Norms and Standards in relation to the creation of sustainable human settlements to make these settlements more inclusive by improving access and affordability. In this regard, the human settlements of the future will include GBV centres that will cater for victims of gender-based violence.
In this financial year, a revised Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme - ‘Help Me Buy A Home’ - has come into effect. The revision comes into force after an extensive consultation process with Provinces, Municipalities and other Non-State Stakeholders. A key aspect will be the ability of households to access the programme within a set of non-mortgage finance instruments. In addition, the programme allows for the funding of households who hold “Permission-To-Occupy” certificates. This is particularly important in relation to the extension of credit and funding to households in rural areas. The ability of households to improve and upgrade homes and properties has a number of socio-economic benefits, including promoting development and asset accumulation and equality.
The revised Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP) now caters for households that earn from R3 500 to R22 000 per month. The enhancement also includes the alignment of the FLISP with the Government Employees Housing Scheme (GEHS).
In an effort to facilitate access the ownership amongst government employees by utilising the Help Me Buy a Home Subsidy as an instrument, the NHFC has signed an MoU with GEHS. The MoU will enable qualifying government employees to access FLISP subsidies. The programme will undoubtedly strengthen the contribution towards leveraging increased home loans to government employees, as part of the government’s mandate of providing quality and affordable housing to low and middle-income households in South Africa.
The Department of Human Settlements has been at pains in responding to issues that are raised by the Chapter 9 institutions (SAHRC and CGE) regarding the issue of special housing needs and gender-based violence. Women have been affected by this scourge without a solution.
We are refocusing our policies to ensure that there is provision for the vulnerable groups of the society and some form of special housing need and or a second level housing. Of importance is the fact that the policy and guidelines for housing assistance to households faced with special housing needs due to gender based violence, HIV/Aids, orphans, vulnerable children and persons with intellectual and psycho-social disabilities has been formulated and will be approved by all the relevant stakeholders in the coming weeks.
This policy when approved will assist by providing shelter to the vulnerable groups, including the victims of gender-based violence and enable them to begin to live meaningful lives that would be free of abuse. To address the issue of dead assets that have been created by lack of suitable institutional arrangement, the Department will be setting up transactional support centres to monitor and also assist in enforcing the sale restrictions clauses.
Our eradication and management of the title deeds backlog is a matter which will receive priority and maximum energy. Our failure to do so robs our citizens of the ability to achieve a long-held cry for security of tenure. The fact that we are unable to eradicate this backlog results in millions of women, children and vulnerable persons being at the mercy of unscrupulous spouses, family members and predatory behaviour in the property sector.
Lack of security of tenure is also the main reason why women are unable to access finance to send their children to school and start and grow their small businesses. This is much more common in the informal sector which is dominated by women, especially rural women. The informal sector and rural women is an area that we are going to focus on so that our women empowerment can have more meaning.
Collectively, these efforts will go a long way towards ensuring that there is affordability and access to Decent Human Settlements for vulnerable sectors of our society.
The UN Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action outlined a set of actions that the government and other societal stakeholder need to prioritise to achieve gender equality. These include access to decent work and closing the gender pay gap; rebalancing of the care workload; ending violence against women; reducing maternal mortality and realizing sexual and reproductive health and rights; and participation in power and decision-making at all levels.
The actions it outlines are comprehensive and very practical for tackling every aspect of gender inequality. I will just highlight a few set of Actions that I believe are relevant in our country though not exhaustive. Amongst others these include:
On the economy:

(I) Restructuring and targeting the allocation of public expenditures to promote women’s economic opportunities and equal access to productive resources and to address the basic social, educational and health needs of women, particularly those living in poverty;

(II) Establishing mechanisms and other forums to enable women entrepreneurs and women workers to contribute to the formulation of policies and programmes being developed by economic ministries and financial institutions;
On access to finance:

(III) Encouraging links between financial institutions and non-governmental organizations and support innovative lending practices, including those that integrate credit with women’s services and training and provide credit facilities to rural women.

(IV) Mobilizing the banking sector to increase lending and refinancing through incentives and the development of intermediaries that serve the needs of women entrepreneurs and producers in both rural and urban areas, and include women in their leadership, planning and decision-making;
On closing the pay gap and equitable work environment:

(V) Promoting gender-sensitive policies and measures to empower women as equal partners with men in technical, managerial and entrepreneurial fields and equal pay for work of equal value;

(VI) Adjusting employment policies to facilitate the restructuring of work patterns in order to promote the sharing of family responsibilities;
On fighting poverty:

(VII) Enabling women to obtain affordable housing and access to land by, amongst other things, removing all obstacles to access, with special emphasis on meeting the needs of women, especially those living in poverty and female heads of household;
On gender based violence:

(VIII) Exercising due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons;

(IX) Creating or strengthening institutional mechanisms so that women and girls can report acts of violence against them in a safe and confidential environment, free from the fear of penalties or retaliation, and file charges;
I am confident that in your deliberations during this important conference you will help us to find the most effective ways in which we can implement these actions, so that we can deal decisively with gender inequality.
From the foregoing, it is clear that gender discrimination has many layers and after each victory women have to embark on a new battle. But we dare not allow fatigue to set in. We dare not fail. Victory is certain, there shall be equality, justice and freedom for all.
I thank you
___________
COSATU Free State taken aback by the AG report on FS municipalities<http://mediadon.co.za/2022/06/20/cosatu-free-state-taken-aback-by-the-ag-report-on-fs-municipalities/>
Monyatso oa Mahlatsi, COSATU Free State Provincial Secretary, June 20, 2022<http://mediadon.co.za/2022/06/20/cosatu-free-state-taken-aback-by-the-ag-report-on-fs-municipalities/>
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in the Free State is shocked but not surprised by the contents of the Auditor General Report on local government. We note with grave concern that fruitless as well wasteful expenditure has increased during the period under review. We also note that there are municipalities who failed to submit documents to the AG for auditing purposes.
It’s unfortunate that FS municipalities continue to be among the worst performing municipalities, that there is no accountability and that this status quo remains unchallenged. The state of municipalities in the province is well known.
After the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs released damming findings through its diagnostic report presented in parliament, no effort has been made to address the situation.
We expected COGTA to exercise its constitutional powers to robustly correct the situation, however it is seemingly treating our local government with kids’ gloves.
There are currently section 106 reports that were compiled but the councils are hindering the presentation of these reports. COGTA’s lack of action is proving it to be extremely toothless.
This has been proven in Mangaung, the only metro in the province, where the intervention team spent almost 3 years but has had nothing to show for it. As it is, there is no promise for change.
The shocking amounts of money revealed as fruitless and wasteful expenditure are unacceptable. This act is robbing our people of basic services and our people deserve better and need to receive a clear explanation from those in charge.
Things must change for the better; it can’t be correct that out of 23 municipalities not even one performed well. Despite this, the same municipal managers, CFO’s and directors are retained.
However, when junior employees transgress, even a minor misconduct, they are subjected to a ruthless disciplinary process.
We expect the councils to act swiftly and apply the same rigorous consequence management to all senior managers in order to improve the standard of LG in the province. COSATU will be closely monitoring provincial COGTA and Treasury’s role in ensuring strict oversight.
The report of the Hawks on the investigation conducted into the state of our municipalities doesn’t resemble a true sense of consequence management. Only a percent of senior managers was involved in their investigation. We are also concerned about the pace of the Hawks in their work.
COSATU FS is willing and available to join hands with progressive forces in seeking to enforce accountability.
The struggle continues!
Issued by COSATU Free State
International-Solidarity
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App promotes migrant workers’ rights in Mauritius
21 June, 2022
Migrant workers planning on finding work or already working in Mauritius can find information about their rights at work, health and safety, and living wages on an interactive mobile app accessed on their smartphone.
The Just Good Work Mauritius app is supported by IndustriALL affiliate, CTSP, Bangladeshi migrant workers support organization OKUP, Anti-Slavery International, and ASOS.
The app, which is available in Bangla, English, and Malagasy languages has made it possible for CTSP to organize migrant workers at the Compagnie Mauricienne de Textile (CMT) – a garments and jersey manufacturing factory – which is one of the largest textile companies on the island, with offices in the UK and France.
On 30 May, CTSP had a meeting with 30 migrant workers to explain how to use the app to exercise their rights at work. For the first time the union was granted access to the factory workers.
“We finally got access to CMT - a company that has never allowed trade unions to represent its workers. This is a major step. Workers were exposed to the content of the app and how they can get relevant information on working conditions, wages, and safety issues. Most importantly the app allows workers to send specific queries to the Migrant Resource Centre and other organizations,”
says Jane Ragoo, CTSP general secretary.
Over 35,000 workers, or 17 per cent of the workforce, in Mauritius are migrant workers. The workers are employed in manufacturing sectors that include the garment and textile industries as well as in information, communications, and technology (ICT).
Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL director for the textile and garment industries says:
“Digital platforms like the JGW Mauritius are becoming important tools in union organizing and campaigns for workers’ rights and living wages for migrant workers. We applaud the CTSP for adopting the opportunities provided by digital technologies to improve the working conditions of migrant workers.
"It is commendable that CMT has opened its doors for the first time to CTSP and this shows that the global framework agreement with ASOS is improving working conditions for migrant workers.”
A report made to the International Labour Conference recommends that the government of Mauritius must respect migrant workers’ rights, especially International Labour Organization Convention 87 on freedom of association and protection of the right to organize.
“Regretting that the work permit requirement provided for under the Employment Rights Act (2008) was not repealed by Act No. 21, the Committee reiterates its request to the Government to take all measures in the near future to ensure the recognition of the right to all migrant workers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any developments in this respect,”
reads the Report of the Committee of Experts on Application of Convention and Recommendations.
Although, the Employment Rights Act was amended in 2019 the clause on the work permit which violates migrant workers’ rights remain in the law. The clause says that you cannot join a trade union if you do not have a work permit.
_________________________________________________
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 line: 010 219-1348


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