Taking COSATU Today Forward, 30 January 2025
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #ClassStruggle “Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism” #Back2Basics #JoinCOSATUNow #ClassConsciousness |
Taking COSATU Today Forward
‘Whoever sides with the revolutionary people in deed as well as in word is a revolutionary in the full sense’-Maoo
Our side of the story
30 January 2025
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- COSATU calls for haste in the absorption of Community Health Workers following NEHAWU’s court victory
- COSATU to march in solidarity with SAMATU to the National Treasury offices in Pretoria on Friday
- South Africa
- COSATU welcomes ANC NEC Lekgotla commitments
- DENOSA response to PEPFAR funding withdrawal by the US and its impact on HIV/AIDS management in SA
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- Protest at McDonalds Athens
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
COSATU calls for haste in the absorption of Community Health Workers following NEHAWU’s court victory
Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson, 29 January 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) calls on the Department of Health to speedily employ Community Health Workers (CHWs) on a permanent basis as per the recent Labour Court judgement.
Last year, the Federation’s militant affiliate, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) approached the Labour Court seeking to overturn a bargaining council ruling that found nothing illegal about keeping Community Health Workers on recurring fixed-term contracts indefinitely, with no benefits and zero job security.
The Labour Court has since set aside the bargaining council’s finding and ruled that Community Health Workers must be employed permanently, because the Department of Health failed to present a reasonable explanation for the continuous renewal of these exploitative contracts.
COSATU calls on the Department to implement the court ruling without delay and permanently employ the 50 000 CHWs in accordance with the law.
NEHAWU carried the workers through the perennial struggle to full recognition. Community Health Workers play a critical role in the healthcare system working under constrained conditions with minimum resources, tirelessly contributing to the overall health of the public.
For decades, these workers have improved access to healthcare services to millions of South Africans, especially those in rural areas. It is unjust to keep them in contracts that rob them of the employment benefits enjoyed by other public servants while expecting them to remain dedicated in their duties.
This practice is highly exploitative and unacceptable.
COSATU congratulates NEHAWU for staying true to its cause, refusing to relent to the attitude of the Health Department and the general oppressive conditions that are only favorable to those at the helm. Community Health Workers held the union line and refused to give in event though they were placed on recurring fixed-term contracts for many years, despite promises to make them permanent.
The struggle of these workers has dragged on for far too long. Dilly dallying in employing them permanently would be inexcusable.
Issued by COSATU
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COSATU to march in solidarity with SAMATU to the National Treasury offices in Pretoria on Friday
Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson, 29 January 2025
The Congress of the South African Trade Unions (COSATU) will march alongside its affiliate, the South African Medical Association Trade Union (SAMATU) to seek urgent action from the National Treasury in Pretoria. The union demands government’s intervention in the health sector which includes the plight of unemployed medical doctors, shortage of staff and the improvement of the infrastructure and security at healthcare facilities.
COSATU stands in support of SAMATU in its sharp disapproval of National Treasury’s ill conceived reduced spending and budget cuts in crucial departments. Austerity in departments such as health have dire consequences that adversely affect the public and the quality of services.
The march will take place as follows:
Date: Friday, 31 January 2025
Gathering Point: Union Buildings (The Triangle)
Destination: National Treasury, 40 Church Square
Time: 10am
Issued by COSATU
Zanele Sabela (National Spokesperson)
Mobile: 079 287 5788
Email: zan...@cosatu.org.za
COSATU welcomes ANC NEC Lekgotla commitments
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 29 January 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes our ally, the African National Congress (ANC)’s National Executive Committee’s Lekgotla’s progressive resolutions.
The Lekgotla was marked by a sense of humility towards the frustrations of working-class communities, introspection over own goals and a determination to intensify the cleansing and renewal of the ANC, and to unite the Tripartite Alliance.
We are heartened by the robust and frank discussions that took place on what needs to be done to fix the state, grow the economy, slash unemployment and provide relief for the poor.
The Federation is pleased that the Lekgotla supported its proposals for urgently ramped up public employment programmes, drastically scaled up industrial and SMME financing; increased support for Eskom, Transnet and Metro Rail; urgent interventions to stabilise and rebuild distressed municipalities, and support for the South African Revenue Service to clamp down on tax and customs evasion.
Whilst one may not fault the various progressive commitments adopted by the Lekgotla. We expect them to now be adopted by Cabinet, outlined by the pending State of the Nation Address and budgeted for in the 2025/26 financial year and Medium-Term Expenditure Framework.
Most importantly, society needs to see them move from progressive ideals to implementation on the ground.
With a 41.9% unemployment rate, the economy stumbling along at 1% growth, struggling public and municipal services, embattled State-Owned Enterprises, entrenched levels of poverty and inequality, and endemic crime and corruption; society needs government led by the ANC to act with the decisiveness our many pressing socio-economic crises demand.
What we cannot afford is for the state to continue to meander along or for the ANC to treat these challenges with kid gloves.
Issued by COSATU
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DENOSA response to PEPFAR funding withdrawal by the US and its impact on HIV/AIDS management in SA
Sibongiseni Delihlazo, DENOSA Communication Manager, 𝟮𝟵 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱.
PRETORIA – The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) notes with great concern the freezing of the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) funding for Africa, which means funding for the country’s TB and HIV/AIDS management programme will be almost 20 percent less funded than before and is likely to cause a huge disruption on the world’s biggest HIV/AIDS management programme.
The PEPFAR funding has been giving a funding relief to the South African government in at least 27 districts in the country, with many of these being the hardest hit districts with HIV/AIDS burden. In South Africa, the PEPFAR funding has been carrying the costs of running TB and HIV management programme through two anchor agencies: CDC and USAIDS.
These agencies have been subcontracting local NGOs who themselves hire nurses, data capturers, doctors, cleaners, social workers, medical technologists and drivers. Because of South Africa’s continued reduction in funding mainly as a result of austerity measures, these NGOs have been dispatching these workers to commnunities to search for and screen people for TB and HIV/AIDS and refer them to their nearest healthcare facilities for treatment.
The NGOs run programmes such as Care and Treat (C&T), Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), while some support in nutrition and TB case finding up to TB Cure.
Care and treatment programme on TB & HIV includes tracing of TB and HIV patients known as linkage to care, which is mostly championed by enrolled nurses and enrolled nursing assistants. Care and treatment also include Initiation and Management of Anti-retroviral treatment, support Quality improvement of the programmes, Maternal Child and Women Health Support.
As an example, two local NGOs which are subcontracted by USAIDS, namely MATCH and TBHIVCARE, employ the number of workers in the range of 600 and 500 employees respectively, with about half of those employees in each NGO being nurses. These are the nurses who would often not have been employed in the public sector. These NGOs do the work in the five districts of the Eastern Cape, with the later having a footprint in other provinces as well.
They also meet healthcare facilities halfway by trying to decongest clinics through initiating the dispatching of medication for many of their patients via pharmacies and malls.
With both KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape having the highest rate HIV/AIDS burden in the country, the PEPFAR funding has been taking care of seven districts in KwaZulu-Natal and five districts in the Eastern Cape respectively.
The funding drought will, without any doubt, regress the country’s good progress in managing the HIV/AIDS disease, especially as the South African government has been steadily reducing funding for this important healthcare service area itself.
This will mean more patients to the understaffed healthcare facilities, and more nurses getting unemployed once again.
As the US has frozen this funding for this important work in South Africa, the South African government must find means to ensure the continuation of these services, as it is obliged to serve its citizens. According to our constitution, the Department of Health must guarantee the right to health, which means whatever programme that is running in the country must not be compromised by the withdrawal. The government must make funding available for those programmes.
End.
Issued by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA).
International-Solidarity
24 JAN 2025 By Central WFTU
A new protest at McDonalds store took place by the Athens Hotels, Tourism, Caretering Union demanding the cancelation of the unacceptable and unfair dismissals of two workers made on New Year’s Eve.
The Union demanded:
Cancel the dismissals now.
Stop the intimidations by the company, the attempt to keep people silent about working conditions.
Immediate hiring. No movement of staff.
Every worker to work in a single post.
Increases in wages.
As George Stefanakis, president of the union, said, the mobilizations will continue until the dismissals are canceled and the just demands are met. He also called on the workers to organize themselves into the union and fight collectively to get their demands met immediately.
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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 line: 010 219-1348