Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 7 May 2024
Norman Mampane
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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
Our side of the story
7 May 2024
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- COSATU Leadership to embark on an ANC campaign trail in KwaZulu Natal this week
- South Africa
- COSATU welcomes the President's signing of the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill
- President Cyril Ramaphosa mourns loss of life in George building collapse
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- Argentina: why we stand in solidarity with the trade unions in their fight for democracy
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
COSATU Leadership to embark on an ANC campaign trail in KwaZulu Natal this week
Edwin Mkhize, COSATU KZN Provincial Secretary & Matthew Parks, Acting National Spokesperson & Parliamentary Coordinator, 07 May 2024
The Leadership of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is participating in a vigorous campaign programme in KwaZulu Natal in support of the Federation’s Alliance partner, the African National Congress.
From the 07th to the 12th of May, the National Office Bearers of the Federation led by the President of COSATU Zingiswa Losi will be engaging with communities across the province through door to door canvassing and public meetings.
These areas cover the length and breadth of KwaZulu-Natal, including eThekwini, eMandeni, KwaDukuza, uMvoti, uMsunduzi, uMgeni, Richmond, Umzimkhulu, Kokstad, Mhlatuze and Ray Nkonyeni.
COSATU is humbled by the overwhelming response we have received from voters, and in particular workers, who are committed to turning out in their millions on election day in defence of the gains workers have won since 1994 and to renew the ANC’s mandate to continue its efforts to renew the nation, grow the economy, create jobs and deliver a better life for all.
For further information on the programme please go to www.ANC1912.org.za and click on KZN deployment list.
Issued by COSATU
COSATU
welcomes the President's signing of the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill
Matthew
Parks, COSATU Acting National Spokesperson & Parliamentary Coordinator, 07 May 2024
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes the President, Cyril Ramaphosa’s signing of the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill into law.
Whilst COSATU welcomes the overall thrust of the Act, including its amendments recognising independent candidates contesting national and provincial elections as necessitated by the Constitutional Court judgement, we believe one critical amendment remains necessary and should be prioritised and considered by the 7th Parliament.
The Act provides for the President, in consultation with Parliament, to set thresholds below which donations to political parties and independent candidates need not be disclosed as well as caps on the limits of donations they can receive.
Whilst supporting the need for flexibility on caps on donations, the provisions for thresholds below which donations need not be disclosed opens a massive and obvious gap for tenderpreneurs and other persons with criminal intent seeking to buy influence, to legally circumvent the progressive transparency and accountability objectives and provisions of the Act. This is dangerous given our painful experiences with state capture.
The thresholds below which donations need not be disclosed should be amended to require that all donations be publicly disclosed. This is critical if we are to remove the cancer of corruption from our body politic. Workers and the nation cannot afford the costs of corruption remaining ingrained across our political establishment and government.
The bleating of the Moonshine Coalition and a variety of 1% parties notwithstanding, the Federation supports the Act’s common-sense clauses providing for the principles of proportionality and the recognition that access to public funding and the public broadcaster by political parties and independent candidates must be based upon the support they receive from the electorate and the representation they are afforded in Parliament and Provincial Legislatures.
The public purse is severely overstretched and cannot be treated as a slush fund by political parties unable to convince the public to support them.
Issued by COSATU.
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President Cyril Ramaphosa mourns loss of life in George building collapse
07 May 2024
President mourns loss of life in George building collapse
President Cyril Ramaphosa offers his deep condolences to the relatives and friends of five people who have died in an incident where a building collapsed in George in the southern Cape.
The collapse occurred yesterday afternoon, Monday, 6 May 2024.
The President’s thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones as well as the families of close to 50 people who are trapped in the rubble.
President Ramaphosa wishes rescue teams the best as they go about their operations and says investigations into the cause of the incident must aim to bring closure to the community and prevent a repeat of this disaster.
Media enquiries:
Vincent
Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President - me...@presidency.gov.za
Issued by The Presidency
International-Solidarity
Argentina: why we stand in solidarity with the trade unions in their fight for democracy
7 May 2024
This 9 May, the major trade union confederations of Argentina will call a general strike to oppose the extreme economic policies of the Javier Milei government.
What has been the impact of this “shock therapy” on working people and on democracy in Argentina, and why is the global trade union movement backing the CGT, the CTA-T and the CTA-A as they campaign against it?
· Inflation has hit over 70 per cent since the new government took office, making daily life for many working people unaffordable.
· This was caused by the government devaluing the Argentine peso by 120% soon after taking office, and lifting price controls on daily essential goods and services, such as food, public utilities, transportation and healthcare. The basic pension was also cut.
· Since November 2023, the minimum wage lost a third of its purchasing power. It can now only pay for a little over half of the basket of food that defines extreme poverty.
· Basic pensions do not even cover the cost of medicines.
· The poverty rate has risen fast, from 44.9% at the end of 2023 to 51.8% in the first quarter of 2024, according to the latest estimates. About 27 million people are poor of which 7 million are mired in destitution, the worst figures in more than two decades according to a study from the Universidad Catolica, Argentina.
· Seven out of ten, or about 8.6 million, children live in poverty, according to a study published by Unicef.
· While the incomes of working people and pensioners have been slashed, the wealthiest top 1% are receiving generous tax benefits.
· The economy is expected to contract greatly, with a drop of 2.8% in GDP this year.
· Savage budget cuts and the firing of public sector workers threaten the future of schools, universities and public services, with many on the verge of collapse.
ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle said: “Milei’s policies have not tackled the decadence of the elites that he decries, instead he has delivered daily misery for millions of working people. Plummeting living standards, contracting production and the collapse of purchasing power means some people cannot even afford to eat.
“The government is targeting the rights of the most vulnerable sectors of the population and key trade union rights, such as collective bargaining, that support greater fairness and equality in society, while threatening those who protest with police repression and criminalisation.
“In this context, the work of the trade unions in Argentina is extraordinary. They have emerged as the main opposition to the government’s dystopian agenda, uniting resistance and building a coalition in defence of workers’ rights and broader democratic principles.
“The demands of the trade unions in Argentina for social justice, democracy and equality are the demands of working people across the world. Their fight is our fight and that is why the global trade union movement stands with them.”
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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