COSATU Media Monitor, 24 May 2012

Violence at the Impala Platinum (Implats) mine in Rustenburg looks set to escalate after the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) threatened yesterday to take the law into its own hands and defend its members against the rival Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

NUM has reportedly lost thousands of members to the AMCU, a move that has sparked violence that has claimed lives of many workers.

The Rustenburg mine remained closed for a second day yesterday, taking another 3 000 ounces out of global output, as the union turf war rumbled on. Implats said it was applying for a court interdict but was confident of getting miners to return to work soon.

“The rival unions are still playing a game of winner takes all. This should not be a fight to the death,” Johan Theron, the head of human resources at Implats, said.

The flare-up dashes hopes of finally settling a labour battle that shut the mine, which accounts for about 15 percent of global output, for six weeks earlier this year. That cost Implats 120 000 ounces in lost production.

The latest fracas was sparked when, according to police, suspected AMCU supporters allegedly shot and wounded a NUM member last week. Their arrest on Monday prompted protests, which saw most of the mine’s workforce failing to report for duty on Tuesday.

Theron said the AMCU, which has launched a recruiting drive, wanted recognition from the company and now claimed to have 10 000 members, or about a third of the 30 000-strong labour force if processing workers are counted.

He said about a third of the workers were not union members, so if the AMCU’s claims were true, its numbers at the operation would now roughly equal those of NUM.

Theron said the company planned to conduct an audit of the workforce and if this was true, it would have to renegotiate its “majority union” agreement with NUM.

NUM launched a four-day congress yesterday where the AMCU challenge was discussed.

Senzeni Zokwana, the president of NUM, told the congress that members would defend themselves against violence.

“If police continue to fail us, we will be left with no other choice but to defend ourselves,” he said.

Zokwana blamed the police and Implats for sympathising with AMCU.

The stakes are high as AMCU is widely regarded to be more radical than NUM, which has managed to consistently secure above-inflation wage increases for its members.

Platinum producers negotiate their contracts with workers separately, making them more vulnerable to recruitment drives from new unions than their gold or coal counterparts, which do so collectively as an industry through the Chamber of Mines.

NUM is considering calling for help from Cosatu, of which it is an affiliate and which has proved to be very influential. It also wants to ask the government to revoke Implats’ mining licence for failing to protect the worker who was shot.

Department of Mineral Resources spokeswoman Zingaphi Jakuja said the matter was an operational issue that should be addressed by mine management, not the department. “Of course, in the interest of the sector, the department would want to see efficiently operating mines, compliant with their respective licence and rights conditions.”

Theron said there was no basis for the government to revoke Implats’ licence.

Rivalry between the two unions and concern about pay disparity led to the dismissal of 17 200 Rustenburg workers during an illegal strike that shut operations at Rustenburg from January 20 to March 5. Four people were killed and more than 50 were injured during the protest. Most of the workers were later reinstated.

Another platinum producer in the area, Lonmin, has also been affected by the violence.

Taula Dolane, 55, died after being assaulted on his way to Lonmin’s Karee mine. He was among a dozen Lonmin employees who were reportedly intimidated and assaulted last month.

Andrew Levy, a labour economist, said inter-union rivalry was often started by a “grievance union”. These unions had no real influence, but sowed discord by saying that the existing union was useless.

Dumisani Nkalitshana, the national organiser at AMCU, denied allegations that the union was responsible for sowing division.

“If NUM is losing membership, they must not lie and blame us. They are just running away from their problem.”

AMCU signed a recognition agreement at Lonmin’s Karee mine two weeks ago.

Ian Farmer, the chief executive of Lonmin, said this week that 3 600 employees, or a third of the mine’s staff, were AMCU members, another third were with NUM and the rest were not represented by unions.

1.2 Implats' Rustenburg workers return to shifts

BusinessLive/Reuters, 24 May 2012

Workers at Impala Platinum's Rustenburg mine have returned to work, the company said on Thursday, after a two-day stoppage that cost it at least 6,000 ounces in lost output.

"Yes, we are back at work," Chief Executive David Brown told Reuters. The operation had been hit by renewed strife stemming from a battle between rival unions.

But the situation remains tense, with one of the unions planning to march to a courthouse on Friday, where two of its supporters faces charges of attempted murder.

"The march is planned tomorrow and we are preparing for that," a police spokesman told Reuters.

The battle between South Africa's dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) led to a six-week shut down of Implats' Rustenburg operation earlier this year.

The operation is the world's largest platinum mine and the stoppage took 120,000 ounces out of global output.

The latest round was sparked when police say suspected AMCU supporters allegedly shot and wounded a NUM member last week. Their arrest on Monday prompted protests, which saw most of the mine's workforce failing to report for duty on Tuesday.

Implats has said AMCU wanted recognition from the company and now claimed to have 10,000 members, or about a third of the 30,000-strong labour force, if processing workers are counted.

1.3 Union succession race is out in the open

Natasha Marrian, Business Day, 24 May 2012

The succession race in the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is coming out into the open, with its top brass criticising factions and overly ambitious members.

All eyes are fixed on the NUM as it elects a new leadership and kicks off a series of key conferences in the ruling alliance — those of the African National Congress (ANC), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party.

The contest in the NUM, Cosatu’s largest affiliate, centres on its general secretary, Frans Baleni, with the faction that seeks his replacement punting his deputy, Oupa Komane.

Mr Baleni told delegates the appetite for positions in the union had rapidly grown over the past three years, as he delivered his organisational report.

He complained that a "good" health and safety officer was removed in a particular region because he was apparently part of a faction, and was replaced with someone less competent.

It emerged that the Highveld regional secretary and chairman were suspended by the union’s national executive committee late on Tuesday after they had suspended a branch member for the second time, in violation of union rules. Suspensions can be carried out only by the president or general secretary on the recommendation of the regional leadership.

Mr Baleni says a problem in the Highveld is the "ability of leaders to do wrong things with confidence", and their deliberate undermining of the national leadership.

The Highveld is a highly contested region in the race for the union’s helm. It is one of the larger regions, with 100 voting delegates at the conference. The NUM held most of its regional elective conferences last year.

Mr Baleni has expressed concern over the emergence of leaders who, "simply put, lie".

The Eastern Cape was deeply divided and leadership positions had disintegrated into "life-and-death" situations.

Nominations read out at the conference included incumbent Senzeni Zokwana for president, challenged by Joe Montiisetse; Mr Baleni for general secretary, challenged by Mr Komane; and Piet Matosa for deputy president, challenged by David Spunzi. The formal election process is on Saturday.

Senzeni Zokwana, NUM president, said factions had taken root in the organisation.

He portrayed the union as divided and battling to contain the factional battles.

Delegates have expressed their shock after Mr Zokwana’s revelation that factions used employers to support their campaigns by promising them there would be no strikes on their shop floors.

"If you sign a deal with the employer and guarantee no strikes, you will render these workers leaderless," he said.

"Comrades, be vigilant, when comrades lose understanding who they are, they begin to form cliques whose mission is to destroy NUM structures," he said.

Mr Zokwana said even office employees were drawn into the battles, with some being promoted, others promised bonuses and many fearing to do their work.

Some leaders had not arrived at the office for days on end, he said.

Tribalism was also punted as a basis for factions, which he said was "the most backward way" of choosing leaders.

He challenged those leaking information to the media to stand up and speak out in the conference, so that they could receive answers from the union itself. "When you lose your compass as a leader, you become a liar, you become a mole, you become a fool," he said. "You lie because you want to win."

It is understood that the leadership battle in the NUM is a tight one. Supporters of both Mr Baleni and Mr Komane at the conference were confident their candidate would emerge victorious.

Many delegates said it was too early to tell which way the hotly contested vote would go as the groups and lobbied would do so until tomorrow morning at least.

Earlier, Ekurhuleni mayor Mondli Gungubele said internal power battles and perceptions of corruption would lead to the ANC losing votes. "Political power is not something you get born with, it’s power you retain because people have voted for you," he said.

For people to continue to vote for the ANC, they needed to have confidence in it — and this could not happen if ANC members continued to fight among themselves over leadership.

1.4 Ruling alliance in danger of imploding, says NUM

Natasha Marrian & Sam Mkokeli, Business Day, 24 May 2012

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has warned that the governing African National Congress (ANC)-led alliance is in danger of imploding because it has become "engulfed in an orgy of public bickering and ill-discipline".

The NUM is an influential affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), which is expected to influence the direction of the ANC as it discusses policy proposals and prepares to elect leaders in December.

In a political report, due to be read this morning at the NUM’s conference in Boksburg, general secretary Frans Baleni said: "Unless we arrest these internal scuffles within the democratic movement, it is not far-fetched that this movement, built over many years, will implode."

The report offers a frank analysis of the problems within the ANC and the alliance, but also recognises that the battles for control of the organisations often get in the way of solving them.

Mr Baleni said party leaders needed to be bold and consistent. "We are indecisive as a movement, even on agreed positions, and debate endlessly instead of moving forward." Poor "unity of purpose" and an inability to solve differences in a constructive way was a "real obstacle to progress" in the movement.

"This creates fertile ground for opportunism to take root and for self-seeking agendas to assert themselves," he said.

Leadership contests threatened components of the movement, he said, instead of being used as a moment of renewal.

Mr Baleni warned against a "modern, narrow, nationalist tendency" wanting to hijack the ANC and steer it to serve a new black elite. He was referring to an increasingly anticommunist sentiment in the ANC, a resuscitation of the great ghost of "rooigevaar".

These attacks were largely aimed at unionists and communists in both the ruling party and government. "This offensive is undertaken to ensure that (empowerment) enclaves of tenderpreneurship can continue to rob our people with skewed and half-baked service delivery projects. This Africanist tendency is driven by national factionalism."

He said social protests that erupted now and then across SA reflected the people’s dissatisfaction with or lack of service delivery.

This should not be dismissed as being driven by a "third force", but should be "captured" by the ANC as they represented "legitimate expressions of the frustrations of our people", he said.

Speaking at the conference, Ekurhuleni mayor Mondli Gungubele said power battles and corruption in the ruling alliance were eroding the confidence voters had in the ANC. He said the support of the millions who back the ANC should not be taken for granted.

1.5 I know where I’m going, says Zuma

Sam Mkokeli, Business Day, 24 May 2012

President Jacob Zuma yesterday rounded on critics of his presidency, especially those who say he is unfit to run the country.

His animated defence follows a storm over a painting depicting him with his genitals exposed, which has been interpreted as a critique of his alleged weak leadership and poor judgment. The African National Congress (ANC) regards the now-defaced painting as a racist provocation.

Speaking at the start of a five-day elective conference of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in Kempton Park yesterday, Mr Zuma defended himself to union leaders who could influence ANC elections later this year.

He called on the unionists to defend the revolution against an adversary that was growing in strength. In a mixture of Zulu and English, Mr Zuma said: "People say lo muntu lo akafanelanga ukuphatha izwe, akazi lutho (this person is not fit to run the country, he knows nothing)."

However, he said, his critics were "people who talk too much" and those "who make themselves judges to judge us. We have never judged them."

Mr Zuma said he was fit to do his job, and it was not a coincidence that he was the president of the country.

"I am not here because I got lost somewhere.... I was part of the struggle and continue to do so. I came here walking and knowing where I’m going. I am not like the people who come today and speak louder," he said.

"The issue is, how do we make SA succeed? How do we bring about prosperity in our country? That task is not for many of the people who talk too much, that task is now in our hands."

Although Mr Zuma did not mention Brett Murray or his painting, his comments about being provoked suggested he was also referring to the controversial exhibition which had been on displace at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. "I don’t think we need to be provoked because I think we are very kind — kind because we have a deeper understanding of the destiny of our people, the destiny of this country," he said.

Mr Zuma said SA’s democracy had grown to such an extent that the time had come to revisit aspects that had been overlooked before the first democratic elections in 1994.

Discussions on land distribution and job creation ahead of the ANC’s policy conference to be held in Midrand next month have been dominated by calls for the constitution to be changed.

But there are concerns that the party could become more populist as pressure mounts on it to deliver more services to citizens.

Mr Zuma said SA’s democracy had grown and become consolidated. "We are moving towards the 20th year of our freedom. We cannot have a democracy of 20 years that still has the problems of the past," he said.

Mr Zuma said the ANC’s policy conference had to assess the state of the country and determine if this was what the founders of the ANC had in mind 100 years ago.

"Eighteen years is just the right time to look at ourselves and analyse the balance of forces," he said.

He said land distribution had to be dealt with, but within the provisions of the constitution.

1.6 I know what I am doing, says Zuma

Gaye Davis, Gcina Ntsaluba, Gillian Jones & Sapa, IOL, 24 May 2012

President Jacob Zuma has come to his own defence over his presidency of SA and the ANC.

People had told him he could not rule because he was not educated, he said in Zulu at the National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM) national congress in Kempton Park on Wednesday.

“I knew what I was doing then and I know what I am doing now. I am not here by mistake. The issue is how do we make SA succeed, bring about prosperity?”

Zuma took a swipe at people with “big mouths”.

“That task is not for many of the people who talk too much, that task is now in our hands.

“I am not like people who come today and speak louder, who were not there when things were tough.

“And we have never judged them… I think we are kind because we have a deeper understanding of the destiny of our people, of this country.”

Zuma, who was welcomed by a sea of delegates dressed in red and singing “uZuma, my president”, called on the NUM to take more of a political role in the ANC.

“Workers cannot be spectators,” said Zuma.

Mineworkers played a critical role in the country: “You are the engines of the economy as mineworkers and have always been, that is why your congress is so important.”

NUM members should be in the ANC: “You need to be there, not just at branch level but all levels, including the national executive committee of the ANC.”

Zuma pointed out that the NUM was among the first bodies to adopt the Freedom Charter “which indicated the political consciousness” the union had then.

For this reason, the NUM should play an active political role in shaping the second century of the ANC.

NUM president Senzeni Zokwana told delegates earlier that the congress was a significant precursor to political events this year, including the ANC policy conference next month and Mangaung.

“What we do or say here will have bearing on all of those,” said Zokwana.

With more than 320 000 members, NUM is the largest affiliate of Cosatu. The four-day congress, at Emperors Palace, attended by 1 000 delegates, also marks NUM’s 30th anniversary. And the cracks are beginning to show.

Zokwana decried factional battles plaguing the organisation, which is also engaged in a turf war with a rival newcomer, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, that has seen violent clashes at Impala Platinum recently.

Zokwana warned NUM was battling to contain factionalism. He said at Implats, threats and killings had been used to scare off NUM members. He said the mine’s licence should be suspended.

Zokwana said tribalism was another basis for forming factions, which he described as “the most backward way” of deciding leadership: “When you lose your compass as a leader, you become a liar, you become a mole, you become a fool.”

1.7 NUM must take political stand – Zuma

Business Report, 23 May 2012

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) must play a role in South Africa's politics, President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday.

“Workers cannot be spectators,” he told the NUM national congress in Kempton Park.

He said some people believed workers should not concern themselves with politics, but only with factory conditions. However, workers were affected by state institutions such as the police and courts.

“That says workers therefore cannot sit back and not influence the politics that shape the state.”

He was welcomed by a sea of delegates dressed in red and singing “uZuma, my president”.

NUM members had to be represented at all levels of the ANC and not see the party as something separate to them. Zuma said the ANC was a broad church.

“It depends who influences it at a given time.”

Workers should be part of the leadership to “balance the thinking in the ANC”.

The NUM is the main constituent of Cosatu, which is part of the tripartite alliance, along with the ANC and the SA Communist Party. – Sapa

1.8 NUM president threatens naked March to protest against a controversial painting of Jacob Zuma

Moneyweb, 24 May 2012

The notion of naked men marching to protest against a controversial painting of President Jacob Zuma came up at an NUM congress on Wednesday.

"Only men should march there for one reason -- those men will be naked," National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) president Senzeni Zokwana told delegates in Kempton Park.

He said the painting "The Spear", depicting Zuma with exposed genitals was an "expression of how white people regard black people".

"I wonder what would have happened in Zimbabwe?" he said.

Zokwana criticised the way in which a security guard treated one of the men accused of defacing the Brett Murray painting on display at the Goodman Gallery on Tuesday.

The guard was filmed head-butting and flipping Louis Mabokela onto the floor.

"Maybe that guy was showing his master 'I can deal with blacks'," said Zokwana.

Gallery guard Paul Molesiwa, 36, appeared in the Hillbrow Magistrate's Court on Wednesday for alleged assault and was granted R1000 bail.

The white man, Barend la Grange, who was arrested for defacing the painting, was treated as if he was a visitor, Zokwana said.

He said no one had the right to display such a painting.

"You can't publish pornography in the guise of artwork."

Zuma later addressed delegates, but made no reference to the artwork.

However, he did call on all South Africans to demonstrate a willingness to accept equality as a basic human right for everyone.

"You can't have some communities believing they are superior to others," he said.

"We cannot have [a] democracy of almost 20 years where we will have the problems of the past."

On Thursday, three judges of the High Court in Johannesburg will hear arguments from the ANC, Zuma and Zuma's children on why the Goodman Gallery should remove the painting and why City Press should take it off its website.

The parties will argue that this should be on the grounds that it violated Zuma and the party's dignity and rights.

City Press is opposing removing the image and the matter has been escalated to a freedom of expression issue.

In the meantime, the Goodman Gallery said it had temporarily closed its doors to the public after numerous threats.

The owner Liza Essers said she feared for safety of the gallery, its staff and visitors.

2. Workers

2.1 Police pursuing charges against COSATU

Kate Lorimer, Politicsweb, 23 May 2012

DA MPL says Federation facing illegal gathering charges

POLICE CHARGE COSATU OVER DA MARCH

The SA Police Service (SAPS) has laid charges against COSATU for an illegal gathering last week when the DA marched against the Youth Wage Subsidy, and is actively investigating this matter.

I was told this yesterday when I met with Acting Provincial Police Commissioner Pumzo Gela, Superintendent Enoch Sibiya from Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) and a number of members of the Public Order Policing Unit of the SAPS.

The aim of the meeting was to raise the concerns of the DA around the lack of policing protection for DA members during the march and to ensure that a similar situation does not arise in any future marches.

It was acknowledged at the meeting that the threat assessment could have been better on the side of the SAPS and JMPD and that the training of marshals could have been better on the side of the DA.

Communication could also have been improved upon between all three groups.

Assistant Provincial Commissioner Gela has also assured me that the police have no political favourites and respect the democratic right of anybody to march as long as they have the permission to do so.

The SAPS Public Order Policing Unit has also offered to give advice to our marshals to ensure that in future they protect the marchers as much as possible.

I found the SAPS very open and eager to be frank but unfortunately found Superintendent Sibiya of JMPD rather defensive.

I am grateful that all parties involved were able to meet and agree on a way forward.

Statement issued by Kate Lorimer MPL, DA Gauteng Community Safety spokesperson, May 23 2012

2.2 KZN hospital staff down tools a second time

TimesLive, 23 May 2012

Hundreds of Nehawu members picketed outside the Inkosi Albert Luthuli hospital in Durban on Wednesday morning.

They wanted to hand a memorandum to KwaZulu-Natal health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo, but he sent a representative to meet them, hospital CEO Sifiso Mtshali said.

Wednesday was the second time the workers had downed tools. The National Education, Health, and Allied Workers' Union picketed last Wednesday. They wanted the MEC to fire the hospital's human resources and systems managers, claiming they were incompetent, Mtshali said.

Service delivery at the hospital was not affected as it was not busy in the morning. Union members later returned to work.

Provincial health department spokesman Chris Maxon said Dhlomo could not meet union members as he had an executive meeting but he would address the matter.

The union could not be reached for comment.

2.3 Another body pulled from Kleinzee mine

TimesLive/SAPA, 24 May 2012

Rescuers have removed one more body from the Bontekou mine at Kleinzee, where about 15 illegal miners were trapped by loose gravel, Northern Cape police said on Thursday.

Spokeswoman Captain Cherelle Ehlers said the conditions at the rescue site were extremely difficult and dangerous.

Earlier, one illegal digger was rescued. He had sustained minor injuries. He was treated for shock in a hospital in Springbok. Another three escaped unharmed.

Police have now recovered two bodies, and rescuers could see another, but the unstable conditions had prevented them from retrieving it.

Mine engineers have visited the site to make an analysis. It was decided that a ditch would be dug alongside the tunnel in which the diggers were trapped, from which rescuers would try to reach them.

Police from Kommagas, Kleinzee, and Port Nolloth, and search and rescue teams from Upington and Kimberley, the De Beers Mine, and officials from Nama Khoi disaster management and rescue services were involved in the rescue effort.

Tunnels at the mine collapsed on Tuesday at 3pm. The mine closed the tunnels in April.

Eleven illegal diggers reportedly managed to escape and alerted police. The collapsed hole was about six metres deep and led to several tunnels and an underground waiting area.

2.4 Eight more illegal miners rescued in Welkom

TimesLive, 24 May 2012

Police and search and rescue personnel have brought another eight trapped illegal miners to the surface at a disused mine near Welkom, a spokesman said on Thursday.

Captain Steven Thakeng said this brought the total number of illegal miners rescued at the disused Harmony Gold mine to 18.

It was suspected that another four “zama-zamas”, as illegal miners were called in the industry, were still trapped underground.

Thakeng said rescuers worked through the night to bring the latest eight to the surface. They were medically checked and arrested for trespassing.

There was no indication of possible casualties yet.

Two illegal miners raised the alarm on Tuesday, saying fellow miners were trapped underground following a rockfall in the early hours.

Police said they were digging for gold in the disused Harmony mine when parts of it began to cave in.

The company had sealed the mine but illegal workers, many of them from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Lesotho, had burrowed in.

2.5 Youth support wage subsidy: survey

Daily News, 23 May 2012

Three-quarters of young South Africans support the idea of a youth wage subsidy, a recent survey has found.

They believed it would make it easier for young people to find jobs, help the economy grow, and solve the problem of unemployed youth.

In addition, most respondents (44 percent) disagreed with the Congress of SA Trade Unions' (Cosatu) stance against the wage subsidy.

At the same time, most also expressed dissatisfaction with the DA's decision to march on Cosatu House.

TNS South Africa, in conjunction with FSMS, polled 538 young people on the subsidy between May 16 and 20 this year in a short mobile telephone survey.

Those who responded were mostly those likely to be affected most - aged under 24 years (55 percent) - with a further 27 percent aged 25 to 30 years.

The results showed that 77 percent supported the idea, 11 percent did not, and 12 percent gave a "don't know" response.

Among those supporting the idea, 80 percent were aged 16 to 24 years, while the support dropped somewhat to 66 percent for those aged 31 years and over.

There were only minor differences across the different language groups and no gender differences.

Some 96 percent of the respondents agreed it was important to solve the problem of unemployed youth and 73 percent agreed a youth wage subsidy would make it easier for young people to find jobs.

Some 65 percent also agreed a youth wage subsidy would help the economy grow.

Conversely, 42 percent agreed the subsidy would be a further burden to taxpayers, 24 percent disagreed, and 34 percent "don't know".

Some concern (19 percent) was also expressed that the subsidy would put people who had jobs at risk of losing them, 43 percent disagreed, and 37 percent "don't know".

Furthermore, 31 percent agreed that under the subsidy young people would not be paid what they were worth, while 32 percent disagreed and 37 percent again "don't know".

On the roles of Cosatu and the DA, who had been at loggerheads about the wage subsidy, only 25 percent agreed that Cosatu was correct in opposing the subsidy while 44 percent disagreed.

The trade union federation was also accused by 36 percent of respondents of not caring about the problem of unemployed youth while finding favour with 33 percent.

Equally, 40 percent felt that the DA should not have marched on Cosatu House last week as opposed to 27 percent who disagreed and 33 percent who said "don't know".

Among those who disagreed with the DA, 44 percent spoke a black African language as their home language.

The respondents in the survey consisted of 411 blacks and 127 people of other race groups. - Sapa

3. South Africa

3.1 Cosatu profiting from e-tolls?

iafrica.com, 24 May 2012

A company in which Cosatu's investment arm Kopano Ke Matla had a stake in was not involved in the implementation of e-tolls, the trade union federation said on Wednesday.

"Raubex, the firm in which Kopano Ke Matla has a three percent stake, was involved in the construction of roads that were later e-tolled, and not at all in the implementation of e-tolls themselves," the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) national spokesman Patrick Craven said in a statement.

This followed a report in The Times newspaper earlier that Cosatu was "embarrassed" when it was revealed that Kopano Ke Matla had a stake in a company that was benefiting from the e-tolling of roads.

Last month, it was reported that Raubex won a tender to build the R21, which formed part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.

Raubex received R800 million for the project.

Kopano Ke Matla would have received R24 million as a result of its three percent share, according to the report.

3.2 Gordhan warns of 'dark economic future' with e-tolls

Mail & Guardian, 23 May 2012

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has made an unusual appeal to the Constitutional Court in a bid to set aside the high court order halting e-tolling.

In an affidavit, he warns that South Africa would face a dark economic future if the order was not set aside urgently.

According to Beeld newspaper the appeal application papers were handed to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday.

Business Day newspaper reported it was an unusual move for Gordhan and his colleagues to approach the Constitutional Court directly, rather than appealing to the high court.

In an affidavit Gordhan says South Africa would have to brace itself for negative international credit ratings.

Essential services to schools, hospitals and roads would be adversely affected if the temporary court order remained in place until a revision process and the subsequent appeals were concluded.

Gordhan regards his request as so urgent that he asked Mogoeng to convene the Constitutional Court during its annual July recess to hear the application, Beeld reported.

Constitutional principle
His chief objection to the interim court order issued by Judge Bill Prinsloo in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on April 28, is that Prinsloo ignored the constitutional principle of separation of powers.

The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) applied to have e-tolling halted.

Gordhan says the courts do not have the power to make decisions about the validity of government policy or how the government generates revenue.

Furthermore, he says treasury would not be able to do any long-term planning if the courts issued orders derailing the planning process.

Business Day reported that Gordhan says at the heart of the dispute “lies a fundamental issue regarding the separation of powers and whether or not a court can exercise discretionary judgment over a government policy decision”.

The high court judgment could set “a precedent for future judicial intervention along similar lines”, he warns.

It was imperative that the Constitutional Court consider the matter to “determine the limits of this kind of judicial intervention”, Gordhan said.

Introducing policy
Outa spokesperson Wayne Duvenhage said the court papers had been lodged.

“Their [government’s] argument is based around its right to introduce policy that it deems appropriate. If they can’t do that, then they say it could damage the country’s economy.

“We are arguing that it is not the court interdict that is the issue, it is about the poor decisions around e-tolling.

3.3 Former CEO slams Sanral interdict

Chandré Prince, Times, 24 May 2012

Two weeks after Sanral CEO Nazir Alli resigned amid controversy around the e-tolls saga, he said the Pretoria High Court had made a grave mistake in granting an interim order halting the project.

He said the order by Judge Bill Prinsloo late last month has resulted in astronomical financial losses by the agency.

In an affidavit in support of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's unusual application to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday to have the April court order reviewed and set aside, Alli said the longer the interdict is in place, the more money Sanral was losing.

He stressed that uncertainty around e-tolling and the government agency made it practically impossible to borrow money.

More concerning, however, is that all infrastructure projects have to be postponed indefinitely.

"Sanral cannot commit to new projects unless it can secure funding. This means that future growth of the road network and projects must be delayed," he said.

A sum of R5.75-billion from National Treasury as balloon payment to help reduce capital on the loan Sanral used for the e-tolling project was now being used to offset the impact of the interim order.

The long-run consequence, said Alli, is that motorists will be required to pay more for the upgrade of the freeway system.

Alli further agrees with Gordhan's submission that the courts should not be allowed to interfere with executive decisions taken by the state.

Judge Prinsloo's approach to the applications on the relevant principles of law were fundamentally flawed when granting the interdict, Alli believes.

He contends that it could never be said that government should not implement a vital and necessary programme because of the potential for unlawfulness.

He said this would be equivalent to Eskom not building new power stations for fear that consumers would not pay for the commodity.

Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance spokesman Wayne Duvenhage said that Gordhan's application to the highest court was unwarranted and that the high courts were there for a reason.

"If you don't allow courts to fulfil their functions, it would be the same as dictatorship. Government has executive powers, but when it is misguided, it needs to be challenged," Duvenhage said, adding that they would be filing their response papers within 10 days. No date has been set for the hearing.

Earlier this week ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said cabinet, the ANC and Cosatu were investigating alternatives to repay the government's multi-billion-rand debt that Gauteng used to upgrade roads.

Mantashe also said the courts should not interfere with how the government managed its finances.

3.4 Cosatu disappointed by ET judgment

TimesLive, 23 May 2012

The South African justice system still favoured the rich and the white minority, Cosatu in the North West said on Wednesday.

The provincial Congress of SA Trade Unions was responding to the judgment handed down in the Ventersdorp High Court sitting on Tuesday.

A teenager was acquitted of the murder of rightwing leader Eugene in 20101.

Patrick Ndlovu was also found not guilty on the charge of attempted robbery, but was found guilty of house-breaking with the intent to steal.

However, his co-accused Chris Mahlangu was convicted on all three charges.

"As Cosatu we always said that the justice system of our country still favours the rich and the whites, that the poor are still oppressed and that the judiciary is failing to protect them," spokesman Solly Phetoe said.

In a statement he said the union was disappointed in the judgment handed down by the court. It believed it was done without looking at all the circumstances the two found themselves in.

"As the federation in North West we are looking at the sentence and we will have to defend the farm workers; even if it means we must die, we will do so," Phetoe said.

3.5 Zuma painting defaced to 'prevent civil war'

Nickolaus Bauer, Mail & Guardian, 24 May 2012

One of the men accused of defacing "The Spear" artwork said he did it to defuse a situation that could have turned into a race war.

“It took me 15 seconds to destroy this insensitive artwork. We have a lot more to worry about in South Africa than a painting.

There are people’s lives in danger, the racial tension is there and people don’t realise what this can lead to”, a resolute Barend la Grange told the Mail & Guardian outside the Hillbrow Magistrate’s Court.

The Spear depicts President Jacob Zuma with his genitals exposed and forms part of artist Brett Murray’s Hail to the Thief II exhibition.

The artwork caused a national outcry and has been labelled racist by the ANC, who are seeking an urgent court interdict to prevent the painting from being exhibited or published.

Spoilt ballot paper
La Grange admitted to painting a large red X over the genital and facial area of the art piece before his co-accused Louis Mabokela smeared black paint over the surface of the image – while eNews cameras filmed the incident on Tuesday.

La Grange also claimed he had never met Mabokela prior to the incident and that both acts of defacing were carried out independently.

He said his act of defacing the artwork symbolised a spoilt ballot paper.

“The first X was against ANC-led government who I believe are going the wrong direction and the second X was against people making a mockery of our president,” he said.

La Grange said that while he didn’t like Zuma, he was still his president and had respect for the office of the presidency.

“I saw the people at the gallery were not there for art, they were there to make a joke of the president.”

La Grange also accused the Goodman Gallery of perpetuating the racial prejudices of South Africa’s past by allowing the painting to be exhibited.

“I lived through apartheid, I didn’t govern the system but I benefitted from it. I thought it only right as a white person to destroy this insensitive thing that was also created by a white person,” he said.

Change the Constitution
La Grange then echoed the ANC’s assertion that the constitutional right to freedom of expression cannot be used as an excuse to violate the dignity of others.

“If the Constitution protects people who do thing like this, then the Constitution must be changed. I didn’t defuse the situation but the fact that this painting is no longer there makes me feel far better,” he said.

The duo’s case was postponed until June 28 to gather more evidence.

Mabokela refused to comment after the case was postponed but his lawyer Krish Naidoo confirmed he had laid a charge of assault against security at the gallery.

Footage showed Mabokela being roughed up by gallery security immediately after defacing the painting.

“We intend to seek justice in the matter of my client being assaulted at the gallery,” Naidoo told the M&G.

Police confirmed security guard Paul Molesiwa had been arrested and briefly appeared in the Hillbrow Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, where he was granted R1 000 bail.

Interdict continues
The ANC has vowed to continue its court challenge against the artwork – despite it having been defaced.

“We still believe this painting continues to tarnish the image of Zuma. That’s why we are still going to court to find out if his rights have been violated. This is no longer just about him in any case, this matter needs to be resolved as it is polarising South African society,” ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu told the M&G.

4. International

4.1 Over 5,000 workers still on strike in Rangoon

The Irrawaddy, 22 May 2012

More than 5,000 workers in five different factories at Rangoon’s Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone have been striking for better pay for two weeks.

The strikers are demanding a wage hike from 15,000 kyat (US $17.90) per month to 30,000 kyat ($35.80), which their employers have so far refuse to pay.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy, Ma Hmway, a worker at Pearl garment factory, said, “We have stayed sitting in front of the factory today as they have not agreed to our demands yet.” She added that her factory is owned by a Chinese national with items produced, such as jacket and pants, exported to the foreign market.

All the Hlaing Tharyar striking factories are close to one another with industrial action spreading to each over the course of a week. Since the middle of May, there has been a series of walk-outs in HI Mo wig factory, Sapae Pwint, Myanmar Pearl, Nay Min Aung, YJ and Tokyo garment factories, as well as Nawaday and Sunflower factories at different times.

Employees of the three garment factories—Sapae Pwint, Pearl and Nay Min Aung—gathered at the Labor Affairs Office in Rangoon’s Mayangone Township on May 16.

The following day, government authorities, including Lower House MP Aung Thein Lin from Rangoon’s South Oakkalarpa Township, met to negotiate with the factory owners. However, despite their involvement no progress has yet been made.

Ohmar Nyein, a female worker at Sapae Pwint garment factory, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that, “the authorities just favor the employers, we are told what their offer is but they are not listening to our demands.”

Aung Kyaw Thu, a worker at Nay Min Aung garment factory for one year, told The Irrawaddy that, “they still do not agree our demands to pay 30,000 kyat ($35.8) per month but have only agreed to our minor disciplinary demands.”

He added that he currently earns around 9,000 kyat ($10.8) per month, which amounts to a daily wage of 350 kyat ($0.42), and has to work for 26 days a month.

In the meantime, HI Mo wig factory workers have also resumed their strike despite reaching an agreement with the help of government officials on May 10. Workers said that the Korean owner of the factory would not honor the agreed wage hike which their manager promised.

The strikers have gained support from worker activists, labor lawyers and the main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Worker representatives have visited the NLD’s Rangoon office twice to ask the party for assistance.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy, NLD MP Min Thu, for Naypyidaw’s Oaktarathiri Constituency, said that his party’s patron Tin Oo is having meetings with the workers to help solve their disputes. He added that “the NLD will provide humanitarian aid to those strike workers who have been protesting for weeks.”

Apart from the industrial action taking place at Hlaing Tharyar, workers at other industrial zones such as Shwepyithar and in Hmawbi Township have also walked out to demand increased wages.

Around 500 employees of Crown Steel Industry in Hmawbi’s Myandakar Industrial Zone started striking on Monday to demand increased pay and respect for workers’ rights. Activist Myo Min told The Irrawaddy that the worker representatives of Crown Steel Industry went to report their grievances to Rangoon’s International Labour Organization on Tuesday.

4.2 Myanmar police move against spreading power protests

TimesLive/Reuters, 24 May 2012

Myanmar police broke up a protest against power cuts by several hundred people in the town of Pyi on Thursday and five members of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party were taken in for questioning, a senior party official said.

Members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party were also briefly detained for questioning in the city of Mandalay in the early hours, a second NLD official said.

Demonstrations have taken place in several towns this week, including the commercial capital, Yangon, as citizens test the limits of democratic changes in Myanmar, leaving the authorities struggling to respond.

Until now, the security forces have allowed the peaceful demonstrations to go ahead and the civilian government, which took over from a repressive junta in March last year, has promised emergency measures to increase the electricity supply.

"So far as I heard from our members in the region, there was a protest of about 400 people at least," NLD official Nyan Win said, referring to the area around Pyi, about 260 km (160 miles) northwest of Yangon.

"The police tried to disperse them and there was some rough manhandling and some people were injured. Five NLD members were picked up for questioning," he said.

Ba Shi, a member of the NLD in Pyi, said the five were being held at the town's prison and a crowd had assembled outside to demand their release.

Tint Swe, an NLD committee member in Mandalay, told Reuters that he and two other party members were picked up by special branch officers at around 5 a.m. (2230 GMT on Wednesday) and questioned about who was behind the protests.

They were treated well and taken home about five hours later, he said.

State television said on Wednesday six generators purchased from U.S. firm Caterpillar Inc would be air-freighted within a week and two 25-megawatt gas turbines would be bought from General Electric Co to tackle the power shortage.

Urgent repairs would be carried out on power stations damaged in fighting with ethnic Kachin rebels, it added.

For decades, military authorities crushed protests against their rule, which often began because of frustration over bread-and-butter issues. The biggest and bloodiest uprisings against military rule, in 1988 and 2007, were sparked by economic grievances including soaring prices.

"WAIT AND SEE"

This week's marches pose a problem for reformist President Thein Sein - himself a former junta general - who has freed hundreds of political prisoners, relaxed state censorship, started peace talks with ethnic rebels and held by-elections that put Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi into parliament.

But the political and economic reforms are likely to raise expectations that both the government and the opposition led by Suu Kyi might struggle to meet.

Heavy-handed tactics to end the protests would be seized upon by government critics sceptical about the reforms, while the authorities will worry the demonstrations could spread.

The disturbances come as Suu Kyi is planning her first foreign trip in 24 years with a visit to neighbouring Thailand next week for an economic conference.

Suu Kyi spent 15 years in detention under the junta, and refused to leave the country when she had the opportunity, afraid she would not be allowed back.

It was not clear if the protests over power cuts would fizzle or blow up into a broader show of dissatisfaction.

Thein Aung Myint, 39, one of the organisers of the Mandalay protest, said the power supply had improved there on Wednesday night and residents in central Yangon said the same.

But activist Ko Htin Kyaw, 49, said there had still been power outages in the Yangon suburbs and he reserved judgment on the government's promise of increased power supplies.

"We have to wait and see whether they are as good as their word. This is not the first time they've said that," he said.

Kyaw Soe Lin, 45, a former political prisoner who has also been involved in organising the protests, suggested his aims were broader.

"Personally I can't be satisfied with a boost in electricity supplies at the moment," he said.

He noted the government had blamed the power shortage in part on the attack by the Kachin rebels. That showed there was still strife in the country and the government needed to work towards sustainable peace.

The protesters accuse the former military government of enriching themselves at the public's expense by selling natural gas to neighbouring China while Myanmar, among Asia's poorest nations, faces frequent power outages.

Power consumption in Myanmar, where only 25 percent of the population has access to the national grid, is one of the lowest in the world, averaging 104 kilowatts an hour per person, near the same level as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nepal, according to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

5. Comment

5.1 Numsa’s call for seizure of central bank is senseless

Pierre Heistein, Business Report, 24 May 2012

The recent proposals by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) to nationalise the Reserve Bank and overhaul current monetary policy are misguided and sensationalist.

They show a deep misunderstanding of the structure of the economy, and if it was concerned about the people – the working class and poor, as general secretary Irvin Jim puts it – the union would be protesting against general government policy, and not the position of the Reserve Bank.

The first error is to assume that nationalisation of the central bank would make a significant difference to its operations. It is true that it is owned by shareholders, however, only 2 million shares are issued and each shareholder is limited to a maximum of 10 000 shares. Dividend payments are capped at 10 percent of share value and limits are placed on the benefit shareholders can derive from a possible liquidation or nationalisation. All surplus earnings accrue to the government, making the shares a rather poor financial investment.

The organisation is run by a board consisting of a governor, three deputy governors, and 10 directors. The governor, all deputy governors and three directors are appointed by the state. It seems that the talk of nationalisation is an effort at antagonising public sentiment through already sensitive diction rather than shifting control.

The second mistake is to hold the bank solely accountable for the stated undesired consequences of inflation targeting and high interest rates. While its independence is guaranteed by the constitution, the Reserve Bank works closely with the minister of finance to ensure that its policies are aligned. The central bank in many ways acts as a calculated balance to fiscal policy.

The government has committed to strong expansionary policies, high levels of fiscal spending and more infrastructure development. Were the Reserve Bank to complement this with an expansionary monetary policy, letting interest rates fall and increasing the money supply, the combined rise in spending and liquidity would cause inflation to shoot up. The rand would depreciate strongly due to its increased supply and prices of imports would escalate.

Imports play a key role in construction and manufacturing and soon the very projects that the government embarked on would become unaffordable. The careful interaction between the government’s fiscal policy and the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy is crucial to the economy’s success. To blame one of these bodies for the outcomes of the economy while supporting the other is to misunderstand the relationship of central economic planning.

The private shareholding of the central bank may seem strange in the context of its mandate as a public service institution, but keeping it out of total control by the government plays an important role in a democracy. The bank has exclusive control over the issuing of notes, coins and electronic money, and the setting of base interest rates, therefore the government’s borrowing costs. It essentially controls the government’s primary source of funding beyond taxes.

Even with the shareholding structure, the government retains final control over the Reserve Bank’s policies and goals. However, it is crucial that certain balances and checks are in place to prevent its use as a personal purse. Numsa’s call to nationalise and revolutionise the bank are rather a threat to the working class than a philanthropic plea and make a mockery of the legitimacy of government institutions that the country has fought so hard to preserve.

Pierre Heistein is the convener for UCT’s Applied Economics for Smart Decision Making course.

5.2 Food for thought - March of progress

Justice Malala, Financial Mail, 24 May 2012

Why is it that Cosatu and its affiliates are always marching and protesting and turning over rubbish bins and no-one stops them?

It’s always nice to see a political party making a bit of progress. I mean, honestly, who would have thought the Democratic Alliance had more than seven black members?

Yes, yes, I know that 2945829 people voted for the DA in 2009, but I thought that the other 2945822 were just sending the governing party a little warning note.

Anyway, the DA does have more than seven black members and last week it became clear that they are not just in the suburbs but all over the place. I mean, all over.

There they were, all 2500 die-hards , being harassed and beaten and tasered by those freedom-loving beauties, the Congress of SA Trade Unions, in Braamfontein. It wasn’t black-on-white violence either, for those of you who still think the DA is a white party.

The whole DA lot, except for Helen Zille and a handful of others, were black. The apartheid monster had come to life. Shoo, chomee, it was black-on-black violence. Just the way FW de Klerk used to describe it before we found out that Eugene de Kock was in the townships. Regularly. Killing people. Who would have thunk it?

The fact that there are more than seven DA members around must have made a few ANC leaders’ blood boil. Now the party doesn’t have a monopoly on calling every black person “our people”. Ho hum.

Now, someone please tell me something: Why is it that Cosatu and its affiliates are always marching and protesting and turning over rubbish bins in our cities and no-one ever stops them or beats them up? Then when the DA exercises this democratic right — barring the trashing of the streets — suddenly Cosatu’s Zwelinzima Vavi is behaving like a warlord, exhorting his followers to “defend Cosatu” and its building. Er, from what exactly? The contest of ideas?

You have to chuckle. Just a few weeks ago Vavi and Zille were socking it to the ANC on all sorts of things including corruption and the Gauteng e-tolls.

Then Zille realised that actually Vavi was becoming a more effective opposition leader than she was. So she marched on him. And Vavi, to show his ANC comrades that he is not a counter-revolutionary like the rest of the black middle class (he does earn upwards of R500000), decided to act like a lout and get his Cosatu comrades to attack Zille’s march. Hell hath no fury like the black middle class exposed.

No matter. A friend of mine has been asking me where the DA’s white constituency was on the day of the march. I told him he should have gone to Parkhurst, Johannesburg.

Talk Radio 702’s Jenny Crwys-Williams was in the neighbourhood, decrying the Jo’burg metro’s decision to make us all pay a ridiculous R8/hour to park in our own streets.

The residents joined up and put up tables outside their shops to stop the JMPD from giving people tickets. It was all rather peaceful and civilised. Tea was had by all.

I decided to go and look for the DA’s constituency in Hyde Park. The coffee shops were full. Besuited men were huddling together, moaning. I knew what that was about.

Business Leadership SA had just released documents indicating that wage restraint from our top executives was, er, ahem, to be encouraged. I could hear the collective moan all the way from Fricker Road.

For a moment that day I thought Hyde Park shopping mall was a meeting point for the DA march on Cosatu. It was because of the new Tashas restaurant that opened a few months ago in the mall. You could not get a table there. Waiting times are up to 45 minutes. You take a chit and chill. Chill a lot.

What is it with this particular chain of restaurants? The one in Morningside is always packed. So is Atholl Square. Now this?

Last Tuesday it was full of what many used to think of as the average DA voter: white, over 60 and silicone-enhanced. That’s changing, though. On other days — I guess the black DA members were at the march — there are loads of well-heeled black people and some nifty 70-year-olds. Looking pretty gooooooood, as James Brown used to say.

So my friend Monde Twala had blackened steak with gorgeous-looking chips and a pepper sauce while I had the sole with vegetables. We are both watching the progression of our waists, so we did not have any wine.

The food was not good. It was shockingly good. My lovely wife went with a friend the next day. She pronounced the tuna salad a triumph. That’s why this place is so full.

Patrick Craven (National Spokesperson)

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 or 010 219-1339

Mobile: +27 82 821 7456

E-Mail: pat...@cosatu.org.za

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