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and Published by the Congress of South African Trade Unions
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COSATU Media Monitor
Friday 6 November 2009
Contents
1.2 Cosatu rejects Falcon solution
2.1 Mantashe hits back at restive Cosatu, ANCYL; Accuses both of 'negative roles'
2.2 Mantashe flays public sector unions
2.3 Does Vavi's salary reflect Cosatu's values?
3.1 Eskom Crisis Should Be Resolved by State, Union Says
3.2 ANC Won’t Pledge ‘Hollow Support’ on Nationalization of Mines
3.3 Nationalisation confuses all and sundry inside labour
3.4 Union blasts spending on Zuma's huge cabinet
3.5 ANC lauds struggle stalwart
Around 500 dismissed workers belonging to the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) will take their case to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration next week.
In a statement on Thursday, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) said it had given its full support to the workers.
The workers were dismissed following a strike in August.
"They were working at a company called Express Payroll in Olifantsfontein, Midrand, but were actually employed by a labour broker called Payroll Miniload.
"But the two companies are in fact owned by the same family." Cosatu said.
The workers were in wage negotiations in August and when the company rejected their demands they embarked on a protected strike.
The employer then obtained a court interdict, which the union did not immediately contest, and when they did, they lost the case, Cosatu said.
"The company has forced the strikers to stay 1.2km from the factory, and they have had to meet under a tree on open ground, with no toilets or running water.
"Seven workers have been arrested but four have already had their cases dismissed."
Cosatu said the company was employing scab labour, also through a labour broker, and one of the scab workers had told the strikers that conditions at the company were even worse than before.
"This case demonstrates graphically the reasons why labour broking should be banned.
"It leaves workers in a highly vulnerable situation and undermines their legal and constitutional rights to be treated fairly," Cosatu said.
In response to Sapa's questions, Express Payroll's Leigh van Rooyen replied: "I don't want to have this conversation."
http://business.iafrica.com/news/2035601.htm
But Cosatu said yesterday that Ben Burger's resignation was "not enough of an apology", claiming that Burger would benefit from the company because he was a major shareholder.
Burger, the CEO and a director of Falcon Security, was arrested following the incident, in which a racist version of the national anthem was played at a company fun day last month. Burger was released but he then fired his employee, Francois Robberts, who was alleged to have played the CD.
The security company has been contracted to Sun City for 14 years.
Cosatu rejected the company's apologies and last Saturday nearly shut down Sun City by striking. Most restaurants in the resort were closed as employees handed over a memorandum of their demands to the resort's management.
Burger said yesterday: "It has become clear to me that, particularly from the labour union's side, I am regarded to be part of the problem."
North West Cosatu spokesman Solly Phetoe said the federation "would only be happy" if the company's Sun City contract was terminated.
Phetoe said that Falcon Security was run by "people who do not respect human dignity".
"If he [Burger] resigns he's going to run the company [from] outside," said Phetoe. "Mr Burger [has] got 75% of the shares".
Falcon Security said yesterday "the incident has caused the company immeasurable damage".
Sun International had not responded to queries by The Times at the time of going to press.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/news/article182190.ece
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has taken on Cosatu affiliates and the party's youth league in what might be a sign of the ruling party's growing impatience with continued internal bickering.
In a hard-hitting speech at the national congress of the SA Municipal Workers' Union, in Limpopo yesterday, Mantashe accused the union and other Cosatu affiliates of "failing" to "prove that they are part" of the ANC-led alliance.
"Cosatu unions in the public sector have failed thus far to prove they are part of a revolutionary movement. Engagement with the democratic state is based on demands and offers. It is members of these progressive unions who deliver shoddy services to communities, and political deployees absorb the pain," said Mantashe.
His attack comes ahead of a meeting between the ANC and Cosatu about policy differences that have emerged since President Jacob Zuma took office.
Cosatu general-secretary Zwelinzima Vavi told the congress on Tuesday that his federation was not happy with the pace at which Zuma's administration was implementing the policy changes agreed to before the elections. Of particular concern to Cosatu is its belief that its representatives in Zuma's cabinet are being sidelined in favour of "right-wing" leaders, such as National Planning Commission Minister Trevor Manuel.
But yesterday it was the turn of the ANC to complain about Cosatu and its affiliates.
Mantashe stopped short of accusing the ANC's allies of crippling the state, but said: "There is no commitment to serve, but demand for more. When Samwu is proud of getting a 13% increase in cash-strapped municipalities, is it equally engaging in a discussion about serving our people better?"
Mantashe said members of the SA Communist Party and Cosatu "play a negative role" whenever there is conflict at local government level.
"Infighting within ANC structures and among alliance partners is emerging as a major contributing factor wherein comrades are positioning themselves for the 2011 local-government elections," he said.
Mantashe made it clear that the ANC leadership will not be intimidated by the party's youth league into changing its stance on the nationalisation of mines. This follows threats by youth league president Julius Malema that the league will not support the re-election of any ANC leader who opposes the nationalisation of the mines.
ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa this week came under fire from the Young Communist League for telling UK investors that nationalisation was not ANC policy. The league said his comments contradicted the Freedom Charter.
Mantashe yesterday said the ANC was "the only surviving organisation" from when the Freedom Charter was adopted and "no [other] organisation can claim ownership" of it.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/news/article182153.ece
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Karima Brown, Business Day, 6 November 2009AFRICAN National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Gwede Mantashe yesterday attacked public sector unions for their shoddy work and demands for double-digit salary increases. This strong criticism of a union by a senior ANC leader is likely to heighten tensions in the ruling tripartite alliance. The ANC and its leftist allies will hold an alliance summit next week in an effort to iron out major differences over economic policy and how best to deliver on the government’s five key priority areas — the creation of decent jobs, health, education, rural development and fighting crime. Mantashe’s comments are likely to resonate with some ANC leaders who have called for a paradigm shift in relations between the developmental state and public sector unions affiliated with the Congress of South African Trade Unions. Mantashe, addressing a gathering of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) in Bela- Bela in Limpopo, said that unions engaged the state on the basis of “demands and offers” and that they failed in their obligations to serve the people. “It is members of these progressive unions that deliver shoddy services to the communities, and political deployees absorb the pain. There is no commitment to serve but (they) demand for more. “When Samwu is proud of getting a 13% increase in cash- strapped municipalities, is it equally engaging in a discussion about serving our people better?” Mantashe said. He said these demands led to an increase in budget deficits, which was not desirable, especially considering the recession and the global financial crisis . “The increases are not a major issue if and when the services given to our people are of superior quality. They become an issue when the communities feel the decline in the quality of services they receive.” The ANC has come under pressure in several communities across SA as angry residents take to the streets to protest tardy service delivery and corruption . Mantashe’s attack on public sector unions is likely to be supported in many ANC provincial structures given that the ANC in Gauteng has also put the blame for sub-standard services at the door of public sector workers. David Makhura, the ANC provincial secretary in Gauteng , recently called for a “fundamental” debate that required a “paradigm shift” on the part of public sector unions. But Cosatu is likely to contest the ANC’s passing the buck to the unions. The labour federation has blamed poor service delivery on a range of policy choices, including privatisation of basic services, as the key driver of slack delivery and under-performance. Next week’s alliance summit is likely to come up with resolutions that will try and bind the allies, including labour, into helping the administration of President Jacob Zuma to turn around service delivery, especially at municipal level. http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=86189
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One can understand to a certain degree that Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi’s salary had to go up. As Vavi himself explains: "My salary doubled because we were losing all the policy capacity in the federation.
The economists and accountants were all gone because, if you keep the salary at R250000, it means the economists can’t make those sacrifices for years and years. They lose out.”
So Vavi’s salary went up to R500000 a year (R42000 a month). No doubt many of the perks that come with the job are not reflected, but R500000 is still relatively little league when compared against the salaries of the business leaders that Vavi deals with daily. But Vavi is not a businessman. He is a unionist so one must compare his income and lifestyle, not with those at the top of the money pile, but with those whose banner he carries.
Perhaps more than in any other ethos, commitment to socialism or communism is measured by how its advocates walk the talk. The entire country is still no doubt musing over how red SACP leader Blade Nzimande’s blood really is after he, as Minister of Higher Education, bought a car worth over R1million. And how ironic it is that Vavi was one of his most vociferous critics.
Seen against mounting criticism that the Left “long ago abandoned socialist policies and that for at least the last 10 years Cosatu has not articulated a radical left-wing programme”, Cosatu’s leaders should be doing everything possible to underscore their relevance.
But this need not start with ill-informed diatribe about nationalising mines or the assets of businessmen like Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale.
If they were really serious a radical start would be to take a leaf from Mohandas Gandhi’s book. He brought lasting change to India and threw off the shackles of British domination by organising protests of peasants, farmers and urban labourers and leading nationwide campaigns to ease poverty and increase economic self-reliance – and he did so while personifying the most humble of lifestyles.
When it comes to salaries there are different ways of handling increments if one is truly serious about one’s convictions. Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor Saleem Badat, for example, when offered the job, decided that his new salary was too high and allocated a portion of it to a bursary fund for disadvantaged students. Imagine the statement Vavi would make were he to chose to provide such an example.
Arguing for a new Left recently, former SACP Gauteng secretary Viswas Satgar recently said “the SACP was no longer a communist party but a faction of the ANC” and the Left had lost its way.
Well, the long walk back should start from home.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/article182544.ece
South Africa’s government should act to resolve a management dispute at Eskom Holdings Ltd., the state-owned power utility, the country’s largest labor union said.
Johannesburg-based Business Day on Oct. 30 reported that the board has asked Chief Executive Officer Jacob Maroga to resign, citing unidentified people at the company. Yesterday the opposition Democratic Alliance said he had resigned, citing a memo sent to Eskom staff. Eskom canceled a planned press conference and declined to comment.
“We don’t have all the facts, so therefore the shareholder is better informed at this stage and should be able to resolve it,” Frans Baleni, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, which has members at Eskom, said in a telephone interview today.
South Africa has been short of power under Maroga’s tenure, with most mines and smelters shutting for five days in January 2008 when the electricity system neared collapse. The utility, supplier of about 95 percent of South Africa’s power, posted a record loss of 9.7 billion rand ($1.3 billion) last fiscal year and has proposed tripling tariffs over three years.
Five-Year Expansion
The company is in the midst of a five-year, 385 billion rand expansion. The government prevented Eskom from making decisions on new plants until 2004 as it tried unsuccessfully to attract private investment into the power industry. That resulted in the current shortage of generation capacity.
“We can’t blame the current crisis on Maroga; it started before him,” Baleni said.
Barbara Hogan, South Africa’s minister of public enterprises, referred queries to the board when called on her mobile phone today.
A scheduled appearance by Eskom’s board in front of the South African parliament’s portfolio committee on public enterprises to explain the management dispute today has been postponed, according to a parliamentary portfolio committee agenda.
The dispute may dent confidence in the country, the South African Press Association said, citing Vytjie Mentor, the chairwoman of the committee. Mentor spoke in an interview with SAFM, a state-owned radio station, Sapa said.
Bobby Godsell, the chairman of Eskom, questioned the ability of the company’s management to react to challenges, the Johannesburg Mail & Guardian said, citing a note sent by Godsell to the company’s board. Godsell didn’t immediately respond to voice and text messages left on his mobile phone.
The youth league of the ruling African National Congress said yesterday that Maroga has not resigned and said an alleged attempt to force him out is racist. The Black Management Forum also criticized the dispute, Johannesburg’s Star newspaper reported today.
Maroga, 49, took over as CEO from Thulani Gcabashe, whose contract expired in December 2007.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aDEkcR24.lJ4
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party said it won’t support calls for the nationalization of the country’s mines by groups including its own youth league and the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
The government has reactivated a dormant state-owned mining company and is pushing ahead with plans to charge royalties to miners, Gwede Mantashe, the secretary general of the ANC, said in an e-mailed copy of a speech made yesterday to members of the South African Municipal Workers Union in Bela Bela, north of Johannesburg.
The ANC, which has requested “concrete ideas” for the industry, is not going to “just pledge hollow support for the nationalization of mines,” Mantashe said.
South Africa is the world’s biggest producer of platinum, chrome, vanadium and manganese, the third-largest gold miner and the largest source of coal for European power plants. Anglo American Plc, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Xstrata Plc are among companies that own assets in the country.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=a5GE2ToVaOc4
Jim yesterday rallied to Vavi's
defence. Such allegations, he maintained, were "silly and
mischievous".
"South Africa is a capitalist society and real money is in the hands of
capitalists of all colours. Anyone wishing to hold a large event like a
congress of trade unions will either have to rob a bank or beg from the
capitalist. There is nothing hypocritical about this," he said.
Motsepe, listed in the latest Who owns Whom survey as the country's richest
man, has distributed largesse in a number of areas and has been dubbed a
"comrade capitalist" by some union cynics.
Jim also denied that the Numsa attack on big capital was in any way an attempt
to deflect attention from "lesser gravy train riding" within the government,
especially by Higher Education Minister and SACP general secretary Blade
Nzimande - who caused a stir recently with his purchase of a R1.1 million
official car.
The truth, Jim says, is that in South Africa there is "a filthy rich,
extremely selfish, mainly white, capitalist class (that) continues to refuse to
part with a significant portion of its wealth to meet the huge development
challenge confronting the country".
The "real enemy" of workers and the poor is, therefore, the
"capitalist class, which is largely white". About this there seems
little disagreement within the labour movement.
But although he says there is "no blueprint" for the way forward, Jim
and the Numsa executive again publicly pinned their colours to the SACP as
"the vanguard" of the working class.
This was also the message from Vavi when he addressed the SA Municipal Workers'
Union congress in Bela Bela, Limpopo, on Tuesday, where he called for the
transformation of the economy.
He also slated "black economic empowerment tycoons" who joined
"the race to accumulate wealth by any means possible" and saw the
answer to the economic crisis in "fostering a mass socialist movement,
true to Marxist principles and built around the SACP".
Unionists taking a cynical view see this as an attempt to establish the SACP as
an existing alternative.
However, a probable majority within the labour movement has no clear strategy
or tactics in mind and certainly no hard and fast ideological position. Their
attitude is summed up by Federation of Unions of SA general secretary Dennis
George: "The current system is failing and some sort of alternative is
needed. That's what it comes down to - that is what we have to debate."
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=553&fArticleId=5233416
South Africa's largest public sector trade union
federation has slammed the high cost of expanding President Jacob Zuma's
cabinet as an exercise in appeasing political factions and a setback for the
poor.
Addressing
Parliament's finance and appropriations committees on Wednesday, Federation of
Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) deputy general secretary Gretchen Humphries
said that the half a billion rand spent on the new structures and homes and
offices for the eight new ministries could have been better spent on homes for
the poor.
"The
establishment of new government departments and the appointment of additional
ministers and deputy ministers and departmental staff can be seen as a
political exercise to appease the various factions within the ANC with the
perks and privileges of executive office," Humphries said of last week's
mini-budget.
"Whether
these new ministries will be able to have an equivalent impact is difficult to
measure, but if precedent is any indication, they will not. Taking into
consideration that the country is facing a recession of note, do we really need
this?"
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'... do we really need this' |
Humphries
was among a range of business and labour leaders giving feedback on Finance
Minister Pravin Gordhan's medium-term budget policy statement last week.
She was scathing
about the R150 million allocated through the Public Works Department for
offices and residences for new members of the executive, included in the
R562.1-million in "unforeseen expenses" Gordhan announced for the new
national government structure.
The amount
included more than R200m for the new Rural Development and Land Affairs
Ministry's pilot schemes and about R90m for Zuma's office, including setting up
two new ministers in the Presidency.
Humphries said
the state could have built more than 10 000 RDP houses with the money -
something that would have a "real and tangible impact on the lives of
thousands of ordinary South Africans".
Fedusa did,
however, welcome the finance minister's firm stance against corruption and
wasteful expenditure.
"Fedusa has
seen how the poor have become poorer, while national figures have enjoyed
extravagant luxuries such as expensive hotel rooms and flights when attending
meetings," Humphries said.
"However, we
are pleased to hear that Minister Gordhan has made it a key priority to
eliminate these unnecessary practices as well as corruption that is a burden to
the taxpayers of our country."
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3102&art_id=vn200911051037
23330C333052
The ANC has paid tribute to struggle hero Ronnie Press, who was buried in London yesterday.
"At this hour of need, our condolences go to his family and friends. The ANC lowers its banner for this gigantic cadre and leader of our movement," the party said.
Press was a member of the Congress of Democrats in 1953 and played an active role in the South African Congress of Trade Unions, the ANC and its armed wing, and the SACP.
His contribution to the struggle against apartheid has been quite immense. A trained chemical engineer, comrade Ronnie provided the movement with technical expertise," the ANC said.
Press was convicted in the 1956 Treason Trial. - Sapa
The events of the past week have forced The Point to ponder the uncomfortable topic of personal wealth. Or, to put it more succinctly, the lack thereof.
On the downside, the grand-total of all my worldly possessions and investments is roughly equal to Zwelinzima Vavi's (new) monthly salary. On the upside, I am not likely to rank high on the list of those whose personal wealth must be nationalised when South Africa, in a moment of delusional populist panic, adopts communist policies.
Yip, folks, if you nationalised The Point's wealth, you would be able to give every person in South Africa 0.1 cents. I'm not even sure if we still produce one cent pieces. Or five cent pieces for that matter.
And the cynics among you question the viability of a system that has seen… well… pretty much every country that has brandished the sickle in a sea of red, crash and burn.
SILLY SEASON
Castro Ngobese doesn't. It may be because he was blessed with the name Castro (it may also be attributed to a myriad of other reasons involving IQ and history books), but the spokesperson for Numsa reckons that it is a good idea to 'nationalise' the personal wealth of, well, rich guys.
"As Numsa, we are calling for the nationalisation, and eventually the socialisation of the massive and privately-owned wealth in the hands of Motsepes, Sexwales, Macozomas, Nhlekos, Mittals and Oppenheimers of this world."
The word 'nationalise' in this particular sentence can probably be quite comfortably replaced with the easier-to-understand word 'theft'.
Tokyo Sexwale — yes, he whose wealth could be divided up amongst the people in R20-notes — shrugged off Castro's suggestion. He can do this; he is personally worth R1-billion.
"The silly season starts in the middle of next month; I do not know why they bring it forward so early. I think we should not distract from problems that we have. These are people that have earned wealth genuinely."
He was backed up by the ANC's secretary general Gwede Mantashe: "It's talking to the resentment we have among ourselves as black people. If anybody progresses we feel very jealous and we resent their success. We should deal with that and not beat about the bush as if it's a nationalisation debate."
I suspect Gwede would fall quite comfortably into the category of those who have 'progressed'.
DO AS I SAY…
But what about trade unionist Zwelinzima Vavi? Surely (surely!) the secretary general of a trade union federation understands the dynamics of pay structures marked by vast discrepancies?
Perhaps he does, but the explanation he gave for the recent doubling of his salary made very little sense.
"My salary doubled because we were losing all the policy capacity in the federation," said Vavi. "The economists and accountants were all gone, because if you keep the salary at R250 000, it means the economists can't make those sacrifices for years and years. They lose out."
So… let me see if I understand this. It is okay for some individuals to earn vastly more than others. It is also okay for some (privileged) individuals to get obscene salary increases. Furthermore, if qualified individuals get increases, those higher in the pay-chain must, by default, also get increases.
Well, that would go a long way in explaining why all Cosatu members seem to do is strike.
http://news.iafrica.com/features/2035360.htm
I am the first to admit it has been a long and tough year. Most people are tired. It explains some scandalous statements in this silly season. It is all noise and no quality on offer.
Please excuse the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) bigwigs for thinking trashing the streets is leadership. I love the Yiddish term — “80-90” — to describe such stupidity.
Have mercy on the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) hierarchy! They lost the plot. It is tough being a black millionaire.
Personally, I will offer a reward of R10 to anyone who can make the ministerial handbook disappear. I hate this bible of the Union Buildings.
Spare a thought for our stressed cops. The best cure for itching fingers is not pumping bullets — but chilling out (I know the place).
Can anyone tell me, what became of Allan Boesak? From struggle hero to party hopper. Last winter he was an African National Congress (ANC) member. In summer he was Congress of the People, and then a short detour to God ’s party.
Lastly, I have all sympathy for Minister Barbara Hogan . Finally, she understood what toeing the party line means. After the Dalai Lama episode, it is time to make the party smile. Comrades must be defended at all cost irrespective of their shortcomings. Good for you minister.
Since this is a holiday season, I have good chill-out suggestions for our stressed out political leaders. For Samwu, a picnic in Kirstenbosch Gardens will do wonders for their creativity. Numsa will benefit from a walk on the majestic Hogsback Mountains. Diepsloot for the South African Communist Party. The Valley of a Thousand Hills in KwaZulu-Natal has the tranquility Rev Boesak requires. The ANC Youth League can dance their demons away in the Bunker Parukarka in Prague.
Baghdad is the destination of choice for our Cabinet. It will make them appreciate SA and not mess it up. What about our cops? Gen Bheki Cele should organise some time out, away from guns.
Honestly, we all need a serious break from the recession, stupidity and bullets. For me, it’s Cape Town.
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=86205