COSATU Media Monitor, 23 May 2012

A national Union of Mineworkers (NUM) official is battling for his life at the Impala Mine Hospital after he was shot in the head in a suspected union fight.

The incident happened on Thursday at Impala No 8 hostel near Phokeng.

Police spokesperson Brig Thulani Ngubane said the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) is now in control of more workers in the area and a turf war is being waged.

“AMCU-affiliated members allegedly attacked the NUM representatives. One of the victims was shot in the head while two others ran for their lives and hid within the premises,” Ngubane said.

“It is alleged that the dispute between the two labour unions’ members is being influenced by the fact that the AMCU has now recruited more members since after the Implats strike.

The AMCU members are allegedly outnumbering those of the NUM and they forcefully want the NUM members to vacate the shaft as well as offices at No 14 shaft. They also want their own officebearers to occupy the offices.”

Ngubane said the Num official was shot in right side of his head and is in a critical condition.

“He was taken to the Impala Mine Hospital by an ambulance where he received medical attention at the intensive care unit. The other two members were rescued by the police from where they were hiding,” he said.

1.2 Implats workers down tools

Business Report, 22 May 2012

Impala Platinum (Implats) mine workers have downed tools in protest over the arrest of their colleagues and leaders implicated in last week's clashes between rival unions, an official said on Tuesday.

Implats spokeswoman Alice Lourens said since Monday evening the workers at the mine near Rustenburg “refused to proceed underground when they heard some of their colleagues had been arrested”.

Police investigating last week's skirmishes arrested the alleged perpetrators of the violence. They belong to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), Lourens said.

Last week police intervened at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed company after workers affiliated to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the rival AMCU clashed at two different locations on the mine property.

At the time North West police spokesman Brigadier Thulane Ngubane said several Implats workers belonging to AMCU attacked their NUM colleagues outside a hostel before they left for work.

Two NUM workers ran and hid. Another was shot in the head and collapsed on the road outside the hostel. He was taken to the Impala mine hospital.

“It is alleged that the dispute between the two labour unions' members... is being influenced by the fact that AMCU has now recruited more members since... the Implats strike,” he said.

“The AMCU members are allegedly out-numbering those of NUM and they forcefully want NUM members to vacate the... number 14 shaft,” Ngubane said.

Implats fired 17,200 workers after they refused to return to work in February, despite a court interdict declaring a strike they embarked on in January illegal.

Three people were killed in incidents linked to intimidation and violence involving the dismissed workers, while scores were injured and more than 100 were arrested for public violence. – Sapa

1.3 NUM ‘losing battle’ to rival at Implats

Allan Seccombe, Business Day, 23 May 2012

The battle between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and rival newcomer, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), has flared up again at Impala Platinum — pointing to the once-dominant NUM losing its grip on the platinum industry.

An illegal work stoppage at Implats ’ Rustenburg mines started on Monday evening. Workers refused to go underground "when they heard that some of their colleagues, essentially local Amcu leaders, had been arrested", an Implats statement said yesterday.

Clashes last week between supporters of the unions had resulted in one person admitted to hospital with a gunshot wound, and the arrests were related to this, Implats said. The strike continued yesterday, with most workers not coming to work, it said.

The world’s second-largest platinum miner is losing 3000oz of platinum a day worth about R36m. There was no indication when the strike would end, but the company did not expect it to be as protracted as the six-week, unprotected strike earlier this year.

" Then there was an element of better pay and there were emotive issues at play. What’s happening now is quite clearly inter-union rivalry," Johan Theron, Implats group executive for people, said yesterday.

A well-placed source, who declined to be named because the situation at the mine was so tense, said NUM had lost control. "What does it tell them when most of the workforce is out and they didn’t call them out?"

A labour specialist, who also declined to be named, said: "The fact that Amcu has brought out the total workforce, and without any visible resistance, indicates it has taken full control of that workforce and that NUM is no real force at this mine anymore."

Amcu claims to have secured more than 10000 members at the Rustenburg operation, about half of the unionised workforce. The claim, which Implats is verifying, could lead to a legal process to change NUM’s status as representative of workers at the mine.

Amcu general secretary Jeff Mphahlele said his union was not behind the strike, but it had broken the NUM’s majority representation. "People are tired of NUM. They fail to deliver on their promises. We are just taking NUM members," Mr Mphahlele said yesterday.

NUM general secretary Frans Baleni conceded Amcu had made headway on the platinum mines.

"It’s a temporary setback," he said yesterday, confirming that the NUM had not called the strike. "It’s of great concern. We don’t mind normal competition. We are really concerned about people being intimidated into doing wrong things.

"Our members are under attack. Violence is a weapon Amcu uses to make people toe the line." Mr Mphahlele denied his members were involved in violence.

Lonmin , the world’s third-biggest platinum miner, has also reported violence and intimidation related to union struggles.

"The rivalry for membership … could be a feature for the foreseeable future with the corresponding increase of the risk of escalating costs and disruption to production." CEO Ian Farmer said yesterday.

1.4 Impala mine license should be revoked - NUM

Tshepiso Makhema, Bloomberg, 22 May 2012

South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers will consider asking the government to revoke Impala Platinum (JSE:IMP) Holdings Ltd.’s license after a worker was shot at its Rustenburg mine in clashes between labor organizations. “If the company is unable to protect people, it is time to take the company’s license away,” Senzeni Zokwana, NUM’s president, said in an interview in Johannesburg today. “You can’t run a mine, employ people, then fail to protect them. We blame the company for what has been happening because they do not have any structure.”

The union will discuss whether to approach the Department of Mineral Resources at its conference this week, he said.

Night-shift workers at Rustenburg, the world’s biggest platinum mine, refused to go underground yesterday after discovering that some of their colleagues had been arrested for the attempted murder of an Impala worker during clashes last week, the Johannesburg-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. Those in custody were local leaders of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which is competing for members with the National Union of Mineworkers, the country’s biggest union, it said.

Rivalry between the organizations and concern about pay disparity led to the dismissal of 17,200 Rustenburg workers during an illegal strike in January and operations closing from Jan. 20 to March 5. Four people were killed and more than 50 injured during the protest. Impala’s Rustenburg mine produces about 12 percent of global output of the metal.

‘No Basis’

“It is their prerogative,” Johan Theron, group executive for people at Impala, said by phone. “There is no basis for them wanting to take our license away. Right now, we find ourselves in the middle of union rivalry.”

The mine, northwest of Johannesburg, produced 941,200 ounces of platinum in the year through June 30. That’s 12 percent of Impala’s 7.88 million-ounce estimate of global supply in 2011.

Impala pared an earlier increase of as much as 2.2 percent, trading 0.4 percent higher at 141.10 rand by 4:23 p.m. in Johannesburg. Platinum declined 0.3 percent to $1,463.50 an ounce in London.

About 15,000 mineworkers from Impala marched to the Bafokeng Magistrate’s court in Tlhabane outside Rustenburg today to protest the arrest of the two suspects, who will remain in custody until their next appearance in the court on May 25 for a bail application, Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said in a statement published on the South African Police Service’s website. Earlier, Ngubane said three had been arrested.

No property was damaged and no arrests were made today, he said.

1.5 Rustenburg labour unrest cuts Implats output

Ed Stoddard, Reuters, 22 May 2012

Impala Platinum, the world's second-largest platinum producer, said it was losing 3,000 ounces a day as most workers were not reporting for duty at its Rustenburg mine on Tuesday because of fresh unrest between rival unions.

The latest flare-up buries any hopes that a labour turf war that shut the mine for six weeks earlier this year was over.

But markets took the unrest in their stride and spot platinum was lower on the day with the focus on the gloomy demand outlook.

Implats was also contending with disruptions in Zimbabwe at its Mimosa mine, a joint venture with London-listed Aquarius Platinum Ltd and the scene of an overnight fire.

Most of the workforce was evacuated and the rest sought safety in refuge bays and were being brought to the surface in the afternoon. All workers were accounted for.

Rustenburg, Implats' flagship South African mine, has been hit again by clashes between the dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

"We have called on our employees to return to work and allow the law to take its course and for the violence to cease. Production will be impacted by 3,000 platinum ounces a day," Implats said in a statement.

Police spokeswoman Adele Myburgh said roads around an informal settlement near the mine had been blocked by rocks, and workers were being prevented from showing up for shifts. The community has been the scene of violent clashes in the past.

She said protests flared when police arrested two suspects on Monday afternoon for shooting and wounding another miner last week in a NUM/AMCU scuffle.

"The suspects are allegedly part of AMCU and the worker shot belongs to NUM. So the AMCU members have gone on strike demanding the release of the two suspects," Myburgh said.

Another spokesman said police were out in force trying to prevent AMCU loyalists from marching on the courthouse where the suspects were to appear on Tuesday. They are being charged with attempted murder.

Implats said it had not received any demands from the workers related to the work stoppage "which in our view is as a result of continued union rivalry between the NUM and AMCU."

The often violent six-week stoppage earlier this year cost Implats 120,000 ounces in lost output and pushed the spot price of platinum higher.

Implats' Rustenburg operation is the world's largest platinum mine, accounting for close to 15 percent of global output and over half of Implats' production.

But the spot platinum price was slightly lower on the day at just below $1,455 an ounce.

"The market impact partly depends on whether this current dispute beds in, or is all over in a few days," said Matthew Turner, an analyst at Mitsubishi.

"The lack of an immediate price reaction also suggests that no-one is that keen on taking a large long position regardless of supply risks while demand concerns from Greece, etc, are still ongoing," he said.

Implats' share price also brushed off the new trouble as the wider Johannesburg market was lifted by investors betting it had fallen too far in the recent slump.

At 1300 GMT it was 0.93 percent higher at 141.80 rand, in line with a 0.84 percent rise on Johannesburg's Top-40 index . (Additional reporting by Jan Harvey in London and Sherilee Lakmidas in Johannesburg; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters and David Cowell)

1.6 NUM rival vows to strike

Tiisetso Malepa, The New Age, 22 May 2012

Rivalry between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Professional Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (PTAWU) could explode following a strike proposal pushed by the smaller PTAWU but opposed by NUM and the management of Modder East gold mine.

The PTAWU claims to have a mandate from a significant portion of Modder East workers to go on strike on June 4 and has issued statement.

PTAWU general-secretary Reckson Baloyi told The New Age the workers would be going on a protected strike on June 4 and said talks between unions and employers had reached a deadlock. “We will be going on a fullblown strike on June 4. No employee will be reporting for duty on that day.”

The management of Gold One, which owns Modder East, has dismissed PTAWU’s statement saying the union does not have sufficient members at Modder East to become a recognised voice of the workers.

Gold One CEO Neal Froneman said management was not aware of any strike action at Modder East operations. He said the only union Gold One recognised was the NUM.

“The PTAWU can go on a strike whenever they deem fit to do so because that is their democratic right,” said Froneman. He said the company had not been notified of any planned strike in the near future.

NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said the union was not aware of the potential industrial action at Modder East.

The rivalry between the PTAWU and the NUM has sparked fears of bloody chaos similar to that seen recently at Impala Platinum, the second biggest platinum miner, where violence marred a strike called by another NUM rival, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union.

Baloyi said the PTAWU was ready to sit down with management before the day of the planned strike in a bid to try and reach a last-minute agreement.

He said the union had not yet officially informed Gold One of the planned strike and was hoping to do so in the next few days.

The union is required by law to inform the employer about a strike action 48 hours before the actual day of downing tools. If workers go on strike without a notice they could face dismissal.

Baloyi said the PTAWU’s members were demanding a basic salary of R6500 and a provident fund – to which the PTAWU wants Gold One to contribute – for underground workers.

The PTAWU claims it has sufficient members at Modder East – about 500 out of a total workforce of about 1800 – to be a recognised union on the mine.

1.7 NUM leaders decry dirty tricks ahead of elections

Natasha Marrian, Business Day, 23 May 2012

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) leaders yesterday condemned "dirty campaigning" — including promises to mining companies that there would be no industrial action — a day before the union’s elective conference starts.

The leadership battle in the NUM, the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ largest affiliate, is a tightly fought contest, with consequences for elections this year in Cosatu as well as in the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party.

Dirty lobbying is a growing concern, with the ANC bemoaning a "shadow culture" of pervasive use of money, smears, abusive songs and T-shirts bearing the face of a faction’s favoured candidate.

NUM president Senzeni Zokwana criticised negative campaigning against general secretary Frans Baleni after a weekly paper reported Mr Baleni had received a R40000 pay rise, taking his annual salary to R1,4m. With benefits, it was almost double Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi’s, the paper said.

"We found it very discomforting that people would go to those lengths because the last (salary increase) process was two years ago," Mr Zokwana said at a media briefing yesterday.

Mr Baleni said detractors had become "so desperate" that they had "abused their right to lie".

He faces a challenge from his deputy, Oupa Komane. Mr Zokwana would be retained as president on Mr Baleni’s ticket but could lose his position to Joseph Montiisetse should Mr Komane win.

The NUM general secretary post is a powerful platform, boosting the careers of the likes of former ANC secretary-general Cyril Ramaphosa, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe , ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and Mr Vavi.

"We have information that a number of companies have been providing resources. One company confessed it was supporting a particular candidate because this candidate said, ‘If I am elected your mine will be protected, there will be no strike and so on’," Mr Baleni said.

The conference at Emperors Palace will discuss campaigning and the events preceding the gathering. It will also provide a "sober analysis" of the ANC leadership’s progress, and discuss proposals on nationalisation of the mines. Mr Baleni was clear it should have a large say on how to take forward the policy proposal: "We are talking about half a million workers directly employed. You can’t treat this matter as rhetoric…. State ownership is not necessarily progressive."

1.8 Judiciary at top of NUM agenda

TimesLive, 23 May 2012

The National Union of Mineworkers will discuss proposals for a review of the constitution and the "transformation" of the judiciary at its national congress.

"The argument is that the judiciary must be completely transformed to address the historical questions of class, gender and race," NUM general secretary Frans Baleni said.

The insinuation that the transformation of the judiciary and the reviewing of the constitution were a threat to democracy should be rejected, he said.

The five-day congress begins in Kempton Park, on the East Rand, today.

Baleni said the proposals for the review of the functions of the Constitutional Court were in line with statements by the ANC and President Jacob Zuma.

Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Jeff Radebe released a discussion document on judicial transformation in February. He said the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal would be reviewed to establish the extent to which they contributed to the reform of jurisprudence and law.

Baleni said the NUM would also use its congress to discuss the leadership of the ANC.

"The NUM remains of the view that leadership in the ANC should be decided based on the capacity and calibre of candidates," he said.

"The NUM will, at the right time, evaluate the current leadership and, based on performance, make its pronouncements."

Another topic of discussion would be energy policy.

Baleni said the NUM had investigated the feasibility of nuclear energy but the Fukushima disaster in Japan had sown doubt.

"The conference will decide whether the union will remain anti-nuclear and campaign vociferously against it, or review its policy," he said.

The NUM will also discuss the ANC's report on nationalisation and supertaxes and decide whether it will be endorsed, amended or rejected.

E-tolling of Gauteng highways, labour broking and nationalisation are also on the agenda of the congress.

1.9 Legalise sex work, says union

Kingdom Mabuza, Sowetan, 23 May 2012

The National Union of Mineworkers (Num) is going to push for prostitution to be legalised.

To justify the union's position on its call for decriminalising prostitution, Num general secretary Frans Baleni quoted the ANC's Freedom Charter, which he said protected the right of ladies of the night to trade.

"The charter says everybody shall have the right to trade in any profession. We think the profession in which people are trading should also be protected, but certain rules must be put in place."

He slated men who during the day pretended they were not interested in the services offered by prostitutes.

"There are those who during the day claim morality and at night they buy these services, some of them even go abroad to acquire these services."

Num will debate prostitutes and other issues including e-tolling and labour broking when the union holds its 14th national congress in Kempton Park today.

The union will also discuss the nationalisation of mines, but Baleni cautioned against popular sentiments that the state should take ownership.

"We have a clear position on nationalisation: Nothing about us without us. As Num we are directly affected. We are going to determine the future of the mining industry. Nobody else can take a decision on our behalf, especially those who have never been underground.

"State ownership is not necessarily progressive. We have experience (with) Eskom, and at the post office many workers were retrenched. Because these state entities are operating as commercial vehicles. There is no difference."

Baleni also said: "The judiciary must be transformed to address the questions of class, gender and race."

He denied that union leaders were taking sides on the unfolding succession.

"We encourage our members through the ANC to assess leadership (according to) performance and the ability to deal with current challenges."

2. Workers

2.1 Workers' salary strike unwraps

Omphemetse Molopyane, The New Age, 23 May 2012

Employers of Wrapsa Packaging and Manufacturing took to the streets yesterday demanding wage increases.

Workers from Wrapsa, a pharmaceutical and healthcare organisation in Centurion, complained that it's been a long time since their wages were increased.

Michael Sibanyoni, a shop steward from the Chemical, Energy, Paper Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union, said the employees are trying to make ends meet with the low wages, but it is difficult as the cost of living keeps increasing.

"We want a salary increase. We cannot work for R1800 a month. We are not demanding much. We are asking for R4500," said Sibanyoni.

He said they were granted permission to strike by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

"We sent management our notification to strike on May16 and they never bothered to respond until today."

Simon Mnisi, also a shop steward, said the minimum wage of pharmaceutical companies is R6000, but management refuses to settle for R4500.

"In this company, we also know that there are white employees who get paid R8000 because they told us, unaware that we are not being paid the same wage.

In fact, they were complaining that the salary is too little. They complained about R8000. So, you can imagine what we are going through with R1800," said Mnisi.

"These white employees do not even know how to do their job. We are teaching them the work, but they get paid more."

Employee Phelly Malatji said: "The company's management is run by the Albert family and they don't care about our needs."

"We do not have medical aid, but the company deals with health. I have a child and it is hard to make ends meet. Month end is a stressful time for me," said Malatji.

Kuki Amos, a mother of four and grandmother of three, said she has been working at Wrapsa for 11 years and no improvements have been made.

"I have responsibilities and with the money I am getting it's not enough to make a living. Most of us have lung problems because of the ''pain block'' powder affecting our health and we don't have medical aid to go to the doctor.

On top of it all, petrol has gone up and food has gone up, which means that we will end up with nothing at the end of the month," said Amos.

Wrapsa was contacted for comment. A call made to their offices was answered by a person called Susan, who refused to give me her surname.

She said: "I cannot comment on this matter. You should speak to the people who are on strike."

2.2 More cash woes for Nala

Ntwaagae Seleka, Sowetan, 23 May 2012

The cash-strapped and corruption-riddled Nala local municipality is facing another battle.

This time the municipality is faced with settling large amounts owed to former employees who were unfairly dismissed.

Sowetan has seen documents that recommend the municipality pay Mputlane Ntsane almost R500,000.

Ntsane was employed as a manager in the mayor's office before his unfair dismissal in 2010.

Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union chairman in the municipality, Bore Motsoso, told Sowetan that the municipality paid Ntsane R100,000 last Thursday after the sheriff of the court attached municipal property when it failed to honour the court order to pay Ntsane.

"The municipality dismissed a number of employees without following proper steps," Motsoso said. "Today it is faced with the challenge of defending its assets from being attached. We demand that the municipality pay all those former employees. It was difficult for them after they were unfairly dismissed. They were emotionally abused."

Another former employee, Fezile Swartbooi, is owed more than R800,000 since his dismissal in 2008. Swartbooi was employed as a budget manager.

Sowetan has learnt there are other employees who have challenged and won their dismissal cases.

They have also won awards against the municipality from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and the department of labour.

Cope leader in the municipality, Papi Radebe, said the municipality was faced with a big challenge because it did not have funds to settle the debts.

"We are aware that the municipality does not have money to pay the claims," Radebe said. "We are demanding that the municipality look for funds and pay the men what is owed to them, in full.

"Apart from the two claims, we have been informed there are a number of legal battles amounting to millions of rands that the municipality must settle.

"If the municipality's property is being attached it means service delivery will be affected. We demand that our people should not be affected by lack of services."

Free State department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs spokeswoman Senne Bogatsu said the municipality was handling both matters.

"The municipality has arranged for the payment of Ntsane and Swartbooi's matter. It cannot be discussed as it is sub judice.

"Municipal property has not been attached as arrangements have been made to settle the matters. Legal processes are under way."

2.3 No nurses for hospital’s new cancer unit

Tamar Kahn, Business Day, 23 May 2012

A new, state-of-the-art haematology unit at the Port Elizabeth Provincial Hospital is standing idle because it cannot employ nurses to ensure care for patients with blood cancers.

This is the latest example of how the Eastern Cape health department’s budget problems are affecting service delivery.

It follows complaints by the South African Medical Association that doctors have not been paid, and a warning from health activists that rural facilities in the province are teetering on the brink of collapse.

The R20m unit was launched by the Eastern Cape’s head of health, Siva Pillay, on May 9, supposedly heralding an end to the arduous journeys patients with blood disorders have had to make to get life-saving treatment in other provinces. But without nurses, who are appointed by the provincial health department, it cannot open its doors.

The Eastern Cape has one of the country’s highest incidences of bone marrow and blood cancers, yet until now has been unable to provide the highly specialised care the sickest require, said the hospital’s head of haematology, Neil Littleton.

Patients needing stem-cell transplants or high-dose chemotherapy need to be admitted to isolation units, as the treatment virtually destroys immune systems, making them vulnerable to the slightest infection.

Aloe Igazi, a nongovernmental organisation, raised funds for six isolation units, a six-bed general ward, and an outpatients unit with a chemotherapy pharmacy.

The department promised the haematology unit 22 nurses, but despite having advertised and recruited staff, it had yet to appoint them, Dr Littleton said.

"Bhisho will not employ them because there is a moratorium (on hiring) … because there is no money. The unit is standing empty, and I refuse to move in until they employ the right staff ," he said.

Attempts to obtain comment from the department yesterday were unsuccessful.

Daygan Eagar, a researcher with advocacy group Section27, said the main problem was the province’s ballooning costs for healthcare personnel, many of whom held administrative posts.

2.4 Absa reeling in retrenchment confusion

Sibonelo Radebe, The New Age, 22 May 2012

The largest banking group in the country, Absa, appears to have grossly mishandled what could have been a simple retrenchment process by choosing a somewhat Machiavellian path which has turned into a PR nightmare.

Absa was forced to backtrack on its staff-culling process last week. The bank withdrew retrenchment letters issued to 140 employees and appeared to have accepted that it had erred. An Absa spokesperson said the bank “regrets the timing of the retrenchment letters and would continue dialogue with workers”. Absa has for months tried unsuccessfully to deflect reports that it was planning a massive retrenchment process.

Stakeholders and observers described Absa’s behaviour as a major mess which would have a negative impact on the group’s corporate integrity, brand power and labour relations.

There were also concerns that Absa’s handling of this process might cause some jitters in the investment world. Cadiz Asset Management’ banking analyst, Jihad Jhaveri, said: “It is a bit of a concern. They have not raised the issue with us.”

Jhaveri said the fact that Absa had not raised the retrenchment issue to investors suggested it was not significant enough. One analyst, who declined to be named, said: “We hope that, in its discretion to classify this matter, Absa has been diligent. If not there will be consequences.”

Khaya Gobodo, a portfolio manager at Afena Capital, said Absa, as a financial services business, was very much a people business and as such, any retrenchment process would be difficult to handle.

“I’m not in a position to say whether Absa mishandled its process, but if I compare the noise around Absa and that of Standard Bank’s retrenchment process under two years ago, it seems Standard caused less noise and may have handled the process more smoothly.”

Absa insisted it was not engaged in “a mass retrenchment exercise” but has declined to comment on the number to be affected by its retrenchment.

“If 140 people are not enough to pass as mass, I don’t know what mass is. ,” said Sasbo assistant general secretary Comfort Duma.

Trade union Solidarity alleged that 140 people was the minimum number of affected employees. After exposing Absa for issuing retrenchment letters, Solidarity said, “the union is in possession of evidence that other departments will also be affected by retrenchments”.

Solidarity has used brand-damaging language: “We are astounded by the callousness with which Absa is carrying out the process.” Solidarity alleged that a group of Absa employees “were forced to pack their belongings and were escorted out of Absa’s offices. They were sent home for three months of so-called gardening leave and were told other positions would be sought for them. Now they are being retrenched by e-mail,” said Dirk Hermann, deputy general secretary of Solidarity.

“They have acknowledged that they have erred,” said Duma. “While we remain opposed to retrenchments, we think they could have handled the situation better. I’m not sure if they appreciate that their behaviour could have far reaching consequences for the operation, including impact on the brand and corporate integrity.”

The Barclays factor is taking a beating in this saga with views that Absa is being pushed into cutting costs to satisfy the greed of its London-based parent company. Sasbo, known for its moderation, seems to be having a change of heart about the Barclays factor. “We supported Barclays entry and were given an undertaking it would not lead to job losses,” said Duma. “We now suspect Barclays is putting pressure on Absa to push through retrenchments.

“We are not convinced there is a commercial rationale for the bank to embark on a retrenchment of this scale. Even if there is such a rationale, it is going to be difficult for us to trust them going forward.”

Labour analyst Tom Healy shares this view. “They issued 140 retrenchment notices and rescinded them. This is unusual. It does suggest that the decision to initiate the process was not thoroughly thought through.” He said Absa was likely to have it rough it if it was going to reissue the notices. The process is now out in the public domain and will draw closer public scrutiny. It will draw extra pressure than would have been the case had the bank handled it properly in the first place, said Healy.

“We must not forget that Absa, like any other company, has a prerogative to retrench if it finds a commercial rationale to do so. I suspect that there was such a rationale but the handling of the matter will complicate things going forward. It may significantly delay the process.”

2.5 Call on Treasury to release study on subsidy ‘failure’

Natasha Marrian, Business Day, 23 May 2012

The Treasury is under pressure from the Young Communist League (YCL) to release the results of a pilot study on the contentious youth wage subsidy, with the YCL claiming the initial results point to its failure.

The subsidy, announced by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in his budget last year, was put on ice after the Congress of South African Trade Unions questioned its stated aim of benefiting young, inexperienced job-seekers. It is being discussed at the National Economic Development and Labour Council.

Business Unity SA (Busa) yesterday called for the implementation of the subsidy as the YCL called on the Treasury to release the results of its pilot study and ditch the idea. "We want that report to be made public. Treasury piloted the youth wage subsidy through Wits (University)," YCL chairman Yershen Pillay said. "The briefing we have is that the trial was a failure, and constituted only 15% success."

Mr Pillay said the pilot involved 100 young people and 50 companies. The uptake was "dismal" from both students and companies.

"We reject the subsidy outright, it will only benefit white business. It is a temporary measure to address a deeply structural issue," he said.

Treasury spokesman Jabulani Sikhakhane confirmed Wits was commissioned to probe the "dynamics of the youth labour market". Researchers were testing the effect of a "hiring voucher", he said. The study began in 2009 and the results would be released later this year.

The study tracked a sample of 4000 young people in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, and a sample of companies, to assess how the youth labour market evolved in order to "provide an evidence base that supports policy making".

Mr Sikhakhane said the "design under scrutiny" differed from the youth wage subsidy proposed by Mr Gordhan. "Preliminary results collected one year after the allocation of a hiring voucher to young people indicate that those in the voucher group are significantly more likely to be in employment than those who were not allocated a voucher," Mr Sikhakhane said.

"The researchers are currently working on understanding the mechanisms through which this effect is working." The study probed a number of factors influencing the youth and labour markets, he said.

Busa said yesterday the youth scheme offered more advantages than other short-term job-creation plans and could create more than 400000 jobs. "Busa believes concern about the possible abuse of the youth wage subsidy scheme can be satisfactorily addressed in finalising its implementation with appropriate safeguards."

Similar schemes had succeeded overseas and could be adapted to suit South African conditions, Busa said. It called for the plan to be implemented as soon as possible, using the funds made available by the Treasury almost two years ago.

The YCL says the R5bn set aside for the subsidy could be used more constructively — for example, additional funds could be allocated to the National Skills Fund and to further education and training colleges. YCL chairman Buti Manamela said the money could be used to train or reskill nearly 300000 unemployed graduates, who could be hired by the public sector. "There is a more than 35% vacancy rate in the public sector which, according to our research, will require just above R4bn to fill immediately," he said yesterday.

"We challenge all government departments to report on how far they are in filling all vacancies since the deadline of August 2011 set by President Jacob Zuma."

2.6 Labour Relations Act might be amended

Bizcommunity.com, 22 May 2012

A case that is currently before the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) concerning notice requirements before a strike will have implications for labour legislation amendments, specifically the proposed amendment of section 64 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA), which re-introduces the requirement of a union to conduct a ballot before commencing with a strike.

This is according to Gavin Stansfield, director in the employment practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.

In 2003, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) called its members out to strike in support of wage increases. Around 150 employees of Equity Aviation who were not SATAWU members joined the strike. Equity took the view that they had not complied with the notice to strike requirements and issued an ultimatum that the employees return to work or face dismissal for unauthorised absence from the workplace.

Of the 150 employees, 66 failed to heed the ultimatum and persisted with the strike action. They were ultimately dismissed. SATAWU took the matter to the Labour Court. The court held in 2008 that it had not been necessary for the non-union members to issue a separate notice of anticipated strike action as they were covered by the strike notice which had been issued by SATAWU.

Ruling of the Supreme Court of Appeal

The Labour Court accordingly found that the dismissal of the 66 employees had been automatically unfair and ordered their reinstatement. On appeal at the Labour Appeal Court, the majority of the court agreed with the view of the Labour Court and found that by requiring the non-union members to issue a separate notice, this unduly restricts the constitutional right to strike.

"Both of these courts ruled that the dismissal of those non-union members who had joined the protected strike was automatically unfair, ordering their reinstatement with retrospective effect," says Stansfield. "However, Equity were subsequently liquidated after having failed in its attempts to renew its ACSA operating licence. They were however granted leave to appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal which the liquidator ultimately elected to pursue."

"In terms of an Order handed down by the SCA on 30 November 2011, the court held in a unanimous judgement that the purpose of the 48 hour notice requirement contained in section 64 of the LRA was two-fold. Firstly, it afforded employers one last opportunity to settle the dispute or to brace itself for industrial action and secondly, in respect of the latter, to make the necessary contingency arrangements in order to limit as much as possible the adverse effects of a strike. If employees who had not previously given notice of their intention to strike were permitted to join a strike, this would be contrary to the purpose of the section and would undermine one of the primary purposes of the LRA namely the facilitation of orderly collective bargaining," says Stansfield.

Strike ballot is now mandatory

Overturning the previous decisions of the LC and LAC, the SCA found that the employees had been required to give notice of their intention to strike prior to joining the protected SATAWU strike. Their failure to do so meant their dismissals had been fair. Naturally SATAWU were dissatisfied with this finding and immediately applied for leave to the Constitutional Court, which matter was argued on 10 May 2012. Judgement has been reserved.

"The current amendments to the Labour Relations Act include the strike ballot, which will make it mandatory for unions to conduct a ballot as to whether or not their members wish to participate in a strike. If this amendment to the LRA comes through as it currently stands, the right to strike will be more highly regulated and it will be the members of a union and not the union itself who decide on whether to strike or not. This has implications for the current case, even though this legislation does not apply to the 2003 strike, because it speaks of the importance of every individual having to decide on whether to strike or not."

3. South Africa

3.1 Numsa: Nationalise mines, banks

News24, 22 May 2012

All key economic sectors in South Africa - including mining and banking - should be nationalised, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has proposed in a policy discussion document.

"Mining, banks, telecommunications, transport, food and so on, especially industries and sectors that are very monopolised, must be nationalised as a precondition for resolving the property question in South Africa," Numsa said in a paper on nationalisation.

"BEE (black economic empowerment) is not capable of resolving the property questions, the ownership question, the power question in the South African economy and society."

Numsa said it was impossible to defend the argument that South Africa would suffer an economic boycott if it nationalised its mines.

"The truth is the world needs our minerals and they will seek to trade with us, however we redefine the ownership and control question," it said.

Numsa has also called for the nationalisation of the SA Reserve Bank (Sarb).

In its policy discussion document on monetary and financial policy, Numsa said it was disappointed in the way Sarb had been managed since 1994.

"The Reserve Bank has failed in pursuing balanced and economic development and growth in its pursuit of price stability.

"The central bank has... failed to control inflation within its targeted band, and has in the process contributed significantly in generating the current recession."

Numsa said Sarb had not demonstrated transparency and accountability in its operation, and that the composition of the monetary policy committee remained impervious to democratic processes.

The monetary policy statements of the bank's governor were "grossly inadequate", it said.

"They do not reflect the views that were expressed by individuals in the monetary policy committee. Our view is that the Reserve Bank is held hostage by a particular economic interest."

Numsa was also unhappy with the high interest rates and the strong exchange rate.

"The persistently strong exchange rate and high interest rate leads to a collapse in domestic demand and harms domestic productive capacity.

"Our view is that the persistent deficit will make it difficult for the planned infrastructure spending to lift the economy as fast as possible out of the recession," it said.

The way Sarb tried to pursue price stability had made it incompetent to resolve existing macroeconomic imbalances, said Numsa.

It said the struggle for nationalisation was a class struggle around redistribution, decent employment, eradication of poverty, growth and development.

"Only by placing the commanding heights of the economy in the hands of all the people of South Africa through nationalisation of the mines, banks, telecommunications, petrochemicals, water, food... can a truly democratic and free South Africa come into life," Numsa said.

The trade union said the demand for nationalisation, as contained in the Freedom Charter, was not just another way of managing strategic economic actors.

3.2 Numsa tells ANC to drop ‘toxic policies’

Donwald Pressly, Business Report, 22 May 2012

The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) makes no bones about the economic policies it wants to replace: “the toxic combination” of microeconomic and macroeconomic policies followed by the current ANC government, which it argues is held to ransom by the minerals, energy and Treasury lobby.

In its policy documents filed before a national conference running from June 4 to June 8, general secretary Irvin Jim and spokesman Castro Ngobese argue for nationalisation and collectivisation of the economy.

Policy draft documents on its website boldly tell ANC leaders to “cut interest rates”, drop inflation targeting and take measures to deal with the overvalued currency to boost exports and local manufacturing.

The documents say the entire economy, including investments by the Public Investment Corporation, should be directed at growing manufacturing while multinational companies and foreign companies that invest in South Africa should not hold more than 51 percent stakes.

“ArcelorMittal (South Africa) and Sasol must be re-nationalised, including the value chain for iron ore, if we are to be champions of manufacturing and industrialisation in our country,” the draft says.

Recently, Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba hinted that the state should get more engaged in iron ore, but he only went as far as suggesting that a state-owned company should be involved.

The union said a good example of economic intervention was Zimbabwe, where Impala Platinum had to cede a stake in Zimplats to the state and the community and reduce its stake considerably under the country’s indigenisation law.

“It is our understanding that without first destroying the thoroughly racist capital system, it is impossible to eliminate national poverty, mass unemployment and inequalities which make South Africa the most unequal place on earth,” the conclusion to a long discussion document states.

The union said it was convinced that radical redistributive measures were required with wealth being transferred to the people “if real liberation must be achieved”.

“The entirety of South African wealth must indeed and truly be transferred to the people as a whole.”

3.3 'Break world monopolies' power'

iafrica.com, 22 May 2012

Industrial transformation can be established only when global monopolies' power over South Africa's mineral resources is broken, Numsa said in policy discussion documents released on Monday.

"Breaking this stranglehold will require a determined and interventionist state that is not shy to seize controlling stakes in strategic resources," it said in a paper on metallic minerals beneficiation strategy.

"With the state firmly in control of the mineral resources... and their beneficiation through its own company, it will be possible to literally determine the price at which the global market can access these strategic minerals."

South Africa was the leading producer and had the largest world reserves, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) said in the document.

It said it had presented an analysis of key value chains that would have to be developed as a basic benchmark for South Africa's beneficiation strategy of metallic minerals.

These were the steel value chain, the precious metals group value chain and metal-based chemicals beneficiation.

With these minerals South Africa would be able to extract the maximum amount of money from global markets.

This would also help set up national facilities that would add value and broaden value chains within the economies, it said.

"It is a matter of South Africa having a leadership that has capacity to mobilise political power to effect fundamental social and economic transformation in the interest of the vast majority of South Africans.

"Beneficiation is a matter of changing existing power relations that are embedded in South African value-chains and production relations within it, and with the world," Numsa said.

It was these power relations that inhibited the development of South Africa's production.

This was reflected in limited industrial development, inequalities and poverty and mass unemployment, it said.

3.4 No nationalisation policy change: PHOSA

Genevieve Quintal, TimesLive/Sapa, 23 May 2012

ANC treasurer general Mathews Phosa has again moved to assure the international business community that the ANC does not intend changing its policy on the nationalisation of mines “I wish to make it clear... that nationalisation is not policy of the ANC, nor do we plan a shift in that direction,” Phosa said in a speech prepared for delivery at the Progressive Business Forum (PBF) in London.

“The debate around nationalisation, foreign direct investment and the improvement of our infrastructure has gone a long way towards our deeper understanding that we need to ensure that there is no doubt in investors’ minds regarding the economic direction in which we want to take the country,” he said. Phosa said the debate about the extent of the state’s intervention in the minerals sector was not a new one and had been debated within the ANC for almost 60 years.

This was not Phosa’s first attempt to assure international investors that the ANC did not intend nationalising South African mines. In October, he told the same forum that while nationalisation of the mines remained an issue which drew a lot of attention, it was still not government policy. In November, Phosa told European ambassadors and high commissioners that although there was “robust debate” over nationalisation, the ANC did not anticipate major changes to its economic policy.

This, despite a push for nationalisation by the then ANC Youth League president Julius Malema.

The ANCYL is still calling for nationalisation, even without Malema at its helm.

The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has also proposed, in its policy discussion documents, that all South Africa’s key economic sectors, including mining and banking, be nationalised.

Numsa is a member of the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) — an ally of the ANC — which has itself defended nationalisation.

The ANC commissioned a report on nationalisation, which it received in January. On Tuesday, Phosa told the PBF that the ANC would debate the report at its national policy conference in June and would make recommendations on it at its elective conference in December.

“In my view, the middle always holds in the ANC, and the outcome, as I have said before here in London is largely predictable,” said Phosa.

“We will attempt to find this middle ground in negotiated outcomes that will benefit global mining interests, but also create substantial local opportunities and benefit.” Phosa said South Africa remained a favoured destination for British companies which wanted to bring their expertise to Africa.

“The initiatives which our President [Jacob Zuma] announced recently to roll out a number of substantial infrastructure projects presents such an opportunity,” Phosa told the PBF.

“You have proved repeatedly that you have that expertise in your private sector institutions.”

3.5 Domestic worker says no to R3m

Piet Rampedi, Star, 23 May 2012

A top medical supply company fronted its director’s domestic worker to win more than R160 million worth of government tenders.

The Star can reveal that Mille Net Imports cc appointed Elizabeth Tsebe as a director and 40 percent shareholder in 2007 without her knowledge.

Our four-month investigation uncovered that Tsebe’s benefits from her involvement in the company were not commensurate with her position as a shareholder.

This was despite the firm winning lucrative contracts countrywide largely on the basis of its “impressive” black economic empowerment credentials.

According to Mille Net’s profile, it is a “specialist manufacturer of medical consumable products and an importer and supplier of new-generation technology disposable items”. The company had won tenders to directly or indirectly supply disposable thermometers to health departments in all the provinces over the past five years.

An independent search showed that pharmacist Corinne Ferreira appointed Tsebe, her domestic worker since 1996, as a co-owner of Mille Net five years ago.

But Tsebe’s police affidavit said she knew nothing about that appointment until last year. She added that Ferreira just told her to sign documents for her Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).

Documents in the possession of The Star – including Mille Net’s financial statements, share register, tender documents and records from the government’s register of corporate ownership – showed Tsebe received neither a director’s salary nor dividends.

After information about Tsebe’s hidden shares leaked late last year, the company offered her R3m “compensation” to walk.

According to a settlement offer drafted and signed by Ferreira’s legal representative, Maritz Smith van Eeden Inc – dated October 31, 2011 – Tsebe’s golden handshake included a severance package of R24 000 and her November 2011 salary of R6 500.

Ferreira initially offered Tsebe R650 000, then increased it to R1.7m and later R3m, but Tsebe rejected the offer and demanded R10m.

Her affidavit said the money included an unpaid director’s salary, the value of dividends for her shares and “forged signatures”.

The Star traced Tsebe, 44, to an RDP settlement in her hometown of Mokopane, Limpopo, where she settled after being fired. The single mother-of-two, the sole breadwinner in a family of six, was inconsolable.

“I just want my own money so I can move on with my life. I can’t go back. Now my life is messed up. I have no income because Corinne told the Labour Department that I resigned from work. Because of that I can’t get my UIF,” she said.

Ferreira’s lawyer told Tsebe’s legal representative that “we have been instructed by our client to make a full and final settlement proposal to your client in this letter… for her 40 percent member’s interest in the cc, based on the actual value of same as set out in the financial statement”.

Ferreira on Tuesday denied any wrongdoing, saying it was “absolutely not true. All that you are saying and what Lizzy told you is not true.”

Mille Net was placed under final liquidation by the Johannesburg High Court recently because of the deadlock between Tsebe and Ferreira.

Ferreira may not face criminal charges because the bill that sought to criminalise fronting has yet to be signed into law.

3.6 E-toll case goes to the Concourt

IOL, 23 May 2012

Several parties, including government, have launched a Constitutional Court appeal against an interdict temporarily halting the e-toll project, Outa said on Wednesday.

“We can confirm that we received affidavits for the Constitutional Court, and we are currently looking at them,” Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance spokesman Wayne Duvenhage said.

He said the government's affidavit dealt with the economic impact of the interdict.

“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. Government cannot introduce policies that are oppressive on the country's people. Policies need to be reasonable,” he said.

The High Court in Pretoria halted the e-toll project in Gauteng on April 28, preventing the SA National Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral) from levying or collecting e-tolls pending the outcome of a judicial review.

Sanral CEO Nazir Alli resigned on May 7. - Sapa

3.7 Tolls ruling overstepped court power — Gordhan

Carol Paton, Business Day, 23 May 2012

The North Gauteng High Court’s decision to interdict e-tolling on Gauteng’s highways constitutes unlawful interference by the judiciary in the affairs of the government, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) and government departments argue in their appeal against the decision.

In an unusual move, Mr Gordhan and his colleagues have approached the Constitutional Court directly, rather than lodging the appeal with the high court.

In an affidavit lodged with the application, Mr 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".

If left unchecked, the e-tolling judgment could set "a precedent for future judicial intervention along similar lines".

Mr Gordhan said it was therefore imperative that the Constitutional Court considered the matter to "determine the limits of this kind of judicial intervention".

Judge Bill Prinsloo’s judgment, handed down on April 28, favoured an application brought by the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) and interdicted Sanral from commencing tolling on Gauteng’s highways prior to a full judicial review of the project.

But Mr Gordhan argued the interdict was a judgment of "long-lasting consequence" because the review would take at least a year as the litigation went through the courts. Meanwhile, the delay would cause irreparable harm to the government and the country.

Not only would the government be prevented from collecting revenue that it was empowered by law to collect to meet its debt and other financial obligations, but the harm would extend to the financial standing and reputation of the government, Mr Gordhan said.

"This cannot be allowed to continue and in these circumstances, the applicants are constrained to apply to this court for leave to appeal against the judgment."

That the courts had "unlawfully" strayed into the terrain of the executive was made all the more serious by the fact that the decisions around e-tolling were based on rational policies and were longstanding, Mr Gordhan argued. Fiscal policy decisions, in particular, were "sensitive" and were decisions that could only be made by the government.

The government’s decision to frame the e-tolling dispute in constitutional terms and to ask the Constitutional Court to deliberate on the matter follows an unresolved debate over interpret ing the separation of powers.

Several high-profile figures in the government and the African National Congress have expressed frustration over what they perceive as judicial interference in the work of the executive.

This follows several court judgments in which government decisions have been overturned.

The cases prompted President Jacob Zuma to remark more than once that the judiciary was not a government and could not simply review all government policies. "They cannot be elevated to something they are not supposed to do. Their independence is relative," he told Parliament in March.

Mr Gordhan said in his affidavit that government policy documents had indicated as far back as 1996 that tolling would form part of the financing arrangements for roads.

That the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project would be tolled was confirmed by the Cabinet in 2007 and was a fiscal policy decision that only the government — and not the courts or Outa — could make, he argued.

"Ultimately it is for policy makers, elected by and accountable to those they represent, to choose between various forms of revenue collection," the affidavit said.

"What the applicants (Outa) in effect sought … is a directive by the court, cutting across a decision of several years’ standing and sequence of other ministerial and other decisions … I am advised that such intervention in public finance is unprecedented and in breach of the division of powers."

Mr Gordhan’s affidavit also attacks Judge Prinsloo’s judgment on the grounds that he failed to properly assess the damage of an interdict.

"He incorrectly thought that the harm that would be experienced by commuters outweighed the harm that would befall government and SA as a whole," he said.

As a direct consequence of the interdict, Sanral was downgraded two notches by ratings agency Moody’s and was forced to suspend its market-making activities.

The adverse credit rating would affect all bonds issued by state-owned enterprises such as Eskom and Transnet and would also raise the risk premium in the debt they raised, Mr Gordhan said.

This would ultimately have a negative effect on "SA’s reputation and its ability to raise sovereign debt", he argued. It would also interfere with current and future budgets.

The Constitutional Court is likely to allow Outa and the other high court interdict applicants an opportunity to respond to the government’s papers, before deciding whether it will hear the matter.

The other applicants are the Department of Transport, the MEC for roads and transport in Gauteng, the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs and its director-general.

Outa confirmed it had received the affidavits lodged by the Treasury and Sanral and it was "preparing responses to defend the appeal".

Spokesman Wayne Duvenhage said: "Outa is disappointed by the government’s decision to appeal, as by doing so they have clearly indicated their desire to press on with Sanral’s inefficient and unjustified e-tolling plans, as the chosen mechanism to raise funds ….

"If e-tolling is allowed to happen, this will become the precedent for all future urban road infrastructure upgrades throughout SA and motorists will be forced to pay very high fees to partially fund the infrastructure costs as well as the extremely costly administration processes proposed by Sanral."

Mr Duvenhage said he was particularly disappointed, as in recent interactions with Ismail Vadi, MEC for roads and transport in Gauteng and ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe an "improved understanding" had been reached.

"It is against this backdrop of having meaningful discussions to find a solution that we express our disappointment with the government’s decisions to appeal the interdict and press on with the legal case."

3.8 MPs shocked over slow progress to stop rise of acid mine water

Wyndham Hartley, Business Day, 23 May 2012

The rise of highly polluted acid mine water on the West Rand should be halted soon, but the government is still in a race against time to staunch drainage under central Johannesburg, Parliament was told yesterday.

Members of Parliament’s water affairs and environment committee were relieved that pumping would start in the west Witwatersrand basin by early next month, but expressed considerable alarm that pumping in the central Witwatersrand basin would begin only in a year’s time when the drainage was nearing the environmentally critical level of 174m below the surface.

The implications of this level being breached or the acid water starting to overflow, include sizeable pollution of ground water, possible increases in seismic activity and potential harm to the foundations of buildings. The matter has been described as a race to head off an environmental disaster.

MPs were shocked when told by a delegation from the Department of Water Affairs, led by acting director-general Trevor Balzer, that a feasibility study into the long-term solution would take another year to finalise. Officials of the department and the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority were told this was too long and that a long-term, countrywide strategy for acid mine drainage was a national priority.

Johann Claassens, Trans-Caledon’s manager for projects, said the "immediate solution" of upgrading treatment and pumps in the west Witwatersrand basin should be complete by next week. The capacity of treatment plants would be raised to 36Ml a day, and when the winter inflow of water from rain at 20Ml was considered, it would be possible to reduce levels in the mines and stop the decanting that has wreaked havoc in West Rand streams.

Mr Claassens said the estimate for the environmentally critical level in the central Witwatersrand basin had been extended by a few months and was now at mid-2014.

Pumping would be ready shortly before that. The situation in the eastern basin is more comfortable, with an estimated two years before the critical level is reached.

Marius Keet, from the Department of Water Affairs, said the critical level of 174m below the surface was only 17m lower than the shafts used by Gold Reef City for tourism and research.

Committee chairman Johnny de Lange and Democratic Alliance MP Gareth Morgan described the margin of error as "cutting it fine".

Mr de Lange said there was no time left and "you must have a serious rethink on the timelines".

3.9 Zuma painting debacle: showcase for strong, yet fragile democracy

Sam Mkokeli, Business Day, 23 May 2012

It all started peacefully. Crowds made their way to the high court in Johannesburg on Tuesday, attracted by a case over a controversial painting. At 10am — its scheduled start — the Goodman Gallery in Parkwood, Johannesburg, was experiencing unprecedented traffic. So high was the volume of visitors that guards only let in a dozen at a time.

It all seemed like a good advertisement for democracy.

President Jacob Zuma had taken to court an artist over what he sees as an insulting work of art. In most other African countries, powerful elites are known for being more brutal. They don’t use the courts to get their way.

A Zimbabwean, who had come to see what the fuss was about, said we were lucky in South Africa because in his country the gallery would have been bombed by now.

An hour later, news came that the painting had been vandalised.

An unidentified middle-aged white man and a black Limpopo taxi driver were arrested for the act, caught on camera by a news crew covering the story of the Brett Murray painting, The Spear.

Gallery staff apprehended both and the police arrived shortly afterwards to take them away. But not before the taxi driver was beaten up by a security guard. A black teenaged boy was arrested for trying to spray the word "respect" on a wall of the gallery.

The debate about the painting and its defacement on Tuesday demonstrated yet again how strong, and at the same time how fragile, South Africa’s democracy is. Only last week a protest turned violent, when the Democratic Alliance (DA) marched on the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ offices. Are these signs of growing political intolerance? Or the spin-offs of unhealed wounds, as the Rainbow Nation grapples with life after apartheid?

The African National Congress (ANC) has taken offence over what it calls a racist provocation by Mr Murray. The painting is part of an exhibition, Hail to the Thief II, that aggressively drills home the point of a hijacked struggle, with crass materialism motivating the elite governing South Africa.

One piece, President and Sons Pty (Ltd), tells a well-known story. For Mr Zuma’s son, Duduzane, was part of a failed empowerment scheme that would have made him an instant multimillionaire. Complaints about Mr Zuma’s children and relatives getting empowerment deals under his presidency originate from the ANC itself.

The rest of the exhibition can be summed up as extreme comment on the state of affairs in the party. ANC leaders have on numerous occasions complained that money is increasingly being used to buy votes in leadership elections. Yet Mr Murray’s parody, a piece with the word "sold" over an ANC emblem, is seen as too harsh, as it comes from an outsider, and even worse, a commentator who is white.

The ANC has taken issue with the assault of the taxi driver, when his alleged partner in crime was treated decently. "Are we still living in apartheid South Africa, where blacks are treated differently from their white counterparts?" asks ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu.

He says the type of indecency and disrespect shown by Mr Murray’s portrait has the potential to reverse all the gains made in democratic South Africa.

The ANC’s case a will be heard by a full bench of the South Gauteng High Court after its postponement on Tuesday.

The DA sees Mr Zuma’s legal action as an attempt at censorship. Dene Smuts, the party’s justice spokesman, says a defamation suit— rather than an interdict — would have been the right course of action. She also sees double standards in the ANC’s outrage.

She describes the painting as a brilliant work of political satire. "South Africa has been descending for some time into a censorious mind-set that is taking us further and further away from the free speech which is fundamental to our democracy," she says. Mr Zuma and the ANC took no action when a "depiction by Ayanda Mabula — also portraying the exposed private parts of both President Zuma and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu — was exhibited in Cape Town," she says.

Anton Harber, chairman of the Freedom of Expression Institute, has called the ANC’s criticism of the picture "silly" and defended artists’ right to pose difficult, uncomfortable questions with their work.

Moral Regeneration Movement spokesman Smangaliso Mkhatshwa says: "Not all legally correct actions are morally acceptable."

Artists should understand that culture and social traditions play an important role in appreciating their art. African culture accords special respect to leaders, he says.

"Could it be that the Brett Murray saga is a wake-up call to black people to take their culture seriously?" he asks. "While we have the numbers, we have allowed the culture of the minorities to set the national culture agenda." With SAPA

3.10 Zuma’s humiliation could strengthen his political hand

Stephen Grootes, Business Day, 23 May 2012

President Jacob Zuma has made clear his revulsion at artist Brett Murray’s depiction of him with his private parts exposed. Mr Zuma appears to have the full weight of the African National Congress (ANC) behind him in his court application to prevent Johannesburg’s Goodman Gallery from continuing to exhibit the image.

Under way is a debate that seems to transcend politics, and tends towards racial divisiveness, among other potential consequences. There are also possible political implications: it is an ANC election year and every issue could come to matter in some way.

On Friday and throughout the weekend there was an almost unprecedented outpouring of rage and disgust at the image. The ANC, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the South African Communist Party, the Black Management Forum, several unions — almost every political body affiliated or aligned in any way to the government — had condemned the image.

Feelings seemed to take a turn towards violence when Young Communist League chairman Buti Manamela tweeted that he would ensure the painting was "ripped down" after a march to the gallery. By Tuesday morning, the first T-shirts started to appear. There was also a massive ANC banner outside the South Gauteng High Court where Mr Zuma’s application was due to be heard. They all bore slogans referring to the need to protect the president, and how the right to freedom of speech must not be abused.

In a political culture in which banners and T-shirts are important, these were evocative images similar to scenes that unfolded in the same stretch of street during Mr Zuma’s rape trial in 2006. Ironically, Mr Zuma is again the victim. He is being attacked by nameless shadowy forces, intent on humiliating him, ahead of an important ANC conference.

For Prof Sipho Seepe, director of the Institute for Management Studies, Mr Zuma’s portrayal as a victim and a "representative of the offended could catapult him into a particular level (as) he received sympathies as part of a collective hurt". This becomes symbolic with the logic being that if "they can denigrate someone like him, what could happen to the rest of us".

Fuelling support for Mr Zuma could also be that many of the painting’s defenders were white. Prof Seepe says there is a "white arrogance that says you must march to our cultural drum". Mr Zuma can be the icon of resistance to this, and " this brings out our unresolved issues of the past".

Within the ANC, this could strengthen Mr Zuma’s position. It would be harder to challenge him if he is the focal point of party unity. As Prof Seepe puts it, "to go against that anger (over the painting) could turn it against you".

This force would also appear to be a weapon that has very little chance of backfiring against Mr Zuma. He has been wronged, and the debate within the ANC will not be about whether he deserved this treatment, but about the fact that he has been humiliated.

Associate professor at Unisa’s Institute for African Renaissance Studies Somadoda Fikeni agrees but adds a caveat: "This will help Mr Zuma in the short term, but it will not help at Mangaung." He points to how the ANC rallied around former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema during the case around the Dhubula iBhunu songs, only to have him expelled several months later.

While Mr Zuma has every right to feel aggrieved, this case could also help him politically.

• Grootes is a reporter for Eyewitness News.

4. Comment

4.1 Vavi’s ambiguity may soon detonate his own time bomb

Allister Sparks, Business Day, 23 May 2012

Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), is a puzzling figure. In one breath, he warns that youth unemployment is a ticking time bomb that is at the point of exploding into another 1976 uprising, while in the next he stubbornly opposes government legislation aimed at defusing that time bomb.

Even as he was berating President Jacob Zuma in his keynote address at Cosatu’s international policy conference last week for doing nothing to reduce youth unemployment, Zuma was telling Parliament in response to a Democratic Alliance (DA) question that Cosatu was the stumbling block preventing the implementation of a youth wage subsidy scheme to get more young people into first-time jobs.

The DA has been proposing such a scheme for several years, arguing it is the only way to leverage young people into critical first-time jobs in the face of SA’s rigid labour regulations. The argument is that employers are reluctant to hire unskilled school-leavers, who have to be paid minimum wages plus full benefits and are difficult to fire if they prove unsatisfactory. Employers would rather mechanise their operations.

The African National Congress (ANC) government has ignored these proposals under pressure from Cosatu, its alliance partner, which refuses to countenance any weakening of its hard-won labour regulations.

But this year, with youth unemployment soaring alarmingly, Zuma, prodded by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, agreed to include a youth wage subsidy scheme in new amended labour legislation. But again, Cosatu pressure has caused him to suspend the proposal pending further negotiations.

This in turn prompted the DA to mount a march of nearly 3000 young, mostly black, supporters on Cosatu House in Johannesburg to present a memorandum urging the labour federation to end its resistance to the amendment — only to be met by an angry crowd of Cosatu members, which resulted in last Tuesday’s ugly street fight in which several people were injured.

That brawl in itself spoke volumes. Cosatu claims the DA march was "provocative", ignoring the fact that protest marches are a regular, and often violent, feature of its own combative activities. Moreover, a mobilising memorandum issued ahead of the DA march, drafted by three member unions plus a number of linked youth organisations and issued under the name of the union federation’s organising national spokesman, Patrick Craven, made it quite clear how Cosatu intended to confront the marchers.

"The enemy is in the open," the memorandum declared. "Occupy the streets. Defend Cosatu."

The enemy? This is the official opposition in our democratic Parliament these Cosatu members and supporters are talking about. I have often admired Vavi’s principled defence of democracy and freedom of speech, recently manifested in his outspoken opposition to the government’s "Secrecy Bill". Does he really regard the official opposition in Parliament as a hostile national threat?

And does he, as a defender of free speech, believe Cosatu has to be "defended" from the handing over of a memorandum? A piece of paper? This is not simply a matter of semantic quibbling. Words in such an inflammable political climate as we have can be dangerous. My memory goes back to a frequent warning by that political sage, Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert, that the most dangerous moment in the political transformation of African countries was not the moment of liberation but the moment when the party of liberation faced the first prospect of defeat at the polls.

We still have to face that moment, but words such as those labelling the official parliamentary opposition an "enemy" and Zuma’s avowal that the ANC will rule until the second coming of Jesus Christ, tend to revive Slabbert’s cautionary words.

There is deep ambiguity in Vavi’s and Cosatu’s position on youth unemployment. Vavi obviously regards it as serious and urgent. Describing the DA march as "a very critical thing that happened", he went on to ask: "Is it not a reality that a growing number of these 72% (youth) unemployed in the country are beginning to lose hope because they have been waiting for far too long?"

He even presented an electoral warning, noting that the huge crowd of DA marchers were not ill-informed young black people but that the DA was gaining more sympathy from the working class.

"If we don’t stop the real crisis (of youth unemployment), then those 3000 DA marchers will become 6000," he said. "It will eventually succeed. Eventually all of us will be in very, very hot water before long." So, if the crisis is so urgent, why is Vavi so determined to stop the only remedy that is on the table right now?

He says he opposes the youth wage subsidy because he objects to taxpayers in effect subsidising business and he fears employers may use the subsidy as a way of replacing existing workers with cheap youngsters.

In doing so, he ignores the fact that the ANC’s careful wording of the amendment deals with those factors.

I must say the wage subsidy is not my first choice of a remedy either, but if Vavi is going to reject it, he should come up with a more acceptable alternative.

For my part, I have several times suggested establishing an apprenticeship system modelled broadly on the highly successful German, Swiss and Scandinavian systems of having a two-stream educational structure, vocational and academic, with the vocational stream dovetailed into on-the-job apprenticeships across a wide range of skilled occupations. Those apprenticeships are then deemed to be part of the student’s education so, in our case, no amendment to the labour regulations would be required.

But Vavi has shown no interest in that either. A close study of his speech last Wednesday indicates that the nearest thing he has to an alternative is a revolutionary restructuring of the whole South African socioeconomic system.

As he told the International Policy Conference, the whole global working class needs to reposition itself to deepen the current crisis of the capitalist system while simultaneously building a solid foundation for real alternatives. It is all part of the struggle to overthrow capitalism.

In that context, he wants the Zuma administration to launch a wage-led recovery policy to increase demand, backed up by stronger collective bargaining institutions, comprehensive social security provisions and labour clauses in public procurement, public investment and public employment.

At the same time, worker organisations worldwide must campaign for the transformation of international financial institutions, which Vavi sees as probably the main obstacle to a new international development path.

This is thinking on a grand scale, something Zuma certainly doesn’t do.

But I have some problems with it.

One is that it offers no solution to our chronic shortage of skills, and the more wages for unskilled workers are raised, the more productivity will decline, inflation increase and the more employers will mechanise, move offshore or simply shut down.

Another is that whatever merits or demerits Vavi’s grand vision may have, one thing is certain — it is not going to happen quickly. And that time bomb, as he himself says, is already "starting to explode".

• Sparks is a veteran journalist and political analyst.

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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