COSATU Media Monitor, 21 May 2012

George Phadagi, 60, who died of an undisclosed illness in a private clinic on May 13, was buried at Tswinga village near Thohoyandou in a state-sponsored funeral.

He was Premier Cassel Mathale's political and traditional affairs adviser at the time of his death, which happened less than three months after he was axed from the provincial cabinet and as MEC for safety and security.

Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane told mourners Phadagi stood for unity within the ANC during his lifetime.

"He was humble and always wanted to put the view of the ANC forward, wherever he went. "He was one of the leading heroes," said Chabane.

Among hundreds of mourners at Phadagi's funeral was Richard Baloyi, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

"Phadagi had braved apartheid harassment and detentions to fight for liberation. "His spirit should live on," said Mathale.

A multilinguist who excelled in the three main languages of the province, Venda, Tsonga and Pedi, the late politician and former schoolteacher was also the publisher of a weekly provincial newspaper, The Valley Messenger.

Meanwhile, Mathale's rival during the ANC provincial elections five months ago, Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture Joe Phaahla attended the funeral of another long-serving ANC activist, Nico Matlawa, at Ga-Masemola village in the Sekhukhune district.

Matlawa, 61, a retired schoolteacher and founding member of the South African Democratic Teachers'' Union (Sadtu), died of complications arising from diabetes on May 10, according to SACP provincial coordinator Machike Thobejane.

Paying tribute to both Phadagi and Matlawa, ANC provincial spokesperson Makonde Mathivha said: "In unison with the ANC party caucus, ANCYL, ANCWL, ANCVL, MKVA, alliance partners and all other social partners of the greatest liberation movement on the African continent, we send deepest condolences to the families of these two compatriots and fellow comrades."

1.2 ANCWL, Cosatu kiss and make up

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi, The New Age, 21 May 2012

The ANC Women’s League and Cosatu have buried the hatchet on their differences surrounding the insults hurled by the trade union movement at DA leader Helen Zille during the party’s march.

The women’s league and Cosatu agreed that women should be respected and not portrayed in a negative light. ANCWL president Angie Motshekga had labelled Cosatu racist and sexist for saying that it would strip Zille naked.

During the protest march over the youth wage subsidy last Tuesday DA supporters clashed with Cosatu supporters in Johannesburg.

The labour movement said it would strip Zille naked and described DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko as the “madam’s sidekick”.

The ANCWL, Cosatu’s gender committee and the South African Communist Party Women’s League met at the weekend to thrash out a range of issues.

ANCWL spokesperson Troy Martens said the meeting discussed Motshekga’s comments against the backdrop of the DA march.

“The ANCWL president indicated the comments emerged due to the sensitive issues surrounding the treatment of women in South Africa and the high rate of abuse and rape,” said Martens.

“Cosatu explained that the stripping of Zille was meant in a political and ideological context and not a literal one, as a result of her posturing as a champion for the rights of the poor,” she said.

“Cosatu further explained that messages portrayed by individual protesters on boards are not the union’s federation’s position.”

Martens said the women’s league believed that Cosatu was deliberately provoked by the DA, which staged a march at its headquarters.

It would have been better for the DA to take their protest to the National Economic Development and Labour Council because that is where the government, business and labour were discussing the youth wage subsidy.

The government has halted the implementation of the youth wage subsidy after Cosatu strenuously opposed it. Cosatu has argued that the scheme would lead to employers getting rid of the older workers while employing the youth.

The government has set aside R5bn for the scheme. The DA has said that the youth wage subsidy would create more than 420000 jobs. The alliance gender structures also discussed the growing trend of negative portrayal of women.

They agreed men should desist from using gender discrimination to attack political opponents. The meeting said it was time that men stopped talking about women’s bodies as objects.

1.3 ANC puzzled by Mdluli fuss

TimesLive, 21 May 2012

The ANC did not understand what the fuss was about regarding former national crime intelligence head Richard Mdluli, secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Monday.

Why should the case of a civil servant who is in trouble in his department become a national matter?" he asked at a news briefing following the party's national executive committee meeting.

"Why should it be elevated to a national question?"

Another suspension notice has reportedly been issued to Mdluli after Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced on May 9 that Mdluli would be moved from crime intelligence to a position in the office of the deputy national police commissioner for operations, Fannie Masemola.

Mdluli was first suspended in 2011 when he was arrested on fraud and murder allegations, but that suspension was lifted in March this year. The allegations will instead be tested by the Auditor General and at an inquest.

Mantashe wanted to know why the same fuss was not made when National Consumer Commissioner Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi took the trade and industry department to court after seeing her position advertised in a newspaper, and concluded she was losing her job.

"Civil servants will run into court from time to time... it is not a train smash," said Mantashe.

"Why should the NEC spend an hour discussing that civil servant?" he said, in response to a media question on the party's stance on Mdluli. "That department can shift a man, that department can expel a man...it's a civil servant."

Meanwhile, it had no objection to NEC member, businessman and Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale asking the Public Protector to investigate the possible abuse of authority and state resources by Mdluli.

"I can take anybody to the Public Protector. You are an individual. You are a citizen. It can't be an issue for the NEC," he said.

In a statement on Saturday, Sexwale said his request related to the "so-called ground coverage intelligence report", supposedly linked to Mdluli.

It is said to contain allegations that five Cabinet ministers, three premiers, and other people, were involved in a plot to unseat ANC president Jacob Zuma at the upcoming elective conference of the ANC in Mangaung in December.

In April, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela said she would first wait for the Inspector General of Intelligence Faith Radebe to conclude her own probe into Mdluli's alleged abuse of R5 million from an intelligence secret fund, before deciding on a request for a probe by the Democratic Alliance and the FW de Klerk Foundation.

On Monday SABC radio news reported that acting police chief Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi signed a notice of suspension for Mdluli. "I signed a notice of suspension on Sunday [May 13] but other than that I'm not sure... was it delivered and what's the latest on it," he said.

1.4 Audit shows Malema received kickbacks

IOL, 21 May 2012

South Africa's renegade ex-youth leader Julius Malema received large and questionable payments from businesses in his home province of Limpopo, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The 31-year-old reportedly benefited from a number of apparent kickbacks for public works contracts he helped award when he led the ANC's Youth League,the Sunday Times reported.

The newspaper said it had reviewed an audit of Malema's finances carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the National Treasury.

The firebrand politician was elected Youth League president in 2008 but was this year expelled from the ANC after he repeatedly made inflammatory remarks on a range of issues. The Youth League still supports him.

According to the Times, Malema's family trust received payments of about about R7.4 million over 36 months.

He claimed these were charitable donations but withdrew most of the money with a total of 168 cheques, the audit found.

“This is a very unusual practice, especially when one takes into account the fact that this is the bank account of a trust and not Mr Malema's personal account,” the audit states, according to the Times.

The money was enough for Malema to buy a farm, the Times reported, though amid mounting media attention, he later tried to shift the property into the name of a business run by his friend.

In an interview with the Times, Malema denied using the trust as a personal bank and denied buying a farm.

Limpopo province, which is a stronghold of support for Malema, was placed under almost total control by the state late last year due to suspicions of fraud. - AFP

1.5 Julius Malema’s money machine

Stephan Hofstatter, Mzilikazi Wa Afrika &nd Rob Rose, Sunday Times, 19 May 2012

Limpopo tenderpreneurs who benefited from dodgy government deals splashed out millions to secretly buy the former ANC Youth League leader, Julius Malema, a R3.9-million farm near Polokwane.

These and other sensational revelations are contained in a damning PricewaterhouseCoopers audit into Malema's financial affairs, prepared for the National Treasury and seen by the Sunday Times.

The audit puts Malema at the centre of a web of dubious payments and dodgy tenders that were rigged to go to his friends' companies, in return for what appear to be generous kickbacks paid into his family trust account, which he used as his personal piggy bank.

R7.6-million in 36 months

Bank statements show that Malema's Ratanang Family Trust received R7.6-million over 36 months. Despite Malema's claims these were "donations" for charitable causes, he withdrew R5.7-million of that with 168 cheques, mostly made out to cash for "round amounts" of up to R200000.

"This is a very unusual practice, especially when one takes into account the fact that this is the bank account of a trust and not Mr Malema's personal account," the audit concludes.

An analysis of the bank statements also confirms that Tokyo Sexwale's Mvelaphanda Holdings paid R100000 to Ratanang , on December 22 2010.

It is clear from the audit that Malema and his business associate Lesiba Gwangwa milked Limpopo's R4.6-billion roads budget through tenders awarded to their cronies through their company, On-Point Engineers.

His rags-to-riches story began when the Limpopo government, headed by Malema's friend, premier Cassel Mathale, awarded On-Point a R52-million deal to manage its R4.6-billion roads budget in September 2009.

New revelations contained in hundreds of documents including cheques, bank statements and tender documents seen by the Sunday Times include:

On-Point, in which Malema indirectly owns shares, won the R52-million "project management" tender ahead of 15 other bidders even though it lied about its expertise and experience, submitted a tax certificate under the wrong name, and was almost three times more expensive than a rival bidder. This put the company in a position to dole out tenders to Malema's friends in return for kickbacks;

Companies that scored lucrative Limpopo tenders, including On-Point and Mpotseng Infrastructure, paid R2-million towards buying Malema the farm Schuilkraal near Polokwane. Another R1-million was paid towards the farm by Oceansite Trading 777, which won a road maintenance tender worth R6.2-million with On-Point's help;

On-Point paid R1.2-million to Ratanang's bank account in 12 payments as "dividends" Malema claims were due to him as 50% shareholder of Guilder 59, which owns a third of On-Point; and

Another R6.4-million was paid into the trust in cash deposits or electronic transfers ranging from R10000 to R250000, including R100000 from Sexwale's Mvelaphanda Holdings.

In an interview with the Sunday Times this week, Malema denied that he used Ratanang Trust as a personal bank, and laundered money that came from On-Point

"I refuse to account to the minorities"

"Yes, a lot of money came into Ratanang, it was never a secret ... I can give every specific explanation to law enforcement, not to you. I refuse to account to the minorities," he said.

Last week at a press conference, Malema said unequivocally: "I have not received any money from comrade Tokyo. I wish I had received some money." Confronted with the bank statement analysis, Malema backtracked: "I've never said that Mvela paid me, or did not pay me. The point I made is that I was never bought by Tokyo to support him for president. I always said Ratanang received donations from different good Samaritans." He refused to confirm the identity of those donors.

Malema said he did not need to reveal who gave money to Ratanang because it "did not receive money from any public institution. Ratanang received money from individuals who gave it out of their own goodwill, nobody put a gun to their head."

This is contradicted by the audit, which traces payments for roads tenders that landed up in Malema's pocket.

The audit focuses on three tenders, worth about R60-million, that Limpopo's roads department awarded to On-Point Engineers, Mpotseng Infrastructure and Oceansite, and the kickbacks that these companies made to the trust.

Phetla and Moreroa

All three companies are linked to Malema. Mpotseng is headed by Arthur Mpotseng Phetla, who was Gwangwa's co-director in On-Point, while Oceansite is headed by Helen Moreroa, who is married to Selby Manthata. Manthata, who also reportedly scored a R19-million roads tender from On-Point, is a business partner of Malema's friend, premier Mathale.

With On-Point running Limpopo's roads department's projects, it could influence who got tenders and even authorise payment of invoices. The audit shows that On-Point authorised payments to Mpotseng, while an On-Point shareholder, Tshiamo Ditchabe, sat on the bid evaluation committee that awarded Oceansite its tender.

The purchase of Malema's farm was the most blatant example of a kickback for these services.

On March 22 2011, Malema signed a deed of sale for Ratanang to buy the farm for R3.9-million from Andries and Jennifer Kotze. Four payments of about R1-million each were due to be paid over four months from April to July to the "transferring attorneys Kampherbeek, Twine & Pogrund".

The audit shows that in May 2011, on the day Mpotseng received its last payment from the roads department for a R2.5-million tender, it paid R1-million to On-Point. A week later, this R1-million was paid to Kampherbeek, Twine & Pogrund with the payment description "Ratanang Farm".

In June 2011, On-Point paid another R1-million directly for the farm. Oceansite also paid R1-million to the lawyers for the farm, and a company called Qualis Health and Safety Consultants paid the outstanding balance of R986418 on July 8 2011.

"It is clear, based on the flow of funds, that after receiving payments from the department, [Mpotseng and Oceansite] made payments for the ultimate benefit of the Ratanang Trust, and that in the case of Mpotseng the payment was routed via On-Point Engineers," the audit states.

Farm purchase cover-up

The documents show that Malema, who was under intense media scrutiny at the time, then tried to shift the farm into the name of Gwama Properties, run by his close friend Gwangwa.

On July 26, Malema signed a "cancellation agreement" with the Kotzes for the farm. Two days later, Gwama Properties signed a deed of sale to buy Schuilkraal from the Kotzes for R3.9-million.

A week later, on August 2, Malema sent an instruction to Kampherbeek to "transfer the funds in their trust account, being held on behalf of [Ratanang] to the account of Gwama Properties".

In the interview, Malema was adamant that neither he nor Ratanang had bought Schuilkraal, but he refused to explain why he signed the purchase agreement, then cancelled it, or why money given to his trust was used to pay for the farm.

"I've never bought a farm, and that's where I'm prepared to go on this matter ... I'm not going to answer the way you want me to answer," he said.

Gwangwa initially offered to respond in writing through his lawyer, Mpoyana Ledwaba, but after receiving detailed questions told the Sunday Times: "I refuse to speak to journalists."

After asking the Sunday Times to e-mail him questions, Phetla's lawyer, Mojalefa Motalane, said: "We really don't have any answers. The payments that you are asking us about are part of an ongoing investigation and my client is cooperating with the relevant law enforcement agencies."

Moreroa denied any knowledge of chipping in R1-million towards Malema's farm, then failed to return calls after being e-mailed a cheque proving the payment.

Asked why the Limpopo roads department had clearly tailor-made the tender to suit On-Point, spokesman Joshua Kwapa said the allegations were being investigated by the Treasury, the Hawks and the public protector. "It would be jumping the gun to comment in detail at this stage." If the tender was found to be unlawful, the department would take action which could include recovering the funds paid to On-Point.

1.6 It’s not about race, it’s about issues

Colleen Dardagan, Mercury, 21 May 2012

The bloodied faces of young DA protesters splashed across the country’s television screens and newspaper front pages this week got us talking.

Who are these young people of all races and creeds belonging to an old white liberal party who are prepared to take to the streets for their cause and are following an in-your-face political strategy which seems aimed at rattling and ruffling the feathers of opponents?

Are they university graduates, do they come from the suburbs or rural areas, are they the rich elite or are they from the poorer and depressed informal settlements around our cities?

The dominant voice of the young in this country has historically been the ANC Youth League. The DA’s youth wing was seldom heard nor seen.

“Not any more,” says DA youth leader Mbali Ntuli. “The generation gap that exists in our society is encouraging young people to band together. They don’t want to pander to their parents’ political nostalgia from the past. They are far more critical and sophisticated in their thinking and I believe we have to thank the youth for the changes we are seeing in the DA. We are more impatient and more aggressively leading the social debate,” she said.

And as Tiaan Kotze – the white youngster who was pictured in the media being carried to safety by two black protesters – recovers from his head wounds, Ntuli says the debate now is less about colour and more about issues.

“We are in the global classroom now. Most under the age of 35 have cellphones, many have access to the internet. The youth are blogging, they’re bringing down governments, they’re bringing about change. It’s not about race, it’s about issues. They are terribly worried about education and employment. These are big factors.

“When you go into the universities you find many of the students don’t know if there is a place for them in South Africa.

“They don’t know if they will find work. As the DA Youth we are coming up with practical solutions and ideas to help and that’s what they’re responding to,” she said.

And as more black youngsters join the DA the more the culture of the organisation is changing, she says. “Embedded in our minds – it’s culturally ingrained – is to protest.

“And you are certainly going to see more of it.”

On where the DA’s young recruits were coming from, Ntuli replied that half were absorbed from other political parties who “weren’t necessarily into what their parents were into”, while the other half were new to politics. “In KwaZulu-Natal we are absorbing a huge number from the IFP.”

She said at least 3 million new voters would be added to the roll in the 2014 elections.

And as Tuesday’s violent DA versus Cosatu protest trends on Twitter, the old guard, apart from former DA leader Tony Leon, are giving the youngsters the thumbs-up.

Jen Hands, a retired Durban Anglican priest who has supported the DA for years, said while she was appalled at the violence and the intolerance of Cosatu she liked the fact that the DA was now “being seen to take action”.

Penny Isemonger, 75, said as unpleasant as it was to go so “provocatively” public with the youth subsidy campaign, it would seem that was what younger people would respond positively to.

“I supported it,” she said.

Leon, however, told of when he was hit in the face by a Cosatu leader during a protest and how the party under his watch was well represented by “great black activists”.

“This is nothing new. But if it is only now permeating the public consciousness then it’s great,” he said.

But political analyst Steven Friedman says not so fast.

“The DA is taking a standard right-wing approach, blaming the trade unions for all our problems. It’s trying to project itself right of centre, it’s a fleamarket party. Before this leadership the DA was the party of racial minorities – you’re never going to change that.

“Of course, it’s entitled to try. Let’s not get carried away with the protest. Unemployment is running into millions. I don’t think the vast majority of people are going to rally behind this banner – painting the trade unions as our problem.”

And did the protest show the changing face and strategies of the DA? Friedman thought not.

“I think Cosatu made a mistake and handled the protest badly. It was not a smart strategy. But I’m not sure it helps the DA either. Is that the image they want to project?”

Business leader Bobby Godsell said while protests were a democratic right they could also represent a failure to talk. “Unemployment should not be used for political point-scoring. I would rather see the DA and Cosatu sit down and have a serious debate.”

‘Watching closely’

Umlazi resident Mondli Mkhize, 31, says he is watching the DA closely. “I don’t belong to any political party. I read articles and I have learnt about what is happening in the Western Cape. Local municipalities have to send in audited reports every year. The ANC has failed to meet these audits, there are always discrepancies. In the Western Cape since the DA took over, all the money is accounted for.

“That’s responsible government. I’m a taxpayer, this money is coming out of my pocket. The DA is more efficient and competent.”

Mkhize, however, said he would waste his vote if he used it now.

“I do vote, but I am becoming discouraged. How much longer will it take for the ANC to get it right?

“The DA? I would like to see them coming into my neighbourhood and hearing them telling us their views and collecting our view. That way I will know they care.”

2. Workers

2.1 Unions press for 15% increase

Gugu Mbonambi, Mercury, 21 May 2012

The first round of wage talks between two major municipal workers’ unions and the SA Local Government Association (Salga) begin today, with the unions demanding a 15 percent wage increase.

The Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) and the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) drafted their proposals earlier this year after receiving a mandate from their members.

Both unions have proposed an across-the-board wage increase of 15 percent or R2 000, whichever is the greater, for all employees falling under the registered scope of the SA Local Government Bargaining Council, a minimum wage in the local government sector of R6 000 a month and the filling of all vacant posts on all municipal council-approved organograms on a permanent and full-time basis.

Imatu general secretary Johan Koen said a 15-percent wage increase proposal was often met with immediate resistance, yet the public was generally not aware that many local government workers were only taking home R4 603.02 a month. A 15-percent increase would equate to take-home pay of just over R5 000 a month, he said.

“Our members… are really feeling the pinch of unprecedented increases in the costs of electricity, fuel, food and public transport,” Koen said.

Samwu KZN secretary Nhlanhla Nyandeni expected the negotiations to be finalised by June. The unions’ wage demands were in line with inflation, he said.

Salga is expected to deliver its opening offer today.

2.2 Numsa calls for nationalisation of Reserve Bank

Donwald Pressly, Business Report, 20 May 2012

The second-largest union in the Cosatu fold, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), has come out with a militant line to mark its 25th anniversary by releasing policy documents that call for the nationalisation of the SA Reserve Bank and “a complete overhaul” of monetary and financial policies.

In the documents, released by Numsa spokesman Castro Ngobese and general secretary Irvin Jim, the union argues that the central bank has failed “the majority of the people of this country, especially the working class and the poor, because of its fixation on protecting the value of the rand at the expense of jobs and the creation of real wealth in the country”. The bank’s maintenance of high interest rates, inflation targeting “and such similar anti-industrialisation and anti-jobs measures” come under heavy fire.

The union’s leaders said the fact that the bank was privately owned – it has a minority private ownership structure – would be fought. In its critique of financial and monetary policy, the union argues that the bank has failed in its stated objective of maintaining price stability and balanced economic growth and development. “Interest rates in South Africa are far too high compared to our trading partners. This has contributed to the strengthening of the rand and the collapse of domestic demand within the context of high inflation.”

2.3 NUM to debate resolution to retain Zuma

Natasha Marrian, Business Day, 21 May 2012

A draft resolution ahead of the National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM’s) conference this week calls for the retention of the African National Congress (ANC) leadership under President Jacob Zuma at the party’s elective congress in Mangaung in December.

The NUM is the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu’s) largest affiliate and a powerful force in determining the positions adopted by the federation itself. The draft resolution will be discussed at the union’s elective conference, which starts on Wednesday.

It calls on delegates to mandate the NUM’s top brass to "engage other affiliates" ahead of Cosatu’s national congress in September and to pronounce in support of the incumbent leadership of the ANC.

In the draft resolution, the NUM laments the "personal attacks" on Mr Zuma and ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe. It also calls on ANC and alliance structures to "deal with the ANC leadership question on factional, tribal and character assassination grounds".

This position holds sway among supporters of NUM general secretary Frans Baleni. He faces a challenge for his post from his deputy Oupa Komane, who is unlikely to endorse Mr Zuma’s re-election.

This is expected to be a tight contest, which will give indications of how future elections will go in Cosatu, and later, in the ANC’s Mangaung conference.

Most of the NUM leaders whose terms expire this week are associated with the group around Mr Mantashe and Mr Zuma in the ANC. A Baleni win will embolden the group that wants to retain Mr Zuma. It may also make the political life of Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi difficult. Mr Vavi is understood to be at odds with Cosatu’s president, S’dumo Dlamini. Mr Dlamini is linked with Mr Zuma’s supporters. Mr Vavi is understood to back Mr Komane. If Mr Komane wins, it will mean that a big bloc in Cosatu has moved to Mr Vavi’s side. However, i nsiders say Mr Baleni and Mr Komane are neck and neck in the contest.

Mr Baleni’s candidate list merely replaces Mr Komane with Northern Cape secretary Tshimane Montoedi. Those wanting to replace Mr Baleni with Mr Komane are likely to support Joe Montiisetse, the NUM’s regional secretary in Matlosana, as president, with Free State secretary David Spunzi as his deputy. The Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, regions in the Free State and the Western Cape are backing Mr Baleni, while Mr Komane is popular in Gauteng, North West and Limpopo.

Mr Baleni is seen as close to Mr Mantashe — who is also the South African Communist Party chairman — and would support a second term for Mr Zuma.

The outcome of the election or the support for each candidate at the conference would likely determine the NUM’s policy position on key issues including nationalisation of the mines.

The draft resolutions state the NUM preferred "strategic nationalisation" as opposed "blanket nationalisation" as this would "lead to nationalisation of mining debt". Its cautious approach to nationalisation may change with any drastic shifts in leadership. NUM also wants to see Sasol and ArcelorMittal back in state hands.

2.4 Numsa calls for action

Moipone Malefane, Sowetan, 18 May 2012

The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) says the ANC leadership that will be elected in Mangaung in December should be "equal to the task" of implementing the Freedom Charter.

Numsa wants to see "strategic industries" nationalised - a view derived from the Free Charter, a 57-year-old ANC document.

The renewed call by one of Cosatu's most influential affiliates to nationalise industries is contained in a discussion document titled Numsa Political Economic Social and International Trajectory Post 2008, the union released yesterday ahead of its conference.

In the document the union does not comment on whether the current leadership is "equal to the task".

But the document point to an uneasy and inconsistent relationship between Numsa and the ANC.

Numsa accuses the ANC of not always taking pro-working class positions seriously.

"We are convinced that our principled defence of a pro-working class ANC does not always sit comfortably with some leaders in the ANC, even when such leaders actually come from and are members and leaders of the SA Communist Party," the document states.

It says nationalisation - through which the state takes over the ownership of private companies - would benefit workers and the poor.

"Numsa takes a very firm view that now is the time the country must move beyond the revolutionary reforms implemented since 1994, important as these may be, to placing the country (in a position) of translating the Freedom Charter into concrete deliverables on behalf of the people of South Africa."

Numsa says its relationship with SACP leaders has collapsed. This was sparked by Numsa's insistence that SACP leaders like Blade Nzimande be full-time in their positions.

Nzimande is Minister of Higher Education and Training.

In the document Numsa also raised concerns about the SACP leadership at national, province and district levels being in government, and not full-time in the party.

"Unfortunately our response booked us a ticket of being part of the new tendency. That is how the current leadership of the SACP views us," the document says.

2.5 CWU brands Gijima job cuts ‘unacceptable’

Gareth Vorster, BusinessTech, 20 May 2012

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) says it cannot accept listed ICT group, Gijima’s intention to cull up to 12% of its workforce.

Last week (15 May), Gijima said it had launched an ‘internal people optimisation strategy’ aimed at improving efficiency and reducing its cost base.

This stream-lining process, the group said, would include reducing its human capital costs by between 8% and 12%, depending on the business area.

Gijima employs approximately 3,080 people, which means that the the group’s actions could see between 245 and 367 people lose their jobs.

Matankana Mothapo, national spokesperson for the CWU said: “We cannot agree with any retrenchments of people in the ICT sector. We will make sure that we block this. We have not yet discussed this matter with them (Gijima),” he said adding that the CWU would be engaging with the group.

“It is of paramount importance to ensure that we protect our people. We cannot accept this,” Mothapo said.

Union, Solidarity, said it would meet with Gijima this week to discuss the job losses.
Spokesperson, Marius Croucamp said Gijima had already retrenched about 200 employees since December, and planned to retrench another 200 employees by mid-August.

Croucamp said that a number of employees had received a letter informing them that a new retrenchment process was underway.

Gijima said it has Solidarity members and UASA members. “They, however, have very little representation within Gijima. They were fully briefed prior to the optimization, and HR keeps constant contact with them. Things are 100% under control regarding the unions,” Gijima said.

UASA represents workers in the diamond, motor, manufacturing, transport, mining and engineering industries.

2.6 Stats back textile workers’ claims

Andre Kriel, Letter, Business Report, 21 May 2012

Mr Varoli (“Productivity claim doesn’t hold water”, Business Report, May 14, 2012) uses a scatter-gun approach to dismiss clothing workers’ legitimate proposals for wage increases to compensate for significant productivity gains which they have achieved. But scatter guns require little accuracy.

Varoli questions the veracity of Productivity SA’s clothing-sector productivity data. Does he know that this data originates from Statistics SA and that Productivity SA is an independent section 21 company managed by a tri-partite board, including representatives from business? This is not data artificially and disingenuously generated by the Southern African Clothing and Workers Union (Sactwu).

Maybe he does not know that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and Eurostat consider labour productivity to be a valid measure of productivity? Or perhaps Varoli wants their data to be independently verified, too?

He claims that clothing prices are falling. Actually, local clothing retail prices have increased by 13 percent over the past five years. Clothing factory gate prices have increased too, by 9 percent over the past five years; imported clothing has increased by 15 percent over this period.

He musters up import levels to dismiss the increase in local workers’ productivity. The truth is that while imports are still high, the volumes of imported garments have actually declined in two of the last three years.

Varoli laments South Africa’s poor global competitiveness. But while he mischievously cuts and pastes a quote by Productivity SA to support his untrue claim of current doom-and-gloom in our sector, he conveniently neglects to reveal that this particular quote does not refer to the local clothing sector.

Furthermore, the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, which Varoli quotes incorrectly, actually shows that South Africa’s overall competitiveness has improved from 54th to 50th position between 2010/11 and 2011/12. Nevertheless, Varoli is wrong to conflate productivity with competitiveness. Non-productivity related factors (such as the level of state subsidisation, currency pegging, or the extent of human rights abuses) can significantly influence a country’s competitiveness. Many foreign countries leverage their competitiveness in this way.

Importantly, Productivity SA’s data reveal that capital investment productivity has lagged behind improvements in labour productivity. Hence, it is workers, not employers, who are responsible for the bulk of productivity gains in the sector and, as their productivity outstrips their real earnings, workers’ unit labour cost has been falling.

Varoli even throws the problem of non-compliance at us. How ironic: this black kettle has continuously lost protracted court battles with Sactwu, all the way to the Labour Appeal Court, for unfairly dismissing workers in a scenario emanating from his factory being non-compliant by unilaterally not paying workers’ their legally entitled annual bonuses.

Andre Kriel is General Secretary of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union

2.7 Thumbs up for local Olympics kit

Sowetan, 21 May 2012

The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu) has welcomed the initiation of a competition to design South Africa's Olympic opening ceremony kit.

"We specifically welcome the decision that the design criteria require the outfits to be 'Proudly South African'," Sactwu said in a statement.

It criticised SA's Olympic body in April because the Olympic and Paralympic Games team kits were produced by Chinese manufacturer Erke.

Meanwhile, an international delivery service which normally uses vehicles and cycle couriers to distribute packages is turning to a team of runners to beat the London Olympics crush.

With close to 5 million visitors expected for the July 27-August 12 event, along with the stringent security measures, and special lanes reserved for athletes and employees, German express delivery service DHL is enlisting London-based JogPost’s team of foot couriers to help make sure its packages arrive on time on the clogged streets of the capital.

JogPost co-founder JJ Harding describes his 400-odd runners as mainly contract workers and suggested they would leave feats of endurance to the Olympians.

“They generally run somewhere between five or six miles a day,” he said of his crew. “Obviously we don’t want them running half marathons every day.”

Some 12,500 British officers will be deployed daily during the Olympic Games in the country’s largest ever pre-planned policing operation, the Metropolitan force said.

Police revealed that 52 forces from around Britain will provide officers for the operation, which will run from June 4 until September 16, after the close of the Paralympic Games.

Specialist officers trained in search techniques, marine, public order and firearms will be on call along with the mounted sections, dog units and motorcycle escorts.

Altogether, a security force of more than 40,000 people, backed by a huge intelligence operation, is to guard the Games.

Some 13,500 of the security personnel will be from the Ministry of Defence and armed forces, working alongside police and more than 16,000 private security guards and unpaid volunteers.

Security chiefs are believed to be preparing for a range of threats including a “lone wolf” terrorist, riots or cyber-attacks.

In February thousands of emergency personnel held a two-day exercise simulating a terror attack on the Underground train network during the Olympics.

2.8 Hearing follows union fund's money trail

Nadine Ford-Kritzinger, The New Age, 18 May 2012

A witness yesterday shed more light on the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers'' Union (Sactwu) provident funds insolvency inquiry that could reveal how as much as R100m disappeared.

David de Waal, a former group fund manager, was employed from June 2008 and ended his time with Trilinear Empowerment Trust with a 32-page resignation letter in August, 2010.

Yesterday, De Waal told the inquiry that he resigned because he did not want to participate in "irregular activities" that were allegedly taking place at Trilinear.

Questioned by Sactwu's legal representative, senior counsel Gavin Woodland, De Waal said an example of the irregular activities included Trilinear giving a loan to a non-listed company, Finco, allegedly used to hide the identity of a shelf company, Canyon Springs.

De Waal said: "The Trilinear Empowerment Trust main funds were those of Sactwu provident funds and, when the money was lent to Canyon Springs, it was doing nothing for the clients.

Trilinear's nature of business did not subscribe to cover unsecured loans to companies.

"The five provident funds'' money was the biggest injection to Trilinear Empowerment Fund and, with the money being lent to Canyon Springs, the clients were being lied to and misled," said De Waal.

Evidence yesterday revealed that R467m was injected into Trilinear Empowerment Fund from December 2006 to March 2010, of which R62.8m, besides further millions for loans and fees, was paid to Canyon Springs.

De Waal said concerns regarding the high fees that were paid to Canyon Springs could not be explained.

He alleged that many of Trilinear chairperson Sam Buthelezi and former Sactwu benefits coordinator Richard Kawie's doings were "top secret".

De Waal said: "I was told that Canyon Springs was Sam's secret investment and that it was a union-ANC investment company that would be listed.

"Sam never wanted us to use the name Canyon Springs and said we should instead use the name Cape Empowerment Trust as a proxy, which is another listed company.

" Woodland asked De Waal what he knew about Minister Enoch Godongwana's involvement in Canyon Springs.

De Waal said: "I don't know much about them, but Sam and Richard were very hopeful of him becoming the finance minister with the new cabinet announcement.

''He also alleged that Buthelezi may have been influenced by Kawie. "Richard was always at our offices and Sam would run everything by him for decisions to be made," said De Waal.

Emails sent from Kawie that allegedly gave instructions to Buthelezi formed part of the evidence at the inquiry, as well as evidence of payments that would allegedly first go to Kawie before entering Pasima Trust account, which is Buthelezi's trust.

Sactwu spokesperson Andre Kriel said: "We had serious suspicions that there were wrongdoings but we have a mandate to recover every cent." The inquiry has barred the media from reporting evidence led by Buthelezi.

2.9 Niehaus claims he paid Saccawu debt

Weekend Argus, 20 May 2012

Disgraced former ANC communications chief Carl Niehaus still owes the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) Provident Fund a “substantial sum”, after he lied about his sister’s death and abused an expense account, which included the hire of a yacht.

This is the latest in a string of reactions to Niehaus’s recent radio interview in which he claimed he had settled all his debts, estimated at R4.5 million. The debts included R700 000 he owed Rhema church and R24 000 he owed Frank Chikane, a previous director-general in the Presidency.

Now Tony Mostert, Saccawu’s curator and lawyer, has revealed that although the Rhema Church paid R90 000 of Niehaus’s R100 000 debt to the union, Niehaus still owes the remainder, as well as “significant” interest.

He ran up the debt in 2008 when he had his sister “die” prematurely to secure a business class ticket to “arrange to fly the body of his dead sister back to South Africa” for burial, according to Mostert.

Mostert employed Niehaus early in the curatorship as a transformation consultant on the recommendation of a high-profile ANC member and businessman. He said he needed expertise to make three companies, owned by the Saccawu Investment Holdings and subject to the curatorship, compliant with black economic empowerment requirements.

The three companies – two engineering companies and a brick factory – were bought by the Saccawu Investment Company with Saccawu Provident Fund money, which was one of the reasons the fund was placed under curatorship.

Among the first things Niehaus did on being employed was to:

l Insist that his wife be employed as his assistant.

l Ask for a substantial salary advance, because he said he was in financial difficulties because of debt problems as a result of a recent divorce.

Mostert said that about a month after Niehaus was employed, he arrived to doom and gloom in the office. Niehaus was in the boardroom crying, and in a generally distressed state.

He claimed he had just received news his sister had died suddenly in London and he needed to go to London to bring her body back, but couldn’t because of his financial problems.

Mostert arranged for the company travel agent to provide Niehaus with a return ticket for himself to London.

But the story went awry when, a week later, Niehaus’s then wife Lindy arrived back at work to find a large bunch of flowers on her desk, sent by the directors of one of the companies Niehaus was assisting.

When she asked about them, she was told it was a sympathy gesture for the loss of Niehaus’s sister.

She expressed shock, questioning how this was possible when she and Niehaus had left his sister in London in good health just the previous night. Niehaus was parking their car at the time.

When Mostert confronted Niehaus, he broke down and confessed that he had actually gone to London on ANC business to do with Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday concert in Hyde Park.

He had wanted to take his wife with him, but couldn’t afford to do so.

Mostert then discovered that instead of purchasing a regular economy class ticket, Niehaus bought a full business class ticket.

Mostert relieved him of his duties and told him the matter would be referred to the police.

In response to pleas from Niehaus to be allowed to make things right, he was given 10 days to repay the air ticket. The cost of the ticket and salary advance totalled about R100 000.

Niehaus promised faithfully to repay, but Mostert said he received excuses about waiting for a loan from some ANC members week upon week.

After about six weeks, when Niehaus had been put on final terms, Mostert received a call from evangelist Ray McCauley to say the Rhema church had employed Niehaus, and would pay back his debt over a period.

During this period Mostert said he also discovered that Niehaus, as a director of the brick-making company and after a board meeting at the Radisson Hotel in Cape Town, had made unjustifiable expense account claims.

Unbeknown to Mostert, Niehaus stayed on for some days at the hotel with his wife Lindy, where he apparently ran up an “astronomical” bill on room service, including for, among other things, alcohol and cigars – and the hiring of a yacht.

The brick company paid the bill, believing Niehaus had Mostert’s authority.

The false claim about his sister was similar to a tactic he used last year to borrow money from Deputy Justice Minister Andries Nel, an old friend. Niehaus told Nel he needed to borrow cash because he wanted to bury his father in Zeerust, in the North West province. He needed to transport the body from Somerset West.

According to a recent report in the Mail & Guardian, the funeral never took place.

Asked to comment yesterday, Niehaus’s attorney Tonny Sauls countered that the entire debt to Saccawu was repaid “

many years ago”.

The total debt was R90 000, and was settled “fully and finally” by Niehaus, he said.

He added that Niehaus also did not owe the Rhema church a single cent.

“Rhema has numerous times formally denied that Mr Niehaus owes it any money. Yet this lie is being perpetuated,” he said.

Sauls also branded as “ridiculous” Mostert’s claims that Niehaus ran up huge expense accounts, and hired a yacht.

“Mr Niehaus denies that any exorbitant expense account was run up. He denies the ridiculous claim of having rented a yacht or having spent huge amounts of money on booze and cigars. Mr Niehaus does not smoke,” he said.

“These allegations were made three years ago. They have been denied since then by Rhema and him, and now three years later these stale allegations are being rehashed,” the attorney said.

3. South Africa

3.1 ANC brands Zuma painting racist

TimesLive, 21 May 2012

The ANC's national executive committee (NEC) was still smarting over a painting of its president Jacob Zuma's genitals, branding it racist on Monday as it prepared for a court challenge to have it removed.

It's rude, it's crude, it's disrespectful, it's racist," said African National Congress secretary general Gwede Mantashe at a post NEC briefing in Johannesburg on Monday.

He said if it had been a white man depicted, the reaction would have been very different. As far as many people were concerned, black people were just objects, he continued.

"I said how about the idea of going to court tomorrow and as we sit there we can take off our trousers... we can walk around with our genitals hanging out... it's crude," he said.

The party was going to the High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday to try and compel the Goodman Gallery to take down the painting, and City Press newspaper to remove a photo of it from its website.

"We have not outgrown racism in our 18 years," Mantashe said.

He believed there was widespread condemnation of the painting and felt it was polarising society along racial lines. The only threat to freedom of expression was people who used it without understanding it, thereby destroying it, he said.

3.2 'The spear' an attack on African morality: Sasco

TimesLive, 21 May 2012

The painting of President Jacob Zuma with his genitals exposed is an attack on the morals of African culture, the SA Students' Congress (Sasco) says.

"This arrogance is ideological and an attack to the very value and moral systems of the majority African people and many other religious persuasions," president Ngoako Selamolela said in a statement.

The picture subjected Zuma, as an adult and as the country's president, to "public ridicule".

The 1.85m-high painting titled "The Spear" is part of Brett Murray's "Hail to the Thief II" exhibition at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. The portrait has sparked debate about freedom of expression and the right to dignity and privacy.

"Satire or not, there is nothing politically acceptable about a personalised attack on the president by drawing his genitals and putting them on public display," Selamolela said. Artists should be "sensitive" to consolidating the country's cultural identity and value system.

He called for the portrait to be removed from display and for an apology from Murray.

"After all, there is such a thing as a weakness in judgement with no deliberate intention to cause harm," Selamolela said.

On Friday, the ANC launched an urgent court application in an attempt to stop the Goodman Gallery from displaying the painting, and the City Press from displaying a photo of it on its website.

The hearing would be held at the High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday, party spokesman Jackson Mthembu said.

The Sunday Times reported that the painting had already been sold for R136,000 to a German buyer.

3.3 Sies! Zuma's daughters come out blazing

Moipone Malifane, Sowetan, 21 May 2012

Offended by the portrait of their dad with his genitals hanging out, President Jacob Zuma's daughters yesterday broke their silence and described the image as "the straw that broke the camels back ..."

In a strongly worded statement since the row over TheSpear painting erupted this week, Zuma's daughters - while understanding that their father is a public figure - say the image could not be described as political but "infringes on his right as a human being instead".

The daughters, including Gugulethu, Duduzile, Phumzile, Thuthu and Msholozi, writing on behalf of their family, say the painting seeks to take away their father's "dignity and destroy his true character and stature as a man, a father, a leader of the ANC and South African society at large".

"Only animals walk around naked, not people, and this depiction clearly indicates the artist [Brett Murray] and his supporters see not only the President, but black people as such.

"The painting is ... the straw that broke the camel's back in this notion that a black man who is associated with African culture and traditions and who does not fit the 'perfect' mould of western values and beliefs is less human than the next person."

Sources close to Zuma this week told Sunday World "the president was deeply hurt by the image, even though he did not want to get personally involved".

Murray's painting is on public display at Goodman Gallery in Joburg and the ANC has demanded that it be taken down - or gallery owner Liza Essers will face a court interdict.

Essers has refused.

On Friday gallery spokesperson Lara Koseff said they felt the ANC demand amounted to censorship.

Koseff said their attorneys had informed the ANC the painting would stay. The gallery stuck by its artists during apartheid and still supported them, she said.

Koseff said the president had not been in to see the work, but Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile had called to express concern. As pressure mounted, the gallery said it had agreed to meet Mashatile to discuss the issue.

Koseff said when she was walking through the gallery before the exhibition opened, she thought of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who had been hounded for portraying the Chinese government in a negative light.

Zuma's daughters, - some of whom are actors and arts workers - disagree: "It is our view that the issue is not one of freedom of speech or artistic expression; it is about the fact that the painter does not see our father as a human being and therefore does not see it appropriate to depict him as one.

"... he is depicted in a disrespectful savage-like manner, something that can only be justified through a Eurocentric and Negrophobic lens.

"The painter would never depict his father in that manner, nor would he depict any father or man in that manner, but an African like Jacob Zuma is depicted in that way because he does not view them (sic) as his equal," the daughters say.

They accuse Murray of not caring about the South Africa that the likes of their father fought for, that's why "he continues to further entrench stereotypes and racism through this artwork".

"To depict a man, let alone a head of state, in this manner shows that he has no respect for him or anything he represents. Those who are his defenders as well as those who are conspicuously silent on the matter are just as guilty.

"We speak out now because we feel that this character assassination of our father is undermining his dignity and the South African ideals so many sacrificed so much for."

SA Democratic Teachers Union Sadtu entered the fray last night, saying it was joining the ANC and Cosatu in the call to have Zuma's painting removed from "the Goodman Gallery and on the Internet with immediate effect, as we see no artistic expression in the painting but an obscene, distasteful and blatant insult to the president of South Africa, president of the ANC and family man".

The union said "the painting has done untold damage to the president and the country's image and dignity. Not only are President Zuma, the ANC and his family feeling humiliated, the majority of South Africans experience the same."

4. International

4.1 Labelling notice may lead to diplomatic row with Israel

Bekezela Phakathi, Business Day, 21 May 2012

A diplomatic feud between SA and Israel could be on the cards following moves by the Department of Trade and Industry to compel traders in SA not to label products originating from occupied Palestinian territories "made in Israel".

In a Government Gazette notice earlier this month, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said that he intended to issue a notice to "require traders in SA not to incorrectly label products that originate from occupied Palestinian territory as products of Israel".

This move could hamper Israeli companies wanting to do business in SA and also negatively affect large local retailers that stock merchandise from Israel.

Israeli media reported at the weekend that the government of that country had reacted "furiously" to Mr Davies’s proposals, and had summoned the South African ambassador to protest about it.

The Israeli government claims it is being singled out because special labels are not applied to products made in dozens of other places where territorial conflicts exist.

In the Government Gazette, Mr Davies said consumers in SA should not be misled into believing that products originating from the occupied territories were products originating from Israel.

Mr Davies specifically cited Ahava products, along with soft drinks and technology imports being distributed as products originating in Israel, "whereas they originate from the occupied Palestinian territories". He said the burden of proving where the products originated from would lie with the traders.

Civil rights lobby group Open Shuhada Street has been calling on the South African government to issue a notice requiring all products made in "illegal" Israeli settlements to be labelled as such. Group committee member Zackie Achmat said yesterday that the reaction by the Israeli government was "expected".

"Denmark has also indicated that it would follow SA ’s example. There is increasing pressure on Israel from government s," Mr Achmat said.

Department of International Relations and Co-operation spokesman Clayson Monyela said yesterday that SA’s ambassador to Israel would meet the Israeli government to discuss the issue.

"This does not translate into strained relations ... it happens all the time, whenever there are issues, (foreign) government s request meetings with an ambassador ... there is nothing out of the ordinary with Israel requesting to meet our ambassador to that country," Mr Monyela said.

Two of the main targets of Open Shuhada Street’s campaign are SDV Pharmaceuticals and health retailer Wellness Warehouse, which distribute Ahava products that carry a "made in Israel" label, when in fact they are produced by Dead Sea Laboratories in an "illegal" Israeli settlement in the West Bank, know as Mitzpe Shalem. The lobby group said it had been trying to engage Wellness Warehouse directly since 2010. With Sapa-AP

4.2 Israeli/Palestine exports: South Africa states its case

Khadija Patel, Daily Maverick, 21 May 2012

South Africa’s ambassador to Israel, Ismail Coovadia, is set to face the wrath of the Israeli government this week after the department of trade and industry announced that certain goods originating from Israel would have to be re-labelled to indicate they actually came from Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Salespeople peddling cosmetics have become a common sight in the passageways of shopping malls around Johannesburg. As pervasive as they are persistent, they stand ready to accost unassuming shoppers of a good few hundred rands for wondrous potions you never knew you needed.

On one such trip to Rosebank’s shrine to consumerism with a group of friends, the friendliest of my friends paused to listen to one salesman exuberantly extol the virtues of a hand lotion. As we stood by listening attentively, one friend reached for a box of lotion stacked on the makeshift counter, surveyed the small print and announced, “Made in Israel!”

It proved to be the opening salvo in a heated debate on what exactly a boycott of Israeli goods seeks to achieve. My friend, undaunted by the bulk of the salesman who had just completed a mandatory stint in the Israeli Defence Force, argued in favour of justice for Palestinians. The salesman rebutted with Israel’s right to do business as it pleased. After a good five minutes of the tit-for-tat politics exchanged in the alleyway of the mall, we prised our friend away. We had places to go and the salesman was immovable. We finally left him to persuade other shoppers to take home the bottled wonders of the Dead Sea.

Yet, the very labelling that so spectacularly raised the heckles of my friend also captured the attention of the South African government.

Last week, minister of trade and industry Rob Davies issued a notice in terms of Section 26 of the Consumer Protection Act to force traders of certain Israeli goods to re-label them. Instead of reading “Made in Israel” – or “Product of Israel” – the labels will now have to indicate their origin in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

In terms of the Consumer Protection Act, the burden of proving where the products originate will lie with traders.

Davies’ notice actually specifies cosmetics from Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories as a product line that would need new labels if it is to continue being sold in South Africa. The Open Shuhada street.org (Open Shuhada), a lobbying group cited by Davies, has alleged that Ahava products, as well as Dead Sea cosmetics are being distributed in South Africa as products that originate in Israel when in fact they originate from the occupied territory.

The government of South Africa recognises the State of Israel only within the borders demarcated by the United Nations in 1948. Such demarcated borders of Israel by the UN do not include Palestinian Territories occupied after 1967. Ahava cosmetics are manufactured in Mitzpe Shalem, an illegal Israeli settlement located in the West Bank near the Dead Sea.

South Africa, however, is not unique in forcing its hand on products purported to originate from Israel. Since 2010, the European Union has required products made outside Israel's 1967 borders to be marked as such. In 2008, the United Kingdom separately ordered labels on settlement products. And while the British ruling was a "recommendation" and not legally binding, it indicated companies that continue to use fraudulent labels could be criminally charged.

In South Africa, it is as yet unclear what fate may await traders who defy the department of trade and industry ruling. In the meantime, the Israeli government has been incensed.

Responding to Davies’ announcement, Israel’s foreign ministry has levelled accusations of racism against South Africa. “The singling out of one side of one conflict out of all the conflicts in the world is verging on racism," an Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson said, adding that "this is sad, coming from South Africa, which should know better.”

Davies’ Israeli counterpart, minister of industry, trade and labour Shalom Simhon, meanwhile, has expressed concerns that South Africa’s efforts to enforce re-labelling of Israeli products may trigger a chain reaction. Speaking to the Globes website he said, "Exports of goods produced by Israeli enterprises beyond the Green Line are a negligible proportion of total Israeli exports.

However, I am deeply concerned of a chain reaction that will cause other countries to follow the South African initiative. At the moment, I believe that this is a single initiative."

Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, also announced that his government would summon the South African ambassador to Israel, Ismail Coovadia, to protest the proposal. Department of international relations and co-operation spokesman Clayson Monyela confirmed that Coovadia had indeed been summoned by the Israeli government, adding: “The ambassador will attend the meeting, listen and discuss.”

The re-labelling action is part of a broader campaign from Palestinian solidarity activists around the world, calling for the boycotts, sanctions and divestments of Israel. Significantly, the BDS movement, as it is known, takes heart from the success of the boycott and sanctions levelled against apartheid South Africa to force pressure on the Israeli government.

Muhammad Desai, a representative of the BDS movement in South Africa, believes the requirement to re-label products purported to originate from Israel is only the beginning of achieving an effective economic boycott against Israeli goods.

“This must be seen together with the successes of the cultural and academic boycotts of Israel, which has already advanced quite a bit in South Africa,” he said.

Asked to define the aims of the BDS movement, Desai says: “It is a worldwide, non-violent movement aimed to pressure the Israeli state to enter into just negotiations with Palestinians. The movement began in 2005 – answering the call of Palestinians who had exhausted all other options to further their cause. They took great strength from the success of the boycott of the South African government in the apartheid era.”

Last year, arts and culture minister Paul Mashatile announced that South Africa would consider enforcing an official cultural boycott of Israel. President Jacob Zuma, when quizzed about government’s readiness to enforce a boycott of Israel during his foreign policy address at the University of Pretoria last year, stressed that the South African government would only take such a step in response to Palestinian requests for such measures, adding that ANC members in the struggle were particularly vociferous in calling for boycotts and sanctions.

The BDS movement has, however, not been without controversy even within the Palestinian solidarity circles. Academics Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein have been two notable dissidents of the movement, and Finkelstein recently ruffled many feathers in stating his views against the campaign.

When I interviewed Finkelstein in 2009 during his speaking tour in South Africa, he stated he was cynical of the aims of an all-encompassing boycott against Israel but, particularly significant to South Africa’s recent moves, saw the benefit of boycotting goods originating in the settlements or indeed occupied Palestinian territories.

“I think all the sanctions, boycotts, divestments can work so long as they are focused on Israel’s violations of international law. So, for example, if a company is investing in the settlements – the settlements are illegal under international law, everybody agrees with that. If you make a campaign against a company or a co-operation investing in the settlements, it has a real possibility,” he said.

“But let’s say you want to make a campaign against a South African co-operation, which has investments in an Israeli co-operation and has no investment in the settlements... Well, under international law, Israel is a state – it is a legitimate state. I don’t think those kinds of sanctions can work. You have to stick with what the law says because then your arguments become much stronger with the public.

“Another example is Amnesty International, which says there should be an arms embargo enforced against Israel. I think now we have a strong argument there – we can quote Amnesty International...

“I think Gandhi was very insightful – the object of politics is not to change public opinion, the object of politics is to get people to act on what they already know is wrong. That’s very different and Gandhi always focused on those targets on which he already knew concerns existed. If, as he put it, his aim was to quicken the conscience of people and get them to act on what they knew and then in our times the ‘conscience’ is international law, human rights and so forth.

So we have to get people to act on what human rights law already says. And this is what it says, the settlements are wrong… Now we have to people to act on that.”

Back in South Africa, while it may still be a while before we're able to buy goods labelled as Palestinian, one thing is certain: the Israel-Palestine conflict will continue being the region's best export.

5. Comment

5.1 DA march on Cosatu an ill-advised gamble

Dr Zweli Mkhize, ANC Provincial Chairperson, TimesLive, 21 May 2012

It was painful to see young people bleeding and hurdling for cover on the streets as violence broke out in the march by DA supporters outside COSATU House last week.

I hope that when the spin doctors, propagandists and strategists of the Democratic Alliance do a post mortem of the DA’s march they will be frank to admit that it was an ill-advised gamble and an unmitigated disaster, not to be repeated.

The issue of youth unemployment raised by the DA is a very important issue of concern to all (including political parties).

The ANC has taken this matter of unemployment seriously and empowered government to take the necessary steps to fight youth unemployment. The ANC led government has made and implemented many policies to fight poverty and unemployment, especially the youth who make up an overwhelming majority of the unemployed. President Zuma’s government announced a youth wage subsidy policy, as a way of stimulating the employment of young people and made a commitment through a budget put aside the for it.

I support the youth wage subsidy. I do not believe it should be delayed. I do not believe government has given up the policy because of Cosatu objections.

The source of the problem for the DA was the attitude of Cosatu in opposing the wage subsidy policy. This was the basis for the march by the DA. I am however questioning the correctness of the march to Cosatu House as a political tactic used by the DA.

Cosatu, on the other hand has expressed reservations on the matter of wage subsidy in numerous public statements. Cosatu's concern has been about the possibility of abuse of the concept to introduce casualization of workers. Similarly Cosatu has denounced the labour brokers.

Noting the reservations of Cosatu, the ANC-led government has tabled these matters at the Nedlac platform. Nedlac is a multi-stakeholder forum to mediate through issues that may raise concern amongst stakeholders (government, business and labour) in order to help them find an amicable solution, at least, or lead to a binding solution, in the interest of the country. Nedlac is the correct platform to resolve such matters.

Needless to say that there are numerous areas in which the ANC may differ tactically with Cosatu as partners in the Alliance such as on the matters mentioned above. Many times the two argue in public, leading commentators to prematurely predict or erroneously conclude that, for the ANC-led Alliance, the end is nigh.

Between the ANC-led government and Cosatu, there are many a time where disagreements are observed. Such is the relationship between the state and the Labour Unions. The role of the government is to administer government policy in the interest of the broader society. Sometimes group interests (e.g. workers’ or business interests, etc.) intervene and it is for government to find the best way to ensure that the interest of the greater public is protected, including the use of statutory forums such as Nedlac. Such has been the situation with the issue of labour brokers and the youth subsidy.

Both the DA and Cosatu are entitled to the views they hold.

Of course, all political parties have their different views on each of these and many other subjects, in which various players have public debates and disagreements. I must say, it is always commendable and less of headache if everybody agrees with government policy, especially the DA. Though the DA supports government on the issue of youth wage subsidy, this is not always the case, in fact, it hardly ever is.

Because the matter is serious, it is unacceptable for any political party to try and cash in on quick support by playing on the emotions due to the desperation that our youth face as the DA has done with the march.

Could it be that there are parties that have not learnt from the violence that engulfed our country in the eighties and nineties to always avoid confrontation that may lead to violence?

There are many decent options available in a democratic country. The DA could have hosted a bilateral meeting with Cosatu or engaged Nedlac to make a presentation or approach government apart from the public statements they have continued to make. On matters of concern to business, government always listens to concerns of the private sector. Government does the same with workers. Everyone makes representations and government considers the representations and dispose of the matter in the best way possible. The DA is the main Opposition Party with access to all Ministers and the President. Parliament is the most legitimate platform to resolve all political differences to avoid violent clashes on the streets. The DA could have also gone to court as they seem to be eager to do on every other issue in which they disagree with the government.

We must also categorically condemn the violence that occurred when DA and Cosatu supporters clashed on the streets. No amount of explanation will make it acceptable and it was good to see that both parties involved condemned it unreservedly.

People have marched to government institutions because they are connected to these public institutions by virtue that as voters they have a stake in how public matters are managed. Sometimes, members of an association or political party may march to the offices of their own leaders since they are associated with the offices as members. Not that they are always welcome, but it is understandable when they do it.

Cosatu is a highly influential stakeholder in labour matters, but Cosatu in this matter of youth wage subsidy is a complainant, not a decision maker. Just how any sober party can march against people, who, at worst, have expressed an opinion or objection, but have no executive decision to make, is puzzling. The anger of DA against Cosatu does not change the fact of executive decision making processes. Even the less smart in the DA should have realised that.

We must however point out that Cosatu offices are a private property that belongs to its members and no government department operates from Cosatu House. Cosatu offices have nothing to do with DA marchers or government executive decision making processes.

Such a march therefore carries several risks which the leaders must take responsibility for as they decide on such a step. Whether or not Cosatu leaders agree to allow a march of political opponents and hostile marchers, rightly or wrongly, individuals in the membership may consider it as a hostile invasion and decide to take unauthorised action to defend their leaders and property. Considering the poor relationship between the DA and Cosatu, despite the unproven accusations of orchestration by Cosatu leaders, it is quite conceivable that the workers would see naked provocation and decide to confront the DA marchers.

I am not a member of Cosatu, but I found the DA public calls for DA supporters to join their intended march on Cosatu to be disturbing. Their statements were boastful and inflammatory with a potential to unnecessarily igniting violent clashes on the streets of Johannesburg. I can imagine how many Cosatu members would have been angered by this move that is without precedent in our contemporary politics.

Alternatively, there may be hooligans in the DA march that may act outside the party instruction, as such often occurs in these types of marches, leading to unpredictable consequences. In whatever way one looks at the DA march, it should have been avoided.

Many a time it has happened in marches that well prepared police may have individual police who may act wrongly or police get overwhelmed when crowds run amok and complicate the situation and things get out of hand.

Reports and comments in the media suggest that there were inadequate marshals to control the DA marchers. After the march has turned awry, I don’t even expect the DA to own up to the mess. If this were true, it could only be exposing the poor experience amongst the organisers. That means, experienced organisers would have anticipated the challenges and advised against the march. Many of us who are aware that the DA is new in this game are sickened by the display of misguided militancy of a party whose founders never ventured to challenge the real apartheid on the streets.

We must all condemn violence. But the question must be asked: Why is the DA surprised that there was a violent clash? This was no normal march! People were marching against another group of people after so much taunting by leaders in the media! It was bound to happen! In a clash, neither party can claim innocence as it takes two to tango. Nobody knows what insults and obscenity can be hurled by marchers to provoke the other side and vice versa. Hymns and choruses were last sung in a march by the religious leaders led by the South African Council of Churches in the eighties. Youth, particularly inexperienced youth are easily excitable under such a combustible environment and the leaders need to protect them from harm inherent in such instances. Leaders on both sides need to have been firmly in control.

John Moody a Gauteng leader of the DA was saying on SABC TV that this was like the Soweto uprisings in 1976. God forbid! The DA should not be allowed to be romantic about violence and death of people. In 1976 there was no democracy and apartheid provocation caused an explosion and the oppressed were butchered. It is sad that when we have worked so hard to reduce confrontational politics and discouraged inter-party violence, the Democratic Alliance has suddenly woken up to embrace it. Cosatu lost many supporters in the past in such clashes; the leaders should have warned against it and the march should not have been allowed by police.

The DA has opposed many decisions by this ANC-led government that Cosatu supported, but Cosatu never marched against DA. The DA has set a precedent that may prove dangerous. How then do you stop Cosatu from returning the favour and marches to DA offices?

Our friendliest warning to DA is: Beware the psychology of marches, you may either be provoked or lose control. Marching against another organisation considered a political opponent should be discouraged! In itself it’s a mark of extreme intolerance. That route leads to bloodshed and loss of life! It takes us back to confrontational politics which we thought we successfully left behind. From KwaZulu-Natal we were shocked and could not believe that at this day and age anyone can walk straight into such a trap when, at long last, we have learnt the art of open debate, the use of all formal institutions and having a smile and a cup of tea with someone whose views you disagree with.

A hostile march against an opponent’s private property is similar to a march against any private individual. It should not be allowed! Sad memories of the tragedy at Shell House are still fresh in our minds. The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal publicly chastised the ANC Youth League when they staged such a march to the residence of IFP leader last year.

We must always remember that while each one of us has rights enshrined in the Constitution, each of our rights end just before the next person’s right starts. It would be interesting how many organisations can be welcomed with smiles as they march to DA offices, for whatever reason. I hope it never happens!

One day Helen Zille and her think tank will acknowledge that though it is correct to take up the issue of youth unemployment, their march against Cosatu is contrary to political common sense and smacks of political expediency. It should never have happened!

5.2 Cosatu fails its Public Relations 101

Mathatha Tsedu, Star, 18 May 2012

How is it that an organisation as big and as important as Cosatu can fail the public relations test so badly? The clashes in Braamfontein on Tuesday between a few hundred marchers wearing DA t-shirts and a group wearing Cosatu affiliates t-shirts were unnecessary.

Not only because the DA has a democratic right to march, but because Cosatu did not have to respond at all, let alone in the manner it did. Imagine the following scenario: DA leader Helen Zille tries to woo Cosatu leader Zwelinzima Vavi, and fails. She goads him to a fight, calling him an ambitious man hankering to lead the ANC, and he dismisses her. She then decides to go for him with a march.

Imagine that Cosatu leaders meet and say it is the DA’s right to hold their opinion about the youth wage subsidy. If they want to march for it and come to our offices, let them do so. We will send our security guard to accept the memorandum, on our behalf, before making a bonfire out of it.

Imagine what then would have happened. The DA leadership and the blue brigade would have set off and marched and nothing would have happened. Many people wouldn’t even have heard of the march. Cosatu, as they did, would have issued their own counter memorandum and coverage of the march would have been an opportunity to send out their own views.

Turn what is planned as a negative into a positive.

But not Cosatu. That scenario is too complex. When Zille announced the march, Cosatu leaders denounced it and said it would not be allowed to come to Cosatu offices. Planning meetings were held with “progressive youths” which called on all progressives to rally to the call to “defend Cosatu against agents of capitalism” or “shop stewards of the employers”.

So a media hype around the march is generated, which moves it from an also-ran story into a priority story. All because the DA was just wanting to do its democratic thing. By Tuesday morning, coverage is at saturation point and, “due to security reasons”, the marchers would have to be rerouted. Decode: Cosatu is threatening to beat up the marchers.

So when the bricks started flying, it was Cosatu, the villain, that had to explain itself. Why put yourself in such a position as if it was the only way of handling this?

Here is an introductory paragraph to a media statement issued on Tuesday afternoon: “The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), South African Catering, Commercial and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu), Communication Workers Union (CWU) and the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) as constituted by the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL), Young Communist League (YCL) and South African Students’ Congress (Sasco) salutes the workers and the working class youth for occupying and swamping the streets in defense (sic) of our reliable, class conscious, revolutionary and fighting Cosatu against the provocative and deceitful failed march by agents of imperialism and chief spokespersons of white monopoly capital as represented by fascist and racist Democratic Alliance (DA).”

Phew! It is 100 words, and one sentence. The drafters of the statement, which goes on to quote a declaration in Morogoro, Tanzania, sent this to the media to publish. I have not seen it anywhere. And I am not surprised. This is jargon, clichés that have no meaning. It was written to show off the writer’s Marxist lexicon and not as an attempt to communicate with the world.

Surely, comrade Vavi, there has to be a different way for Cosatu to handle this and communicate its views? What happened to all the nice-sounding phrases of democratic rights that characterised Cosatu’s recent anti-toll marches? Was it all a veneer under which lay gross intolerance and an inability to manage public relations?

If so, is it a malaise afflicting only Cosatu or are all of “us” also just thugs waiting for a few marchers to stone? If Cosatu defines marching to its offices as “provocation”, should the government also marshal its soldiers and cops to shoot when next Cosatu “provokes” the government with a march to the Union Buildings?

For many of us, the picture of those black youths under Zille’s leadership, confronting their parents and being pelted with stones by their parents, is extremely uncomfortable. If, as Vavi says, those youths are uninformed and ignorant, do you win them over/back by throwing stones in the middle of Joburg?

You act differently.

You think your response through and nuance it accordingly, like the democrat you claim to be. Please.

5.3 The F-word: DA’s intolerance led to Cosatu march

Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya, City Press, 20 May 2012

Let’s get this one aspect out of the way quickly – violence is an archaic and an unacceptable way of dealing with political differences.

Those who opt for this solution effectively declare themselves lacking in sound and convincing reasons for their points of view or course of action.

South Africa has long passed an era where violence against ideological opponents could be deemed justifiable. It doesn’t matter who threw the first stone.

That said, the DA’s march against a fellow non-policy maker smacks of intolerance. In essence, the DA went to the streets to demand that Cosatu think like the DA.

This is arrogant, chauvinistic and patronising.

Though true that Cosatu is first to march against those it has a beef with, we know that it marches against policy makers and wage payers.

It does not march against Nactu or Solidarity just because they won’t adopt the Freedom Charter or prefer helping white workers.

The DA created the false impression that it depends on Cosatu whether the youth wage subsidy becomes law, as if the union federation always gets its way. Cosatu has won and lost some.

Its tantrums over the Growth, Employment and Redistribution programme came to naught.

They are losing the battle against the total ban on labour brokers. President Jacob Zuma said in Parliament this week that the government would resume the youth wage plan despite Cosatu’s opposition to it.

The DA’s uncontested right to march should not blind us to Cosatu’s equivalent right to hold a view that differs from the DA or even the ANC’s.

The only conclusion to be drawn is that the DA went to Braamfontein seeking martyrs and to buttress that middle-class view that Cosatu was a bunch of thugs.

Cosatu hooliganism and counter-intolerance handed the DA its wish. To that end, the DA’s march was a resounding success.

That’s why their leaders made outlandish statements comparing their little misadventure with the heroics of the 1976 generation of Soweto schoolchildren.

The DA might have won the hearts of the chattering classes but the working class of South Africa will know that they have never had a more faithful champion than Cosatu, imperfect as it is.

Who would blame the DA for trying to peddle the lie that Cosatu does not care for the working class when it is becoming fashionable to pretend that South Africa’s macro-economic problems can be blamed on the working class and organised labour?

Have we not just heard from a reputable economist that the average South African worker is overpaid at about R13 000 a month? Yeah right.

The people of South Africa know a different Cosatu to the one painted by the DA and its fans.

They know it to be the most legitimate voice against a virtual ANC dictatorship.

They remember Cosatu speaking out when the ANC was cowed into silence over former President Thabo Mbeki’s recalcitrance on HIV/Aids treatment; they know it as a steadfast champion against attempts to introduce secrecy laws; they know too that with other civil society bodies, it leads the fight against state corruption.

Gauteng motorists know that the reason they don’t pay to drive on their province’s highways was because of Cosatu’s activism.

It makes perfect sense why the DA is envious of Cosatu. They are the most effective and legitimate political opposition we have in South Africa.

But as young people would say, don’t hate Cosatu because it’s beautiful in the eyes of the South African working class.

If the DA seeks to replace Cosatu as the legitimate voice of the working class, it should start working on its chauvinistic, patronising attitude and the arrogance that makes them demand that everyone else abandon their thoughts and adopt those preferred by our champions of liberal democracy.

News24 | The Witness | Rapport | Sondag

Mdluli files | City Press 30 | Julius Malema

5.4 The war for the youth subsidy

Mmusi Maimane, City Press, 20 May 2012

The DA argues the policy will go a long way to easing unemployment

On Tuesday, I helped lead 4 000 other DA members and supporters to march for the implementation of the youth wage subsidy.

We exercised our democratic right to stand up for the solutions we believe in.

And although we were met with violence and intimidation, we are now more committed than ever to fight for this policy.

The youth wage subsidy will benefit 423 000 young South Africans in three years.

The DA’s for it. Cosatu’s against it. And the ANC government is too afraid to implement it.

Here is how the youth wage subsidy would work: For every new employee between the age of 18 and 29 that employers add to their existing labour force, they would receive a tax credit from Sars.

The tax credit would cover half the new employee’s salary up to R2 000 per month, and would cover a smaller proportion of the new employee’s salary up to R5 000 a month.

The subsidy would only be applicable for the first two years of the employee’s time at a new job.

There are a few points to be made:
» Firstly, the subsidy clearly caters for people at the lower end of the salary scale, which means it would help those who are most in need;

» Secondly, it helps that section of the population where the unemployment crisis has hit hardest – the youth;
Treasury has conducted a comprehensive study of the proposal and has projected that it could help pay for the employment of 423 000 young people in three years.

Cosatu claims the subsidy would incentivise employers to fire older workers and hire young workers at a discounted rate instead, thereby creating a “two-tiered” labour market. That is simply wrong.

Firstly, our labour legislation prohibits such retrenchments. Every time anyone is fired or retrenched, employers have to defend their decision at the CCMA.

If employers ever attempted to fire an experienced worker to hire a young worker to access the youth wage subsidy, those employers would be severely punished by the CCMA.

Cosatu’s fears ignore our labour legislation.

Secondly, employers would never fire experienced, trusted staff who have proved their worth over time.

Why would a firm fire an experienced worker, spend lots of time to find someone to replace that experienced worker, and run the risk of hiring someone not able to do the job as well as the previous worker just to save a few thousand rands in salary expenditure?

In fact, the incentives are stacked for employers to hold on to their experienced workers, and to hire young workers who can learn from them, achieving effective knowledge transfer to the next generation of employees.

All-in-all, Cosatu’s argument simply isn’t valid.

What, then, is the real reason for their vehement opposition to the youth wage subsidy? The answer is equally simple: union membership.

Those people who would be employed with the help of the youth wage subsidy would be difficult to unionise due to the unique circumstances of their employment. That’s the real reason for Cosatu’s opposition.

They just don’t want to jeopardise union membership and so they are willing to oppose a policy that can help 423 000 young South Africans find employment.

Many workers temporarily employed through the subsidy would eventually be permanently employed. Treasury estimates roughly 133 000 new permanent jobs would be created over the first three years.

But all 423 000 of those young people who benefited would have at least two years’ of work experience that they could leverage to get into their next job.

This makes them exponentially more employable, and prepares them for successful careers in the long run.

It is estimated that someone with work experience is three times more likely to find a job than someone without any experience.

New young people would obviously enter the age group as time goes on and then their employment could be facilitated with the wage subsidy as well.

As time goes beyond the first three years, the number of people who would benefit over the long run would therefore increase dramatically.

And money isn’t a problem. In 2011, government had already budgeted R5 billion for the implementation of the policy, but never used it owing to pressure from Cosatu.

That money must simply be used as allocated.

A DA government would likely increase the impact of subsidy by spending much more than R5 billion, but for now that amount must be pushed into the system to increase employment and growth.

Everything that happened this week has only strengthened my, and the party’s resolve, to stand up for what we believe to be an important solution to our country’s youth unemployment crisis.

» Maimane is the DA’s national spokesperson

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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