South Africa: Strike ends, workers' anger remains

Dear comrades,
The "suspension" of the militant strike was against the mood of many, if not most, workers who believed much more could be won. Please read the article below:

Worker anger sinks offer
Mail & Guardian 3 September 2010

The 1,3-million striking public service workers who rejected the government's revised wage offer this week appear to have sent a loud "no!" not just to the state but also to their own trade union leaders.

This emerged after Themba Maseko, the government spokesperson, told the Mail & Guardian that the state's latest offer -- which included a 7,5% salary increase (up from 7%) and an R800 housing allowance (up from R700) -- had been hammered out by a task team consisting of negotiators from both the unions and the government last week.

Yet union leaders, several of whom were making positive noises about the offer this week, were unable to convince their members, who, on Wednesday, rejected it.

At the time of going to press, workers were still holding out for an 8.6% wage increase and R1 000 housing allowance; and Cosatu and the Independent Labour Caucus (comprising unions not aligned with Cosatu) were still locked in talks.

The workers' intransigence left unions such as the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu), which has about 245 000 members, backtracking on Thursday.

Sizwe Pamla, the Nehawu spokesperson, said on Thursday that the union's consultation with members earlier this week was "flawed" and it would be taking the offer back to its members over the next two days for a "more thorough engagement with it".

Pamla said its members were not adequately briefed about the finer details of the new offer. These included "the government's commitment to develop and implement a sustainable housing scheme" within specific time frames, the conclusion of a minimum service agreement for essential service staff by December 31 this year, and future bargaining processes to be realigned with the government's budget processes.

"Our members just balloted on the basic wage and housing allowance offer, not the whole package, which we hope to do, with the responses consolidated by the weekend," said Pamla.

Earlier in the week Fikile Majola, the Nehawu general secretary, had indicated his leadership's willingness to advise members to accept the offer.

According to sources present at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council meeting between Cosatu-affiliated trade unions such as Nehawu and unions belonging to the Independent Labour Caucus on Wednesday, Majola had wanted to return to Nehawu structures to convince members to accept the offer but had been dissuaded from doing so by negotiators from the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu).

Sadtu members in all nine provinces rejected the new offer outright, said Nomusa Cembi, the Sadtu spokesperson. She said its members were angry about the government's lethargy in resolving the strike and were wary about selling out to the government.

Steven Friedman, a political analyst and the director of the University of Johannesburg's Centre for the Study of Democracy, said the "anger displayed by union members" in rejecting the offer was reflective of a theme running through broader society.

"There is a lot of anger, prompted primarily by the perception that politicians are living the high life while the rest suffer," he said, citing extravagant spending by the government on ministerial cars and World Cup ticket binges.

This had fed the public's sense of "disenchantment and distrust" of a "government that doesn't care about us and doesn't listen to us", he said.

According to several union leaders, the workers' anger had also been fuelled by the bullying tactics of Richard Baloyi, the public service and administration minister, early on in the strike.

"He's out of his depth in this job -- that much has become obvious to us. He has nothing so he has tried to bully us with R10 offers and threats. This has only served to make them more determined to hold out," said Pamla.

Friedman said that union leaders were also reaping the fruit of their "assiduous promotion" of President Jacob Zuma when they supported him during his drive for the ANC presidency in 2007.

"[Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima] Vavi had done the hard sell on Zuma ... but one has to question how deep through the unions this support actually runs … There remains heightened expectation of this government because of that sell," Friedman said.

Thobile Ntola, the Sadtu president, said his members' determination "not to compromise at all" was based on a "deep mistrust of government ... and the sense that government doesn't respect us". He said that the levers of power were being used to create a "dynasty government where the president [Zuma] and his friends and family are enriching themselves at the expense of workers and the poor. This is creating anger among workers."

In a statement released after Wednesday's Cabinet meeting Themba Maseko, the government spokesperson, said: "Simply put, there is no money available. The resources to cover the draft agreement proposal will have to come from reducing expenditure in other areas in the budget."
www.mg.co.za

Workers balk at leaders' deal with govt
Peroshni Govender, Reuters, 7 September 2010

Leaders of South Africa's labour federation COSATU have agreed with the government on a 7.5 percent wage rise but have so far failed to sell the draft deal to rank-and-file workers, union officials said on Tuesday.

They told Reuters that COSATU leaders had approved the rise last week and understood there was no way to attain the 8.6 percent the workers demanded during a strike of nearly three weeks that was suspended on Monday for more talks.

But union leaders were struggling to win over workers who stand to lose most of a month's salary due to the walkout and had already rejected the 7.5 percent offer last week.

"Unions were shocked by the manner of the rejections, the mandate was unambiguous, it was a no," said the COSATU official.

While union leaders might understand the government is in no position to increase its offer, workers have disagreed.

"Our leaders are sellouts, we don't want to accept the agreement," said a teacher from Mpumalanga province who did not want to be named.

The government has said it will not pay strikers for days not worked and rejects any suggestion it could renegotiate.

The offered rise is already more than double the inflation rate and the government argues it cannot find more money despite what looks set to be the worst year for strikes since 1995 in Africa's biggest economy -- in terms of work days lost.

"The draft document on the table is a COSATU draft document. The proposal was a compromise document that was compiled by COSATU," said a COSATU source who declined to be named.

"They took it to the employer (government) and said: 'Here is what we propose, 8 percent and 800 rand'. The employer said: 'The proposal is fine but I can't give you 8 percent, I can give you 7.5 percent'," he said.

SUBSIDY

Unions representing 1.3 million workers suspended their strike to allow for further talks on the government's wage offer plus a housing subsidy of 800 rand ($110) a month, less than the 1,000 rand a month they demand.

But while the unions have said in public that negotiations with the government will continue for 21 days, union officials said 19 unions affiliated to COSATU and the separate Independent Labour Congress had accepted the draft proposal.

"The 21 days is for unions to consult their members and explain the offer. We want to resolve this matter as soon as possible and hope to hear from the unions before the 21 days," said government's negotiator Themba Maseko."

One union official said the draft proposal to end the strike had been presented to the government by COSATU Secretary General Zwelinzima Vavi. He quoted Vavi as saying, "This is the best deal we can get."

Relations between labour and the government are complicated in a country where COSATU both represents workers and makes up part of the ruling alliance led by President Jacob Zuma's African National Congress.

Economists believe the labour action has so far cost the economy about 1 billion rand a day and a prolonged strike could harm growth prospects for an economy already lagging other emerging markets.

Any agreement to end the dispute is likely to swell state spending by at least 1 to 2 percent, forcing the government to find new funds just as it tries to bring down a deficit totalling 6.7 percent of gross domestic product.

The public sector strike cost an estimated 12 million man days, bringing the total days lost to strikes this year to 13.25 million -- more than four times the number in 2009, said analyst Jackie Kelly at labour consultancy Andrew Levy and Associates.

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFNLDE6860Z320100907?pa…

MANDY ROSSOUW, M&G, 10 September 2010

The fraught two-week public-service strike was suspended for 21 days this week because it was losing public support and members could not afford to forfeit further pay, senior unionists have told the Mail & Guardian.

The sources said that union leaders will use the three-week cooling-off period to convince their members to accept the pay offer, arguing that government's move from a 5.2% to 7.5% increase is a major victory. Labour's official demand is for 8.6%.

The plan is, however, to tweak the non-wage components of the government's proposed package.

KwaZulu-Natal Cosatu leader Zet Luzipho told the M&G: "Workers were beginning to betray one another. Towards the end, some of the public schools were running as normal," Luzipho said. "At the end the strike [turnout] was very low."

Another provincial leader confirmed this. "The strike was petering out and anyway, only Sadtu [Cosatu's teachers' affiliate] and Nehawu [its health affiliate] were on strike. Other unions didn't join us. That is why people were getting desperate to get more workers on to the streets and started to intimidate members," said the Cosatu leader, who asked to remain anonymous.

He said that the four-week strike in 2007 had driven home to workers the fact that extended industrial action was counterproductive as lost wages would not be covered by the increase demanded.

"People are still unhappy. But this year they're living so close to the breadline, they can't afford to go on striking," the leader said.

A gulf had opened up between union leaders and their members, union leaders said.

"Cosatu may have misread the anger of the people on the ground," Luzipho said.

In Pretoria Nehawu had serious difficulty in pulling its members on to the street, though that was attributed to a lack of leadership in the region rather than members' reluctance to strike.

"In Tshwane we assumed the leadership was ready for the strike, but it failed," Nehawu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla told the M&G.

"Our members came out for only about three days and then went back to work."

Union leaders were also noticing an increasing loss of public support because of strike-related violence and were concerned about losing control of their membership.

Said Pamla: "We have to explain to our members that this is a strike, not a revolution."

New housing scheme
During the next 21 days a task team comprising labour and government will adjust the government's offer, though not its wage component, which the government regards as final. The offer was originally crafted by a union-state task team that failed to bring militant members on board.

Public Services Minister Richard Baloyi said the talks would focus on a new housing scheme for public servants, the equalisation of medical aid and a minimum services-level agreement, which will clearly define essential services in the state sector.

"We're not looking at rands and cents and we're not talking about a new offer," Baloyi said.

Union leaders will tell their members that the state's housing offer was a victory because the higher allowance -- from R500 to R800 -- represented a 75% increase.

Workers will be told that the new housing scheme will give public servants access to houses "of better quality than RDP houses".

One veteran union leader who works closely with Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi singled out Vavi's role in role in resolving the strike, saying he had facilitated meetings that pushed overnment to improve its offer without labour having to revise its demands.

"He played a large role in affecting the last two moves and this will be good for his future," the unionist said.

"If you're in Cosatu, what do you do after that? You can't stay in Cosatu forever. You can go into business or the ANC. He will easily get elected as an NEC member. Even at Polokwane he would have walked into a top ANC position."

Vavi has made it clear that he is serving his last term in Cosatu and is looking towards working inside the ANC after his long service to Cosatu.

Cosatu and ANC finally bury hatchet

Sowetan, 14 September 2010

COSATU and the ANC have smoked the peace pipe, only days before the ruling party's much-awaited national general council.

Tensions arose between the two parties during the public sector strike with Cosatu leaders and protesters launching scathing attacks on President Jacob Zuma and Public Administration Minister Richard Baloyi.

The attacks on Zuma were seen by many observers as a foretaste of how his leadership would be challenged at the NGC.

But following a meeting on Monday Cosatu yesterday apologised to the ANC for the conduct of its members during the strike.

The ANC said it accepted the apology.

The two parties have also agreed that the focus of the NGC should be on policy issues, and not on the leadership squabbles.

"Both formations are committed to ensure that the NGC, as a policy forum, retains its intended focus, which is to review progress in taking forward the movement's policies, and does not get diverted by divisive issues such as the untimely 2012 leadership question," the organisations said.

The move appeared to be an attempt to avoid a repeat of the 2007 Polokwane conference, which was dominated by a leadership tussle between former president Thabo Mbeki and present ANC president Zuma, which overshadowed the policy issues delegates had to tackle then.

"In this regard we agreed that both organisations must create an atmosphere where such discussions will be conducted in a positive environment," ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said yesterday.

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2010/09/15/cosatu-and-anc-finally-bur…

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Cosatu says it did not apologise to Zuma
Sibongakonke Shoba, Business Day, 16 September 2010

Cosatu rejected Business Day’s interpretation of its apology to the ANC as clearing the air with the ruling party.

THE Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) yesterday denied that it had apologised to President Jacob Zuma and ministers for harsh criticism, saying it only apologised for insults made by public service strikers last month.

It rejected Business Day’s interpretation of its apology to the African National Congress (ANC) as clearing the air with the ruling party, saying it stood by its criticism that SA is slowly becoming a predatory state.

Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven said the apology was for personalised insults articulated by protesters through placards and songs, but not for its harsh criticism of the ANC government.

Cosatu’s refusal to back down means that although it wants to be heard at the ANC national general council this week, it does not want to be seen as apologetic .

Mr Craven said the federation stands by the statement it issued last month that said: “We are heading rapidly in the direction of a full- blown predator state, in which a powerful, corrupt and demagogic elite of political hyenas increasingly controls the state as a vehicle for accumulation.”

Mr Craven said Cosatu was not referring to the situation, but was saying if nothing is done to fight corruption, SA is heading towards becoming a predatory state.

“It does not mention individuals. It is not talking about the situation now, but we are saying this is what will happen if we don’t act now”

Mr Craven said the federation would not apologise for comments made by general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi .

Cosatu has drafted a list of radical policy proposal that it wants discussed at the ANC council starting next Monday . Mr Craven said Cosatu would never apologise for making “harsh criticism”.

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=121122

17 September 2010

To: Buyiselo Zoko
Branch Chairperson
SADTU
23 Nelson Mandela Drive
Mthatha

Dear comrade Branch Chairperson

RE: SADTU LEADERSHIP HAS SOLD OUT

We refer to your letter dated 06 September 2010 entitled “SADTU leadership has sold out”, wherein you concluded that the national office bearers, in particular SADTU President Thobile Ntola, must “come to explain to the membership the current confusion made around the suspension of the strike, and that Zwelinzima Vavi explains his unwarranted media utterances on the strike offer”.

We are taking this extraordinary step to respond to the branch chairperson against all protocols because we feel we owe you, and all other members of the COSATU unions who may share your sentiment about a ‘selling out leadership’, an explanation when that is demanded.

As you are aware, SADTU, together with all other public sector unions’ majority of who, in terms of membership, are affiliated to COSATU, started negotiations with the state in October 2009. You will also be aware that government’s opening offer was a 5.2% wage increase, with no improvement on the housing allowance. The unions’ opening demands was for an 11% increase and a R2500 housing allowance, amongst others.

In May 2010, after six months of negotiations, the unions declared a dispute. Government, over six months, improved its offer to from 5,2% to 6.2% and the housing allowance from R500 to R620. The unions had in the course of negotiations also dropped its demands to 8.6% and R1000 for housing allowance.

COSATU leadership were not involved in these negotiations. The leaders of all the public sector unions also do not sit in the Public Sector Central Bargaining Chamber (PSCBC). They are represented in the talks by their union officials.

At this stage of the negotiations, the leadership called on the President of the Federation, comrade Sidumo Dlamini, to intervene to try and unlock an impasse. The President of the Federation proceeded to arrange a meeting with the Minister, Richard Baloyi, which took place on 4 August 2010. The President invited the COSATU General Secretary, who insisted that the Minister of Finance be part of the meeting, since it is he who holds the government purse.

Before the two COSATU leaders engaged with the two government Ministers (of Public Administration and of Finance) the COSATU General Secretary asked a question to the President who had interacted with the COSATU public sector unions and asked: what is the settlement demand of the unions?

The response was that the unions are willing to settle at 7% and R750 for housing. For many hours we pushed the two government leaders towards this “settlement demand”. Eventually the government relented and agreed in principle, subject to further calculation on their part to ascertain that this would be within their affordability range.

From the meeting we went to report to the leaders of the COSATU unions who confirmed that indeed in their previous discussions they did raise 7% and R750 as one of the scenarios for a possible settlement.

We participated in the protest marches held on 10 August 2010. The plan in terms of our discussion was that the government would convene the PSCBC on the evening of the 10 August 2010 to table the 7% and R700 formally. This did not happen because the government was still calculating the affordability of the compromise emerging from the meeting with the COSATU leadership, as explained above. You will recall that the COSATU unions had given government up to Thursday 12 August 2010 to improve the offer or face a protracted strike.

Indeed the government presented the revised offer to the PSCBC on 11th October 2010. It was at this time that the COSATU General Secretary, informed by the processes outlined above, participated in the SABC Morning Live programme and recommended that the unions consider the offer favourably. Again it is important to state that he had done so not because he was eager to sell out or to act as a government spin-doctor as the letter alleges. The processes outlined above informed this call.

Nevertheless as we said to the unions at the time, we had a responsibility to recommend the offer, as it was we who had induced the government to make a move on the basis that this was to settle the dispute and avoid a protracted strike action. It would be absolutely be hypocritical for us to turn around and be the ones who reject the offer first considering the effort we put to secure the 7% and R700.

Indeed all union leaders would have spoken in the media and their structures recommending the government revised offer. We did make it clear however to government and to one another as leaders that whilst we must protect our integrity with the government we must be loyal to members if they decide to reject the 7% and R700 housing allowance.

Indeed all unions later reported that the 7% and R700 were roundly rejected by members. This meant all attempts to avoid a protracted strike had failed. The strike started on 12 August 2010.

The COSATU CEC met on 23-25 August 2010, which was the 12th day of the strike. The CEC decided not to allow a defeat of the strike. All unions of COSATU issued secondary notices, which in terms of the LRA, should be 7 days. This was a historic decision! Never in the 25 years history of COSATU did the unions pull a sympathy strike on the scale envisaged. What many don’t know is that this was not an easy decision. Some unions asked questions – “what is so special with the public sector workers?” They were referring to many occasions when other workers in the private sectors earning far less pay than the public servants had embarked on strikes lasting up to 6 months without any form of support from the rest of the COSATU-affiliated unions. The argument however won a day that COSATU can’t afford to have over a third of its members defeated by a single employer as that would create a precedent and set the tone for all other negotiations in the private sector.

Bearing in mind all the above, the COSATU leaders were crossing fingers that this resolve for a sympathy strike would not be tested, in case our threats became a damp squib due to lack of enthusiastic support across all COSATU unions.

Going back to the CEC, we must state that the Secretary General of the ANC, comrade Gwede Mantashe came to the CEC and held a meeting with some of the leaders of the public sector (NEHAWU and SADTU), together with the President of the COSATU.

The Secretary General wanted to know what offer could settle the strike. He was told that a 7,5% increase and an R800 housing allowance would settle the strike. We want to emphasize again that the comrades who answered the question were not motivated by eagerness to sell out. This was the 12th day of the strike. They were acutely aware of how difficult it was for government to move from 6,5% to 7% and from R630 to R700 for the housing allowance in the earlier political intervention led by the COSATU President and the General Secretary. They put figures across that they thought would be a good area for a settlement.

The Secretary General went away to work for this. In the meantime COSATU unions’ negotiators drafted a draft agreement of what came to be known as the COSATU draft agreement for settlement of the strike. The COSATU President and General Secretary complimented the Secretary General’s intervention. In a combined but parallel process they knocked at every door of the highest offices.

Eventually government agreed to revise its offer and was ready to present it on 1 September 2010. This means government was prepared to sign on the COSATU union’s drafted settlement, which was for 7, 5% and R800.

Even before the government could present this, the COSATU General Secretary, after realising that chances were high that this would be rejected by members, opened a parallel discussion with the Minister of Finance urging him to move further to 8% and R850, 00 for housing. The push for this continued in the marathon discussion between the COSATU President and General Secretary with no less than 6 government ministers on the evening of 2 September 2010.

It was in the early hours of 3 September that the Ministers received a call from someone more senior than them. At that moment negotiations stopped, never to be continued again. Government ministers, in the face of the call they received, simply folded their files and declared there was nothing more they could do. The government was accusing unions of tricking them into believing that the strike would end after they improved the offer from 6,5% to 7% and R630 to R700 and later to 7,5% and R800. Now the unions were saying that is also not good enough and were asking for 8% and R850. Our integrity was in their eyes was in tartars. They were ordered to stop engaging with us, as it was a waste of time. We were seen as not being honest and or even informed by other political objectives.

Faced with this situation the all unions, including those not affiliated to COSATU, decided to allow government to formally present the improved offer of 7,5% and R800. Aware of all of this COSATU General Secretary again participated in the SABC’s Morning Live and made the statement that the unions have pushed as far as they could AND that there is no possibility of government improving its offer unless members push them in a strike of the same scale for another 2 to 3 weeks. It is this statement that makes Mthatha SADTU branch to accuse the General Secretary of speaking like a government spokesperson.

At this moment and a few days later, unions were facing two big problems. On one side there were no more negotiations taking place. This meant from the morning when Ministers were ordered to stop engaging, every hour and every day workers’ sacrifice were in vain. On the other hand the days were accumulating, meaning with members losing days of wages through the application of the no-work no-pay principle. Around that time the unions started to calculate that workers were now losing so much that even if government were to concede and provide the 1% now separating the parties, the losses incurred by workers in meant they would still be the bigger losers financially.

The strike itself was no longer as effective as it was in the first two weeks. Most of the government departmental workers had gone to back to work and were only coming out to participate in the marches. The numbers of workers in the picket lines were dwindling. Some nurses started to moonlight in the private hospitals and only joined the picket lines during the day. Only SADTU and NEHAWU were effectively out on strike across all nine provinces. The pressure was mounting, with media growing hostile after government claimed a number of deaths in public hospitals.

A danger was looming that if the unions did not make a strategic retreat and sign the agreement in terms that they could still dictate, the strike might fizzle out in the fourth and fifth week. Government would then punish the nurses and all other workers it sought to declare as essential service workers. From this point NEHAWU, DENOSA and SADNU were carrying a bigger risk for possible mass dismissals if this scenario unfolded into a reality.

It was at this point that all unions convened their National Executive Committees, which eventually decided to suspend the strike.

In short it is not the SADTU President, the NEHAWU General Secretary or the COSATU General Secretary or anyone else who sold out!

The only mistake the leaders committed was to twice propose a settlement area without canvassing this properly with their provincial structures. Secondly the provincial leaders were not in our view properly briefed all the time about the political interventions taking place. The public criticism of the ANC Secretary General has an element of truth even though it was unfortunate because it was made in public and was seen to be reinforcing a rightwing element in society. In future consideration must be given to the provincial leaders sitting directly in the negotiations.

We however insist that the leaders of the public sector unions were not necessarily wrong to try finding a solution informed by the reality they were facing as leaders sitting across a fire.

You will probably say that is what they were elected for – to face difficult moments and provide leadership. To us the fundamental question is whether the union leaders acted in the best interest of members under the circumstances or not? Or did they simply collapse because they were motivated by reasons of pursuing their narrow careers in government as alleged in the letter of Mthatha SADTU branch. In our view they held out for their members’ right through under very difficult conditions.

We hope this letter will clarify the matter

Yours comradely

Zwelinzima Vavi
General Secretary

c.c. COSATU NOBs

http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=435002

2010/09/22

SOUTH African Communist Party (SACP) leaders who hold full-time positions in the party while serving in Parliament or provincial legislatures came under fire at the weekend.

This emerged at the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu) shop stewards’ council in East London when Cosatu boss Zwelinzima Vavi fielded questions from shop stewards.

Shop stewards who attended the council told the Daily Dispatch that South African Municipal Workers’ Union provincial secretary Siphiwo Ndunyana called for the strengthening of the SACP and that its full- time office-bearers be recalled from government.

The SACP has taken flack over its full-time secretary-general Blade Nzimande and his deputy, Jeremy Cronin, taking up ministerial positions while some provincial secretaries, including the Eastern Cape’s Xolile Nqatha , were deployed to legislatures.

Approached for comment, Ndunyana said: “It is right to recommend that key leaders of the party must remain in office so that they can focus on the party work.”

Ndunyana also said that an amendment to the party’s constitution to allow Nzimande to keep his party position should not have taken place.

However, Ndunyana said that Cosatu-aligned workers should continue to be SACP members so that its resources could be maintained through membership subscriptions.

Cosatu provincial secretary Mandla Rayi agreed that full-time SACP office-bearers did not focus much on SACP work, but the Legislature.

Rayi said a discussion was under way that provincially-based unions “adopt” full-time SACP office-bearers and pay their salaries.

“It is an arrangement taking place at national. Some staff of the SACP are paid for by the affiliates until their coffers are sustainable.”

Nqatha said alliance components, including affiliates of Cosatu, were free to raise their concerns.

“But they should equally appreciate that the deployment of SACP leaders to government was after a long discussion in the party, as part of the objectives of our mid-term vision to ensure the presence and influence of the party and the working class in all key sites of power.”

Nqatha said the SACP was conscious of the challenges posed to the party by its decision.

Meanwhile, the provincial SACP branch called for a stronger provincial ANC. Speaking at the shop stewards’ council, SACP deputy secretary Phumzile Mnguni said : “It has been a long time that we told the provincial executive committee that it must assert authority and leadership.”

Mnguni said the alliance held a summit and resolved that the provincial government be reconfigured.

“We continue to be convinced that nothing will help the Eastern Cape other than a speedy reconfiguration of that provincial government.”

He decried the fact that a report from one of the commissions dealing with the government reconfiguration was shelved at a recent ANC provincial lekgotla. — By MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA

Senior Political Correspondent

Eusebius McKaiser, Mail & Guardian, 24 September 2010

Labour federation won't go it alone even though its economic policies contradict those of the ANC.

Cosatu is suffering from battered spouse syndrome -- the more it is maltreated by its partner, the ANC, the more it believes it is best to stay within the union. Sadly, like many victims who suffer from that kind of false consciousness, the imprudent decision to stick it out is supported by coherent but ultimately misguided reasoning.

The essence of the justification to stick it out is that it is in the best interest of Cosatu's children -- the poor workers -- to fight for reform from within the union. Yet, 16 years after democracy's advent, the policy landscape remains stuck in the logic of neoliberal economic thought. That might not be a bad thing, of course. After all, communism is long dead and would be even less sympathetic to the interests of the proletariat than a form of capitalism that is softened by whiffs of welfare and strategic state regulation.

But what is undeniable is that Cosatu's own vision of how the economy should be structured -- setting aside the question of whether that vision is sensible -- finds little expression in current ANC and government economic policy. Therefore it is mind boggling that Cosatu should speak of a "contestation of ideas" when clearly it has not won any fundamental debate battles since apartheid's demise.

All of this struck me as I mulled over Cosatu's recently released document outlining its distinctive and alternative path to economic growth. They argue in favour of a job-centred, redistributive growth path. It has, of course, become fashionable to predict the imminent collapse of the ruling alliance. That prediction remains a mere commentarial trope. Cosatu simply lacks the political courage to try its electoral luck. It will not serve divorce papers in our lifetime.

But an important, different question is seldom posed: Should Cosatu go it alone?

The answer is yes. The document it released last week is a critique of ANC economic policy more devastating than any even the Democratic Alliance could whip up in a "fight-back" campaign. It correctly points to the immoral reality of a society that continues to experience gigantic unemployment levels, not to mention a society that is the most unequal in the Milky Way. Add to that gratuitously high levels of poverty and you have a spectacular failure to deliver on the ANC's much-promised "better life for all".

These uncomfortable truths, however, are well known and acknowledged even by the ANC -- sometimes. So a rehearsal of these facts in the Cosatu document is not in itself newsworthy. Rather, it is the diagnosis Cosatu provides for why this state of affairs exists that is important.

Going back to the 1990s, the document posits the beginning of the end as the moment when the Reconstruction and Development Plan (RDP) was replaced by the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (Gear) blueprint. It describes this shift as founded on a lie -- the promise that if one focuses on economic growth first and foremost then somehow employment levels will magically increase and along the way inequities will vanish. This thinking, so the diagnosis ends, is proof that the neoliberalism of the "1996 class project" is not pro-poor. It simply facilitated the creation of a narrow class of black elites instead.
And, make no mistake, Thabo Mbeki and his followers are not the sole targets of criticism. The document points out that this misguided economic project continues even after Polokwane. This is an unsubtle message to the Zuma government that it has betrayed the leftist consensus that underpinned the ousting of Mbeki at Polokwane in 2007.

Without even assessing Cosatu's recommendations on how to (re)structure the economy, one wonders how such a brutal attack on both ANC policies and their ineffective implementation could be squared with a decision to stick it out in the alliance forever and ever. The only winner here is the ANC. It can continue to claim to be a broad church, belying the fact that it preaches a gospel that resonates only with the material interests of those sitting in the front row -- tenderpreneurs, capitalists and rent-seekers. The rest of the churchgoers remain poor but are calmed by the opiate of ANC religiosity.

If Cosatu's unhappiness was restricted to how the state is doing practically, one might make a case for sticking it out on the grounds that there are no fundamental philosophical tensions. But this document renders that defence unsustainable. Why? Because the package of alternative economic moves that Cosatu advocates is inimical to the centrist thinking of ANC policy gurus. For example, Cosatu wants to introduce a new tax that redistributes even more money from wealthy South Africans to state coffers -- this despite the fact that the top 8% of income earners already account for 51% of personal income tax. The ANC has little appetite for further disincentivising investment and entrepreneurship.

Furthermore, Cosatu hopes that the relaxation of exchange controls might be reversed. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan would no doubt fight such a move because it would drive up the cost of doing business in South Africa. That would damage job creation.

Cosatu wants interest rates kept low, but the Reserve Bank would not do so without keeping an eye on inflation. After all, low interest rates coupled with a high rate of increase in the cost of living would be bad not just for the rich but even more so for the poor.

Cosatu also wants the state to stop caring about "fiscal austerity", which is its way of encouraging the government to go further into debt. The idea is to throw money at the axis of evil -- poverty, inequality and unemployment. Again, government spending on social services is already very high and one cannot imagine the ANC risking the medium- and long-term consequences of a giant fiscal deficit, which the next generation of voters would be angry about having to service.

Cosatu's key recommendations are both ill considered and, more to the point, diametrically opposed to the economic consensus that is emerging in the ANC about important elements of the macro-economy (barring the issue of nationalisation).

The ultimate failure in Cosatu's analysis is that it assumes a lack of resources to be the greatest problem the state faces. That is not true. It is the lack of state capacity, the failure to implement policy effectively and a lack of political will to give the fatal blow to cronyism, corruption, underperformance and tenderpreneurship that explain why the majority still does not experience economic uhuru.

This is not to deny that inequality is unjust, or that the state needs to be caring in responding to structural obstacles that prevent the very poor from being entrepreneurs and self-sufficient, autonomous citizens. But the truth is that existing policies speak to these realities. They are simply not effectively implemented.

Nevertheless, if Cosatu truly believes its economic ideas should replace existing ones then it should form a political outfit that argues that case outside the alliance. Only then will a more honest "contestation of ideas" happen. But don't hold your breath -- few battered spouses achieve self-actualisation.

Eusebius McKaiser is a political analyst and an associate at the Wits Centre for Ethics. He hosts a weekly political show on Talk Radio 702

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-09-27-cosatus-a-sucker-for-punishment

TimesLive, 6 October 2010

The current government were "nationalists" and concerned only with classifying and declassifying information, South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) president Thobile Ntola said.

"Its [government's] priority is the classification and declassification of information," he told the SA Democratic Teachers Union in Bokburg.

"They are not worried about poverty...they are worried about hiding information about tenders...they are worried about the fact that the media will expose all these things so they must be gagged."

Ntola also took a hard line on calls in the ANC for disciplinary action to be taken against alliance leaders.

"We must vow that no leader of the communist party or no leader of Cosatu speaking on behalf of their organisations will then be taken to the disciplinary committee of the ANC. Over our dead bodies," he said.

This followed calls by ANC Youth League president Julius Malema for disciplinary action to be taken against Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi over the danger of "political hyenas".

Vavi was expected to address the congress later on Wednesday afternoon.

Ntola declared that the alliance would be the strategic centre of power despite the ANC repeatedly saying that it was the centre of power in the ruling alliance with Cosatu and the SACP.

"They can make noise in public and in the media, we will get what we want," he said, adding that this fight would be fought in the streets and not in the board room.

"We are not expecting to be election fodder for a few individuals."

Ntola urged delegates at the congress to swell the ranks of the SACP because it was clear that this government "is not desperate for socialism".

The SACP must be strengthened so that socialism could be realised in this lifetime, he said.

Ntola told delegates they should be the "change agents" and not become corrupt themselves when they joined the ANC.

He criticised government's stance on education, saying: "Education was declared a priority by the current administration... this is just a public relations stunt."

The largest teachers union had to prioritise the resourcing of schools in the next year and had to ensure that all schools - public and model C schools - were resourced equally.

He further chastised teachers saying their main priority had to be to teach and to teach well.

"We can't be champions of only strikes for salaries and not for teaching and learning.

"All is not well if you don't teach."

Ntola said teachers must master the art of teaching effectively and fighting for socialism at the same time in the next five years.

He said the working class would take the ANC to 2012.

"The ANC must become the ANC of the working class, not the ANC with the working class buyers.

"The ANC is our weapon. If it does not want to do it, it will do it screaming... we can't allow the ANC to be used as a spoon to feed individuals and leaders."

On the recent public sector strike Ntola said government did not give union demands the urgency it deserved because their children were in private schools and they used private hospitals and were protected by private security companies.

Earlier Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga was heckled by some delegates at the Sadtu congress.

She sat with her arms folded and a stony expression on her face as Ntola delivered his political report.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article692651.ece/SADTU-lashes-nationa…

SACP head heckled at Sadtu conference
SAM MKOKELI, Business Day, 12 October 2010

South African Communist Party head Gwede Mantashe has been hackled while addressing the Sadtu elective conference in Boksburg.

He began telling teachers that their strikes were detrimental to the future of the african child.

The delegtates started singing; disrupting his speech.

At the same time, the ANC has been crtiticised by Sadtu leader Thobile Ntola for not taking teachers remuneration seriously, but was rather busy muzzling the media in order to conceal government embarrassments.

Ntola then begged delegates to stop heckling and let Gwede continue talking.

Earlier in the day SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande chastised unions for supporting the ANC Youth League’s call for nationalisation of the mines.

“[We]... in the working class, when calls for nationalisation of the mines were made, we jumped onto it,” he told the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) Congress in Boksburg.

“Some calls for nationalisation were not genuine and were aimed at rescuing BEE [Black Economic Empowerment] that was in debt.

“Nationalisation for what and for whom?... you will actually be nationalising debt, not mines,” he said.

The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) came out in support of the nationalisation of the mines, punted ardently by the ANCYL.

Teachers declare 'war' over wage offer
By CHARLES MOLELE, The Times. 12 October 2010

The SA Democratic Teachers' Union national congress yesterday rejected the government's wage offer.

However, although delegates have refused to sign the offer of 7.5% and an R800 housing allowance, the union won't embark on industrial action.

Addressing delegates at the end of the four-day congress in Johannesburg, re-elected Sadtu president Thobile Ntola said: "We still feel strongly that what government is putting on the table is immoral. Quality public service cannot be delivered by computers, but by workers, human beings, and for them to be passionate and focused to deliver quality service, they must be paid very well. What we are declaring from this congress is war with the government."

But Ntola lambasted delegates for ill-discipline and rowdy behaviour.

He said members should put the unity and cohesion of the union above everything else.

Angry teachers booed ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and told him to get off the stage at the opening of the congress after he had told them their children were unaffected by the recent strike because they attended model C schools.

ANC Women's League president and minister of basic education Angie Motshekga was also not spared.

"We need our unity ... we need our revolutionary discipline," said Ntola.

"We must respect time as teachers, we must respect tasks given to us, the movement and the profession. We need to stop camps, divisions and petty squabbles in order for us to move forward and build a strong organisation."