*NUMSA STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF CDE ALINA RANTSOLASE* *3 November 2010*
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) is saddened by the untimely departure of Cde Alina Rantsolase, former National Treasurer of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and African National Congress (ANC) Member of Parliament (MP). She succumbed to death this morning, Wednesday 03 November 2010, after being consigned to a zhospital bed for two weeks due to short illness. Cde Alina passes away in the midst of ‘sushi’ being served over naked bodies of women by those who find pleasure in displaying their wealth. She would have decried to see some of her comrades in strategic positions of influence competing for space in 'shwashi' for attending exclusive parties. Her departure is a sad blow in our ongoing struggle to build an egalitarian society. She joins the immortal living in the land of the departed at a time where her organisation – SACCAWU – is an intensive battle with the ruling oligarchy at Pick n Pay for a living wage and improved conditions of employment for workers. As a loyal and disciplined Cadre and product of the trade union movement – Saccawu and Cosatu – she would have been at the picketing-lines in support of her comrades and friends at Saccawu as per a Living Wage campaign by Cosatu. She would have disagreed with the spurious insinuations by monopoly capital, including Pick n Pay that workers demands are unrealisitc, wherein CEO's of finance capital are rewarding themselves excessive bonuses, far above inflation. She was going to agree with the Cosatu analysis that over the past 16 years of our democracy the ‘apartheid faults-lines’ in the economy, education, health-care still remain intact. She would have broken ranks with her comrades in parliamentary chambers on the neo-liberal inclined Mid-Term Budget Policy Statement presented by Minister Pravin Gordhan. In Cde Alina, we have lost a worker, leader, foot-soldier, gender activist and a servant of the working class and the poor. Cde Alina is a symbol of a trade union movement as led by Cosatu that is committed to the Alliance and the objectives of the Freedom Charter as encapsulated in the National Democratic Revolution (NDR). Cde Alina belongs to the trade union movement ranks which is opposed to the predatory elites and political hyenas that is hijacking our movement and want to capture the State, for their narrow and self-centered accumulation interests at the expense of the working class and the poor. As Numsa, we find solace in that Cde Alina joins the galaxy of revolutionaries in the land of the departed such as Ruth First, Lillian Ngoyi, Esther Bersel, Jabulile Ndlovu, Violet Seboni and other countless heroines of our revolution in the struggle for a better life for all. We send our sincere and profound condolences to her family, friends, colleagues, Cosatu, ANC, SACP, ANCWL and the entire mass democratic movement. Contact: *Castro Ngobese, National Spokesperson – 073 299 1595* -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
