Citizen3.png Mantashe trying to understand COSATU anger "How will you survive during pension time?" Steven Tau, The Citizen, Johannesburg, 22 January 2016 The battle between the ANC and COSATU regarding provident fund reforms, is unnecessary and can be costly to all parties concerned, the ruling party's secretary general, Gwede Mantashe said on Friday morning. Speaking during an interview on Power FM, Mantashe said while he was not aware of any looming strike action from COSATU, workers do have the right to strike. He said he was still trying to make sense of the nature of COSATU's anger, saying from what they have seen, the new law will not affect public service, provident funds or any funds before March 1, when the accumulation process is expected to commence. "We are fighting to death now, for a law that will only be fully effective in ten years from now," he said. Mantashe said it was critically important for all leaders concerned to begin educating workers about the new law. "I receive a lump sum every month from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from an amount which was preserved. "In majority of cases, I have seen mineworkers blowing their hard earned monies, and this is why we say education is important around preservation..How will you survive during pension time? Mantashe asked. Ntshalintshali Responding to this on the same show, COSATU's general secretary, Bheki Ntshalintshali said whether the new law will be in full effect in ten years from now, does not change anything, as the effects thereof will still be felt. He claims no consultation process was done, to hear from workers themselves about how they feel about the new law. Ntshalintshali said the strike action that will happen in the absence of further talks on the matter, will be used as a pressure point. "All strikes have been a pressure point and I am surprised that he (Mantashe) does not know what the intentions to strike are," Ntshalintshali said. COSATU has also threatened to withdraw its support for the ANC ahead of the coming local government elections. SACP echo Meanwhile the SACP echoed COSATU's sentiments, saying the retirement fund reforms that have been pushed by the National Treasury will come into effect on 1 March 2015, will have far reaching implications for workers without comprehensive social security. "The reforms, which were introduced without agreement with workers on the management of their own funds, will curtail the withdrawal benefits that they rely on after losing their jobs. "The reforms were pushed without an equal effort to introduce comprehensive social security to give workers adequate social protection in the event they lose their jobs." Terry Bell When contacted by The Citizen, labour expert, Terry Bell said the new law will beneficial to workers in the long run. "The current unfortunate situation where COSATU is threatening strike action, is a sign of the federation trying to make itself look big, and there seems to be a political element involved in this battle between COSATU and the ANC," Bell added. <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] From: <http://citizen.co.za/955802/955802/> http://citizen.co.za/955802/955802/ -- -- 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] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
