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COSATU Central Executive Committee Statement
Meeting of 27 February - 1 March 2017
The Congress of South African Trade Unions held a scheduled meeting of its
Central Executive Committee meeting from 27 February - 1 March 2017, which
was attended by the national office bearers, the representatives of its
affiliated unions and provincial structures. The CEC considered and engaged
in wide-ranging discussions around the international and national political
situation, the socio-economic context and organisational assessment.
The meeting reflected on the continuing global capitalist crisis that began
in 2008, and that is now approaching a decade; and concluded that this
proves that the capitalist system has now reached its limits in that it is
now experiencing all three interrelated crises; namely a crisis of
sustainability, a systemic crisis and a structural crisis.
The structural crisis is shown in the movement of industrial production away
from the rich countries in the West to regions of the world, where there is
cheap labour. A crisis of sustainability related to its impact on the
environment and climate. A systemic crisis relates to the nature of the
system itself, whereby the rich are forcing the poor to keep their wage
levels low, combined with worsening levels of unemployment. This has seen
the emergence of narrow nationalism and protectionism in the USA under
Donald Trump and in French politics under the new populist front of Marie Le
Pen.
We have also noted that this year marks 100 years since the 1917 Russian
Revolution, which gave evidence to humanity that socialism was possible. It
is through the practical and concrete results of the 1917 Russian Revolution
that we know that the bourgeoisie are not unconquerable.
This year also will also see the two key components of the Alliance
convening their own highest national constitutional meetings that are going
to further develop and sharpen their overall strategies and tactics for the
deepening of the NDR, the struggle for socialism and ultimately elect new
leadership collectives to take the Alliance to new heights. The federation
will ensure that all necessary preparations and interventions are made
leading to these important gatherings, beginning with the SACP National
Congress.
The meeting congratulated the ANC, the oldest liberation movement in Africa
for reaching the milestone of its105th birthday earlier this year. This
105th anniversary of the movement must mean turning a new chapter in our
liberation struggle towards a second more radical phase of our transition.
We remember the immense sacrifices and achievements that have been made by
our forebears, to whom we owe everything to defend this glorious movement of
our people, Africa and the Diaspora. This year is the year where we remember
former ANC president OR Tambo; we call on all ANC cadres to emulate the
exemplary and principled leadership of Cde OR Tambo by not allowing
factionalism and corruption to destroy this glorious movement. He
represented the best values of the movement and we owe it to him and others
like him to preserve and defend the movement.
We condemn the recent xenophobic attacks directed at African immigrants.
COSATU strongly believes that the employers are responsible for the mayhem
in the country because they are the ones, who distort the labour market by
sidelining South Africans and hiring people from outside our borders. This
needs to be addressed or we will continue to have these sporadic attacks.
This social unrest has generally revealed the absence of the Congress
movement in these communities. For that reason, we shall continue to urge
our shop stewards and members to take an active part in community struggles.
The aim should be to channel the community grievances in a constructive
manner and displace opportunists. The failure to eradicate crime in our
communities is also a big problem because the poor communities feel the
effects of crime more intensely than the well off communities that have
access to private security. The Human Rights Commission also needs to
investigate Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba for his prejudiced comments
and intolerant tendencies with regard to African nationals.
We join millions of South Africans to mourn the death of two of our most
devoted human rights activists and revolutionaries to have been produced by
the twentieth century Judge Essa Moosa and Cde Fidel Castro. May their souls
rest in peace and condolences to their respective families and friends.
Organisationally
The CEC meeting was a resounding success and this was underscored by the
quality of the deliberations and outcomes, which reflect that we are on
course in implementing our three year programme of action leading to the
13th Congress in 2018. The progress that we have registered so far, in
particular in strengthening our organisational machinery, to place our
members at the centre of all that we do , whilst pursuing other strategic
objectives of our programme of action echoes our 12th Congress theme, "Unity
and Cohesion of COSATU to Advance the National Democratic Revolution (NDR)
for Socialism".
Yet, simultaneously the central executive committee noted that alongside the
solid advances that we are making , there are still some shortcomings and
challenges that still remain to be overcome this year and beyond. Therefore,
in addition to the identified new tasks, these shall constitute part and
parcel of our new programme of action in 2017, which has been adopted by the
CEC.
The CEC also took time to also revisit and reflect on the strategic tasks
contained in the September Commission Report; and the 2015 Plan adopted by
the 8th National Congress. At the centre of these historic documents is the
task of placing working class interest as the dominant national goal. That
includes building a strong organisation; asserting working class hegemony in
all sites of power; and defeating neo-liberal dogma. We have the privilege
as this generation of trade unionists to evaluate progress in achieving the
goals, we set ourselves in the previous congresses and take necessary steps
to take the organisation forward.
We shall do this by strengthening COSATU at all levels. Our organisational
machinery must be adapted to the new realities and new forms of organising.
The aim is not only to build a strong organisation but to ensure maximum
unity of the working class.
The COSATU Central Committee will be convened this year and will adopt
general and specific policy measures which further the aims and objectives
of the Federation.
The purpose, powers and duties of the Central Committee include but not
limited to assessing resolutions; implement resolutions that have been
adopted and draft resolutions on urgent matters. The federation is also
continuing its work on developing COSATU's vision beyond 2015 .The first
draft of such a plan will be presented to the Central Committee this year.
The task shall also include deriving lessons from the implementation of the
2015 Plan and the organisational redesign, which will be aligned to the
mid-term vision.
May Day
The May day workers celebration will be held under the theme; Build COSATU
engines for People's Power" on the ground 'through struggle for ownership
and control of the economy. The meeting decided that this year's
celebrations will continue to be taken back to places, where workers reside,
in line with our resolution to go back to basics and closing the social
distance. The celebrations will consist of marches and events in open spaces
closer to workers. We shall also ensure that the workers holiday, May Day,
becomes a non trading day, so as to allow workers to attend; especially
those working on farms and other vulnerable sectors. The main rally for the
federation will be convened in Bloemfontein in the Free State Province.
12th National Congress - 2017 Campaigns
The CEC as mandated by our last congress concluded that the following
campaigns will be rolled out this year:
. Recruitment, retention and service campaign.
. Provident fund/ social security reform
. Living wage campaign
. Banning labour brokers
. Anti-privatisation
. Public transport
. Opposition to e-tolling
. Anti-corruption campaign
. NHI
. OHS
Unemployment
The CEC expressed concern that government has so far failed to present a
coherent jobs saving and jobs creation plan in the face of massive
retrenchments that are affecting all sectors of the economy. The recent big
business offensive has included cuts in real wages; an increase in the
working hours; widespread casualisation of labour, particularly among women
and young workers.
We have seen the over-exploitation of migrant workers; appropriation of
labour productivity gains by capital; cuts in pensions and retirement
benefits; and the denial of the right to bargain collectively and to strike.
The CEC reiterated its call that retrenchments need to be made a matter for
negotiations rather than consultation and this means changing the process in
Section 189 of the LRA from one of "consultation with the aim of reaching
consensus" to one involving negotiation. We acknowledge that changing
Section 189 will not solve South Africa's unemployment problems because this
is an economic problem, but the fact is that dismissal for operational
reasons is far too easy.
Employers fail to fully canvass the possible alternatives to job losses and
they take little, if any, responsibility for the social costs associated
with the dismissals. Employed workers must, however, bear the brunt of
stretching their meagre wages to cover more and more unemployed dependants.
Sometimes the retrenchments are purely motivated by extracting greater
profits rather than saving an ailing business. Going forward, we shall be
challenging the employer's substantive decisions to retrench instead of only
quibbling about the procedural issues during retrenchments.
COSATU does not believe that the actual decision to retrench is, or should
be, construed as a matter of pure managerial prerogative; and this means
that we will work to expand the notion of substantive fairness.
We are continuously pushing forward with the call for a Jobs Summit because
we believe that there is a need for a pact covering jobs, income and prices.
The current economic programmes and policies do not promote large scale
absorption of the labour force. We still reiterate our call for the Labour
and Economic chapters of the NDP to be reviewed because we feel that they
are not adequately equipped to help us create the much needed jobs. The
federation has identified job losses as one of the issues to be resolved if
the country is to secure a stable future.
Workplace issues
The meeting acknowledged that our federation and its affiliates are now
regrouping and steadily regaining their focus and strength. The CEC resolved
that all COSATU unions should build on this by continuing with their
intensive recruitment drive ,and a listening campaign that will help unions
deliver better service to their respective members. We are busy dealing with
issues that affect some of our unions with internal challenges ,and the CEC
has appointed a number of task teams to intervene and resolve some of these
identified challenges. We commit to building strong united unions in all
sectors, as well as strong and functional bargaining forums.
Umbhaba Farm and Lily Mine
The COSATU CEC expressed shock and anger after hearing that the fate of 3000
workers at uMbhaba Farm in Mpumalanga hangs in the balance, after
revelations that FAWU withdrew the strike notice in the middle of the
strike, without notifying the workers, resulting in the strike being
declared illegal.
We commend the Alliance in the province under the leadership of the ANC for
their intervention and assistance they have given to the workers. The
federation will continue to engage with the workers and the lawyers to find
a solution to the workers problems.
The federation is happy that workers are united and have chosen NUM as their
union of choice at Lily Mine. The pressure from the NUM and COSATU has
ensured that at long last the Minister of Mineral Resources, Mosebenzi Zwane
has agreed to commission an enquiry and an investigation into the reasons
behind the Lily Mine accident.
We shall ensure that the terms of reference are not necessary directed at
ticking boxes but on finding the real underlying reasons for the accident
including telling us, who should be held accountable. The CEC also call for
the minister and the mine bosses pay workers, including the families of
those who are still trapped under ground for over a year now. The DMR needs
to fast-track the work with specialists to secure the trapped workers.
The CEC also condemned an increase in the number of workers, who are dying
in the mining sector due to poor health and safety compliance by employers.
We call on our government through the DMR to prioritise the safety of
workers.
Politically
The local government elections held last year proved that our movement was
facing immense challenges as there were already signs that it was losing
touch with its base. This was as a result of the combination of factors,
including the organisational and strategic disarray, primarily caused by
factional battles, the overall balance of class forces in our society and
the ongoing triple crisis of unemployment, inequality and poverty.
As we move towards the 54th National Conference of the ANC, we are convinced
that the immediate and primary political task for the federation is to fight
for the unity of the ANC and the cohesion of the Alliance. We commit to
fight for the renewal of ANC's revolutionary morality and discipline in
order to help it reclaim its high moral ground in society, which is vital in
deepening the national democratic revolution. We will work hard to reassert
the revolutionary values of " unity , selflessness, sacrifice , collective
leadership , humility , honesty , discipline , hard work , internal debates
, constructive criticism self criticism and mutual respect" We shall also
push for more decisive action by the movement and the Alliance against
corruption and factionalism.
The local government election results also signalled some serious dangers in
the future if nothing changes in how the ANC leads our people and governs
the country. The National Democratic Revolution has been perched at a
crossroads for some time, threatened by the triple dangers of the
undermining of the progressive policies of the ANC, the continued
marginalisation of the working class and the predatory tendency of some
elements within the movement. We saw a lot of indecisiveness and even
retreat by the movement from some of the mandates of Polokwane, especially
on the budget and interests rate policies. In other words the same
macroeconomic policy framework that was used before Polokwane continues to
be used today.
Both the Polokwane Conference and Mangaung agreed on a need for qualitative
shift in our macroeconomic policy. The CEC resolved that there is a need to
wage a battle to change this macroeconomic framework, and build on this new
found realisation from the ANC and its government that economies are made up
of people. The latest articulations from both the ANC and its government are
starting to acknowledge that it will be dangerous to remain straight
jacketed by a puritanical neoliberal approach that does not cater to the
changeables and reality, when managing an economy.
Building the Alliance
In dealing with this matter of building the Alliance, we summon from the
grave the words of wisdom by Cde Nelson Mandela, when he said "The struggle
that will free us is a long, hard job. Do not be deceived by men who talk
big with no thought for tomorrow. Freedom is not just a matter of strong
words. Neither is it simply brave men and heroic deeds. Impatience, which
makes men lose their heads, will not bring freedom".
The CEC agreed that all other issues of debates and discussions amongst
alliance partners, outside the shared strategic perspectives and the
identified tasks in the immediate future should be considered insignificant
in the light of the pressing challenges of the moment. The meeting has made
a call to the federation to remain true to its pro-poor and socialist
ideals, and also think clearly about its identity and role going forward. It
should continue to assert its independence, to challenge, criticise and pose
alternative policy proposals to the ANC without undermining it. COSATU shall
therefore retain its right to criticise the implementation of unacceptable
policies by the ANC and its government.
The CEC made it clear that the future of the Alliance is dependent on the
tolerance levels within it, but if the principles have to be sacrificed to
maintain the Alliance's life, then it ceases to be of any significance.
The CEC resolved that we must invest in building the unity of the alliance
as a vehicle, which drives the revolution. Our anger and frustrations about
the challenges in the Alliance must not blind us to see and understand that
the functionality and non functionality of the Alliance is based on the
struggles we wage on the ground. Anger alone without a practical and
revolutionary plan is not enough and anger alone without preparedness to
sweat and work to change the balance of forces on the ground is not enough.
We believe that the Alliance will serve the interests of the working class
if it is committed to achieving economic liberation because economic policy
is the heart of social transformation.
The CEC reiterated its support for the DP of the ANC, Cde Ramaphosa to take
over from Cde Jacob Zuma as the next president of the ANC in the next
elective conference in December 2017.
On Brain Molefe, the CEC registered its disappointment in the manner that
ANC dealt with the deployment of Brain Molefe, while he is yet to clear his
name in the state capture report. He still needs to account on why he
resigned and when is he responding the allegations of corruption during his
term as the CEO of Eskom.
Radical Economic Transformation
"In essence, a revolutionary policy is one which holds out the quickest and
most fundamental transformation and transfer of power from one class to
another. In real life such radical changes are brought about not by
imaginary forces but by those whose outlook and readiness to act is very
much influenced by historically determined factors.
To ignore the real situation and to play about with imaginary forces,
concepts and ideals is to invite failure. The art of revolutionary
leadership consists in providing leadership to the masses and not just to
its most advanced elements; it consists of setting a pace which accords with
objective conditions and the real possibilities at hand. The
revolutionary-sounding phrase does not always reflect revolutionary policy,
and revolutionary-sounding policy is not always the spring-board for
revolutionary advance. Indeed what appears to be "militant" and
"revolutionary" can often be counter-revolutionary". ANC Strategy and
Tactics document Morogoro Conference
The federation has been greatly encouraged by the renewed language of
commitment coming from both the ANC and its government, regarding the
Radical Economic Transformation. We are not naive as to the difficulties
and challenges that this newfound commitment from the ANC presents because
the same commitments have been made before, only for the movement to flatter
to deceive. But our analysis of the global economic situation and the
overall global balance of forces tell us that the ANC has no other choice
but to push ahead with the radical economic transformation because failure
to do so will result in the movement being impeached by this economy in
2019.
COSATU insists that this should result in a fundamental shift from the past,
where government has relied heavily on the ineffectual mechanisms of
incremental or piecemeal reform. Despite rhetorical statements about the
centrality of job creation and transformation of the economy, there will be
very little achieved without a shift in the macroeconomic framework in line
with the resolutions of Polokwane; and the important policy advances
outlined in the latest vision by both government and the ANC will not
materialise.
COSATU will remain alert to the tendency from some within the ANC to view
economic transformation through the prism of de-racialising' capitalism and
also want to use it for narrow personal accumulation. We shall ensure that
radical economic transformation does not only mean the integration of blacks
into the economic structures of ownership, while leaving these structures
unchanged. We shall continuously push back against this integrationist
strategy that does not tamper with the capitalist logic of accumulation; and
that politically attempts to define the black bourgeoisie as a motive force
of the revolution instead of the working class.
We agree with the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan that radical economic
transformation cannot afford to be elitist and adopt a narrow approach to
black economic empowerment. To transform the financial sector, we need a
state bank; to transform the health sector, we need the NHI and a state
pharmaceutical company and to move the economy forward and change ownership
patterns, we need government to nationalise some strategic sectors of the
economy. This also means that we need to revisit both the Labour and
Economic chapters of the NDP because; we do not believe they will help with
goals of Radical Economic Transformation.
The federation believes that determining the content of the Radical Economic
Transformation cannot remain the preserve of the ANC alone but it should be
the collective responsibility of the entire Alliance. Failure to allow the
entire Alliance to define the content of the proposed economic
transformation will render this another missed opportunity by the movement.
Unfortunately, the movement can ill afford that because people are running
out of patience and the movement and its government are running out of time.
Developmental state
The CEC strongly believes that to achieve some of the goals articulated by
the January 08 statement and the State of the Nation Address, we need an
activist and an intelligent developmental state that will work to enact
imaginative legislation.
Polokwane said "a South African developmental state, whilst learning from
the experiences of others, must be built on the solid foundation of South
African realities. Whilst engaging private capital strategically, our
government must be rooted amongst the people and buttressed by a mass-based
democratic liberation movement.
Whilst determining a clear and consistent path forward, it must also seek to
build consensus on a democratic basis that builds national unity. Whilst
acting effectively to promote growth, efficiency and productivity, it must
be equally effective in addressing the social conditions of the masses of
our people and realising economic progress for the poor".
We are clear that for a state to be developmental it cannot be legislated,
it all depends on what the state does and how it does it. In this context,
the Freedom Charter propagates for the state ownership of the commanding
heights of the economy and control of the private sector for the benefit of
the people. We reiterate our call for an interventionist, activist,
socialist-oriented developmental state whose role in the economy is aimed at
bringing to the mainstream economy to those, who were isolated from
participating in it by the apartheid policies.
Government's commitment and acceptance of the need for fundamental radical
economic transformation, as the only way to address unemployment, and
massive levels of poverty and inequality is a step in the right direction.
But the economic targets set out in the National Development Plan, are
neither appropriate nor realistic.
The CEC therefore calls on government to do a lot more to support local
industrialisation and manufacturing including the use of incentives to grow
the textile, leather, automotive sector industries. We also need promote
investment in rural areas and in the townships economy.
NHI
The federation will pursue its guiding objective to build its capacity to
fight for the realisation of the right to decent healthcare for all as
stated in section 27 of the Constitution that "Everyone has a right to have
access to healthcare services ". Whilst our country spends a lot of money in
healthcare compared to many other countries, only a few have access to good
healthcare.
We shall step up our fight to ensure that the redistribution of resources
through the NHI favours the working class. Thus financing the NHI should not
allow the use of VAT, as it would create a situation where a big share of
the poor's incomes is spent on health compared to the rich. Instead, there
should be cross subsidisation of the working poor and the unemployed through
the imposition of higher taxes on the rich in order to pay for the poor.
COSATU will fight any attempt to introduce a multi payer system, instead of
a single fund, intended to ensure that the rich subsidise the poor. The NHI
is but one aspect of the transformation of the health system.
There are many challenges in the public health system such as the poor state
of the infrastructure, management failures, patients being subjected to long
lines, dirty laundry, shortage of doctors, etc. We are committed not only
to the creation of the NHI but also to the transformation of the health
system, including the operations of the institutions.
The death of more than one hundred psychiatric patients in Gauteng is a
reminder of the dangers of outsourcing and agencification of the state.
Governments need to act decisively to do away with outsourcing and use of
private healthcare providers in the health system.
National Minimum Wage
The COSATU CEC has noted and welcomes the National Minimum Wage report by
the federation's negotiating team, including the social partner's
recommendation for the adoption of a legislated universal National Minimum
Wage. While the proposed figure of R20 an hour, {R3464 a month for 40 hours
per week, and R3897 a month for 45 hours a week} does not address the
minimum living standards of an average South African household and still
falls short of the federation's proposed figure of R4 500; it is still a
significant starting base towards a living wage. This represents a step
forward for the country and a victory for the workers and their federation,
COSATU that has been relentless in its campaign for the adoption of a
legislated national minimum wage. The NMW is a product of workers living
wage struggles since the 1980's.
This once again reinforces our perspective that unless the working class
raises itself to a hegemonic position in key sites of power, and strengthens
its capacity to mobilise and fight, the envisaged economic transformation
will never happen. COSATU insists that a meaningful National Minimum Wage
must be viewed as but one important element of a new wage policy, which will
help recognise the dignity of every worker in our society, and also overcome
the legacy of an apartheid wage structure.
The struggle for a Living Wage will be a long and difficult one, and will
include the struggle for affordable basic services like, transport and food,
and provide decent wages and improved working conditions. All of this will
only be achieved through the collective power of workers.
The meeting commended the National Office Bearers for not signing the deal
before consulting the workers; this strengthens the principle of a mandate
driven organisation that is accountable to workers. The NOB's have been
given a mandate to go and sign the deal at Nedlac and reiterate our position
that the starting figure must be combined with a firmly agreed medium term
target to achieve a decent NMW within a stipulated timeframe, and also
insist that an agreement must be reached that there will be annual increases
to progressively achieve this target. The real work is only now beginning at
Nedlac with the drafting of the legislation and the resolution of all
substantial outstanding issues.
SASSA -CPS crisis
The CEC expressed concern about the inept manner in which the
<http://ewn.co.za/Topic/Sassa> South African Social Security Agency (Sassa)
has handled the extension of its contract with Cash Paymaster Services.
This is likely to see the most vulnerable groups of South Africans who are
beneficiaries of the social grant system not getting paid on the 1stof April
2017.
There are 17 million of South Africa's poorest, who are dependent on social
security every month. The Department of Social Development pays out a total
of R10 billion to beneficiaries each month. Amongst the most vulnerable
groups are the elderly, the disabled as well as children below the age of
18. Research has proved that most of the social grants are spent on food,
meaning that a disruption to this social security system could be
catastrophic and ultimately life threatening.
COSATU is appealing to the President to intervene and heads need to roll at
Sassa. The minister and her team in the department need to take political
responsibility for this crisis, by resigning of be dismissed. They have
failed to deal decisively with the irregular expenditure and irregular
tender procedures that have resulted in the threat to the livelihoods of 17
million grant beneficiaries. This is not just an administrative bungling but
it is a political own goal that smells of corruption.
COSATU demands the total eradication of outsourcing of government functions,
the tendering system and agencification of the state. Outsourcing is
wasteful, threatens jobs and makes public control and accountability
impossible, therefore providing a breeding swamp for corruption and nepotism
to thrive. This year's budget speaks of further job losses at the Post
Office, and postal workers have borne the brunt of thousands of
retrenchments and outsourcing. We believe that the Post Office and Postbank
should be used as priority service providers for the government starting
with the distribution of social grants.
Land and Agrarian Reform and Food Security
We reaffirm our historic demands for more effective land redistribution, and
we strongly believe that the new Expropriation Bill will allow government to
expropriate property for public purpose and also speed up land reform.
COSATU however urges government to amend the bill to prohibit any
compensation of individuals, whose property was acquired during apartheid
and colonial forced removals. We insist that the land redistributed must be
effectively utilised, so that we can improve food security in our country
whilst addressing poverty of our people in particular in the rural areas. We
also support the government's imposition of a moratorium on foreign
landownership.
Education
The CEC reiterated its call that education is not only a socio-economic
matter but is also a human rights issue. We shall beef our team of
negotiators that will be tackling this matter at Nedlac. We still insist
that Nedlac is an appropriate platform, where society can engage in a sound
dialogue to find a sustainable solution to the current impasse on education
funding. Our failure to find a sustainable solution on time will have a huge
negative socio-economic impact on our society.
We are reiterating our call for the introduction of wealth tax that will
help with the funding of free education and that the country's budget must
prioritise free education. This process of finding a sustainable funding
model should be linked to the demand for curriculum transformation. We also
need a curriculum that is decolonised and not Eurocentric but that also
responds to the needs of this continent and our country in particular.
Comprehensive Social Security
The CEC welcomed the presentation of the Comprehensive Social Security
Discussion Paper that was released by government for discussion at Nedlac.
We are unhappy because workers are continuing to die of poverty and the
latest figures show that less than 6% of South Africans can afford to
retire. The federation wants to hear about timeframes around comprehensive
social security reform, and also demand the extension of a 2018 deadline for
compulsory annuitisation of workers provident funds, because government
delayed the presentation of the Comprehensive Social Security paper at
Nedlac.
Sugar Tax
We are equally opposed to government's rushing into taxing sugar sweetened
beverages without adequately preparing and supporting sugar farms and mills
to transition to healthier products, e.g. bio-fuels. Government's projected
5000 job losses in the sugar industry will cause an economic crisis in rural
towns in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. Many of these towns are still
feeling the pain of having lost thousands {1000s} of textiles jobs.
Government needs to delay and engage with industry and labour on a plan to
meet government's corrective health objectives of reducing over consumption
of sugar, whilst protecting and creating scarce jobs.
Bank collusion
The meeting reiterated its call for tougher punishment for the seventeen
{17} international banks, including Standard Bank ,Absa and Investec that
colluded with each other "on prices for bids, offers and bid offer spreads
for the spot trades in relation to currency trading involving dollar
currency pairs". The federation has been saying for a long time that the
alliance capitalism that holds sway in this country needs to be reigned in,
if we are serious about economic transformation.
The current penalty of 10% of annual company turnover is obviously
ineffectual because these companies just budget for this money and carry on
with their nefarious activities. The Reserve Bank and the Treasury have also
through their inaction colluded with these criminal elements. If government
does not put deterrence measures in, this will continue because it is
perpetuated by the misdirected naivety and idealism of all those, who hold
political power.
Public Transport -Scrapping of E-tolls and Labour brokers
The CEC believes that the latest admission by Gauteng Premier David Makhura
that e-tolls were a mistake and that all efforts to save them have failed ,
should send a clear message to both Sanral and the national government that
it is time to give up and scrap them altogether.
This follows in the footsteps of Johannesburg mayor, who said that he will
not allow motorists to be harassed about e-tolls in the city by Metro Police
Officers. We reiterate our call for the total crapping of E-tolls and Labour
brokers. The carnage on our roads is proof enough that we need an
integrated, affordable, safe and reliable transport system. The economy is
also paying a price for having a poor transport system, because the failures
at Prasa results in workers getting to work late.
International solidarity work
The CEC has reiterated its continued commitment and support for the people
of Palestine, Swaziland, Cuba, Western Sahara, Basque and Kurdistan, and we
undertake to step up our internationalist solidarity protest actions in
their support.
Issued by COSATU
Sizwe Pamla (National Spokesperson)
Tel: <tel:+27%2011%20339%204911> +27 11 339-4911 Direct 010 219-1339
Mobile: 060 975 6794
E-Mail: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
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