Volume 6 No 2 - April / May 1997

Contents

Editorial Comment

A call to workers

Cosatu calls on all workers to embark on a 24-hour strike on 2 June 1997. The strike, which was originally planned for 12 May 1997, is in support of our demands for a progressive Basic Conditions of Employment Bill. Our demands are:

These core demands have been on the table since April last year when negotiations started.

By November last year it was clear that there was no possibility of a settlement between us and business on all the core issues. As workers, we all know that the only language that employers understand apart from negotiations is mass action.

The February Exco decided to give them a dose of this medicine. We had hoped against all odds that they will put forward proposals which would help break the deadlock. To date their proposals remain as follows:

There is a possibility of us reaching an agreement with the government on all areas except a 40-hour working week and variation. Any worker who wants decent basic conditions of employment will have to contribute a shift for a successful strike action.

Our message to employers and the government must be loud and clear. Only an agreement can stop the strike. Since there is no agreement, we have no choice but to say: Sizakudibana etshatshalazeni. Sizakubona ukuba ngubani ozakulila kuqala. Phambili nge 24 hour strike. Asijiki!

— MBHAZIMA SHILOWA

LETTERS

What are your views on the role of Cosatu, the budget, the tripartite alliance programme, mass action, the future of the unions, housing or crime? Write to The Shopsteward about issues being debated in your union and elsewhere.

Send your letters to:

The September Scenarios

I would like to respond to the questions raised by the September Commission in an insert in The Shopsteward magazine of October/November 1996.

It is causing confusion amongst workers and the working class as a whole. It is causing confusion in that it asks the working class how should Cosatu respond if we find ourselves in one of the scenarios. It talks about basic needs of the people while on the other hand it points out the competitive pressure of the global economy. The writer is further causing confusion amongst Cosatu members and the working class by talking about six uncertainties which will affect us.

Is the leadership in Cosatu asking the working class to explore this capitalist agenda? Are comrades saying: workers forget, we the leadership are not confident enough to defeat the capitalist, we are joining them but we need you (the working class) or are you giving us this misleading agenda so that at the end we may say: "there is no alternative (Tina) but to join the capitalists?

In March 1992, Cosatu held an Economic Policy Conference. A resolution taken stated that Cosatu economic policy aims to promote the working class as the dominant political and economic power. This means that Cosatu will fight for a socialist society as a means of meeting the people’s basic needs. Then comrade leadership, the question is, what happened? Why a sudden change of direction to the right? Are you saying there is no conflict of interest between the working class and the capitalists?

My view on the September Scenarios is simple and straight forward:

Our approach must be guided by the 1992 resolution and the RDP. The resolution says the working class will be empowered politically and economically so that they achieve a socialist society. We can only do that through campaigns. Cosatu leadership duties are to lead, co-ordinate campaigns and struggle and eventually unity amongst workers will grow into an unstoppable political force. We do not have to wait until the workers’ dissatisfaction runs high amongst Cosatu.

Cosatu is failing to do the above due to its partnership with the capitalist in trying to rebuild the capitalist economy through the tripartite alliance and Nedlac.

To get rid of the capitalist agenda we must break the alliance. If we break the alliance, we will be able to achieve the following:

If this is not a solution, how are we going to resolve this issue, taking into consideration the Reserve Bank powers:

This is the World Bank and International Monetary Fund orders to influence and implement their strategy. Cosatu and its alliance are guided by the above conditions. Those who say: "There is no alternative" (Tina) confirm that they belong to the right. The point that will take us to socialism is that a class struggle is not a legal battle, it is a political struggle.

Our leaders are not elected to become our teachers, the only teacher we have is history. There is no way you will introduce the competitive pressure of the global economy to us and we support you. We know that the capitalist system gives the wealthy class around the globe veto powers over the economic policies. The approach here is to fight the system and break those veto powers. We cannot do that through boardroom meetings at Nedlac or lobbying at the Alliance meetings. We cannot do that with overlapping of leaders between the ANC, SACP and Cosatu.

Cosatu rejects the ANC’s macro-economic framework, but their response is only tokenism and very weak. This is not a mistake. It is that capitalist strategy which our leaders are trying to sell to us.

The right name for this global economic pressure is that the working class must compete with the working class all the over the world. It means that workers in a company must compete amongst themselves and then compete with other companies in the same country and then compete with other workers in other countries for the sake of profit, which benefits only the capitalists.

I am explaining the meaning of neo-liberalism and their institutions so that we are not misled by this promised Skorokoro and Gravy Land discussion. We must start revisiting our agenda and introduce it at our 1997 Cosatu National Congress for direction to the left.

The global agenda of the capitalist is a hard pill to swallow for workers. The idea of doing with less so that the capitalist can have more is a crazy idea. If anyone within Cosatu thinks there is a better deal out of the tripartite alliance or Nedlac he is crazy too. They must be reminded that the capitalists are not bothered to democratise politics so long as the economy is not.

We formed Cosatu not to patch up or build the capitalist ruling class so that we starve, less often, less severely. We are building a Cosatu that will remake the country, even the world. I have not pointed to most issues that are causing dissatisfaction among Cosatu members which Cosatu leaders are partly rejecting or supporting — privatisation, Labour Relations Act, Labour Standards, GATT conditions and RDP.

Moses Manganyi,
Numsa
Wits Central West regional vice-chairperson

The September Commission scenarios are about different situations in which Cosatu may find itself in future — not that which Cosatu itself desires. The idea was to stimulate debate about Cosatu’s strategic response to these scenarios. To quote cde Sam Shilowa quoting Karl Marx: "We change the world but not under conditions of their own choosing".

Many in Cosatu — including your own union’s national congress — would disagree with your views on the tripartite alliance. It may be useful to read Cosatu’s proposed programme for the tripartite alliance, which has been widely distributed within the federation. It counters the slogan, There Is No Alternative, with its own one: There has to Be an Alternative (Theba). We invite other comrades to respond. — Ed

Wage development war

I would love to make a little contribution to these debates which are honestly searching for the concrete and correct way of addressing the problems left by the capitalist apartheid system.

The gains and achievements of the previous struggles have brought us into this present challenging situation. This is a higher stage of our struggle, the stage of political and economic reconstruction. It is the responsibility of each and every comrade to be creatively and actively involved in this development war. It is we who have to determine how to live. Therefore it is a challenge of every comrade to fight this dependency syndrome and contribute in development of our country and its people, particularly the working class, the poorest of the poor and womenfolk.

It is imperative therefore to know your past so that you can understand the present situation in order to have a good analysis for the future. If we fail to be vigilant in this fluid situation and depend on recklessness or an appetite for militancy, we may end up compromising our strategic objective.

Our strategic focus as the labour movement is to make sure that the workers, who are a very important component of the working class, understand and are conscious of their unity and solidarity. They must defend the RDP at all costs so that we can be sure that the most radical and progressive interpretation of the RDP is not compromised against the national and global liberal agenda. This means bolstering its people-centredness and working class content, empowerment, collectiveness and solidarity.

Foreign investments though desirable as a catalyst for development, cannot in and of itself develop the poor people. The importance of capital and technology can, if appropriately and carefully channelled, expedite the development process. Sustainability can only be achieved through the development of local participation, understanding, initiative and self empowerment.

People should be encouraged to work with the knowledge they have, from their own experience they can develop strategies to change their immediate situation. The basis for the building of our broad vision, socialism, is the transfer of political power from the capitalist to the working class. Such a transfer of power requires skills and a full understanding of the forces we are faced with. It cannot just be wishful thinking and then the capitalists would agree to such a transfer.

Let us struggle for a future without capitalist, suffering, hunger and without bosses. A workers’ future. A socialist future. Workers power and peoples property.

Thobile Maso, Samwu, Eastern Cape

WINNING LETTER

Business should practise what they preach

It is quite amazing to realise how difficult it is for government to get business practising exactly what they preach in public in as far as job creation is concerned. The recently published National Productivity Institute’s (NPI) annual report found that government is the largest job creator with a potential of creating more than 37 000 job opportunities in future. To me this is an indictment on the part of business and demonstrates exactly the fears of workers generally in the country that government is giving in easily to the pressures business is putting on it.

The Growth, Employment and Redistribution (Gear) macro-economic policy framework of government has been hailed by business as a step in the right direction and now we can see clearly what the excitement was all about. The South African economy over the past two years has been performing fairly well with results of increases in growth and investments. This is the cornerstone of the Gear policy document and one wonders where are the jobs which business claims will result from growth.

In answering this question, the South African Chamber of Business (Sacob) states unequivocally that the primary objective of business is not to create jobs but make profit so that they can improve their technology to become internationally competitive.

Where is this patriotism business has been claiming to have in the Reconstruction and Development of our country, if the motivating factor which drives business is profits and nothing next to poverty alleviation or sustainable job creation. This kind of double talk by business is a cause for concern because it is through such dishonesty that the initiatives by government in getting all stakeholders cooperating in the betterment of the lives of the poor in this country will be in vain. We cannot expect workers to be the only ones who value the fragile democracy and delivery by government when business is counting rands and cents to fill their back pockets.

Government should not be a creator of jobs but a facilitator so that it spends its budget on the provision of social services and not on salary payments of its employees. Business has been demanding a conducive environment for economic growth and investment and this has been provided by government. They should now play their part in ensuring that the profits they generate are used for the betterment of workers and their communities. Because if the economy grows and does not change lives of people in providing them with employment opportunities, then there is no reason why there should be economic growth and a user-friendly environment for investors.

Pule Malefane,
ANC East Rand,
economics head

Poetry

What have we done — Senzeni Na?

Thobile Maso,
Samwu,
Eastern Cape

WORKER NEWS

June 2 strike is on!

Cosatu is more determined than ever to go ahead with its 24-hour strike on June 2 and has warned business that any attempts to block the action will escalate conflict.

The federation’s May 12 mass action was postponed after a shock Labour Appeal Court ruling that Cosatu had not complied with section 77 (1)(c) of the Labour Relations Act, which provides that the matter giving rise to the dispute be considered by Nedlac. This is despite the fact that negotiations on the bill’s core issues have been going on since April last year and that Cosatu gave Nedlac more than two months notice of its intention to embark on the action.

While the judgment did not prohibit the action, it removed protection under the LRA for workers participating in the strike. Cosatu national office bearers’ (NOBs) decision to postpone the strike to June 2 was endorsed by the federation’s executive committee meeting (Exco) on 12 May and delegates at the federation’s policy conference on 17 May.

The policy conference reiterated the federation’s core demands for a new Basic Conditions of Employment Act and resolved to mobilise union members for the June 2 strike action.

Delegates resolved that the strike would go ahead, even if employers take the matter to court once again. Instead of addressing the core issues, such a step would escalate conflict and have a negative impact on industrial relations. "This time, regardless of the outcome, the action will go ahead," said Cosatu general secretary Mbhazima Shilowa.

He was speaking after last minute negotiations in Nedlac between government, business and labour reached final deadlock. After five hours of negotiations, the parties agreed that an impasse had been reached and that any further progress would require a revision of their mandates.

This opened the way for Cosatu to give Nedlac a second notice of their intention to embark on a protected socio-economic strike on June 2, in compliance with the stipulated 14-days notice period.

Union leaders have condemned the Labour Appeal Court judgement, which referred to the strike as having a negative impact on the country’s economy, as based on political considerations.

Many see the judgement as potentially undermining mass action as a way of putting pressure on negotiating parties or to mobilise members alongside the negotiations process. The implication is that a deadlock first has to be reached, a dispute declared and at least 14-days notice given before a protected strike can take place.

Cosatu has launched a petition campaign among union members and is taking the issue to the Constitutional Court. The petition notes that the judgement has implications for the right to peaceful protest and the constitutional right to strike, assemble and to picket. It rejects the Labour Appeal Court ruling as inconsistent with the exercise of democratic rights; being overly technical and formalistic, thereby allowing employers to use delaying tactics in Nedlac; and as seriously undermining the right to apply pressure by way of socio-economic protest action.

The petition resolves to "continue to protect our rights to peaceful protest action, to support Cosatu’s Constitutional Court challenge of the Labour Appeal Court ruling and to intensify Cosatu’s mass action programme".

Responding to the Labour Appeal Court judgement, Cosatu noted that one of the court’s three judges, Judge Nicholson, found that Cosatu had complied with the provisions of section 77 (1) in all respects.

Cosatu said Nicholson criticised Business South Africa (BSA) for its delay in bringing the action, for its conduct in Nedlac, for introducing red herrings, for claiming it had no mandate, and for evading the issues raised by labour.

Nicholson also found it "strange" that BSA claimed to have no mandate in meetings held in April 1997, on matters which had been the subject of negotiations for more than a year.

Cosatu said that, since government released its green paper on employment standards in February 1996, numerous meetings had taken place to negotiate a statute which would provide for a floor of basic conditions of employment to all workers, in particular the most vulnerable ones — unorganised workers and women workers.

Cosatu had attended more than 11 formal meetings at Nedlac and a large number of bilaterals with both business and government.

"At the end of eight months of intense negotiations, it became clear that there were major differences between the parties on the main objects of the statute. Apart from a number of detailed issues raised by Cosatu, we also raised the fact that there were fundamental differences which remained unresolved after many months of negotiation on the following core issues:

In 1996, when deadlock was reached in the negotiation, a detailed report was given to Cosatu’s Exco. Affiliates were asked to discuss the matter and return with positions in the new year. On 11-12 February 1997, the Exco deliberated on the matter and reached a decision.

On 18 February 1997, Cosatu notified Nedlac of its intention to proceed with protest action beginning on 24 February 1997 and culminating in a general strike on 12 May 1997 unless the CEC resolved otherwise. This was followed by a letter on 21 April 1997 which reiterated Cosatu’s position on the disputed areas save for the issue of Sunday work. This second notice amended the form of the action to marches and rallies beginning at 12h00, and starting from affiliate offices to specified meeting points.

Cosatu said its views had been fully vindicated by Judge Nicholson’s comments.

"We reject the argument that the onus was on Cosatu to ensure that the issue was considered by Nedlac. Our responsibility was to notify Nedlac and to hold ourselves open for meetings to consider the matter. "This Cosatu complied with fully and completely in that:

"This surely should be up to the other parties to attempt a settlement. The judgement’s effect is to reward them for stalling tactics. It is ironic that the new LRA was drafted precisely to avoid parties resorting to technical point scoring and stalling tactics," Cosatu said.

"As an organisation we remain resolute in our commitment to mobilise members and to win the demands raised by Cosatu at the negotiations. In fact, we are concerned that the tactics applied by BSA will lead to the hardening of the views of our members.

"We reiterate our position that the fact that BSA brought this action against Cosatu and its members indicates that they have no intention to settle these issues during negotiations.

"BSA has not achieved anything with their action. They should instead devote their resources and energy to granting the very reasonable demands of workers as expressed in the negotiations. We see the judgement as having merely the effect of delaying the execution of the action.

"Cosatu gives notice of our intention to challenge the court’s interpretation of the right to strike including the exercise of the right to protest in pursuit of socio-economic interest in the Constitutional Court."

Cosatu’s 12 May Exco mandated the federation’s regional structures to hold discussions with progressive formations, including ANC members in the NCOP, to win support for Cosatu’s demands. Cosatu’s NOBs will seek urgent meetings to inform the ANC parliamentary caucus, the Alliance and other progressive formations of the federation’s positions and revised programme of action. J

A plan to bury apartheid poverty

Cosatu’s May "Burying Apartheid Poverty" conference has adopted wideranging policy for implementation by the federation’s structures. More than 200 union delegates at the conference heard numerous input papers and participated in commissions on a range of areas related to the living wage, social wage and employment creation. The conference resolved to go ahead with the 2 June 24-hour strike on the Employment Standards Bill.

Other conference resolutions included:

"For this programme to succeed it will require the support of all of our structures and membership. We therefore need to engage in communication strategy and mobilisation of our members and the public in support of this issues. Furthermore, we need tighter co-ordination of policies within the Federation, with the Alliance and Sanco. Issues requiring discussions in Nedlac should be tabled in the Nedlac labour caucus as well as the Alliance," the conference declaration said. J

Commission sets the stage for Cosatu congress

The release of Cosatu’s September Commission report in June is expected to spark robust debate within unions as the federation gears up for its sixth national congress to be held at the World Trade Centre outside Johannesburg from 16-19 September.

The Commission report is expected to be a lengthy document which looks at "strategic leverage areas" open to the federation in meeting the political and socio-economic challenges. These include the federation’s vision and strategies, building organisation and building capacity. The report is expected to put forward recommendations on the federation’s vision and strategies in the political sphere, the socio-economic sphere, public sector transformation and the workplace.

The report’s release follows an extensive consultation process in the federation. Last year Workers Forums were held in Cosatu regions to give workers and union structures the opportunity to make their voices heard and to give their submissions to the Commission. This year a range of workshops and seminars have been held to further fine tune the commissions recommendations.

The commission’s report will form the backdrop to union debates in preparation for the Cosatu national congress.

A key proposal is expected to focus on restructuring the federation, particularly its leadership structures, to equip the federation to more effectively carry out its programmes and meet its goals.

Discussions on the type of federation required have pointed to the need for a tighter, more coherent federation with an expanded capacity at national level.

Cosatu office bearers have raised concerns that Cosatu activities and campaigns are often left to the federation’s officials and regions, instead of affiliates themselves. Leaders have also argued that Cosatu policy, determined jointly by affiliate unions, should be binding on all affiliates.

"The transition has opened up great potential for us to intervene, drive and shape transformation at many levels of our society," said commission head, Cosatu vice president Connie September.

"But this requires us to engage with a tremendous range of forces, institutions and forums on a multitude of policy issues."

The commission will propose political and socio-economic programmes for the federation which will require that Cosatu interact with the Alliance, government, in Nedlac, and engage on public sector transformation, the restructuring of state assets, industrial policy and on workplace restructuring. The federation will also have to engage in and impact on developments at a provincial and local level and build alliances with civil society organisations.

However, current capacity would not allow for effective implementation of these ambitious programmes, particularly if Cosatu wishes to go beyond simply reacting to government and business agendas and effect the implementation of more proactive programmes for transformation.

Restructuring to improve capacity would be necessary to ensure strong, mandated centralised structures to:

Commission workshops have identified a of lack of strong, dynamic working structures that can act as an engine in driving Cosatu’s programme. In addition, the federation has limited implementation and coordination structures.

For example, Cosatu’s has only two full-time national office bearers. Its Exco, which meets six times a year, makes decisions on implementing policy and monitors this, but does not directly participate in implementation or coordination.

Another weakness is a lack of interaction between the centre and affiliates. Cosatu’s Exco and CEC are large and unwieldy and do not meet often enough to impact effectively on rapidly changing conditions. The federation’s regional and local structures and programmes lack affiliate participation.

These and other problems have prompted the commission to put forward options for restructuring the federation. Some union leaders have argued that the federation should adopt a unitary structure with industrial union arms such as Cosatu mining union and Cosatu metal union. This would entail a highly centralised structure with Cosatu-coordinated collective bargaining and industrial action. Another option would be a mixture of a federal and a unitary structure with greater powers for Cosatu regions and locals.

However, the commission is expected to recommend a third option in which Cosatu reforms its structures and practices to strengthen the federation’s capacity and central coordination and develops a tighter working relationship between affiliates and this central engine.

A five-tier national structure is under consideration:

  1. National Office Bearers: Six full-time NOBs who meet weekly to strategise, plan, implement and ensure effective administration of the federation.
  2. The Executive Committee: a smaller, tighter more regular Exco to act as Cosatu’s engine and to take responsibility for strategising, planning, implementation and coordination of policies and decisions. This would include one delegate per affiliate (general secretary or full-time president), plus regional secretaries and NOBs, and would meet at least once a month.
  3. Central Executive Committee: meets twice a year to monitor Exco and give direction on major policy issues.
  4. Central Committee: 300-500 union delegates based on proportional representation, meeting once a year to take policy decisions and give broad direction to the federation.
  5. National Congress: to meet once every four years.

On women’s leadership in the federation, the congress is expected to face a proposal that a quota system be implemented as a way of ensuring more women in the federation’s top leadership structures. J

The next edition of The Shopsteward will carry detailed reports on the September Commission’s recommendations.

Presidential submission

President Nelson Mandela is expected to make an oral submission to the September Commission in Cape Town on 30 May. This will be one of the last submissions to the commission and follows hundreds of submissions received over the past year from workers, Cosatu and affiliate structures, as well as alliance organisations and other non-union sources.

Moves to close gaps in the Alliance

A Tripartite Alliance Summit in April resolved that the Alliance still had a central role to play in the country’s transformation, despite continued disagreements on macro-economic strategy.

The summit was attended by the ANC’s National Working Committee, Cosatu’s Executive Committee and the SACP’s Central Committee.

Other alliance meetings have taken place at the level of the Alliance Secretariat and joint national office bearers (NOBs). But this was the first meeting attended by the three organisations’ top leadership structures.

According to Cosatu assistant general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, the Summit took stock of developments since the April 1994 elections.

Discussion centred on transformation and progress in meeting RDP objectives. Joint campaigns such as Masakhane and the anti-crime campaign as well as the strength of alliance structures were also assessed.

The summit looked at how to improve working relations at national, provincial and local level as well as a joint media strategy.

Cosatu presented its perspective on transformation and its proposed programme for the Alliance. However the federation stopped short of proposing a social accord as this is still under discussion in the federation.

Acknowledging organisational weaknesses on the ground, the three organisations resolved to help build each other’s grassroots structures and strengthen joint campaigns.

Not surprisingly, government’s macro-economic strategy, Gear, emerged as a key issue bedeviling Alliance relations. While the ANC continued to present Gear and the RDP as two sides of the same coin, Cosatu argued the opposite. The federation said the two were not compatible and that RDP objectives could not be met with Gear as a macro-economic strategy.

The Summit agreed on a process to look at the matter afresh. This would include a joint NOBs meeting which would attempt to reduce the gaps in approach and present a report to a Special Alliance Summit planned for June this year.

Build the alliance

Despite these differences, the Summit agreed that the Alliance still had a crucial role to play. The three organisations remained bound by the need to deepen the gains of the National Democratic Revolution and to achieve RDP objectives. They agreed that a split in the Alliance could only favour those forces which sought to reverse gains made so far.

"We agreed unanimously that the alliance should seek to resolve differences and emerge as a united force," said Vavi.

However, it was acknowledged that, while Alliance organisations agreed broadly on transformation and should strive towards a common position, the components remained independent organisations with different emphases.

Vavi said Cosatu acknowledged at the Summit that a number of government ministries had made important gains in areas such as health care delivery. However, the federation strongly opposed policies put forward in areas such as transport, which in Cosatu’s view deviates from the RDP.

This was particularly the case where policies were formulated in government departments and not in the ANC. "When the ANC discusses policy, it is bound to be biased to the working people, but when government decides on policy, it is more likely to favour big business and capital," Vavi said. This was the case with Gear, which was formulated by government and then presented for adoption by the ANC two months later. J

PARLIAMENTARY WATCH

Cosatu comes to grips with NCOP

In the last edition of The Shopsteward, Cosatu general secretary Sam Shilowa spoke about the importance of Cosatu regions monitoring provincial legislation. "We have tended to focus primarily at the national level to the detriment of the provincial level," he said.

The introduction of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) makes it imperative that Cosatu now faces up to the challenge. The federation needs to develop a greater awareness of developments and debates in provincial legislatures and in the NCOP.

This process has already begun. At the beginning of March, the Cosatu parliamentary office hosted the first meeting with several Cosatu regions around the NCOP.

This was the beginning of a process to inform Cosatu regions about the NCOP, its functions and implications. The parliamentary office, in conjunction with the regions, was able to start the process of identifying opportunities for Cosatu and developing a programme for interacting with the NCOP.

The existence of the NCOP has vital implications for the federation. It will have to work out how to participate effectively in the public participation process in the provincial and national legislation in the interests of the working class. An understanding of and greater emphasis on the dynamics at a provincial level will be required, including ensuring that provinces are part of determining national legislative priorities and that their perspectives are included in these.

What is the NCOP?

The NCOP is a component of parliament introduced by the new constitution. It replaces the former senate. Its existence will ensure that the interests and dynamics of provinces are brought into the national legislative framework. All legislation affecting provinces will now need to be taken into account in the national parliament. Legislation affecting provinces will be referred to the NCOP, affording provinces an opportunity to impact and input into the process. The NCOP will provide a forum for Cosatu and other institutions of civil society to present their opinions and perspectives on issues that will affect provinces.

How is it constituted?

The NCOP has 90 delegates — ten from each province. These include six permanent delegates per province, the provincial premier or a designated substitute from the provincial legislature and three other special delegates.

On all legislation directly affecting provinces there is an allocation of one vote per province. On laws that will not affect provinces, one vote per delegate is allowed. Two types of legislation can be identified:

There is a process of tagging these two types of legislation, which will determine the involvement by provinces. As regards section 76 legislation, there will be a long process of mandating by provincial legislatures. This will give Cosatu regions an opportunity to interact directly with the provinces to ensure that these mandates reflect worker interests.

Local governments are allowed non-voting participation in the NCOP.

A series of workshops is being planned with all Cosatu regions on the NCOP and the legislative process. These will aim to empower Cosatu regions to interact with provincial legislatures and the NCOP.

The workshops will also aim to build an understanding of the legislative process among regional Cosatu office bearers and discuss how the federation can improve its impact on legislation and government policy, at national and provincial level. J

Union interns to learn the parliamentary ropes

Cosatu recently secured funding to deploy comrades from affiliates as parliamentary interns in Cosatu’s parliamentary office in Cape Town.

Comrades so deployed will assist in advancing the federation’s programme in parliament through, amongst other things, monitoring parliamentary processes and reporting on relevant developments in the legislative assemblies and in the parliamentary committees. They will also be given an opportunity to input into Cosatu submissions made to parliament.

The interns will be taken through an intense one-day induction to parliament and will then gain hands-on experience in monitoring parliamentary procedures, particularly those affecting their union. This will include monitoring the workings of parliamentary portfolio committees and NCOP select committees as well as sittings of the national assembly and the NCOP. The interns will be required to prepare daily reports on parliamentary proceedings and to produce a comprehensive report at the end of their term as well as a proposal for a legislative strategy for their union.

Through this exercise Cosatu hopes to ensure:

l that the federation will be able to develop a wide group of comrades with experience and understanding of governance and the legislative process;

l that opportunities can be identified for affiliates to interface with the parliamentary process; and

l that, after returning to work in their respective affiliates, these comrades will take responsibility for maintaining ongoing relations between their affiliate and the Cosatu parliamentary office.

Two interns, each from a different affiliate, will be deployed at a time, for a 4-6 week period. The programme is due to start in May.

The interns will help strengthen the Cosatu parliamentary office, which has recently expanded to a four-person operation with the employment of an additional researcher, Oupa Bodibe.

Outcry over reduced child support

Cosatu has joined a range of organisations in condemning government’s plans to drastically reduce child and family support payments.

The federation made its views known in a submission on 21 April to the parliamentary committee on Welfare. The committee decided to hold the hearings despite indications from welfare minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi that she was committed to implementing the new system. The changes flow from the report of the Lund Committee on Child and Family Support.

Last year Cosatu’s submission on the Social Welfare White Paper in November last year called for a restructuring of the social welfare system as a whole.

During the hearings, organisations such as CWIU, the Black Sash and the Community Law Centre opposed government plans to reduce child support payments from R135 per child and a parental grant of R430 to a mere R75 per child with no parental grant.

The cut-back will see a reduction of over R3,5 bn in government expenditure on child support. The organisations told the Welfare Committee that the cut-back runs counter to government’s commitment to the consultative creation of a comprehensive social security system, as outlined in the White Paper on Social Welfare.

In its submission, Cosatu argued that the reduction in social expenditure represented an over-zealous implementation by the welfare ministry of Gear’s commitment to a reduced budget deficit. A reformed child support system, aimed at bringing equity to a racially skewed poverty relief mechanism, could be implemented without such a drastic reduction in the benefit. For example, a grant of R135 per month, aimed at all children under six years of age with a care-giver earning less than R800 per month, would be feasible without large increases in government expenditure.

Cosatu urged the parliamentary committee "to do all in its power to ensure that reforms of the child support system contribute to the progressive realisation of a comprehensive social security system, which will serve as an effective safety net for all those in need of such assistance".

The federation noted in its submission that the negative impact of the proposals is likely to be much greater for women than for men. This is because female-headed households have a 70 percent poverty rate compared to a 43,6 percent poverty rate amongst families with a resident male head.

According to Cosatu, instead of increasing government’s commitment to child and family support through bringing greater equality, the unintended consequence of the new proposals would be to reduce government child and family support as government’s overall transfers to children in need would have declined.

"It is politically unacceptable for government to contemplate the implementation of a system which is likely to lead to the rolling over of a poverty relief grant," Cosatu said.

Cut-backs would fly in the face of the constitution’s commitment to "the progressive realisation" of a right to social security (s27) and the constitution’s guaranteed protection of the rights of children to "basic nutrition, shelter, basic health care services and social services" (s28). Reduced spending on child and family support would also contradict commitments in the Social Welfare White Paper to establish a comprehensive social security system.

Cosatu warned that the hasty implementation of the proposals before there is a clear understanding of how child and family support should fit into the overall post-apartheid social security system, is a recipe for disaster. Such a move would also contradict government policy to embark on a process of broad consultation on the establishment of a comprehensive social security net.

According to the White Paper: "The government is committed to the provision of a comprehensive national social security system... built on two pillars. Firstly, it will require comprehensive social assistance to those without other means of support, such as a general means tested social assistance scheme. Secondly, it will require the restructuring of social insurance, including the retirement industry, unemployment insurance and health insurance. There is scope for less fragmentation and improved efficiency in the social insurance system.

"The creation of an effective social security system requires integrated inter-departmental and inter-Ministerial planning and coordination, in consultation with civil society, labour business and other stakeholders."

In Cosatu’s view, an integrated approach is needed which takes into account the effect restructuring of one element of the social security system has on other elements of the system.

Cosatu asked that the portfolio committee call upon the minister to:

Public works crucial to job creation

Towards the end of last year, public works minister Jeff Radebe produced a Green Paper titled "Public Works Towards the 21st Century". As a Green Paper reflects only a draft statement of government policy, public comment on the proposals has been called for so that a White Paper on public works, which will have the status of official government policy, can be finalised.

Cosatu made a submission on the Green Paper on 21 April. This was informed by the federation’s long-standing position that an effective public works programme should serve as a vital component of the RDP’s commitment to job creation and infrastructural delivery.

One problem with the Green Paper, in Cosatu’s view, is that it lacks clear conceptual direction on how government plans to organise public works programmes. There are indications that community-based public works programmes, which are organised directly by the public works department (PWD), are to be deprioritised as they are planned for only three provinces, rather than all provinces as before.

There is also no clear strategy on how to use government’s towering status in the construction industry — public authorities account for over 50% of all construction contracts in South Africa each year — to boost employment levels, and the delivery of housing and infrastructure through effective contracting and the encouragement of labour intensive techniques.

Cosatu therefore proposes that the Green Paper be amended to ensure that the White Paper maps out a clear and effective line of march for the implementation of public works programmes. It is suggested that this be built on two pillars:

Cosatu’s submission reiterated proposals for large-scale public sector intervention to address the legacy of underdevelopment and unemployment outlined in labour’s document, Social Equity and Job Creation — the Key to a Stable Future.

"We propose an accelerated programme of public works in the provision of electricity, piped water supply, sanitation, child care facilities and health care clinics to black areas. Programmes to provide roads and major dam and canal works, and to address telecommunication inadequacies, should be put into place. This entails a major upgrade of urban infrastructure, and provision of rural infrastructure," the document states.

"Such a programme will lead to increased employment in the short term, but crucially, it is a fundamental part of improving the performance of the urban and rural economy."

Cosatu’s submission to the PWD welcomed the Green Paper’s recognition of the PWD’s role in job creation but expressed concern that it doesn’t outline a clear implementation strategy for this.

According to Cosatu, the Green Paper’s lack of clarity rests on "the confusion of macroeconomic assumptions with the ultimate socio-economic objectives of government".

Under the heading, "Meeting government’s socio-economic objectives", the Green Paper cites making the PWD "a leaner, cost effective, efficient and client focussed service provider, thereby conforming with governments policies on fiscal discipline and good governance". It goes on to focus on outsourcing and commercialisation of PWD functions and fiscal discipline.

"The primary RDP objectives of the PWD — job creation and social development — are forgotten and replaced by macroeconomic targets as set out in Gear," says Cosatu. "This reflects the slippage in government policy, especially since the adoption of Gear, where the ultimate socio-economic objectives of government policy have increasingly been replaced by intermediate economic objectives such as deficit reduction and fiscal discipline. This obsession appears to have tinted the spectacles of the drafters of the Green Paper."

Cosatu says this policy direction will increasingly thrust the PWD and government as a whole into contracting its capacity and outsourcing its functions to the private sector. Clearly this would spell disaster for the government’s ability to play its developmental role.

Community Based Public Works Programme

Cosatu called on government, rather than scaling down public works programmes, to formalise and expand its commitment to CBPWP’s.

This was essential to increased job creation, the federation said. It would also extend a social safety-net, through some level of wage income, for the most vulnerable sections of the South African population, who are least likely to find jobs. While generating employment, CBPWP’s can assist in improving water supplies, building roads, extending electricity provision, sanitation, childcare facilities, health clinics, planting trees for environmental reclamation and improved soil conservation.

A central priority for government should also be to create an enabling environment for increased labour intensive investment, by both the public and private sectors, in construction and infrastructure.

"Unlike CBPWP’s which would aim to create a safety-net through the provision of otherwise unavailable wage-earning opportunities, the objective of the national Public Works Programme (PWP) would be a process and policy framework aiming to transform infrastructural delivery and the construction industry," Cosatu argued.

It called for amendments in the Green Paper to commit the PWD to play:

An example of the incoherence in government planning is that the latest draft of the Department of Constitutional Development’s Municipal Infrastructure Investment Framework (MIIF) makes no reference to the use of labour intensive techniques aimed at ensuring that infrastructure delivery will also result in effective employment generation. This is despite the fact that Gear explicitly states that the "employment impact of these [infrastructural] programmes will depend crucially on the extent to which labour intensive construction techniques are adopted".

"If this situation is allowed to persist, it is likely to result in a huge missed opportunity for job creation," Cosatu argued.

SECTOR NEWS

Unions bargain for a better deal

Over the past two months, workers in Cosatu affiliates have been gearing up for the annual collective bargaining round following conferences, meetings and seminars to formulate key demands to be presented to employers.

Unions are confident that adequate preparations have been made for what promises to be a tough round of negotiations. While wage demands, closing of the apartheid wage gap and grading dominate the agenda, a number of unions are also raising demands linked to job security, maternity and paternity leave, training and benefits.

Numsa

Numsa’s national bargaining conference from 3-6 April agreed on the following core demands:

The first round of annual negotiations with engineering employer association Seifsa began at the end of April. Numsa put forward its demand for an inflation rate increase plus a 12% hike for the bottom grades and 8% for higher grades. Seifsa’s offer was a miserable 6% increase.

According to Numsa information officer Dumisa Ntuli, the union rejected the bosses’ offer which was way below the 10,1% inflation rate.

On a demand for 200 hours of training per person per year, the bosses complained that training is expensive and that the union’s demand was not practical while training modules were being set up. "How do you compete internationally when workers have no training?" asked Victor Kgalema, Numsa’s training co-ordinator.

Employers agreed to participate in a joint investigation childcare facilities. But they were adamant that Numsa’s demand to outlaw labour brokers was not legally achievable. They instead proposed a special sub-committee to address abuse by labour brokers.

Employers and unions also failed to agree on the demand for union control over benefit funds. "The money is deferred wages of workers. We do not want employers to tell us how we should spend that money," said Numsa’s Elias Monage. But employers have so far refused to budge, saying the present set up of 50-50 control is working well.

The engineering industry has been particularly hard hit by job losses, from 450 000 workers in 1982 to 250 000 at present. Numsa wants employers to negotiate work reorganisation with employment security. The union says management should give them access to information, to discuss their strategic plans with unions and to give six months’ notice of the introduction of new technology. But employers have been adamant that there should not be negotiations on this, merely consultation.

NUM

Priority demands agreed on by delegates at the Num collective bargaining seminar included wages, job security and an end to job discrimination. A multi-pronged approach will be adopted including collective bargaining, fighting for a legislated minimum and the Employment Standards Commission in the mining industry.

Attempts to close the apartheid wage gap in the mining industry took the form of a three-legged wage demand to address disparities between white and blue collar workers. This includes: a minimum wage of R1 200 a month; a living wage of R1 800 a month; and a 20% increase in actual wage for wages above R1 800. In addition, the union wants the collapse of grades 1 to 4 into one grade and wage negotiations to be conducted for each category. The union would then negotiate larger percentages for the lowest paid workers.

Delegates also looked at ways to end job discrimination. They resolved that workers who do the same job must get the same pay and that all jobs should be regraded in the long term based on a new job grading system that treats the members fairly.

"In the short term, anomalies must be addressed," said the resolution "especially those that give better conditions to whites who do the same or less work."

Other matters discussed at the seminar were health care for mineworkers and their families and housing.

Sactwu

Around 200 Sactwu shopstewards from around the country met in Port Elizabeth in March to finalise demands for the textile, clothing and retail sectors. The core demands include the following:

Delegates gave their full support to Cosatu’s mass action on the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill. "It is an insult for the bosses and the government to expect us to work on Sundays at normal rates of pay," said Sactwu president Amon Ntuli. "Even time and a half as proposed by the government is unacceptable. Sactwu members will have to take their place in mobilising to win our rights."

Sadtu

Sadtu and other employee organisations walked out of Education Labour Relations Council negotiations at the beginning of May following a deadlock over salaries and rationalisation.

Sadtu accused the government of deviating from its commitments by providing only R6,8 billion instead of R11,3 billion to achieve broadbanding. The union claimed this had already been tampered with and that only R3,2 billion was now available for public servants. Education would receive only R1,2 billion of this, amounting to a 7% increase, which is well below the inflation rate.

"It is our view that the broadbanding concept is a sham and that the state is shifting away from the spirit and letter of the agreement," the union said. It accused the government of an unwillingness to provide sufficient information on savings made through rationalisation.

"This has forced the union to stage a walkout and to go back to our membership for further consultation, including on industrial action.

"Unfortunately, this is a recipe for further destabilisation at a time when both parties should be working towards enhancing the culture of learning and teaching in the country."

Sadtu general secretary Thulas Nxesi said the union would return to wage negotiations only when the government was prepared to offer inflation-related increases for teachers. Sadtu would continue negotiations on issues other than wages.

CWU

Following CWU’s national bargaining conference in March, a tough round of negotiations with Telkom kicked off in April, leaving workers convinced that Telkom needed more than negotiations if the union wanted to clinch a favourable deal.

The union demanded a wage increase of 9% for D1 and above, 16% for supervisors, 18,5% for operational staff, 20% for auxiliary staff and a minimum wage of R1 955,75. Telkom’s offer was a 7.5% increase across the board dated back to 1 April, and a minimum wage of R1 778 or a 8.5% wage increase across the board from 1 May and a minimum wage of R1 790,25.

"The union is reporting back to its members at Telkom and the action to be taken will depend on the feedback we receive from them," said CWU media officer Shakes Gonyane. He said other sectors in the communications industry were also in the process of gearing up for a big show down with employers.

CWIU

CWIU emerged from its 5th national bargaining conference in March with the following demands:

The conference also set up a wage policy committee and resolved that the union should formulate framework agreements on health and safety, on a medical aid fund and on adult basic education aimed at ensuring participation by employers in the industry training board.

The union was mandated to draw up a programme of action in its campaign for an industrywide national provident fund. Inputs on productivity and restructuring were referred to branches for further discussion.

A constitution for an industry bargaining council has still not been finalised. A drafting committee made up of union and employer legal representatives has been asked to isolate differences between the parties. "Once the draft is finalised and scrutinised by the national group, it will be sent to the various constituencies for mandate purposes," said CWIU media officer Siphiwe Mgcina.

The union is locked in a dispute with Naschem over wages and over the company’s refusal to join the industry’s centralised bargaining process. The union demanded a 10% across the board increase but the company refused to compromise on its 8% offer.

Following a failure to reach a settlement in the CCMA, the company locked out workers who refused to accept its 8% final offer. The company dismissed 40 contract workers for participating in a strike in support of union demands. J

Culture shock as traditions meet

Simone Geyer, Sadtu’s Western Cape negotiator, reports on the union’s national culture festival

For years May Day has been marked by cultural celebrations. This year the opening of Sadtu’s biennial culture festival coincided with May Day. In our masses the union moved to the Cape to be part of this historic occasion. This was a first for the union in a number of ways — its was Sadtu’s first national event in the Western Cape, the union’s first performance at a traditional state theatre and, for a number of comrades, their first visit to the Cape.

We converged on the Nico Malan Theatre, which we had boycotted in the past as it was an anchor of the apartheid regime. It was high time that this legacy was changed and what better way to do this than to hold Sadtu’s cultural festival within its wall and on its stage! Excitement filled the air as the Nico prepared to accept a host of new cultures.

Western culture had to lean to accommodate traditional culture. This led to some amusing situations. In true Western tradition, the evening started with bells tolling to announce that the performance was about to start. The only problem was that no-one took any notice of this — the foyer was a hive of activity with comrades greeting old friends. Many people thought the bells were the chimes of a clock. In the same way, nobody understood that the doors and the bar would be closed during performances. From our perspective, this was a time to keep the bar open!

Backstage, theatre technicians prepared for the curtain call. According to the programme, this was to happen at 7 pm. But this hadn’t taken into account the fact that Sadtu comrades (always keen to uphold the union’s culture of meetings) were locked in an urgent "NEC" about an accommodation crisis that had arisen. But comrades in the audience had no problem with waiting — they improvised with an impromptu dance and singing concert. This was a new tradition for the Nico — performances usually happen on stage!

Finally we were ready to start the show. This was a moment of great anticipation! Our president had made his opening speech, the audience was ready to sit back and relax to enjoy the evening’s entertainment, the technicians had scurried behind the scenes, trying to keep order among the excited participants. 1...2...3...Ready? ....Curtain up! When, Oops! three comrades came casually strolling across the stage trying to find a short cut.

Despite the difference between established theatre and the "Sadtu Theatre", we enjoyed three days of spectacular performances. The theatre came alive with the vibrating rhythm of gumboot dancing and African and Indian traditional dances. The drama and poetry performances were breathtaking. The soloists serenaded the appreciative audience and comrades jived to good Cape jazz.

The highlight of the festival was the choral singing. Sadtu showed its enormous talent as each province’s performance seemed to improve on the one before. Teachers’ voices were worth recording. In fact, choral events should become a major feature of Sadtu’s social and financial calendar. The climax was the mass choir consisting of all the provinces. It sang two new Sadtu songs composed especially for the occasion. These songs were so beautifully sung that it moved the audience beyond words and brought tears to many sentimental eyes.

The festival ended with a short tour around the Peninsula so that teachers could appreciate the extent of the beauty that Cape Town has to offer and the view of the mountain from across Blouberg Strand. This was a weekend well-spent in the Sadtu family!

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Making it happen where we live

Democratic local government is still in its infancy. The Shopsteward looks at some of the teething problems and opportunities and gained some insight from Boksburg councillor, NUM’s Gwede Mantashe.

Local government has opened up huge opportunities for people-driven transformation and mass involvement in reconstruction and development at a local level.

Since last year, the ANC-led alliance has moved to redefine and revitalise the Masakhane campaign and held People’s Weekends across the country. In some areas there are concerted attempts to link the process to building organs of people’s power, a campaign last seen during the days of mass resistance to apartheid.

The department of provincial affairs and constitutional development has initiated a process to draw up a White Paper on local government. This will determine the way municipalities function after 1999, which marks the end of the interim phase of local government.

Many local authorities face serious financial and administrative problems. This is hampering their ability to overcome the legacy of apartheid and provide sorely needed basic services, particularly in disadvantaged communities.

A survey last year showed that while one third of the country’s 843 councils were financially sound, one third were "financially stressed" and another third were totally unviable financially.

These difficulties are compounded by weaknesses in mass organisation and political leadership in some local areas. And there are fears that this could strengthen the hand of anti-transformation forces and undermine attempts at full-blown democratisation.

People’s power

Gwede Mantashe, NUM assistant general secretary and SACP central committee member, is one of more than 130 NUM mayors and councillors devoted to "making it happen where they live". He is an ANC councillor for Boksburg, which includes Vosloorus, Dawn Park, Reiger Park and Boksburg North, areas which were sharply divided along racial lines in the past.

Mantashe says local government is the tier of government closest to the people and the only one that gives people the opportunity to really exercise power.

"Liberation is not just about access to power," Mantashe says. "It is also the ability to use that power to participate and influence decisions that impact on people’s lives."

"Organs of people’s power can be created at local government level and people can impact on their own future and make things happen where they live."

Mantashe says it is through these organs of people’s power that the great majority of people can taste this power. "But this can only be a reality if we succeed in involving people up to household level."

"This is what we mean when we talk of deepening democracy. All the people should take ownership of the progress made and problems encountered.

"Local government presents an opportunity to deepen democracy, where wards can be turned into people’s territories, where people can take charge of the reconstruction and development programme.

"Central and provincial government will come up with a number of programmes and plans," he adds, "But the actual delivery of those plans happens through local government."

And, for communists and those committed to a socialist future, Mantashe adds, local government creates the opportunity to start building socialism now.

"It is therefore important for workers to participate in ward structures and area committees to ensure that working class interests are not overlooked," he says.

People-driven transformation

A lack of mass involvement in transformation struggles was one weakness Cosatu highlighted in its proposed programme for the tripartite alliance released late last year.

"To date the masses largely remain spectators in the theatre of the struggle for transformation," the document said.

It also highlighted a weakness raised at the MDM Masakhane Summit in October last year. "Instead of mass mobilisation being seen as a vital force for driving transformation, we have reduced mass involvement to appeals for payment of rents and services."

"Remove the masses, the progressive forces for change from your calculation, and the power of the reactionary forces becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

The document went on to say that a lack of leadership from the democratic movement and the lack of a people-driven transformation had led to demobilisation and demoralisation, particularly of activists. "This in turn undermines the cohesion and power of our organisations and their ability to intervene decisively in the transformation equation," the document said.

"It is not a question of reinventing the RDP, but demonstrating that we have a concrete, achievable programme to implement it and a programme to involve the masses in driving this process. If the alliance is to drive this process, both democratic government and progressive civil society must be fully involved."

Developmental state

The importance of the relationship between the democratic state, the political centre and organs of civil society was highlighted at the Masakhane Summit in a paper by ANC and SACP leader Jeremy Cronin.

The paper argued for a partnership between what it called a "developmental state" and the broad movement for transformation.

A "developmental state", the paper said, is a state that is a "catalyser, strategic coordinator (including the economy), but does not seek to monopolise all ownership or resources".

"Rather it seeks to use its own resources, authority and capacity to energise, empower and leverage a broad range of other resources behind a developmental or transformational effort.

"Critical to the success of such a progressive developmental state are partnerships, engagements, negotiations with many forces (including capital) but, above all, with a broad popular movement for transformation."

At the centre of such a movement, Cronin said, needs to be the ANC as a mass-based political movement, together with its alliance and its broader front of mass democratic formations.

This idea of a progressive developmental state working hand in hand with a broad popular movement for transformation was behind the revamped Masakhane campaign, relaunched late last year.

Bureaucratisation

The MDM Summit was an attempt to rescue Masakhane, which had been a government-run campaign dating back to 1995. According to a discussion document at the Summit, Masakhane had been reduced to a payment campaign rather than a focus on community participation, local government transformation and local economic development.

Cronin said this weakness reflected what he called "a tendency towards the bureaucratisation of transformation". The campaign’s message had been reduced to a narrow "we deliver, you pay".

"Our broader communities are mobilised narrowly as consumers of top-down delivered services. The dynamic potential relationship between progressive government and its constituency is reduced to a market relation, sellers and buyers."

Payment, Cronin argued, should rather help inspire a sense of ownership, involvement and of civic responsibility.

The ANC-led MDM campaign, according to a Summit discussion paper, should be directed at delivery of services, participation of people in decisions about budgets, transformation of local government and building of strong local branches on the ground.

"In short, the campaign has multiple objectives geared towards improving the living conditions of our people, as well as ensuring that the democratic movement consolidates its control of local government as an important tier of the emerging developmental state," the paper argued.

"This is only possible if the ANC-led MDM is strong at a grassroots level and has constant contact with the people. Masakhane is therefore about continuing the tradition of organs of people’s power in the new context of democratisation and transformation."

Transformation

But what does transformation mean at local government level? Mantashe says transformation is a systematic process of changing the quality of life for the better. He outlines three immediate challenges in transforming local government:

Transformation of state machinery

The state, at all levels, must be transformed into a friendly and supportive instrument for the society as a whole, says Mantashe. This is more urgent for local government than at any other tier of government.

At the same time, transformation of the state should be directed at creating a state machinery that is an instrument in the hands of the working class. This is a process and not an event, and as such requires patience, he says.

"The question is not how fast central government does things. The main issue is to ensure that as a movement we have a clear transformation programme and that every cadre takes full responsibility for the implementation of such a programme. All levels of government will then march in the same direction."

However, a coherent transformation programme would need to take into account the fact that, to a great extent, the state machinery remains loyal to the previous regime, and that there is a lack of cadreship with sufficient skills.

The old and tested cadreship can, at best, only form a core group for transformation, Mantashe argues. "To be able to take over state power, we need to quickly develop a people’s commissariat that should be ready within five years to take over strategic positions and therefore improve our capacity to accelerate the programme of transformation."

Mantashe is optimistic that the transformation process can be accelerated with visible success at local government level.

The advantage of local government, he says, is that the policy formulation process is short.

"You don’t need to draft a green paper, a white paper, a draft bill before passing legislation. You write a motion 10 days before the council meeting.

"Once debated and passed by the full council meeting, it is a bye-law of the city or town. This gives us space to put policies in place within a short space of time."

Affirmative action

Mantashe said when he and his ANC colleagues were first elected to the Boksburg TLC, all heads of department and the chief executive officer were white males, mainly Afrikaners.

"We had to develop a vision and try to allow everybody to buy into that vision."

Part of this vision was to "deliver efficient, effective, affordable and acceptable services to all the people of Boksburg in an equitable way".

"We built two elements into this. We said we must develop officials in the council to full capacity, develop the infrastructure to full capacity, and build in affirmative action and the RDP as two legs of that transformation."

The tool to do this was a transformation team — a small team of bureaucrats to drive this programme, Mantashe said.

Today the situation is changing. Boksburg’s CEO is black and a number of other senior appointments have made the council’s administration more representative of the population as a whole.

Mantashe says he would have preferred more rapid change. "But we are not in the numbers game where we just replace white faces with black faces. We want to ensure that we appoint people with the necessary skills."

People with the required qualifications but with insufficient experience can be appointed on the basis of potential.

"And now we are looking into a programme to develop those people so that they can match the responsibility that goes with those appointments."

Mantashe says the council hasn’t just thrown people out and ground the council to a halt. They have consciously moved to balance the national question and the gender question, blended with the necessary skills profile.

"This conscious approach has made Boksburg one of the top three councils in Gauteng in terms of financial stability."

And, as a councillor, Mantashe hasn’t forgotten his union roots. The council has set up a structure which meets on an ongoing basis to discuss issues such as affirmative action, disparities in conditions of employment, and other issues raised by unions.

Councillors’ capacity

The nationwide councils’ cash crisis has been partly blamed on a lack of capacity among councillors. The Masakhane Summit emphasised the importance of education and training of councillors and MDM activists, particularly on the People’s Budget process. But Mantashe believes the priority is political training for councillors, who he says are political managers, not technocrats.

"I find more and more that what is lacking among councillors is a depth of political analysis and ability."

He said newly elected councillors were sent on numerous training courses and programmes on legal, financial and other technical matters. "That is well and good. But I think there was an oversight on the part of the ANC-led alliance in not putting these councillors on a similar intensive political programme.

Councillors develop an understanding of the technical aspects as they deal with these on an ongoing basis.

"But we don’t have a complementary political programme that will give them the tools to understand that some of the most financially correct positions do not make political sense in the current situation."

Infrastructural development

Mantashe says local government is best placed to practically implement the RDP. But he argues that local authorities should have greater implementation powers, especially in areas such as the building of houses.

"Many black townships were built without basic infrastructure. There are no parks, no sportsfields, not enough schools, no clinics and either untarred or very narrow streets, and a general lack of basic facilities."

Mantashe says "services and facilities to the people" should be the slogan for local government. And the provision of facilities and services close to where people live should be part of a deliberate and conscious policy. This approach has more impact than isolated mega-projects, he argues.

"Bokburg has been in a fortunate position because it has a presidential project in Katorus, which includes Vosloorus, and we have used that advantage optimally. So Vosloorus has been one of the fastest developing townships in terms of infrastructural development. This has included elements of the public works project approach — not driven by the public works department — but rather as RDP projects."

Participatory budgetting

Boksburg was far ahead of other councils in implementing the idea of participatory budgetting. And the community has impacted on spending priorities in the council’s 1995/96 and 1996/97 budgets.

Mantashe explains: "Areas discuss issues and come up with proposals for projects in their area, for example, parks, sports grounds, clinics, schools etc. Some of these issues raised fall outside of the competency of local government. But the council can then facilitate the process of engaging with other tiers of government around these.

"In our ward there was no primary school at all. We set up an education committee that had to go and interact with the provincial education department. Now there is a primary school coming. There is a technical high school coming. And we are fighting very hard for a second primary school."

When Mantashe first took office, three out of eight areas in his ward had no telephone network. "We engaged Telkom and encouraged committees from those areas to also engage Eskom so that we complement one another. And all those three areas have telephone networks today."

Health care

One of Boksburg’s priorities was health care. Mantashe was part of a delegation to Cuba in 1993, and was particularly impressed by the Cuban health care system. Applied back home, this translated into a network of satellite clinics to provide primary health care, health care centres, district, regional and provincial hospitals.

In one year, the council had developed four satellite clinics in Vosloorus. And a health care centre is being set up which will include a day hospital and a 24-hour emergency service.

"Our dream is that we must have these satellite clinics in every area," said Mantashe. "Nobody must have to walk for more than 3km to have access to health care facilities."

In this way, the policy of free health care for pregnant women and children under 6 years — and ultimately free health care for all — can be implemented.

Police stations

Boksburg’s approach to crime prevention is similar. A network of satellite police stations has been set up, linked to community policing structures in each area. These area committees then link up with the local community policing forum.

Boksburg has four CPFs — one each in Vosloorus, Dawn Park, Reiger Park and Boksburg North.

Initially railway trucks were used for the satellite police stations, but the 1997/98 budget caters for permanent structures for this.

This policing network also draws on the Cuban approach of Committees for the Defence of the Revolution, Mantashe adds. It aims to involve communities and give residents more control over policing and crime prevention.

Mantashe says figures indicate a visible drop in crime in Vosloorus. But the committees tend to die down when there is less crime and become activated again when there is a criminal incident.

Services

Services provided by local authorities include electricity supply, water, sewerage, refuse removal, maintenance of roads and other infrastructure, rental houses, flats and hostels.

The quality of services depends on the quality of infrastructure and the economic base of the local authority, says Mantashe.

Rates and taxes are the council’s main source of revenue. And the zoning of land, rates and tariffs and the price of land are critical in attracting new permanent investment.

"It is up to local authorities to ensure local economic development and to sell their cities to investors," Mantashe says. But marketing the city should be a social effort. He chairs the Boksburg marketing committee and says the city is Gauteng’s fastest-growing commercial growth point and the second fastest industrial growth point after Midrand.

Public/private partnerships

Mantashe is opposed to contracting out the delivery of basic services to private companies, as is happening in some local authorities under the guise of public/private partnerships (PPPs). He says you can’t rely on market forces to deliver services as this will make services inaccessible to the majority of people.

Business has a role to play in private developments, for example, in building a shopping centre. "The council must provide the infrastructure, electricity network, water supply, sewerage, and so on, and the private sector must develop things like business centres. The council must create a conducive atmosphere to attract that investment, but that is not partnership. It is people investing to make a living.

"All we are saying is that we are going to avail land at a reasonable price, to attract development, and that is where our responsibility lies."

Successful local economic development will be an important building block for socialism, Mantashe says. But a coherent development programme depends on people paying for services.

"Our people must be made to understand that non-payment was part of the programme to overthrow the apartheid regime. That weapon cannot be used against a people’s government.

"We are now engaged in a programme to reconstruct our society, including those aspects that were broken down. Payment for services will give us the capacity to implement the reconstruction programme."

Boksburg has seen improved payment levels, from around 9% last year to 32% in January this year. But this is not high enough.

Mantashe feels there is a need for an aggressive programme to combat non-payment. And he supports harsh measures against those who continue to refuse to pay.

"Closer to the elections there will be reluctance in taking harsh steps. We therefore need to move swiftly now," he says. "No payment, no service."

Service payment has been one aspect of the Masakhane campaign. But Mantashe believes the campaign will not be successful when it is driven by local and provincial government.

"It will only succeed if it is driven by community-based structures and those structures commit themselves to the campaign." But this has not happened, he says.

Obstacles

This illustrates a broader obstacle to local-level transformation. In many areas the tripartite alliance and other MDM structures lack cohesion and depth and have been unable to effectively give political leadership around a common programme at local level.

"Transformation cannot be dealt with by an individual organisation. It can only succeed if there is a conscious programme that brings various community-based organisations together to drive that transformation programme.

"To do that means that your structures must have a dynamic interaction and communication with the structures at every level."

Mantashe says Vosloorus does have an informal structure which brings together leaders from various MDM organisations and ANC councillors. It acts as a political centre and meets at least once a month. It discusses developmental and political issues and tries to intervene when there are problems, tensions and conflicts.

Tensions

Leadership tensions and grudges within organisations and between organisations — some dating back to the November 1995 election campaign — have seriously hampered MDM unity.

For example, where the civic initiates a project, they see it as their own turf. But the ANC branch believes the project should be led by them. "It would be better if they all came together," says Mantashe. "There is enough space in those structures for all of them to sit there and be part of the processes."

"In the unions, we have a wealth of experience about that. Elections are a very useful tool for democracy and if you stand for elections in any position, to be defeated doesn’t mean that you must give up and start fighting people. You must understand that this very important tool has been used and it has come up with results. If you have political ambitions, you must always be ready to stand the next time and the next time and the next. And people need to be reminded that this tool is there and your success must not depend on undercutting other people, it must depend on you performing."

One of the problems is "careerism", where broader organisational interests and processes are subverted by personal ambitions.

"This is a dangerous trend that must be defeated," says Mantashe. "To me, people must be able to stand up publicly and say: I am today elected a councillor in this ward. If the ANC and members of the ANC are prepared to elect another person, I declare my support for that person.

"And if people don’t come up openly like that, that translates into infighting. And people end up fighting one another for being elected as councillors."

This tendency feeds into the interests of anti-transformation forces says Cronin. "The danger is that our formations become less forces for popular mobilisation, empowerment and organisation, and more and more the terrain for intra-elite competition and careerism.

"The situation within the ANC, or between an ANC branch and an SACP or Sanco branch becomes less about a common effort to mobilise for transformation, with healthy engagement and debate, and more and more turf battles, in which organisational structures become little more than platforms to launch careers or to place this or that group of individuals on to electoral lists."

But how is this avoided? "We need to recover our sense of vision," Cronin argues, "we need to hold on to our strategic priorities. Certainly, government needs to govern, and we need all to support it in this. But governance is more than government, and effective governance requires an organised and mobilised popular movement for transformation working in tandem with a progressive, developmental state. To succeed in this we need to recover the concept of a people-driven RDP, which is at the heart of the Masakhane idea."

Joint ownership

Mantashe is concerned that MDM structures have not yet been able to take joint ownership of local development initiatives.

"When we set up local government," says Mantashe, "we agreed that structures like the ANC, the Party, Cosatu and Sanco, should sit permanently in ANC council caucuses, as structures independent of councillors." But this was easier said than done, he adds. And they now run the risk of being left out of programmes.

"Those structures need to appreciate the fact that their long-term survival depends on their involvement in developmental issues and therefore they must be part of these plans and programmes. They must take an active part in local developmental forums.

"Once those structures are there, then development can be taken ownership of by the ANC-led alliance. And then the councillors become just people who are carrying out the mandate of a constitutional structure," Mantashe says.

"As councillors, we must try in all our local authorities to conscientise our councillors never to take personal ownership of projects that they are driving. They must always use the organisation.

"For example, if you are calling report-back meetings on any issue, to me it is advisable to put ANC logos on your notices, so there must be no confusion that you are an ANC councillor. You were elected on an ANC ticket. And that must never disappear.

"Because there is this new trend of people pretending to be neutral. And this middle of the road approach is not the best approach if we want to survive in the long-term.

"My starting point is that any political organisation is there because of its programme that is linked to political power. And once its instruments get control of that political power, it must always be visible as the political party that is driving those structures."

Elected leaders and ANC councillors in Boksburg took steps to revive structures and most are now operational, Mantashe says. But they are not yet fully effective.

Cosatu locals in the area are not functioning. Mantashe says these locals should be involved in the local development forums and impact on budget formulation and other issues. However, workers are not voiceless in the process and many Cosatu shopstewards are active in the civic, in the ANC and the SACP.

People’s territories

In the local government election campaign, ANC candidates for Boksburg developed their own local manifesto in addition to the ANC’s broad manifesto.

"We developed a local manifesto which said, here is our contract with the people of the city," Mantashe explains. "We identified 10 areas that we said we are going to focus on. We said we are going to be a local authority that ensures that people are on board, that they are taking decisions and that they are driving programmes. And we committed ourselves upfront that we must report back to our wards. And we have tried our best to stick to that manifesto to the letter."

The formal ward public meetings take place once a month and include a report from the council on a range of issues. For example, a report for March 1997 included items on electrification, traffic lights, a pump station, social services, land for creches and churches, services payment, preparations for the ceremony to mark Chris Hani’s Freedom of Boksburg award and the development of a park.

Within each ward there are also regular area meetings which discuss reports and put forward proposals. For example, in Mantashe’s Ward 1, there are eight areas, which are represented at the monthly public ward meetings and report back to area meetings. Mantashe says it is up to councillors to strengthen and empower these structures.

The area committees function as blocks within the ward and have elementary aspects of street committees. These are not yet fully-fledged street-level structures as operated in some areas in the past, but there is a consciousness in area meetings that residents from different sections should be represented. And there is an attempt to ensure that activists from the youth, the ANC, the SACP and workers are all part of these processes and structures.

"The concept that we are beginning to use is to say wards must be regarded as people’s territories. And any development in a ward should not be yours as a councillor, it should be development that the structures in the area can take ownership of."

According to Mantashe, this approach is yielding results, with more and more residents having a detailed understanding of and being part of developments. And it is here where, despite the obstacles, people-driven transformation is beginning to make itself felt.

Miners wear many hats

The NUM has about 134 councillors in various local authorities across the country. Mantashe says this should be understood in the context of the union’s 1987 congress theme — Mineworkers Take Control.

"That is our starting point. Mining towns must be controlled by miners. That includes a loco driver having the responsibility of becoming a mayor in a mining town.

"And we have succeeded to a great extent in ensuring that mining towns are, by and large, controlled by mineworkers, NUM members. And we take it as a step forward that, in those mining towns, ANC structures must be dominated by mineworkers. Party structures must be dominated by mineworkers.

"And in that kind of a situation, the dividing line between the NUM’s accountability to the ANC and the Party becomes very thin."

The union has been discussing the issue of local government and sharing ideas based on the experience of NUM mayors and councillors in their leadership schools.

"Our intention is to ensure that these comrades must never forget that they have been elected by mineworkers. And, for example, when mineworkers approach companies for housing projects, the local authority that is dominated by mineworkers must facilitate the process of developing those houses. So that relationship and cooperation becomes quite critical," says Mantashe.

For example, in Westonaria town council, you find Kloof gold mine is a ward, and therefore the constituency of the NUM councillors is Kloof gold mine and they must report council matters in the mine, which is an ANC branch.

"Comrade Zokwana, our deputy president, who is the chairperson of Welkom, is elected from the ward that covers President Steyn gold mine. His constituency and his base is President Steyn, which is an NUM branch. Those comrades must report to those wards, and those wards happen to cover those mines and those mines happen to be NUM branches."

Workers build Masakhane in Uitenhage

Nceba Plaatjies, chairperson of the Numsa and Cosatu locals in Uitenhage explains how workers are making sure local government works in the area

After the local government elections in 1995, we called on all stakeholders in the community, including business and labour, to a meeting in the Uitenhage town hall to discuss the Masakhane campaign. Eventually a Record of Understanding was signed between the parties.

It was agreed that workers would sign stop orders to allow companies to deduct money from their wages for the payment of service charges. Companies also agreed to give municipal officials access to office facilities so that they could take down workers’ particulars.

Plaatjies, representing Cosatu, the local ANC mayor Rascus Kopo, and a Sanco representative, Mzwandile Made, went from factory to factory and were given time to speak to workers to tell them all about Masakhane. People thought Masakhane was just about paying for services but we told them it was also about ensuring delivery of the things people need in the community.

Workers wanted to know what is the money being used for and what would it deliver. We told them about the services provided by the local authority such as refuse removal and the provision of plastic bags for that.

When we explained this to workers they accepted the need to pay and the process continued smoothly.

The programme took about two weeks and covered every factory in the area. The response from both workers and management was very positive.

Management also agreed to grant loans to workers to pay their arrears for service charges to be repayed over a period of time.

GMX workers agreed for the past year to increase the flat rate of R44 to R64 to cover their arrears.

The various stakeholders later attended a follow-up meeting to assess the process. It was decided that in those wards where payment levels were the highest, the council would build a swimming pool or a park for children to play in so that people could see that they are getting something back. This has already started with the building of a park in Ward 3.

As Cosatu we checked with the municipality how the campaign was proceeding. On the whole it has been successful although at some factories such as Volkswagen the stop orders are not coming in in great numbers.

There has been a proposal from the PE chamber of commerce that the provincial government pass legislation for companies to deduct money from the payroll. While there is no objection in principle to workers paying, we don’t want legislation to force workers to pay as it must be their decision.

In Uitenhage representatives from the Cosatu local have been involved in discussions on the council’s budget. And when the council looks at the allocation of projects in the area, they also call us in as Cosatu to participate.

We said as Cosatu that councillors should call community meetings at least every three months so that people can talk about their needs and what they see as essential for delivery. For example, it is no use for the council to build roads when people see it as a priority to build schools.

Some of these meetings have been held, usually on a Sunday, and people are sent around the wards with loudhailers telling people about the meetings.

Cosatu also initiated the formation of the council’s RDP desk, which has representatives from all organisations.

Workers participate as residents in ward committees which are working with the councillors.

To avoid the problem of workers having to carry the burden of the entire community, the provincial government agreed in October last year to pay the debts of unemployed people in the community. But for this to happen, each unemployed person must register with the council every three months.

More recently, comrades from Port Elizabeth approached us for advice and have launched a similar initiative.

Samwu’s democratic alternative for delivery

What is privatisation?

Samwu draws on the definition of privatisation used by the Public Services International (PSI) and other trade unions internationally. Privatisation refers to any policies, processes and activities which bring market forces — which encompasses the drive to make a profit and competition — into the public sector or the delivery of public serivces. It therefore covers a range of activities, not just the complete or partial sell-off of state enterprises, says Samwu. This privatisation takes different forms, including contracting out, public/private partnerships, delegated management, concessions and build operate transfer (BOT).

Samwu has taken its opposition to public/private partnerships (PPPs) a step further by putting forward concrete proposals for public sector service delivery at local government level.

In a document released in May, Samwu proposes the setting up of pilot projects to explore public sector options for the delivery of water and sanitation services in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Nelspruit.

The union challenges assumptions by government at national, provincial and local level that there is no alternative to PPPs in solving the problems facing municipalities. These problems include:

Samwu says PPPs put forward by the government in the Department of Constitutional Development (DCD) and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) promote privatisation and are not the answer to effective service delivery.

"It will undermine the process of ensuring that everyone has access to the basic goods and services that they need to survive.

"In addition, it will undermine the process of building democratic structures and accountability between the council and the communities they represent."

Samwu believes it is possible to develop a public sector option for service delivery which expands the capacity of existing public and parastatal structures to meet the service needs of all South Africans. And it says this can be done in a way that is equitable, effective, efficient and affordable for both the broad community and municipal employees.

Public sector service delivery prioritises meeting the needs of communities and stengthening democratic lines of accountability between communities and municipalities above other considerations. Not to choose a public sector option is an indication of a lack of political will rather than of real technical and financial constraints.

Both the DCD and the DWAF have brought out guidelines for private sector participation in the delivery of services. But Samwu believes not enough has been done at central, provincial or local level, to explore public sector options. It is in this light that the union has submitted a proposal for three worker-based, public sector pilot projects.

The project aims to develop a viable plan for "turning around" water services delivery in the Central Substructure, Cape Metropolitan Council; the Johannesburg Transitional Metropolitan Council; and the Nelspruit Transitional Metropolitan Council.

This will require a number of complementary processes involving municipal employees and the trade unions representing them; the community; the councillors; municipal management; and central and provincial government.

Samwu’s proposed pilot project will focus on:

Problems

Samwu says that many of the problems and inefficiencies facing municipalities today can be traced back to apartheid, and should not be regarded as endemic to the public sector.

General problems preventing municipalities from delivering water and other services effectively and efficiently are:

Samwu disagrees with a government view that a lack of competitiveness is the cause of inefficiencies. The union argues that efficiency can be improved, in a sustainable way, by reorganising public sector delivery systems and local government accountability, so that communities have greater control over the allocation of resources and service delivery.

Pilot projects

Samwu proposes pilot projects be set up in the following areas:

According to the union, the Central Substructure of the Cape Town Metropolitan Council has requested funding from the DCD for funding to explore PPP options for the upgrading, extension, operation and management of the water supply in the area under their jurisdiction. Samwu has proposed that its proposal to explore public sector options for water and sanitation service delivery should be implemented alongside or instead of this project.

The union adds that the option of including the whole of the Cape Town metropolitan area in pilot project should also be considered.

The Transitional Metropolitan Councils (TMCs) in both Cape Town and Johannesburg are responsible for bulk water delivery to their substructures, which are in turn responsible for the delivery of water and sanitation services to residents in their areas.

Samwu’s gives an account of problems in all three areas, which include both former white areas and former black townships, as well as formal and informal housing settlements.

In general, there are still vast inequalities between the old white local authorities and old black local authorities in terms of access to water and sanitation services.

For example, in some areas there is a high level and standard of service delivery with metered house connections, water-borne sewage systems, adequate billing and revenue collection, prompt response to problems and ongoing maintenance.

However, in other areas, the level and standard of services is low, with unmetered house connections, or yard taps only, pressure problems, little or no maintenance, significant water loss and a lack of administrative control. In informal settlements, the problems are even worse. Water is provided by tankers or standpipes and very few have water-borne sewage. In many areas, people desperate for access to water for their daily survival have made illegal connections into the water reticulation system.

Samwu recognises the need for restructuring aimed at integrating previously separate water works departments of different municipalities; redeploying staff; ensuring parity in wages, working conditions and qualifications; and ensuring that there are sufficient resources (financial and non-financial) within the public sector to be able to upgrade, extend, operate, manage and administer the water and sanitation systems in the new municipalities.

Aims of the project

Samwu’s proposed pilot projects will be worker based, drawing on the experiences and understanding of the union’s members. The projects will seek to develop alternative ways for reorganising the workplace and reorganising service delivery in such a way that an effective, efficient, equitable and affordable service is delivered.

Re-organising the workplace

The project aims to identify problems within the workplace which lead to inefficiencies, and develop plans to overcome these. These problems include:

Re-organising service delivery

The project aims to develop plans, based on existing information, and drawing on the experience of workers and expressed needs of communities, that will allow for:

In "turning around" service delivery, Samwu says accountability and communication between the municipality (management and councillors) and the community needs to be improved. The union says community organisations and their representatives should take a lead in this process. In some cases, existing structures will need to be strengthened and changed, and in others, new structures and mechanisms will need to be developed and built.

Local government financing, national allocation of resources, and central government funding also needs to be addressed. Central and provincial government should take responsibility in this area and be willing to effect major changes in policy and structures where necessary.

The union plans to set up a team under the direction of a coordinator to carry out the process. Samwu workers, shopstewards and officials will play a key role in the process of investigation. Other individuals and organisations with the necessary expertise will also be involved. An integral part of the pilot projects will be capacity building — not just among municipal employees, but also of councillors and communities.

The union proposes that the setting up of the pilot projects and an information gathering process take place over a two-month period in June and July.

An extensive consultation process will be carried out over a six-month period. This will include developing viable alternative plans which will also act as a basis for public sector service delivery in other local authorities. The drawing up of initial plans for the extension of services and maintenance of new and existing services, based on the information collected and analysed will take place from August to October 1997. A detailed plan will be finalised in November 1997.

From the river to the household

Samwu’s vision of water provision

  • Samwu believes that as a fundamental human right, everybody has a right to clean, safe water. This is imperative in order to sustain life, and maintain a healthy and hygienic environment.
  • To achieve this right, everybody must have access to a minimum (50cl) free supply of water.
  • Everybody must have access to adequate sewage facilities (water-borne system).
  • The demand for water (an already scarce resource) will increase in the future. Therefore good management of the water resources, the water system and the delivery of water is essential. Only the state can achieve this.
  • Attention must be paid to conserving water, the prevention of contamination and the elimination of wastage.
  • Water management must take into account regional differences in the availability of and access to water. Access to water must be balanced between the regions.
  • Different conditions and needs exist in rural and urban areas.
  • Central and provincial government have a financial responsibility and must ensure that funds are sent down to local government, ensuring a balance between urban and rural areas, so that the correct infrastructure is put in place.
  • Local government must deliver a sustainable and effective water service.
  • There must be cross-subsidisation from the rich to the poor; from industry and commercial agriculture to communities; and from rich municipalities to poor municipalities.
  • Water provision must be under the democratic control of the community.
  • Communities must be involved in decisions concerning the allocation of resources and setting of tariffs.
  • Structures such as water committees (which bring together the community, the municipality, and the unions) must be established to control water provision.
  • Women are centrally involved in water usage. Their involvement in deciding how resources will be allocated, and in setting tariffs etc, is very important.
  • Communities must be educated on the value of water as a scarce resource and on its proper conservation and management.
  • If people who can pay don’t , they must be seriously penalised.
  • Water services must not be provided for profit.

    Service delivery from the river to the household must be in the hands of the public sector. To achieve this, nationalisation must take place where necessary. Where services don’t exist, they must be extended by the municipality, and where these services have already been contracted out, we must explore ways of bringing them back into the public sector.

Anti-privatisation campaign gathers momentum

Samwu members across the country participated in the union’s week of mass action from 2-9 May. In many regions thousands of workers turned out to participate in lunchtime demonstrations, with Cape Town staging the largest event attended by about 12 000 workers.

Activities also took place on the East Rand, in Humansdorp, King Williams Town, Queenstown, East London and Nelspruit.

Samwu has been at loggerheads with the Nelspruit local authority over its plans to contract out water and sewage services to a private company.

The union is demanding:

  • a moratorium on major private sector contracts and negotiations currently underway between local Authorities and the private sector;
  • that any information on current contracts between local authorities and the private sector be made available to the union; and
  • that further discussions on the restructuring of the public sector be dealt with in the National Labour Relations Forum.

The union also received a massive show of solidarity from unions as far afield as Britain, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Holland, Portugal, the United States and Lithuania. Many of them speak from their own bitter experiences about the negative consequences of privatising water services.

Local support has been streaming in with anti-privatisation petition sheets being sent in by labour and community organisations across the country.

Samwu’s Eastern Cape regional congress last weekend, resolved to intensify the campaign by continuing with demonstrations. The union’s Western Cape region will also be intensifying their campaign by encouraging sympathetic people to fax President Mandela. The KwaZulu/Natal region has heard that the Industrial Council has somehow placed a moratorium on all proposed privatisations in the region, but this has not been confirmed by the council.

A meeting with ANC MECs was reported to have supported the call for a moratorium.

Meanwhile, Samwu has not received a reply from The Ministry for Constitutional Development regarding their request for R150 000 to fund the cost of a proposal to draw up public sector alternatives to water and waste privatisation in Johannesburg, Nelspruit and Cape Town. Nevertheless, Samwu has decided to forge ahead with community and worker consultation so as not to waste time.

The union has three months before the Nelspruit tender is announced to finish the pilot proposals and submit them to government. Union officials said they hoped the government would not stall funding in an attempt to block the pilot proposals, especially as they have already given the Nelspruit TLC R3.3 million to cover the TLC’s privatisation costs.

International messages of support

  • The general secretary of Unison, Britain’s largest public sector union with over one million members: "The UK experience of water privatisation has been huge windfall profits for the companies, record dividends for their shareholders, and massive pay rises for those at the top of these companies. At the same time, employees have suffered job losses, while consumers have had massive price rises. Drought restrictions are widespread and almost one third of all water leaks from old pipes."
  • The Community and Public Sector Union is Australia: "The Victorian government has pursued similar policies since its election in 1992, and this has resulted in the loss of over 30 000 jobs. Despite the massive effort at privatisation, the state remains the highest taxed state in the nation!"
  • The president of the Public Services Association in Trinidad and Tobago: "Our own experience is that Severn Trent of the UK has been granted a loan facility by our government to cover all operational losses for the three year period, thereby taking no risks and collecting management fees of millions of dollars. Water is the most essential commodity for humans and it should never be handed over to the private sector profiteers."
  • The Executive Committee of Algemene Onderwijsbond, Netherlands: "The evil of privatisation of public holdings is a worldwide problem — be convinced of our solidarity and support with your struggle."
  • SINTAP, the Portuguese union representing public administration personnel: "We hope the Ministry of Constitutional Development will be able to accept your pilot projects for public sector alternatives to privatisation of water and waste services."
  • The International Secretary of the 1.3 million member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME): "Given its central importance to sustaining life, water must remain in public hands. We applaud your actions to ensure working conditions for those employed in these critical public services and your leadership in educating the community of the danges associated with privatisation."
  • The President of the Lithuanian Trade Union Federation of Public Services: "In Lithuania, the capital city of Vilnius has been fighting French multinational Lyonnaise Des Eaux for four years. They want to buy our city’s water system for 5 million US dollars and get 30% of the shares, which is valued at 660 000 US dollars. Its profit the company will get from our citizens pockets."

UNION INVESTMENTS

Union investments — strategies and tactics

Current union investment strategies pose threats and challenges to the union movement, argues Naledi’s RAVI NAIDOO in a paper aimed at stimulating union debate on the issue. This is the first in a two-part series.

Background

Union involvement in investment issues dates back to the 1980s when many unions won the right to "negotiated funds". However, attempts to set up a Cosatu administration company to increase worker control over funds and inter-union coordination failed to get off the ground. This was overshadowed by the launch of the Community Growth Fund (CGF) in 1992 which was an attempt to invest worker savings in socially responsible companies while earning a good return. This was followed by the formation of the first union investment company, Sactwu Investments Group (SIG) in 1993. In the next few years, a number of other unions followed suit, particularly after Anglo American announcement that it intended to unbundle Johnnic in 1995. Cosatu’s own investment company, Kopano ke Matla, was launched in 1996.

Since 1993, Cosatu and many of its affiliates have launched union investment companies. But there is concern that a lack of coherent policy in the federation over union investment strategies could weaken broader union principles and goals.

Increasingly, union investment strategies are being seen to shape the behaviour of many unions and unionists.

In a discussion paper drafted for unions and released in April, Naledi’s Ravi Naidoo argues that the issue is not whether unions should get involved in investment companies, but how and why.

He points to the need to align union investment strategies with union principles, a process which requires extensive membership debate and an imposition of union principles and investment guidelines.

"The greater the gaps that exist between the principles of unions and investment companies, the more likely it is that business and other vested interests would be able to undermine unions," he warns.

Why invest?

Drawing on international experience, Naidoo points to three key reasons why investment issues are important for unions:

Like in other countries, retirement funds are a critical factor in the South African investment agenda. Up to 60% of domestic finance for local listed firms is estimated to come from institutional investors, mainly retirement funds. The potential for economic leverage power for unions makes this a hot issue in the political economy.

Cosatu members’ retirement funds are estimated at more than R30 billion in assets. And, Naidoo argues, the democratisation of the industry could extend Cosatu’s influence far beyond organised workers’ share of the industry.

The implementation of a 1% of wages union subscription system has improved many Cosatu affiliates’ cash flow problems. This has meant some unions can use surplus subscriptions as loans for investment companies.

Current union investment strategies

A common motivation for the creation of union investment companies has been the need to make the most of the current black economic empowerment (BEE) environment. In clinching the Johnnic deal, for example, ex-unionist Cyril Ramaphosa argued that the deal was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity.

"A large part of the urgency was, and continues to be, generated by a view that a time-related window of opportunity exists for black economic empowerment," says Naidoo. The argument is that, if unions do not make the investments now, someone else will and the moment will be lost.

Union involvement was motivated by the view that the promotion of patriotic black capital would assist transformation. In addition, it was felt that control of the BEE environment should be wrested away from white business.

One way of doing this was for unions and other BEE groups to develop their own financial institutions. Another motivation was that union involvement could help broaden BEE from the enrichment of a few to a wider group.

Lack of coherent strategy

Key unionists interviewed by Naidoo on their union’s involvement in investments gave reasons ranging from "making money" to "promoting socialism". He said this reveals a potentially dangerous lack of ideological and policy coherence.

Some unions have adopted a "business is business" approach and have tried to sidestep possible conflicting interests by setting up investment companies which are separate from the union. Another reason behind the separation has been that the union should not benefit financially from the investment income as unions should remain dependent on and thereby accountable to, members’ subscriptions.

The theory of "separation" has also provided some with an excuse not to keep workers informed about investment companies’ activities.

Naidoo argues that, in practice, the separation between unions and their investment companies is blurred. The trustees of the trust which owns the investment company are union office bearers and many senior unionists have played significant roles in clinching deals for union investment companies.

A disturbing development has been union officials gaining financially from union investment companies through "co-investments".

Moreover, some investment companies do not even have an appearance of separation from the union — they operate out of the union’s head offices, and make extensive use of union officials, functionaries and other resources in their daily activities.

Naidoo says the gap between theory and practice of the separation between unions and their investment companies poses obvious dangers.

He concludes by distinguishing between a separation of principles and a separation of functions. ‘Union’ investment companies have a strong overlap and historical association with unions. The close relationship requires the investment company to abide by union principles, or else it will undermine the union. For this reason, there can be no separation of principles between the union and the investment company.

However, there is a need for some form of separation of functions between the investment company and the union. This would ensure that union officials are not involved in investment activities, and that the union is protected from legal action against the investment company. Though some elements of functional separation may exist, these need to be drastically improved. This would require that some current practices, such as union officials ‘co-investing’, be stopped.

Factors influencing investments

Current union investment strategy is influenced by a number of external factors, says Naidoo:

The changed political climate has also had an effect on union investment strategies. Senior unionists began to outgrow the union movement. While some moved into parliament, others joined the private sector or union-linked investment companies.

Weak accountability between union membership and leadership also impacts on current union strategies. Many have raised concerns that membership and in some cases even senior officials are unaware of developments.

"Investment companies were effectively started with union members’ subscription money — making the investment companies worker-owned. Therefore union members would, under normal corporate governance rules, be entitled to information." While more than this would be expected of union initiatives, the investment companies are in fact providing less than acceptable information disclosure.

Business and government agenda

Naidoo says the business attitude to union investments is informed by the fact that union investments provide access to finance and credibility. Business hopes to win credibility by association, particularly by getting unions to buy into business philosophies such as the "business is business" approach. Business credibility can be boosted by incorporating leading political and union figures into its ranks. An added spin-off is that this weakens government and strengthens business.

Business would also have an interest in using union investment companies to coopt unions, for example, drawing unions into situations where they willingly or unwittingly promote the interests of business. Apart from ideological co-option, business could entice unions into conflict of interest situations. For example, a union using extensive debt financing to buy into a new company could be required to restructure through downsizing. The union-owner may be forced into retrenching workers, and in the process undermine any union case against retrenchments.

The cooption of unions and leading politicians also means more influential people would have vested interests in a pro-business outcome for national policies.

Government would also have an interest in union investments since this advances government’s BEE and privatisation policies as union investment companies line up to buy into privatised assets.

In addition, union companies could help moderate union behaviour, an effect which would be welcomed by many in government, especially the more conservative elements.

Weaknesses

Naidoo points to a number of key weaknesses in present union investment strategies.

Future scenarios

Naidoo warns that, if the present contradictory process continues, high profile disasters or scandals could result, weakening the union movement. A blanket rejection of union investments on the other hand, could undermine "policy sophistication and unions’ ability to intervene on broader economic issues at the critical moment in the national context".

The preferred scenario would be the adoption of coherent policies by Cosatu and affiliates after open debate, especially in the build-up to Cosatu’s national congress. This would ensure greater synergy between union principles and investment strategy with a much smaller risk of scandals or membership revolt.

"Strategy could be developed to embrace effective transformatory investment policies (including retirement funds). Counter-strategies of business and government can be defeated. However, there could be some fallout due to resistance to increased "political intervention" in investment activities.

Alternatives

Union investments should make transformation a central goal, not just a by-product. This could include worker-controlled pilot projects to assist unions in building experience and knowledge and develop a case for collective ownership and control of enterprises on a wider scale.

However, this would require a unified union approach aimed at pooling resources to limit debt financing and to counter resistance from organised capital. Experience in different forms of management would also be necessary as well as learning from international experience of worker-run or socially responsible enterprises, and bringing in technical and management assistance where necessary.

For this to succeed, it would be important to develop an alliance with government to create the space for radical workplace/economic transformation. This could be done through government tender policy shielding such companies. J

Investment companies and retirement funds

There are important differences between retirement funds and investment companies. Unions are increasingly represented as trustees on retirement fund boards. However, the Pensions Fund Act stipulates that trustees must maximise returns and puts commercial criteria ahead of socially responsible investments. The returns on investments go to the benefit of fund members, not the unions. In investment companies, unions set the rules. The "seed" capital for the investment company often comes from the union in the form of a loan. The company invests the money and accumulates capital. The interest on this can then be used to fund benefits for union members.

The next article in the series on union investment companies will look at policy options and proposed guidelines which unions could adopt for their union investment companies. For copies of Naidoo’s paper, "Unions and investments: preliminary assessment and framework development", phone Naledi at (011) 403-2122.

GENDER AGENDA

League congress touches working women’s concerns

Themba Kgasi, Cosatu’s delegate to the ANC Women’s League congress gives her impressions

Key issues affecting working class women were taken forward at the ANC Women’s League national congress. This is according to Ppwawu’s Themba Kgasi, a member of Cosatu’s National Gender Committee and the federation’s delegate to the League’s congress.

The Women’s League held their congress in Rustenburg from 24-27 April after numerous postponements. The commercial media focused on leadership battles, but Kgasi says the conference was extremely productive, coming up with important resolutions.

A resolution on the Tripartite Alliance was especially significant for Cosatu, Kgasi said. The congress resolved to encourage ANCWL branches and members to participate in ANC activities and activities and meetings of the Alliance.

Delegates identified the need for a conference on building the Alliance and resolved to "support and embark on programmes with (the) Alliance around the rights of women workers".

Kgasi said Cosatu’s presence at the congress proved pivotal in discussions on the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill. Some delegates wanted to reject the federation’s demand for six months’ maternity leave. "They said our demand for six months maternity leave is not realistic because children will suffer from teachers being absent," Kgasi said.

There was heated discussion in the commission, but interventions from both Cosatu and the Youth League ensured that the demand was eventually supported by the congress.

A women’s movement

Delegates also agreed on the need for strategising within the Alliance on the future of the Women’s National Coalition (WNC). This concurs with a resolution adopted at Cosatu’s National Women’s Conference in May last year, which called for an alliance policy workshop to develop concrete proposals on the form and content of the national women’s movement. The Cosatu conference identified three options:

According to Kgasi, the League recognised it had been a mistake to pull out of the WNC without consulting the Alliance. Following their withdrawal, there has been a lot of uncertainty and a lack of direction on the WNC’s future.

But the way is now open for the Alliance to assert its leadership in the process of building a national women’s movement. The ANCWL congress resolved that its provinces and national executive committee should discuss the coming WNC conference and formulate a position of the league. The League also decided to engage the Alliance Gender Forum in workshops to develop a common approach to the WNC and the broad women’s movement.

While the ANCWL, like many in Cosatu, feel that the Coalition has fulfilled its mandate and that its terms of reference are no longer relevant, the congress was urged to consider the options for the future of the coalition.

Governance

On the issue of governance, the Congress noted progress made in efforts to ensure active participation of women in governance. The Congress resolved to:

On the quota system, the congress noted weaknesses inherent in the system of proportional representation. While the ANC could boast about relatively high numbers of women on their election list, closer examination revealed that very few women in parliament hold key positions such as Minister, Deputy Minister or chairpersons of standing committees. Kgasi said the impression was that putting women on the list was simply to "let them go and sit in parliament".

Re-elected ANCWL president, Winnie Madikizela Mandela, said in her address to the congress that the run-up to the 1999 elections should include a vigorous campaign to get women into key positions in parliament.

"She said women should, for example, go out and fight for the trade and industry portfolio because women workers are affected by trade," said Kgasi.

On the issue of the electoral system, Congress resolved to continue the debate within the Women’s League, the ANC and allied structures to examine and find an appropriate system.

While a number of positive issues were raised in the Congress, Kgasi said she was concerned at the lack of awareness on issues facing working women. Cosatu had a delegate at the congress, but the federation’s presence wasn’t formally recognised in the congress welcoming session. The discussion on Cosatu’s demand for six months maternity leave illustrated how vital it was for the federation to engage with the league on issues of common concern.

The weakness of Alliance gender structures were symptomatic of broader weaknesses in the alliance around the lack of a common vision and programme.

Cosatu gender structures will have to take up the challenge of cementing ties with their allies around a common programme of action as the war against gender oppression can only be effectively waged if progressive gender forces are united. J

POPULAR ECONOMICS SERIES

Economic growth and GDP

This is the first part in our new series on popular economics by James Heintz from Naledi. The series is aimed at arming Cosatu shopstewards with a more indepth understanding of macro-economic issues

Economic growth refers to a change in the size of the economy — the amount of goods and services which are being produced in South Africa. As the economy grows, more goods and services become available and this can help improve standards of living in the country.

Measurements of economic growth are often used to judge the health of the economy. When an economy has a high level of growth, it is assumed that, overall, people are better off. When an economy fails to grow, it is said to be in a recession or depression — a crisis situation. But economic growth does not tell the whole story. Increased growth doesn’t necessarily reduce poverty or lead to more jobs.

The size of the economy is usually measured using the gross domestic product (GDP). GDP is the value of all goods and services produced in the formal South African economy.

In 1996, South Africa’s GDP was R540 billion. Because GDP focuses on economic activity in the country, production of cars in a plant owned by Nissan would be included in the GDP. On the other hand, income from investments abroad is not included in GDP. Sometimes a different measurement, called the gross national product (GNP) is used. GNP refers to the value of all goods and services produced by the residents of South Africa, regardless of where the assets are located. GDP is often a better indicator of the level of economic activity in South Africa itself and is more often used.

South Africa’s GDP does not measure all economic activity taking place in the country. The informal sector, which is very large, is excluded. The value of household work — childcare, preparation of meals, household maintenance, and caring for the sick and elderly — is also a large segment of the economy excluded from GDP. So GDP is a flawed measurement of the overall level of economic activity in South Africa. Nevertheless, it is an important indicator of broad trends and cannot be ignored.

The graph below shows the patterns in economic growth for South Africa from 1972 to 1996. Economic growth is measured as the amount by which GDP changes from year to year, adjusted for changes in price levels (inflation). This clearly shows that economic growth can change significantly from year to year. Periods of low economic growth — called slumps or recessions (if the growth rate is negative) — are often followed by periods of high economic growth — booms. South Africa experienced slumps in the mid-1980s and early 1990s. Booms occurred in both the early and late 1980s. This pattern of slumps and booms is called the business cycle. A typical South African business cycle — from slump to slump or from boom to boom — lasts between six to eight years.

Does economic growth deliver?

Economic policies often focus on increasing the level of economic growth. This is because growth is seen as the key element in providing jobs, raising wages and incomes, improving standards of living, and enhancing the general economic welfare of South Africa. But these claims should be viewed with caution. Economic growth can occur without more jobs, higher wages, and lower levels of poverty. So there is no guarantee that economic growth will always improve the economic well-being of all South Africans.

Has economic growth produced jobs in South Africa? There has been growth in employment in the country during most periods of economic growth, but the rate of job creation often falls short of the growth of the economy in general. During 1996, South Africa experienced what is called jobless growth — GDP grew by 3,1 percent but the number of jobs declined. Job creation cannot be assumed to necessarily follow directly from a general growth in the economy.

Unemployment remains a critical issue in South Africa. Table 1 shows unemployment rates according to the Central Statistical Service (CSS). While many people have criticised these numbers, there is general agreement that unemployment is unacceptably high and that those people in the labour market at risk (for example, rural women) suffer from the highest levels of unemployment.

Table1

Male Female Total
Urban 20% 31% 25%
Rural 27% 50% 38%
Total 23% 38% 29%

Alleviating poverty and removing or decreasing inequality in South Africa is another goal of economic policies. South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world in terms of its income distribution (only countries such as Chile, Brazil, and Guatemala are comparable). In South Africa, the richest 10 percent of households receives 47 percent of all income while the lowest 80 percent of all households receive only 37 percent of total income. Compare this to a country such as Hungary, where the richest 10 percent receive 23 percent of all income, while the lowest 80 percent receive 63 percent of income.

With such an unequal distribution of income, poverty is a critical problem for South Africa.

Estimations are that 36 to 53 percent of South Africans live below the poverty line. Certain sections of the population are at a much higher risk. For example, 95% of African households live below the poverty line.

High unemployment, unequal income distributions, and widespread poverty are all legacies of the apartheid era economic system. The old regime created these severe economic problems despite a respectable level of growth throughout the time it was in power. The lesson is clear: economic growth can produce vast inequalities and devastating economic problems. Therefore, focusing only on growth as a means of eliminating the failures of the South African economy is a strategy which just will not work.

A different approach

Despite indications that economic growth by itself might not deliver, most macroeconomic policies do focus on growth as the primary means of eliminating inequalities and creating jobs. It is therefore important to build an understanding of macroeconomics which looks at growth alongside an emphasis on job creation, more equality, higher standards of living, access to basic needs and elimination of poverty.

Future articles in this series will attempt to do just that. In dealing with areas of economic policy such as interest rates, the money supply, government spending, taxation, and trade, the series will put forward a critical understanding of economic tools and issues and describe the impact of different policies from the point of view of the majority of people in South Africa. J

INTERNATIONAL FOCUS

The new internationalism – a response to globalisation

Rob Lambert, a former South African trade unionist now based in Australia, looks at alternatives to globalisation posed by unions involved in the Indian Ocean initiative

We are becoming bad news messengers. Every union leader in Cosatu, from national level leaders to shopstewards and ordinary members in particular workplaces, experience the pressures of globalisation in their trade union work. The great catch cry of the 1990s is, "We must become internationally competitive!"

For private sector unions, this has meant acceptance of industry restructuring plans — "downsizing", sorry, "rightsizing" the workforce, "improving productivity", introducing "workteams", and above all else, "developing a new cooperative relationship with management".

In the public sector, marching towards international competitiveness in the new global context has meant accepting budget cuts to education, health and other services in the cause of an "efficient" public sector. It has meant a swift leap from a commitment to nationalisation and an expansion of the state sector in the interests of strategic economic control to the new language of "privatisation" and a smaller public sector in the name of global efficiency.

The dilemma for shopstewards in this new context is that they are being forced out of a role where they fought hard, went on strike and clearly represented workers’ interests and encouraged into a new uncomfortable role as a "bad news messenger".

Let us give some examples of this bad news role. When a private company restructures and downsizes its workforce it is the union organisers and shopstewards who have to pass on an unacceptable message that sends fear and insecurity into the entire workforce — certain comrades in the work force have to join the ranks of the unemployed in the cause of international competitiveness. When public sector companies privatise, work forces are dramatically cut and they have to give similar unacceptable news.

Workers are told that, by promoting international competitiveness of industry and the efficiency of the state sector, they are contributing to nation building.

Shopstewards are told that, "There is no alternative to these changes" and that the workers they represent will be worse off if the restructuring is not promoted. They need to always consider the "national interest" in their negotiations with management.

Why globalisation is leading us to hell itself

By accepting globalisation as it is presented to us, and by actively promoting workplace restructuring in the name of globalisation (international competitiveness) we are digging ourselves into a deep, dark pit, as fearsome as the medieval images of hell itself.

This is a serious and dramatic claim. I must therefore take time to explain why we need to be on our guard and why we need to develop our own independent, working class assessment of global change.

A process of internationalisation has developed over centuries, stimulated by trade and consolidated by European colonisation. When we challenge globalisation in the 1990s, we are not arguing for the impossible. We are not saying that the internationalisation process can be undone. What we are arguing against is the way the process is currently being promoted.

We are attacking the present ideology of globalisation which is shaping the internationalisation process. This is the conservative ideology of free market economics so successfully advanced by Thatcher in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. This is an ideology of unqualified free trade, economic deregulation, and reducing the role of the state that is being promoted by the major international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Under the new order, national economies have to reduce tariff protection of their industries and allow the free flow of capital. Privatisation is encouraged.

The reason that this course is a route to hell for working people is that the architects of these changes have consciously refused to address the issue of worker rights in this new free trade context. In particular, they have refused to address the role of Asia in the global change process.

Asian industrialisation and worker rights

World Bank projections show that the centre of the global economy will shift from Europe and North America to the Asian region by the year 2020.

Substantial segments of world manufacturing are moving to Asia. The rapid expansion of manufacturing investment in Asia has been accompanied by the de-industrialisation of the world’s traditional manufacturing centres.

These changes have been made possible by tariff reduction and financial deregulation. Companies can now produce in Asia without fear of being excluded from home markets.

Companies are moving their production base to Asia for obvious reasons. Anti-democratic, authoritarian regimes throughout the region are attracting investment on the basis of the most extreme conditions of labour exploitation the world has seen since the early days of industrialisation in Europe.

Effective trade union rights in most Asian nations are denied. In Indonesia, for example, those who are trying to establish genuine unions are presently standing trial. Many have been tortured in prison. There have been cases of shopstewards in the workplace being murdered. A young woman activist from Surabaya in East Java was raped and murdered. She was a leader of a strike committee. There are strong suspicions on the available evidence that the Indonesian military was implicated in her murder. In mid-April, another young woman organiser, Dita Sari, was imprisoned for six years.

The denial of union rights enables Asian nations to offer a "competitive advantage" in labour standards to potential investors. Wage levels range from R4–$20 a day. Working hours are extreme in many instances, ranging from 14-18 hour days, six days a week, or a 84-108 hour working week at a time when Cosatu is trying to negotiate a 40-hour working week in South Africa.

Health and safety standards are non existent. Children between the ages of 10 and 18 years are the majority in the factories. All of this is taking place alongside an explosion of wealth of the new Asian business class and new middle classes.

Factories are enticed into Asia through the promotion of Export Processing Zones (EPZ). These are specially designated areas where the denial of union rights is even more extreme and where taxation on companies is minimal.

How then is the new South Africa to compete with Asia under these conditions which are presently determining global investment flows?

Clearly, South Africa cannot become "internationally competitive" under these conditions, unless the government and Cosatu are willing to deregulate the South African labour market, deny trade union rights, lower company taxes, set up EPZs and allow conditions in South Africa to sink to the slave level that now prevails in Asia. This would not happen over night, but would be part of a slow drift downwards.

Such a choice is unthinkable. Many paid a high personal price for liberation so that the working majority would share in South Africa’s untold natural wealth and participate in economic restructuring as central beneficiaries and not the victims of restructuring.

There is an alternative

South Africa’s workers do not have to go down the route of competing with Asia’s extreme exploitation. There is an alternative route. This is the via the new internationalism. What do we mean by this? The idea is very simple. It is the same idea that took hold in South Africa during the 1970s when the position of workers was extreme. Workers had to organise and fight, factory by factory. Change will only come through organisation that is democratic, grassroots and militant. Cosatu’s leadership recognises that the same principle applies in Asia. Despite its numerous international obligations, the federation has placed engagement with the Asian region and the building of free and independent unionism in the region as a high priority.

Free trade unions are emerging in Asia in the same way as they did in South Africa in the 1970s. Our task is to support the process and to accelerate its development. To achieve this, the Cosatu leadership has played an active role in creating, sustaining and developing the Indian Ocean initiative over the past eight years. Together with the Australian, Indian and Philippine unions, Cosatu has played a leading role in the development of an effective strategy to promote trade unionism in Asia.

Most recently, at a conference of the initiative in Calcutta, India, decisions were made to more closely integrate the work of industry sectors across the region to counter the negative impacts of globalisation. In particular, attention will be paid to the transport and communications sectors. We have to make sure that we are well organised across the region in these sectors. This is where we have power over the global economy, if we are well organised.

Economic integration and sanctions

In the new integrated global economy, trade and communications sanctions will be a critical weapon in the struggle to build trade unionism.

Governments are overly concerned about their international image. Highlighting the absence of worker rights and repression and the threat of sanctions, sends fear into the hearts of government bureaucrats. The strategy worked in Western Australia in 1995, when the state government tried to introduce anti-union laws. At present these laws are being reintroduced at this very minute. Unions from across the region are threatening to isolate Western Australia. Unions everywhere are working together more closely in response to repression in Indonesia and in response to the Korean situation, which is not yet fully resolved.

Some in South Africa will argue that trade sanctions will hurt South Africa’s national interest and that such moves run counter to South Africa’s strategy of economic engagement with Asia.

During his recent visit to Asia, President Mandela visited Malaysia and praised its Prime Minister Mahathiar for the miracle of economic growth and for other policies on the promotion of bumiputra (Malay) interests. He said that in many respects, Malaysia could be a model for South Africa.

Minister Jay Naidoo praised the investment of a leading Malaysian company in South African telecommunications privatisation.

However, nothing is said of the Malaysian Internal Security Act and the way it has been used against trade unionists in Malaysia. In 1988 a leading Malaysian trade unionist was imprisoned for two years without trial. He was tortured in the most cruel manner by being kept awake for 30 days non stop. They sought to break him mentally. Today, nearly 10 years later, he still suffers severe health problems from his unjust detention.

Unions have to challenge the new government on their form of engagement with Asia. Trade union rights have to be promoted and not sidelined as they are at present. Some leaders seem to be so easily seduced by the Asian miracle of growth that they choose not to look beneath the miracle. A short visit to any industrial district and a brief meeting with workers would change forever the glitsy image presented in opulant government meeting rooms or company board rooms.

A continuing struggle

In the new global context, the struggle has to continue just as intensely and in new ways or else all the gains will be lost.

There are a number of things that shopstewards can do. These might include the following:

Just as the struggle for union rights was won in South Africa, despite the great obstacles faced, so too will Asian workers win their struggle. This is the key to the future of South African workers and the kind of nation being built in South Africa. J

FOCUS ON COSATU REGIONS: WESTERN TRANSVAAL

Regional office bearers

chairperson: Alfred Nebe (Cawu);
vice chairperson: Samson Marenene (Numsa);
treasurer: Winnie Molapo (Saccawu);
secretary: Swayi Mokoena (TGWU).

Cosatu affiliate membership in the region (as at November 1996 regional congress): Cawu 4,561, CWIU 778, CWU 1,189, Fawu 7,222, Nehawu 9,062, NUM 91,994, Numsa 17,380, Ppwawu 421, Saccawu 7,616, Sarhwu 1,050, TGWU 8,140, Samwu 4,587. Total: 154,000

Solidarity rules

Cosatu regional secretary Swayi Mokoena and vice chairperson Sam Marenene spoke to The Shopsteward about the federation’s Western Transvaal region

Good old fashioned union solidarity is helping Cosatu make inroads in areas which have long been the heartland of conservative Afrikanerdom and bantustan rule.

Cosatu’s Western Transvaal region is a vast one, spanning parts of Gauteng as well as the North West and Free State provinces. It has locals in areas such as Potchefstroom, Klerksdorp, Orkney, Mafikeng, Zeerust, Lichtenburg (North West), Vanderbijlpark, Carletonville and Meyerton/Vereeniging (Gauteng) and Parys, Sasolburg (Free State). A local in Vredefort is to be launched soon.

Regional secretary Swayi Mokoena says the size of the region means he is frequently on the road.

The region’s main industries are mining, including major mines such as Vaal Reefs, Hartebeesfontein and Western Deep levels, West and East Driefontein. The main Cosatu affiliate is the NUM, with over 92 000 members in the region. Manufacturing is the second largest industry, and Numsa has over 17 000 members in the region.

One of Cosatu’s main engines in the region has been the regional organisers’ forum. The forum meets once a month and is attended by organisers from Cosatu affiliates in the Western Transvaal.

The regional office bearers and organisers put their heads together to look at how to build Cosatu in the region, says Mokoena. They embarked on an organising and recruitment campaign. Volunteers came forward, especially to assist the weaker unions such as Cawu and Saapawu, and regional Cosatu leaders soon found themselves addressing mass meetings and inundated with appeals for assistance from workers.

The organisers’ forum gets report backs, including the regional secretary’s report on the state of organisation. Mokoena said areas’ strengths and weaknesses are identified and targets set for follow ups.

The forum decided to target Potchefstroom, with its estimated 40 000 workers. When the Cosatu local started there back in 1994, says Mokoena, the area was a Nactu stronghold. But a Cosatu organising blitz after the 1994 national elections reversed the situation and according to regional vice president Sam Marenene, Nactu has since closed their offices there.

Marenene says many workers were unorganised or were disillusioned by a lack of servicing from former Nactu unions and were keen to join Cosatu. The recruitment drive spearheaded by Cosatu helped build Nehawu, Numsa, Cawu, CWIU, NUM, Samwu and Sarhwu in Potchefstroom. And some unions have opened up local offices.

Cosatu’s drive was valuable for unions which didn’t have offices in the area.

This year’s May Day rally was held in the Potchefstroom as a way of consolidating support for Cosatu in the area.

In Mmabatho, the Cosatu local organised general meetings addressed by Cosatu local and regional leaders.

The region’s Cosatu activists use tried and tested organising methods, which require relatively few resources beyond personpower.

"We divide ourselves up and target certain areas. In some cases pamphlets are circulated," said Marenene.

"We go to factories during lunch hours, get acquainted with workers and arrange a general meeting. We negotiate to put up notices.

"At the meetings, we tell workers about Cosatu, what it is fighting for, and how to join unions."

Workers speak about their problems on the shopfloor. And, after the meeting, forms are available for workers to sign up with a union.

Marenene says many workers hadn’t heard of affiliate unions, so it has been easier to organise under the federation’s banner. "Most workers have heard about Cosatu. They say the only problem was that they don’t know how to meet Cosatu."

Mokoena says areas such as Potchefstroom, Klerksdorp and Ventersdorp used to be very conservative in the past and difficult to organise. But Cosatu is helping to liberate them from their apartheid stranglehold.

Some parts of the region are rural, particularly in the far North West, and a key potential constituency for the federation is farm workers.

But Saapawu is still relatively weak in the region, especially in areas which used to fall under Lucas Mangope’s Bophuthatswana bantustan. Repression there was high and unions were banned. Mokoena himself got down to organising farmworkers, and by February this year had signed up 1 000 new members for Saapawu. This included workers at Agricor, a parastatal, JL Greens, which supplies vegetables to supermarkets, and pig farms, Tahiti Estates.

Mokoena said in many areas he found backward conditions and poverty wages among farmworkers, reminiscent of the apartheid era. Some were earning as little as R150 a month, having worked for the employer for 30 or 40 years. Those who suffered injuries on the job complained that they received no compensation.

Domestic workers have been especially vulnerable. Since Sadwu’s demise, the plan was to set up service centres for domestic workers, but this hasn’t yet got off the ground. In the meantime, Cosatu leaders are trying to make sure that domestic workers’ are not left in the lurch.

Cosatu’s tripartite alliance partners have also helped in the recruitment drive, especially in the North West province. MPs and ministers doing constituency work come across workers with problems and refer them to Cosatu.

But the organising campaign has not been without its problems. A key weakness has been that newly recruited workers have not been properly serviced by affiliates. And, in the absence of affiliate organisers or offices, workers come to Cosatu office bearers to complain.

Volunteer organisers — including shopstewards who resigned from their jobs to help organise in weaker unions — are now beginning to get disillusioned as they have not been paid for months. Some are now returning to their old jobs, says Marenene.

One source of the problem, he adds, is that affiliates don’t monitor their own organisers adequately.

"Many are operating loosely. Affiliates don’t get proper reports and ensure accountability. And the people who suffer are the workers on the ground, for example, when an organiser doesn’t turn up.

"If we tighten up on this, then Cosatu and its affiliates will be more respected and have confidence from workers."

Marenene complains that some organisers lack commitment and dedication in executing their duties.

Cosatu regional office bearers have taken up the issue with affiliates. Some respond, others don’t.

Marenene believes that one solution is training. "We need to avail more resources for training so that, in each company, shopstewards are elected and given training so that they don’t only depend on the organisers." Instead of workers becoming demoralised, they will have a way of taking up their problems.

"If you arm the elected shopstewards, you are helping to service workers on the ground."

Organisers also need training on how to service members, Marenene says. They should have a programme of servicing members so that they don’t end up running after each and every case in a haphazard way. And organisers should help train shopstewards to stand for up themselves.

"Organisers shouldn’t fear workers and run away from them. It is important to identify workers who have potential as leaders and to give workers and shopstewards training in trade unionism so that workers understand how the union works. If there is a meeting at the factory, meet and discuss with shopstewards beforehand so that they know and understand the issues."

The Alliance

According to Mokoena, the tripartite alliance has been working well in the North West province. There is a joint year planner of alliance meetings for the year and premier Popo Molefe plays an active role.

Office bearers from each alliance organisation, known as the Top 5, meet once a month, as does the alliance secretariat in the region. Joint campaigns include Masakhane and the anti-crime campaign and there is cooperation around May Day and other commemorative events.

Masakhane

Following an alliance meeting, Cosatu leaders gave their full support to the Masakhane campaign. The Cosatu regional executive committee meeting in November last year said, "We must lead by example in paying for services."

After that, Cosatu leaders even started coming with receipts to show that they had paid. Now more and more workers are paying and attending block and street committee meetings in areas such as Klerksdorp, which Mokoena says is at the forefront in implementing the Masakhane campaign. Payment levels for municipal services are relatively high and people on the ground are involved in discussing services and infrastructure development in the area.

In street meetings, residents can identify where they want local government to intervene, for example in garbage collection or tarring streets. Then they agree on a delegation to meet with local government to address this.

"And residents agree that they can’t expect improvements if they don’t pay up. It has an effect when people see that the problems they raise are being attended to by the local authorities," Mokoena adds.

In Sharpeville, roads have been tarred and Evaton roads are next. In Klerksdorp, pavements are being built.

Street committees have helped identify households which have no income. "People who can afford it are willing to pay so that they can help those who are unemployed."

In Sharpeville, 20 people were elected from the block to draw up the priorities for development. People went house to house to check how many people were working, old people etc. This information was then taken to the ward councillors.

Cosatu locals

The region is taking up a campaign to strengthen Cosatu locals and to arm local office bearers with the necessary skills and understanding to make locals more effective. A joint local office bearers workshop was held in April.

"There are many new people, so we need to start from scratch so that people understand the history of Cosatu, where are we coming from, where are we going, the state of organisation, campaigns, the challenges of local and provincial government and so on," says Marenene.

"Also important will be to provide basic skills training, for example, taking minutes, accountability and taking up campaigns."

Jobs

Unions in the region have also been involved in employment creation. When some companies closed their canteens, unions said, let’s get the unemployed, especially women with children who sell food in the streets, to run the canteens.

"We held discussions with a group of women and advised them to speak to local butchers about getting meat on credit so that they could pay them back later." Marenene explains.

The union also negotiated with management at Usko, where Marenene works, to provide catering facilities on company premises for the women to use.

Development Forum

Cosatu is participating in KOSH 2000, the development forum for Klerksdorp, Orkney, Stilfontein and Hartebeesfontein.

Unlike in 1989 when it was formed, the structure is no longer dominated by business. The new body was spearheaded by local government and includes the local chamber of business, labour, Sanco and Cosas. "Now it has participants from the locals and the structure is key in development initiatives in the area," says Mokoena.

The focus has been on Klerksdorp, where the forum has planned the building of four primary schools, two high schools and business centres in Joubertina and at the entrance to Stilfontein. In the erection stage, this created a lot of jobs for the unemployed.

In the Vaal, the Vaal Economic Development Forum was launched on 19 April. Labour has 40 delegates, with 20 from Cosatu, 10 from Nactu and 10 from independent unions. Business has 20 delegates, civil society organisations 10 and local government 10. J

Demarcation and regional powers

Giving Cosatu regions more powers and authority will help strengthen Cosatu, says regional secretary Swayi Mokoena.

Mokoena and the regional vice-chairperson Sam Marenene are also concerned about the federation’s regional demarcation. They say the fact that it doesn’t coincide with the country’s provincial demarcation complicates their task. The Western Transvaal region covers North West, Free State and Gauteng provinces and Cosatu officials are therefore expected to deal with three provincial governments and tripartite alliance structures.

Regional demarcation becomes important in a situation where Cosatu regional structures are expected to monitor and impact on provincial law-making processes of relevance to the federation. In addition, regions are attempting to build the alliance and embark on joint alliance campaigns, for example around crime and Masakhane.

Cosatu’s Northern Transvaal and Wits regions face a similar problem. The three regions have agreed to meet to discuss legislative matters in the provinces where they share membership. For example, Cosatu’s Northern Transvaal, Wits and Western Transvaal regions all have locals in the Gauteng region.

Anti-crime campaign

The Western Transvaal region’s anti-crime campaign dates back to the regional congress in late 1995. This followed a resolution put forward by Numsa and adopted by the congress to engage the alliance on the matter. Since then the campaign has gained momentum.

Many areas had no street lights and workers complained of being robbed at ATM machines when they went to draw money. Rape and other crimes against women were also highlighted.

Cosatu encouraged workers to participate in community policing forums (CPF) and in neighbourhood watch activities to keep their communities safe. Cosatu leaders also addressed meetings with local government leaders.

The results were positive. In Sharpeville and Zeerust, street lights were installed following a Cosatu initiative. And a satellite police station was set up at the railway station in Sharpeville to help reduce crime.

Unions in some companies negotiated for banking machines to be set up on company premises so that workers could withdraw their money in safety.

Regional secretary Swayi Mokoena says workers in the Vaal, Mmabatho, Zeerust and Klerksdorp are involved in CPFs. Cosatu participants in the CPFs report to Cosatu locals, which in turn report to regional meetings. Local office bearers, shopstewards and ordinary members are encouraged to participate in CPFs and community organisations.

The region has also intervened to deal with the problem of violence which erupted in Sebokeng and on mines.

Obstacles

But Cosatu leaders have found there is no easy solution to the crime problem. Residents have raised concerns over the granting of bail. "People are arrested but then you see the person out on bail," said Mokoena. "This is demoralising for the people in the CPF who feel threatened, as they played a role in ensuring that the person was arrested in the first place."

Earlier this year, justice minister Dullah Omar addressed the issue at a symposium called by the Vaal CPF and attended by police generals and commissioners. It was felt that magistrates should take into account the feelings of the community when it comes to granting bail and that the CPF should engage with magistrates on the matter.

But Mokoena says many residents still fear to give information on criminals to the police and there are allegations that certain police are working hand in hand with criminals.

A big problem in Sharpeville is the "Italians" gang, which is allegedly involved in car hijackings. The gang is said to consist of youth who were part of alliance structures in the past and who are well armed.

One way of overcoming the problem of police collusion with criminals and crime syndicates, suggests Mokoena, is to deploy policemen from other provinces and rotate them so that they are not able to cement ties with criminals. When Cosatu’s regional office in Vereeniging was burgled in 1995, it emerged that about 37 shops and homes had been robbed in that week. Some shopkeepers said they no longer reported the robberies as case files went missing at the police station and shop owners who reported cases were threatened.

But the crime has become more manageable since a satellite police station and police look-out towers were set up. And the SA National Defence Force is more visible at month end, to help ensure that workers are not robbed of their pay packets.

Regional Cosatu leaders agree that training of shopstewards in crime prevention will go a long way in helping to bring crime under control. J

COSATU PETITION

Defend the right to protest action

We, the workers organised by COSATU, hereby

NOTE

  1. The notice given by COSATU to employers and government at Nedlac on 18 February 1997, for protest action to defend and advance worker rights in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
  2. Such notice gave two and a half months notice of the planned action of 12 May 1997
  3. The decision by two judges of the Labour Appeal Court to remove the protection of the LRA for the protest action set for 12 May 1997
  4. The finding by one judge to reject the application by Business South Africa.
  5. The implications of the judgement for peaceful protest, and for the exercise of our constitutional rights to strike, to assemble and to picket.

REJECT

The Labour Appeal Court ruling for

RESOLVE

  1. To continue to protect our rights to peaceful protest action
  2. To support COSATU’s challenge of the ruling of the Labour Appeal Court in the Constitutional Court.
  3. To support and intensify the mass action programme of COSATU as agreed by the COSATU Executive Committee.