 |
Mobilise for the National Strike against Privatisation! |
| |
Mobilise for the National Strike against Privatisation! |
|
|
In education, the rich pay high fees and get great schools in the suburbs. Meanwhile, working people's schools in the townships and rural areas don't have electricity or enough classrooms, resulting in high failure rates. In health, the rich can afford private care with the best services in the world - while the poor are trapped in an under-funded, understaffed system, with long queues and hospitals and clinics that are deteriorating. Where cities have privatised water management, the cost goes up and the service gets worse. Durban is facing a 28% increase in water costs. Making people pay for water has led to cut offs and even made the cholera epidemic worse. Because government says Eskom has to make profits and pay taxes, we have seen mass cut offs - with 60 000 households shut down in mid-winter in Soweto alone. Now the National Electricity Regulator says it wants market prices for electricity. This could lead to a 20% price hike. In policing, the rich hire their own security guards and fence their suburbs. For the rest of us, there are not enough police to ensure safety and security. Privatisation of the telephone system means that even though Telkom is rolling out new phones, basic rentals and local call costs go up - and phones get cut off for poor people. In transport, the rich have their own cars - and can afford toll roads. But government trains and busses have been cut back, so our people have to rely on dangerous taxis. Stampedes in train stations cost more lives.
All workers in Wits, Western Cape and Northern Province:
|
|
|
The rich and big companies want privatisation because they make millions off government as consultants and managers - and they get better services. They are the main force pushing for privatisation. Government says it is not privatising, only "restructuring state assets" - because it narrows the definition of privatisation to mean only selling off its enterprises completely. But in fact, government is giving the private sector control of state services on a broad scale.
These are all forms of privatisation, because they let the private sector take over government services. Government says it can force private companies to serve the poor. But the facts speak for themselves. That approach has already failed in education, water, and electricity, and it can't work in other sectors either. COSATU supports the restructuring of state-owned enterprises and local government to improve their capacity to deliver basic services. We want a strong government to build our economy to provide lobs and improve our lives. But privatisation will NOT help achieve these ends. |
Frequently asked questions about privatisationDon’t we need to restructure the state? Isn’t COSATU protecting its members’ jobs at the cost of the broader public? COSATU has always called for the transformation of the state. We inherited government structures designed to serve a minority and oppress the majority. We need new systems to extend quality services to black communities, establish participatory democracy in all spheres of government, and drive economic development. Our quarrel is not with restructuring as such, but with privatisation – where government seems to think the only way to achieve change is to bring in the private sector. Won’t the strike harm South Africa by scaring off foreign capital, leading to a drop in the rand? If government wants to stop the strike, it should start negotiating seriously. More fundamentally, experience all over the world demonstrates that the only way to attract large sums of foreign capital is to bring about economic growth. And the countries that have succeeded have gone against the wisdom of the international bankers – countries like China and South Korea. The measures government insists on to reassure foreign markets – including privatisation and budget cuts – undermine domestic investment and our economy as a whole. The only capital they can attract is short-term, portfolio investment in stocks and bonds. Those resources leave as fast as they come, causing economic havoc. For instance, foreign portfolio investment dropped from R80 billion in 1990 to R11 billion last year. Selling off state assets may bring in foreign buyers, but it doesn’t increase total investment. We need to find ways to build a robust economy on the basis of our own resources and expertise. Only then can we expect foreign capital to accelerate growth. That is why COSATU demands sector job summits and other measures to build the economy. Does the strike mean the Alliance is over? The Alliance is like a marriage: every disagreement doesn’t mean a divorce. Besides, the majority of ANC members support our position on privatisation. But government says it consulted COSATU on its policy framework? It’s true the DPE consulted COSATU on its policy framework. Then it ignored virtually everything we said. For that reason, when the policy framework was published, we objected to it publicly. There are clearly many officials in government who think that good policy can be made by bureaucrats in backrooms. More listening and less talking would have given us a better policy on privatisation – and less conflict now. |
COSATU demands:
Government must stop privatising basic services and national infrastructure at once. Basic services are: water, sewerage, rubbish disposal, electricity, welfare, and basic housing, health, transport, education; telecommunications and cultural services (such as stadiums, parks and libraries) These services must remain in the hands of the people.
Any restructuring of the state must improve services for our communities and especially for the poor. It must keep and create quality lobs.
Restructuring must be negotiated with communities and labour, and be approved by parliament or local government councils.
Contact your regional office or COSATU local for details.
Home | Policy | Affiliates | Publications | Site Utilities | Structures | News | Labour Links
 |
