A wide range of guests from South Africa, the continent and other parts of the world have sent messages of support to COSATU 's sixth national congress.
International guests at the congress include labour representatives from the AFL-CIO (USA), CGIL and CISL (Italy), CGT (France), CTC (Canada), TUC (Britain), CUT (Brazil), FNV (Holland), as well as union bodies from Cuba, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Finland and trade union federations in Swaziland, Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia and Tanzania. The general secretaries of SATUCC, OATUU and the ICFTU and representatives of the WCL, WFTU and CTUC also attended the conference.
Among the honoured guests at the congress was Leon Levy, the president of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) from 1953 to 1962. SACTU, which was driven underground after the ANC was banned, was a forerunner of COSATU . Former SACTU president Steve Dlamini and official Kay Moonsamy were also at the congress.
Delegations from COSATU 's tripartite alliance partners, the ANC and SACP were afforded observer status with speaking rights at the congress. The ANC delegation, led by acting general secretary Cheryl Carolus and Jacob Zuma, included labour minister Tito Mboweni, trade and industry minister Alec Erwin and sports minister Steve Tshwete. A number of former COSATU unionists who are now national and provincial members of parliament also attended proceedings.
Other guests came from the ANC Youth League (ANCYL), ANC Women's League, the SA National Civics Organisation, the student organisations SASCO and Cosas and COSATU 's labour ally, Fedusa.
In its message to the congress, the ANCYL called on COSATU to take stock of the path travelled since the first democratic elections in 1994, and to chart the way forward in consolidating the national democratic revolution. The Youth League called on the congress to reaffirm its role and proud tradition as a revolutionary labour movement and said it was certain delegates had the wherewithal and wisdom to do this. Quoting from Karl Marx, the message said congress must know that there are no problems above it, for mankind hasn't yet set itself problems that it cannot solve.
The South African Students' Congress (SASCO), which represents student in tertiary institutions, said students were pinning their hopes on the worker delegates who would decide the future of the labour movement and have a direct effect on the economy. The message slammed the banking conglomerates who set increasingly high interest rates.
Eradicate apartheid’s legacysays Gomomo
In an address President Nelson Mandela described as "masterful", COSATU president John Gomomo reaffirmed workers’ commitment to eradicating the legacy of apartheid, particularly in the economy. Speaking at the opening of COSATU ’s sixth national congress, Gomomo lashed out at big business, which he said had been willing participants and beneficiaries of national oppression and exploitation. "Contrary to the propaganda of big business," Gomomo said, "the IFP, NP, DP and their supporters in the commercial media, workers are concerned about the legacy of apartheid on such issues as mismanagement of our economy, the debt burden, destruction of our human resources, a deformed public service, vast unemployment and poverty, concentration of economic activity in the hands of a few, marginalisation and exclusion of the majority from economic activities as well as the massive income and social inequalities." Today big business laid the blame for unemployment and jobless growth at the door of workers, the poor and the new government. But all those who fought to bring about the current dispensation know that this apartheid legacy was brought about by the policies of the NP and their lackeys in the media, big business and the bantustans. Gomomo said this unholy alliance had a lot to lose in the process of political and economic transformation and would prefer the status quo in economic sphere. "It is therefore not an accident or mistake that these new converts to democracy and economic participation always oppose the Alliance’s transformation policies and legislation." Quoting Mandela, Gomomo said the struggle to rid our country of past injustices would be even more difficult than that of attaining political freedom. To enthusiastic applause, Gomomo assured Mandela that no matter how difficult and challenging the tasks of the revolution may seem, workers remained committed to play a positive and supportive role to overcome any obstacles placed before them. He identified key priorities as deepening democracy, rebuilding the economy, ending discrimination in the workplace, creating employment, eliminating income and social inequalities, restructuring the public sector in line with RDP goals and objectives and enhancing participation of women in economic activity and in the political arena. "All that is required," Gomomo said, "is for us as the Alliance to redefine our priorities, develop and agenda and programme to achieve those priorities, mobilise all progressive forces behind this agenda and programme on the same scale as we did against apartheid oppression and exploitation. He called on congress delegates to deliberate on the form and content of an Alliance programme or platform. "In the same way that we were able to problematise the struggle for political emancipation, we should now problematise the transformation process and encourage all progressive forces to do their bit for its success." Gomomo said the democratic should redefine the role of activists and the masses during the current phase of struggle. "This will ensure that all of us become participants in the transformation process, both in shaping the agenda and its implementation." Members of parliament should spend a lot of time with their constituencies, sharing information and developing strategies to raise the masses’ concerns in parliament. AccountabilityReflecting certain frustrations among delegates on relations with ANC members of parliament, Gomomo was loudly applauded when he said MPs should be subject to recall. "As a movement, we should ensure that our representatives at various levels of government and parliament who are ineffective are subject to recall and replacement by those who are committed to serve selflessly the cause of the liberation struggle. Gomomo admitted that the Alliance had not functioned effectively over the past three years. "As the Alliance leadership we have spent very little time developing joint strategies to transform our country. "We have tended to see ourselves as leadership of our respective organisations rather than as Alliance leaders. We have failed to agree on what the opportunities, possibilities and constraints are in the current situation. This in turn has led to unnecessary tensions within the Alliance. "The few areas of difference over policy formulation and implementation have often overshadowed areas of agreement. We have failed to engage in joint activities to implement areas of agreement without abandoning efforts to resolve our differences." Despite difficulties, the Alliance had made significant progress in alleviating some of the problems created by apartheid. Key achievements were: However, he also highlighted areas where policies adopted by certain ministers were a disappointment to COSATU . These included rapid trade liberalisation despite its impact on jobs, the destruction of our transport system and the lack of a clear strategy for public housing. The most serious of these was undoubtedly government’s macro-economic strategy, Gear. Gomomo warned that Gear is choking the economy and had led to continuous jobless growth. While Gear had promised jobs and redistribution, the recent budget entailed severe social spending cuts except in correctional services, housing and policy. "Even in housing," he added, "we would have had more money to spend were it not for this monster nicknamed Gear. "Left unchallenged, it can only mean poverty and the increase of the gap between the rich and the poor. "More importantly, it will mean that the government is curtailed from addressing the legacy of apartheid. "While Gear contains the rhetoric about employment creation and economic growth, it remains an empty shell which will not deliver any benefit to the working class, particularly the poor and the unemployed." In the light of COSATU ’s rejection of Gear, Gomomo welcomed the recent Alliance Summit position that no macro-economic policy should be cast in stone or remain static regardless of its lack of impact in improving the economic lives of our people. The Summit had been characterised by frank and open debate and a commitment to devote resources to building the Alliance, share information and to consult more. Alliance leaders had agreed to continue to debate differences, and agree on the challenges and requirements of the current situation. However, Gomomo said COSATU had not done enough to build the ANC and the SACP, despite the fact that it shared the SACP’s socialist vision. Here too, he said, a joint programme was needed to concretise bilateral relations between COSATU and the SACP. OrganisationalTurning the spotlight on COSATU itself, he said the federation was more cohesive than at any other time. Successful activities had included campaigns on the LRA, Basic Conditions of Employment, against crime and on a wide range of international issues. Among the shortcomings were that the representation of women in the leadership of the federation and its affiliates did not reflect its membership. Other weaknesses included a failure by some affiliates to take up COSATU issues in their constitutional structures and the lack of a strategy to ensure implementation of past resolutions. |
There was much back-slapping and mutual adoration between ANC and COSATU leaders at the opening session of the labour federation's sixth national congress.
The keynote speaker was the country's much-loved president, ANC president Nelson Mandela. And if there was ever any doubt about COSATU's support for the ANC, this was firmly laid to rest by the tremendous welcome Mandela received from delegates.
On two occasions the congress broke out into chants of "ANC! ANC! ANC!", which must have warmed the president's heart. Delegates also frequently sang a song - described as the top of the congress hit parade - in praise of Mandela and slamming Holomeyer - a reference to the anti-ANC grouping of former NP leader Roelf Meyer and former ANC MP Bantu Holomisa.
Mandela spoke of Gomomo's address in glowing terms, while COSATU leaders paid a moving tribute to Mandela, a living legend and great ambassador of our struggle.
After the adoration had died down, Mandela listened as COSATU president John Gomomo delivered a hard-hitting address outlining the federation's analysis of the state of the nation and the challenges ahead.
Gomomo didn't pull any punches. His harshest words were aimed at the alliance of big business and their political allies, the NP, DP and the IFP. It was these forces which have always opposed and continue to oppose the Tripartite Alliance's transformation policies and legislation.
But he confessed that the Alliance had not functioned effectively over the past three years, particularly in areas such as joint policy formulation.
"We have failed to find a balance between our independent roles and our responsibilities as the Alliance leadership," Gomomo said. "We have tended to see ourselves as leadership of our respective organisations rather than as Alliance leaders. We have failed to agree on what the opportunities, possibilities and constraints are in the current situation. This in turn has led to unnecessary tensions within the Alliance."
Given this situation, the only hope for transformation lay in a strong Alliance-led programme, Gomomo said.
He admitted that progress had been made in areas such as labour legislation, the new constitution, electricity and water, health and education. But he reaffirmed COSATU's well-known rejection of the government's macro-economic strategy, Gear, which - to delegates' delight - Gomomo calls "the reverse gear of our society" and "a monster". Government had adopted Gear without the participation of the Alliance, stating that it was non-negotiable.
Gomomo gave a detailed account of COSATU's problems with Gear, which he said would curtail the government from addressing the legacy of apartheid. "It remains an empty shell which will not deliver any benefit to the working class, particularly the unemployed and the rural poor."
But COSATU's rejection of Gear and its analysis of the weaknesses and challenges of transformation in no way detracted from the federation's recognition of Mandela's role as a giant in the struggle for a better life for all South Africans.
At the end of his address, Gomomo announced that COSATU office bearers, in recognition of Mandela's role in the liberation struggle, had decided to give him a token of their appreciation on behalf of COSATU members.
COSATU assistant general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi then delivered a tribute to Madiba, describing his presence at the congress as a very special occasion for delegates and the workers they represent.
"Whilst our hearts are filled with joy at sharing a piece of you, we are regrettably mindful of the fact that this COSATU national congress is the last you will address as president of our important ally - the ANC and our country.
"We want to thank your wisdom in putting our country firmly on the road of social and economic justice. Your name will continue to shine in our hearts like a diamond in the desert. We have no doubt that your name shall be written in bold letters, not only in the books of historians but in the hearts of generations of our people to come."
As a token of gratitude to the "unifier of our nation", Vavi presented Mandela with a painting of a peasant woman with a baby on her back, working in the fields. "This symbolises the hard labour of workers contributing to the economy of the country and the welfare of their families."
The tribute brought delegates to their feet. The overwhelming response of the delegates showed that every word of the tribute reflected their own heartfelt feelings.
This was the backdrop to Mandela's address. And few were surprised when he diverted from his prepared speech to in turn shower praise on Gomomo, calling his speech "a masterful address".
Mandela said the wealth of this country is not measured just by its minerals but by the calibre of the men and women it has produced. Gomomo's address was a striking illustration of the fact that South Africa has outstanding leaders.
"Anyone who is involved in the building of the new South Africa is advised to read this address," Mandela said.
He went on to give recognition to COSATU's role in the difficult anti-apartheid days, in building the new South Africa and in retaining political power.
Perhaps buoyed by the overwhelming support the ANC received from COSATU delegates, Mandela said he has never had the slightest doubt that the ANC would win the 1999 elections.
Unlike in the 1994 elections, when the ANC failed to win a two-thirds majority as it was unable to campaign properly and had to contend with a powerful and evil enemy, democratic South Africa was now in control and an independent election process would be in place.
He drew on the example of SWAPO in Namibia, which failed to win a two-thirds majority in the country's first post-independence elections but did so in the second elections.
"We must be encouraged by that example and go out full steam to mobilise for the 1999 elections," Mandela said.
He dismissed opposition accusations that an ANC victory would turn South Africa into a one-party state. "They have short memories," he added, "when for more than three decades they had a one-party state in this country."
Like Gomomo, Mandela pointed to successes scored in improving the lives of the poor. "We can rejoice in the fact that, on average, every single day since the democratic movement took office, 1 000 people have gained access to clean water; that each week has on average brought another two clinics with access to health-care for some 20 000 people; that currently 1 000 electricity connections are being made each day and 1,000 houses are being brought into construction or completed under the government's capital subsidy programme every two and a half days."
Given this progress, the president said it was therefore puzzling that a perception exists that government is not addressing basic needs.
One of the tasks of the Alliance leaders, he added, was to help communicate the reality that such programmes were changing millions of lives. "The foundation for a better life has been laid. Our task is to speed up implementation."
He highlighted other gains affecting workers such as the new constitution and NEDLAC.
But Mandela acknowledged the need for more effective liaison and consultation on policy matters. "They provide a context for broaching issues which remain unresolved or are being debated, not only between government and organised labour, not only between the ANC and COSATU, but also within the ANC as much as within COSATU itself."
The recent successful Alliance Summit, Mandela added, had agreed on processes for continuing discussion where differences remain.
Public sector restructuring, macro-economic policy and labour market and industrial development strategies were fundamental to the transformation process. The Alliance needed to focus on strengthening consensus on policies and measures to promote shared goals in these areas.
The ANC president then began to lay the basis for a possible approach to reaching consensus, even on issues as controversial as Gear. The nature of the Alliance meant that its partners would not agree on all matters. What was important, he said, is a readiness to discuss disagreements when they do arise and a shared commitment to find solutions. It was therefore not in keeping with the Alliance's character when COSATU declares that its positions are non-negotiable.
But it was Mandela's admission that the announcement of Gear as non-negotiable was wrong that elicited a resounding response from congress delegates. "By the same token, it is wrong for the ANC to present its own positions as non-negotiable, even while exercising its broader responsibilities in government," Mandela said to wild applause. "Like any policy, it is not cast in stone."
COSATU has expressed concern that Gear's intermediate objectives of fiscal discipline have replaced the RDP's social and developmental goals.
While the Alliance is still a long way off from reaching agreement on macro-economic strategy, there is some agreement on what the objectives of such a strategy should be.
"Our starting point must be the need to ensure that we produce the resources to achieve the goals of reconstruction and development; to use them to the greatest effect to improve the lives of our people, especially the poor; and to adopt the policies which promote the achievement of those goals."
As agreed at the Alliance Summit, macro-economic strategy must be measured against the objective needs of transformation and the real constraints the country faces, Mandela added.
But the road to consensus is not going to be easy. "Any proposed elaboration or modification must find justification in changes in objective conditions and not merely in a desire for agreement or in a sectoral drive to satisfy narrow self-interest," he warned.
COSATU would like to see an ANC government with a "working class bias" and many oppose the idea of the ANC as a "neutral referee" between competing interests. Mandela did not address this issue directly. But he did say the following: "While our measuring-rod must always be improvement of the lives of the poor, democracy dictates that any such decisions must be with the involvement of all major sectors of our society, including business and labour."
Mandela pointed to a number of dilemmas arising from what he called "the competing nature of some goals, from the multiplicity of interests not only among the former victims of apartheid in general, but also within the ranks of the poor, including the organised and the unorganised; the employed and the unemployed; as well as rural and urban communities".
He used as an example the reduction of big companies' fishing quotas to fishing communities. Workers had objected to this, he said. While he understood the difficulties workers faced with retrenchments, government couldn't stop transformation to please the interests of workers in a particular industry. Is this the narrow self-interest he referred to earlier?
Such dilemmas and hard choices had also delayed the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill. This had brought into bolder relief the debate about our reading of the current situation and the route we should adopt towards the common objectives of a democratic, caring and prosperous society, Mandela said. But he was confident that a compromise acceptable to all sectors would be found.
COSATU has frequently complained about "jobless growth" and the president conceded: "We have been more successful in turning the economy around and generating growth than we have been in creating jobs." And the Labour Market Commission proposal to convene a national jobs summit had been accepted.
Mandela said he was confident about the country's economic future, because the fundamentals were in place. The Alliance bears a large responsibility for dealing with these challenges.
The Alliance has a mission to lead not only its own constituencies but the whole of society in the building of a new nation founded on a partnership of all social sectors.
"The structures of the Alliance must not fail us," Mandela said. "The processes set in motion at the recent Alliance Summit should ensure that all of us make a decisive contribution in charting the way forward into the 21st century."
Mandela'a AdviceWhile Mandela spoke of COSATU president John Gomomo's address in glowing terms, he added a rider at the end of his own speech that this did not imply that he accepted everything Gomomo had said. "In particular, I have reservations on what he said about Gear," Mandela said. He said Gear was not the work of one person, but the collective effort of the entire cabinet. He fully supports the policies of the government and, in particular, finance minister Trevor Manual. He then went on to give some comradely advice. When parties are in dispute, he said, each party feels it is the only one in the universe and doesn't want to listen to the others. "This is a common problem in the Alliance and one which we are all guilty of," he said. The problem was that this leads to a hardening of attitudes. "It is natural when somebody takes a hard line for you to also take a hard line. This is a mistake the ANC, SACP and COSATU should avoid. "We are all comrades and there are matters where it may take us one or five years to reach agreement on. But we must always handle our problems as people of integrity, respecting each others' views." It was unfortunate, Mandela said, that there hadn't been sufficient consultation on Gear with other members of the Alliance prior to its announcement. Even the ANC only learnt of Gear when it was already complete. "We ignored those who put us in parliament," he said. "There is nothing more dangerous than the ANC forgetting the views of those who put is in parliament." Mandela said though the ANC sees Gear as an important document, "if our allies are unhappy about it, then we must take note". He warned that power corrupts absolutely. He drew lessons from other liberation movements where former freedom fighters had drifted away from their political parties. South Africa is not immune to this, he said. The way to keep South Africa on track was to ensure that cabinet ministers and other political representatives must go to the grassroots to listen to the complaints of those who put them in power. They should not draw a distinction between themselves as decision-makers in government and the involvement of ordinary masses of the people in decision-making. "Our government is convinced that a people-oriented policy is the best way for the country to implement transformation," Mandela said. |
In an emotionally charged tribute, COSATU assistant general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi paid homage to the President Nelson Mandela as a great ambassador of our struggle.
"Whilst our hearts are filled with joy at sharing a piece of you, we are regrettably mindful of the fact that this COSATU National Congress is the last you will address as the president of our important ally, the African National Congress and of our country.
"We are aware of your announcement that you will not stand for re-election at the coming ANC conference. We are aware that you will not seek re-election for the second term as president of the country in 1999 elections. We accept this as a reality. We however regret that the fact that you spent 27 years behind the high security walls of Robben Island and Pollsmoor Prison has robbed us as workers and the country in general of your leadership, wisdom, love and selflessness that symbolises the countless years of struggle for the National Democratic Revolution.
"Today we want to pay tribute to you, the living legend of our struggle. Today we want to thank you for your leadership. We want you to know that we deeply appreciate the role you have played in ensuring that we reach this mile in our long road to our total emancipation.
"We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to you, a true son of the soil, for your skill and perseverance in ensuring that our country moves away from a possible racial bloodbath during your term as president of our country. We want to thank you for your wisdom in putting our country firmly on the road of social and economic justice.
"Your name shines in our hearts like a diamond in the desert. We have no doubt that the name, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, will not only be written in bold letters of the history books but in the hearts of generations and generations of our people to come. We wonder if you know how much your love meant to all of us.
"As a symbol of our appreciation for your leadership, the Exco felt that it was appropriate to present you a token present to express our gratitude to you, the unifier of the nation. This is a simple picture of a peasant woman with a baby on her back working in the fields. This symbolises the hard labour the workers make in order to contribute to the economy of their country and the welfare of their families. "Once more, thank you Madiba, the great, great ambassador of our liberation struggle."
Voices from the floorThe Shopsteward spoke to delegates at COSATU 's sixth national congress in the course of the first day's deliberations. A Sadtu shopsteward, who is attending a COSATU congress for the first time, was excited about the experience. She welcomed the opportunity to interact with shopstewards from other unions and said the experiences had already given her a feeling of belonging to the broader working class family. A particular interest for her is the discussion on a quota system for women in COSATU and affiliates and how it will be resolved. For Jonas Dyani, a shopsteward at Africa Products in Meyerton, the main value of the congress will be to give direction to the federation. "I am anxious to know whether the labour movement is moving forward or backwards. I expect the congress to clarify the future of the federation in the changing political situation in our country," he explained. Dyani says COSATU 's priority should be strengthening affiliate structures and consolidating shopfloor structures. "I expect the congress to look at how best we as the affiliates can improve the performance of our structures," he said Dyani was impressed by ICFTU's general secretary Bill Jordan's address. "It touched the fundamental principles of trade unionism, which include among others the defence of worker rights," he said. Madunisa, a NUM shaft steward at Vaal Reefs mine, has been to COSATU congresses before. This might help explain why he wants the congress to go beyond policy debates to look at implementation. "I am hoping the congress will look with more seriousness at how do we implement the resolutions we adopt at the congress. Sometimes we adopt resolutions that we can not implement." A highlight was obviously president Nelson Mandela's address. "Hearing president Mandela addressing the question of Gear and the contradictions that are inherent to it, I am confident the issue will be addressed rationally. He seemed to be more flexible than he was at first," he said. Referring to the gender quota system, Madunisa said he hoped COSATU would address the issues it had dodged in the past. The issue of women's representation was also a priority for Veronica, Sarhwu national gender co-ordinator. She said she expected the congress to once and for all resolve the question of women's representation. "Much as there are other pressing issues on the congress programme, the gender question remains the most important to me. I hope the question of quota will be addressed to the women's satisfaction," she said. "We came here to discuss the resolutions submitted by our union to the federation," says Nandipha Nxazonke from Numsa. "Numsa has submitted a lot of resolutions to the congress and I am interested to know how other affiliates are going to respond to our resolutions." Like other delegates, Nandipha is awaiting with anticipation the discussion on women's representation in COSATU and affiliates. |
COSATU welcomed the fact that labour minister Tito Mboweni had finally agreed to put the controversial Basic Conditions of Employment before the parliamentary process.
Delivering the Secretariat Report at COSATU ’s sixth national congress, general secretary Mbhazima Shilowa was at pains to put the record straight on the federation’s views on the BCE negotiations. This follows media reports which claim that COSATU had supported the latest formulation of the Bill, which Mboweni released on 14 September.
Earlier, president Nelson Mandela departed from a prepared speech to tell congress delegates that consensus had been reached with COSATU on the Bill and it would now be placed before parliament. He congratulated Mboweni “for a job well done” and Shilowa for “having seen reason, in the sense that he was prepared to compromise” with Mboweni. Mandela joked that, if he could, he would take them for a drink at a shebeen.
However, Shilowa told congress that there was still no consensus on the Bill’s core areas. Reading from a statement released by COSATU ’s National Office Bearers the day before the congress, Shilowa said: “We welcome the fact that at last the Minister has accepted what COSATU has been proposing all along — that we conclude the negotiations in Nedlac, record areas of agreement and disagreement and put the Bill before the parliamentary process.
“While we welcome new reformulations in certain areas, we want to place on record that it is our view that there is still no consensus on the core areas of maternity leave, working hours, variation and child labour.
“We still have to seen any compromises from the side of business. We also reject with contempt what has been widely reported in the media that COSATU or labour have endorsed the current bill. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“Taking into account the previous meeting of the Alliance, the positions proposed by the ANC and those adopted by the COSATU special executive committee (Exco) on 5 September, we will be raising proposals on how to resolve these outstanding issues within the Alliance and or during the parliamentary process.”
Shilowa told the congress that COSATU ’s leadership was disappointed with the new Bill. He said proposals which emerged in an all-night meeting between the ANC and COSATU , coupled with positions emerging from the Exco, could bridge differences and make it possible for the Alliance to put forward a united position on the Bill.
Shilowa outlined the federation’s bottom lines on the Bill, based on the mandate from the 5 September Special Exco. He said the federation remain opposed to any model of downward variation, where workers overall would lose out. Where conditions varied, then at least workers as a whole should benefit. If no agreement was reached on variation, COSATU proposed that the current variation model should be dropped from the Bill and that the status quo remain. He said COSATU should work towards a tightening up of the LRA and collective bargaining rights to improve workers’ conditions.
COSATU continued to call for six months protected maternity leave, of which four months would be paid for.
Working hours should be reduced over a specified time and the Bill should also include sectoral minimums to ensure that employers didn't use the Bill to undermine gains made by workers in certain sectors. Two years after the Bill has been passed there should be further negotiations on the reduction of working hours. In the meantime, unions would continue to struggle for a 40-hour week using collective bargaining and ensuring greater coordination of these struggles.
On child labour he said that government and labour should agree to disagree. COSATU ’s strong belief is that the minimum working age should be 16 years. If the Bill continues to set the threshold at 15 years, this should not be allowed to undermine other statutory provisions affecting youth such as age limits on voting and driving and gun licenses. These should all remain 18.
National general strikes would go ahead on the days of labour and business submissions to parliament, unless the Alliance reaches agreement on the Bill. These strikes will be the last leg of a Programme of Action on the Bill which included highly successful regional actions in August.
Shilowa criticised recent comments by labour department director general Sipho Pityana, which he said amounted to a campaign against Nedlac. Pityana had reportedly raised questions about Nedlac in the context of the body’s endless deliberations on the Bill.
While Pityana hadn’t called for Nedlac to be scrapped, he had said it delayed the process of legislation-making and assumed that government was illegitimate. Pityana had said that Nedlac was created at a time when the movement was illegal.
Shilowa said that, if Pityana was making this point on behalf of the elected leadership, COSATU would make clear its position that Nedlac was a vital decision-making forum and should not be undermined. He reiterated the view, outlined in the Secretariat Report, that policy being discussed in Nedlac could simultaneously be discussed by parliament and that this would enrich the legislation-making process.
Delivering the Secretariat Report at COSATU 's sixth national congress, COSATU general secretary Sam Shilowa touched on some of the federation's key activities since the last Congress.
He referred delegates to Activity Report, which is over 100 pages long and gives a detailed account of the events and programmes implemented by COSATU structures, departments and regions since the last congress.
He said the federation had implemented many of the resolutions taken at the 1994 congress. However, in areas such as mergers this had not been the case.
The last congress resolved that a single public sector union and a single transport union should be formed. Neither of these has been implemented.
Shilowa said he had a feeling of "déjà vu" around this since it had been raised in countless Secretariat Reports. He pointed to the financial problems experienced by domestic workers and the subsequent dissolution of Sadwu. He said COSATU needed to formulate strategies to organise these and other vulnerable workers. The federation had also assisted weaker affiliates such as Cawu and Popcru.
COSATU 's resolution to set up a farm workers' union had been implemented with the launch of Saapawu. However, it was unfortunate that, despite the federation's assistance, Saapawu had not yet been able to move towards financial self-sufficiency. "It is indeed sad that they are not here today," Shilowa said.
Despite these weaknesses, COSATU 's success in organising members has been enormous. Public sector unions, particularly Nehawu and Sadtu,have registered the most dramatic growth. The public sector now constitutes 27% of COSATU membership compared to 17% in 1994.
Manufacturing membership has dropped from 40% in 194 to 35% in 1997. Major private sector unions such as NUM and Sactwu have maintained and consolidated membership levels despite the fact that they have been under attack in the new economic environment. Numsa's membership has grown by 30%.
The federation's overall growth of the federation has been an overwhelming 35%. This included new members brought into the federation by new affiliates Sasbo, Sapsa and CWU.
COSATU has run a number of successful campaigns since its last congress, in which affiliates had played an integral role, on the following issues:
The anti-crime campaign had been another key activity. Shilowa said congress had to debunk the myth that crime only takes place in the suburbs when crime affected township residents on a daily basis. White collar crime also had to be dealt with effectively. He called on shopstewards to sign up as police reservists.
The setting up of the trade union education institution, Ditsela, had been an important step forward in implementing the 1994 congress resolutions. While COSATU and Fedusa are represented on the Ditsela board, Nactu is not represented since it had wanted equal representation with COSATU , despite the fact that it was much smaller than COSATU .
On COSATU 's administration, Shilowa highlighted the issue of the management style adopted by the federation as well as the issue of a common labour market in the federation, which would include all staff employed by COSATU and its affiliates.
The federation's parliamentary office has played a key role in putting forward COSATU 's positions in the legislation-making process. Shilowa said government departments had accused COSATU of making agreements in Nedlac and then undermining them in parliament. "There is no position we have taken in parliament which the COSATU office bearers and secretariat don't agree with," he said.
A highlight had been the constitution-making process. "This showed that, when we are united as the Alliance, we can achieve what we want," Shilowa said.
Another key aspect of COSATU activity had been international solidarity, particularly in support of worker and democratic rights in Swaziland and Nigeria.
Speaking on the CCMA, Shilowa cautioned against organisers referring each and every workers' case to this new body.
"This we must reject as workers," he said. We cannot allow a situation where we want the CCMA to organise for us." The CCMA should not replace union's role in taking up workers' grievances.
In the overview section of the Secretariat Report, Shilowa outlined some of the key challenges thrown up in the post-apartheid environment.
He said the Alliance should be the engine of transformation and that it should be strengthened to enable it to play this role effectively. He said that an Alliance platform of action should be drafted with a working class bias.
Discussing the role of leadership in the Alliance, he reminded delegates of the "two hats debate" at the 1991 COSATU congress. The congress resolved that COSATU leadership should be eligible to stand for leadership positions in the ANC and the SACP except where this was on full-time basis.
"But in practice we haven't implemented that in the ANC," he said. While COSATU and affiliate leaders were elected to the SACP's leadership structures, they hadn't played the same role in the ANC's national executive and national working committee.
He called on the congress to develop a deployment strategy, even to the extent of placing unionists in the public sector.
While COSATU supported the SACP as representing working class aspirations, COSATU should look at how to take this further in strengthening the SACP's human and financial resources.
He spoke about the need to also throw COSATU 's human and financial resources behind the ANC's 1999 election campaign. Speaking in Afrikaans, he said that the movement had to take control of the conservative National Party and IFP-dominated provinces - the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
At the Special Congress in 1993 COSATU leaders had been released to stand as candidates on the ANC's election list. This was important, he said, because the movement needed to be built. However, he said some of these MPs and MECs had forgotten their working class roots. At the same time, COSATU had won support from many ANC MPs not previously linked to the federation.
On organisational issues, Shilowa highlighted weaknesses on the question of demarcation and women's representation in the leadership of COSATU and its affiliates. He said that many members would stand up against race and class oppression, but not gender oppression. This had to be changed.
Shilowa said socio-economic issues had exposed weaknesses in the Alliance in policy formulation.
He concluded with two remarks, that COSATU should work towards a united trade union movement with Fedusa and Nactu and secondly, the COSATU should strengthen the Alliance and throw its full weight behind the ANC election campaign.
Namibian trade union leader repeats calls for cabinet reshuffleIn an interview with journalists at the opening session of COSATU's 6th national congress on Tuesday, Hafeni Ndemula, acting deputy general secretary of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) has repeated calls for President Sam Nujoma to reshuffle his cabinet. The NUNW last week accused several cabinet ministers of not advising Nujoma correctly after they won his support for substantial personal perks for ministers upon retirement. The perks include continued availability of staff such as domestic workers, bodyguards, drivers, and personal assistants, as well as generous pensions. "The current cabinet is not honest. They are not advising the President correctly about what is happening in the country. The demand for such perks is out of step with levels of poverty, unemployment and human resource development in the country", Ndemula said. "Nujoma needs to bring in new patriots who will look into the situation of the workers and the nation." Ndemula said government leaders had to be seen to be making similar sacrifices as those made by workers. "Workers have done their bit. We have had to put up with export processing zones so that Namibia can attract investment. Ndemula added that the NUNW had no objection to amending the country's constitution to allow Nujoma to serve a third term as president. "His leadership has been vital in leading Namibia to independence," Ndemula said. Commenting on recent statements by trade officials in Windhoek appearing to signal a rethink about the welcome that South African investors could expect in Namibia, Ndemula said the NUNW had begun experiencing difficulties in concluding agreements with South African-based companies. "When it comes to negotiations and collective-bargaining, the Namibian management always claim that they have to seek mandates from their head offices in South Africa." The NUNW was insisting that a majority of the directors of Namibian subsidiaries of South African-based companies be resident in Namibia. End continental trade union rivalry - ZCTUZimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) general secretary Morgan Tsvangirai has added his voice to calls for an end to feuding between the two leading pan-African trade union co-ordinating bodies. Tsvangirai is attending COSATU's sixth national congress which opened at the World Trade Centre in Kempton Park on Tuesday. Earlier, COSATU general secretary Mbhazima Shilowa reported on the 'conflictual co-existence' between AFRO, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) continental formation, and the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, an agency of the OAU. Enmity between the two is known to run deep, with both organisations competing for the affiliation of national centres in Africa. Many national centres are affiliated to both bodies, in the hope of securing financial assistance from one or the other. Tsvangirai blamed historical differences between the ICFTU and the World Federation of Trade Unions for the present lack of a single voice for African workers. "OATUU came into existence as a result of the Cold War era and policy of the Non-Aligned Movement of non-affiliation to either the WFTU or ICFTU", he said. "With the emergence of a uni-polar world, it is important for the two organisations to merge, to put behind us the historical differences between east and west." Delegates at COSATU's 6th national congress are expected to endorse recommendations that the federation affiliate to the ICFTU. ICFTU welcomes COSATU"I am overjoyed to leave South Africa tonight with the news that one of the world's leading national centres has now become part of the international family of trade unions. We are all stronger for it", said International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) general secretary Bill Jordan yesterday. In an interview immediately after COSATU's 6th national congress endorsed affiliating to the Brussels-based body, Jordan said that it was fitting that "Africa's strongest trade union movement is now in a position to play a more influential role in international affairs." Jordan said COSATU's decision to affiliate represented a huge boost for trade unionism in Africa as through its regional formation, AFRO, COSATU would provide leadership and expertise on a continent facing more problems than any other in the world. Jordan said he was not perturbed by the agenda COSATU affiliates set for themselves upon affiliation. During debate on the affiliation resolution, delegates made it clear that they were seeking to reform and modernise the ICFTU, as well as build and maintain links with trade union formations such as the World Federation of Trade Unions and the World Confederation of Labour. "It is not unique that new affiliates come in with a mission to improve the organisation they're joining. New ideas for reforms and changes of direction in the ICFTU are welcome," Jordan said. "There are areas in the way the ICFTU works which are in need of change. Some of these we are already trying to address." |
For six years, COSATU has discussed industrial demarcation with no finality. Past decisions on single transport and public sector unions remain unimplemented. 'It is now time to make a decisive move on this matter,' COSATU said in its secretariat report.
The report proposed that the current 19 COSATU affiliates be merged into six demarcated sectors, to be implemented within three years. The report proposed action be taken against unions 'not cooperating', including suspension and expulsion.
Predictably, such an important issue would be highly contested. Early on in the debate, NEHAWU (one of the sponsors of the merger drive) reminded delegates of the COSATU statement going into this Congress: "the first priority for this Congress is that COSATU must emerge as a vigorous and strong organisation to meet the new challenges". The move towards 'super-unions', it was suggested, is necessary for such an outcome. The establishment of key broadly defined sectors will first require current affiliates to form cartels, which will assist the mergers into super unions.
The debate centred on whether COSATU affiliates were ready for this new industrial demarcation. Some in the Congress suggested that "small and pure" is better than "bigger and powerful". Those in favour of a new demarcation pointed to the fact that some affiliates were going ahead with merger discussions outside of any framework set by the federation, and that this could undermine the federation. Moreover, there was significant poaching of membership, partly a result of unclear demarcation.
The Congress debated the options of either agreeing to the new demarcation and the necessary implementation strategy, or whether to go the route of a feasibility study and decide on demarcation later. After a long debate, which at one stage almost led to a vote, the Congress agreed inter alia on the following:
The nature and form of globalisation was the subject of vigorous debate as delegates at COSATU's 6th national congress grappled with developing a response to it. At issue was whether globalisation was an inevitable and desirable process which in its current form had a range of negative consequences for workers, or whether it was an extension of neo-liberalism, the latest form of imperialism.
The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU) noted that the current form of globalisation was characterised by accelerated tariff reduction, liberalisation of exchange controls, major privatisation drives, and increased control over developing economies by multinational and transnational corporations and multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The negative consequences ensuing from these policies are increased job insecurity, deregulation of labour markets, reduced and less affordable access to basic services, worsening basic conditions of employment, and reductions in social and welfare spending.
The Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU), referring to the resolution adopted at COSATU's fifth national congress in 1994, said their understanding of COSATU's position is that the federation is against the current form of globalisation. "We are against the disastrous effects of globalisation. It is not the whole of globalisation that is disastrous."
This was a view shared COSATU general secretary Mbhazima Shilowa. "I've never understood COSATU to be saying that we are opposed to globalisation per se. If that is the case, then it means we had a false consensus in the 1994 congress. What we need to do is ensure that workers' rights are also globalised," he argued. National Union of Mineworkers' (NUM) assistant general secretary Gwede Mantashe contended that globalisation is the thrust of neo-liberal economic policy. "We can't say we are going to co-exist. We must develop a response to resist it. To look for alternatives is correct, but not enough."
SACTWU's Ebrahim Patel said his union agreed with the NUM that globalisation is a site of struggle and must become an area of engagement. Patel said, however, that it was not possible to go back to an insular economy "where we only produce for ourselves. We accept that we want to export our minerals to other countries, that we need to import machinery into South Africa We cannot say that we don't want anything to do with globalisation. We must change the character of globalisation. We can't simply resolve to reject it."
Patel said that, where globalisation created the opportunity for workers to have international shop stewards' councils and to have solidarity across national frontiers, the labour movement had to seize these.
Supporting the NUM, the Transport and General Workers' Union's (TGWU) Randall Howard argued that opposing globalisation was not a realistic response for workers. "We are in a global village. Globalisation has to do with international trade and investment, and worker rights. That's why we went to the WTO, precisely to attack this form of globalisation. We want Southern Africa to have a more equitable share of international markets."
"MNCs and TNCs will be there," he said. "What is at issue is the extent to which they invest, whether workers can prevent the creation of export processing zone-type development, and whether they invest in job creation, respect worker rights and labour legislation. That's what we are concerned with. We don't want the kind of globalisation which underpins neo-liberalism."
The South African Municipal Workers Union's (SAMWU) Roger Ronnie disagreed on the basis that TGWU and FAWU's interpretation of globalisation did not attack capitalism, but sought to reform it. "If we tinker with it we are not going to get rid of it. We must fight against it if we are to realise our goal of socialism."
Honing in on concrete demands the international trade union movement should put forward, Shilowa said that, in addition to the social clause, reforms were required to the ILO, World Bank, IMF and WTO to reflect the reality of the impact of their operations on workers' lives. "The work undertaken by these institutions and the TNCs/MNCs in the name of globalisation has a negative impact on the lives of workers. Our limited participation in some instances, and total exclusion in others, is a situation we should no longer tolerate." He added that, similarly, international trade union work can no longer be study tours and meetings only.
The Chemical Workers Industrial Union (CWIU) felt that too much of COSATU's international activity thus far had been 'ceremonial' or symbolic. Countering this, Shilowa contended that COSATU had been able to have a real impact at international level. "Look at Swaziland" he said, echoing the praise heaped on COSATU by International Confederation of Free Trade Unions' (ICFTU) general secretary Bill Jordan. "For the first time in history, the borders of a country were completely sealed off as a result of worker's actions."
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) said that workers' efforts at countering the consequences of globalisation would be compromised if the federation did not take forward into the international arena its policies on the transformation of the international trade union movement.
TGWU's Randall Howard urged congress to develop an international minimum programme of action. "Such a programme must be sufficiently broad to unite all international trade union movements in a campaign. In this context the ICFTU would be critical" he said.
Congress agreed on a two-phased approach to tackling this. In the first phase, COSATU would participate in an international week of focus on globalisation culminating in May Day celebrations focusing on a specific international theme. COSATU will produce media in regard to the adopted theme.
In the second phase, an international day of action on a normal working day, consisting of strikes, demonstrations, pickets, stoppages and a global strike by workers. The CEC will engage with the international worker federations to which COSATU is affiliated with a view to agreeing on a date and the forms of action. The purpose of the proposed action will be to highlight workers' opposition to the negative effects of globalisation, and to put forward its alternatives. FAWU said affiliates who already have relations with ICFTU trade secretariats should begin mobilising now. Congress also endorsed SACTWU and SAMWU's proposal to establish a global solidarity fund. Motivating this, SACTWU argued that, as globalisation became more fundamental to the context in which workers fought, their our own resources ought be used to fight their battles. Workers could no longer only rely on governments to fund their international activities. However, congress did not agree that five per cent of COSATU's income be placed at the disposal of the fund. They opted instead to defer a decision on an amount to COSATU's Central Executive Committee.
A suggestion to increase the staffing of COSATU's international department was also deferred to the CEC, with the proviso that such a decision had to be taken in the context of improving COSATU's capacity to do international work.
The Struggle For SocialismA programme to build socialism now!Congress has taken COSATU's unwavering commitment to socialism a step further with a resolution to develop a socialist programme along with other socialist forces and to fight for a range of measures to build socialism now. "Contrary to those who believe we should accept a capitalist agenda, we intend to relentlessly criticise the failures of capitalism in our country," said general secretary Mbhazima Shilowa speaking at a press conference after the congress. "Together with the SACP and, where appropriate with the ANC, we will engage in public programmes that outline our views on socialism. It is not socialism that has failed our country, but capitalism under the stewardship of big capital and the National Party." Congress delegates motivated for COSATU to go beyond mere rhetorical support for COSATU's alliance partner, the SACP. Congress resolved to encourage affiliates to make monthly contributions to the Party and to set up workplace Party units. Contributions and cooperation with the SACP would include financial support as well as joint projects and programmes with the SACP. A SADTU delegate said many affiliates had adopted resolutions to build the Party. "It is now time to move to translate this into concrete action. We must actualise this now," he said. "We can no longer pay lip service, let's build the Party," he said. This would benefit workers, as union contributions to the Party would in turn bolster our own cadres in the trade union movement. The SACP required a strong resource base to ensure that it played a leading role in the national democratic revolution. "This should be developed and initiated by workers," he said. "We need to ensure that the SACP, as a revolutionary working class party, is sustainable," added a NUM delegate. Motivating for workplace SACP units, a FAWU delegate said these would help sharpen the thinking and ideology of the working class. A resolution passed unanimously at the congress said COSATU faced the challenge of translating its commitment to socialism into a practical and understandable programme. "While this is clearly no easy task, our commitment to socialism is unwavering," the resolution said. While South Africa had a democratic state, economic power was still largely in the hands of a minority. The main strategic opponent of the working class remained domestic and international monopoly capital. COSATU's ultimate objective was the transfer of political and economic power to the working class. "COSATU must develop strategies which engage both the state and capital for the improvement of the material conditions of the majority, while developing a long-term vision of a socialist society," the resolution said. It outlined a range of "building blocks towards socialism", which it said should form part of a broader socialist programme. The congress agreed that COSATU should play a role in formulating such a programme, along with other socialist forces. This programme would outline the short and long-term demands, the strategy and tactics and the key social forces to achieve socialism as well as the type of socialism being fought for. In developing a socialist programme, it was agreed that COSATU should educate and mobilise the working class about the importance of their role and contribution in realising socialism. The congress emphasised the need for COSATU to deepen its relationship with the SACP as "a political party with a socialist vision". The two Alliance partners should develop a common vision of a socialist programme. Such a programme would include a Conference of Left forces. In addition, COSATU and the SACP should develop "mass media instruments which give an alternative view of society, international issues and provide an outlet for socialist intellectual debate". The federation should develop its links with "credible socialist organisations nationally and internationally in order to challenge capital on a global front", the congress resolved.
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Delegates at COSATU's congress unanimously resolved that, despite its weaknesses, the Tripartite Alliance remains the only vehicle capable of bringing about fundamental transformation in South Africa.
Despite seemingly tireless media speculation about a split in the Alliance, a resolution on the matter was one of the congresses' least controversial. There was broad agreement on the need to strengthen the Alliance and to develop a clear transformation programme for the Alliance.
While Alliance relations a year ago had reached a low point following the government's unilateral introduction of Gear, a recognition of the Alliance's strategic role in the country's transformation has never been at issue.
Yes, there have been weaknesses, which were highlighted at the congress: the lack of a common programme to drive governance and the transformation process and a lack of accountability and coordination within the Alliance.
But for COSATU this translated into a greater resolve to overcome the problems. Following an in-depth discussion in its central executive committee, COSATU released a discussion document on a programme for the Alliance in November last year. The document argued for an agreement within the Alliance on strategic areas to drive transformation. This was widely circulated and discussed within the federation and was later adopted by COSATU's executive committee. This process clearly laid the basis for the broad consensus on the issue among congress delegates.
In addition, a series of high-level Alliance Summits since April this year have begun to lay the basis for a common approach on how to propel transformation.
The congress resolved to take forward the most recent Alliance Summit decisions. This included agreement on the need for a broad transformation agenda which should deal with:
According to the resolution, this will provide the basis for engagement to continuously shift the power balance in favour of the democratic forces and prepare for victory in the 1999 elections.
Delegates also agreed that COSATU needs a plan to revitalise the Alliance. This would entail:
Echoing a common theme throughout the political discussions, the congress resolved that "COSATU and its affiliates should consciously organise workers to engage in Alliance structures at all levels to ensure a working class bias prevails in the Alliance's programme and policies".
COSATU's commitment to the Alliance should be coupled with vigorous defence of the federation's political independence. "Partners must fearlessly but constructively criticise each other," the congress resolved.
A platform for electoral victoryCOSATU's organisational muscle and resources could provide a vital boost for the ANC's 1999 election campaign. With the next general elections a mere 18 months away, Congress resolved that the Alliance should develop an election platform which would include agreement on a candidates list process as well as key policies for an election manifesto. The Alliance should also look into financial resources for the election campaign, electioneering support for the ANC at workplaces and in communities as well as implementation and review structures for governance policies. At a post-congress press briefing, general secretary Mbhazima Shilowa said a strategy would soon be developed to focus on KwaZulu Natal and the Western Cape, as well as consolidate those areas which voted overwhelmingly for the ANC in the 1994 elections. The Congress mandated COSATU's newly constituted Central Committee (CC) to finalise a proposal for the election platform. The CC, which has been likened to a mini-congress, is now the federation's highest decision-making body in between national congresses and will be made up of affiliate delegates on the basis of proportional representation. It is expected to consist of about 4500 union delegates. |
COSATU has agreed in principle to deploy its most capable leaders to stand for election to ANC leadership positions as a way of strengthening the Tripartite Alliance and to ensure working class leadership of the ANC and the broader transformation process.
Delegates recalled the 1991 COSATU congress "two hats debate" about whether COSATU leaders should also occupy key leadership positions in organisations such as the ANC.
Everybody agreed that no leader should take two full-time positions in Alliance organisations. There was also broad agreement on the need for members and leaders to participate in building Alliance and MDM organisations and to stand for election at local and regional level.
But should COSATU allow its "best cadres", including its national office bearers, to stand for election to positions in the ANC, SACP and other MDM organisations, including the ANC's national executive committee (NEC)?
A NUMSA delegate fired the first salvo in the debate: "COSATU can't allow a situation where the general secretary of COSATU can be elected to the NEC of an organisation which has embraced Gear while COSATU has rejected Gear," he said.
"We require our senior leadership, when they go to Alliance meetings, to be independent and to espouse positions mandated by COSATU. When senior leadership are in leadership positions in both organisations, it poses problems of mandate and accountability.
"There is a difference with local and regional office bearers. But at a national level, we are dealing with macro-economic issues, where the independence of the labour movement is at stake. It would be a mistake to allow senior leadership into those positions."
But most affiliates - as well as SACP and ANC delegates at the congress - disagreed with this position. Speaker after speaker appealed for working class leadership of the ANC and the Alliance as central to the country's transformation. This couldn't be achieved from the periphery. It meant working class involvement at every level of the Alliance, including deploying top COSATU leaders into the ANC's leadership structures.
SACP deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin said the issue was how the SACP and other socialist forces should assert the independence of working class organisations while at the same time maintaining the leadership of working class ideas.
Asserting the importance of the ANC as the leading force in this phase of the struggle, he said it was an open secret that different social forces within the ANC would actively contest their views - and the ANC NEC elections.
The ANC represented a broad range of patriotic forces, including Contralesa, former DP elements and the newly emerging patriotic bourgeoisie. "They too have a right to contest their views," he said.
"So it cannot be that COSATU, in the name of working class purity, won't contest the ANC. We can't allow the direction of the ANC to chance. That is not working class leadership. That is refusing to take working class leadership," Cronin said. Responding to fears that COSATU would be swallowed up within the Alliance, he said COSATU was the largest, best resourced and most well-organised formation within the Alliance.
"We strongly urge COSATU to reaffirm the position adopted at the 1991 congress and implement this in practice and at every level - not exclusive working class but working class leadership of the Alliance and to carry their experience into all levels of the Alliance."
NUM's Gwede Mantashe agreed. Refusing to deploy working class leaders was the best way of confining the working class struggle into an "oppositionist" role. "Who will put in place those building blocks for socialism?" he asked, referring to an earlier resolution on socialism.
"You can't play a vanguard role from the periphery. COSATU must deploy its cadres to whatever structures (are key to transformation), including the ANC."
NEHAWU president Vusi Nhlapo reiterated the call for the congress to implement the 1991 resolution to build the Alliance to transform the country in the interests of the working class. And this meant deploying worker leaders into the formations of the Alliance.
Nhlapo said it was a contradiction that COSATU leaders were allowed to sit on the SACP's leadership structures but not on the highest structures of the ANC.
COSATU general secretary Mbhazima Shilowa and president John Gomomo were elected to the ANC national executive committee in 1994 but resigned following a COSATU executive committee decision. Both Shilowa and Gomomo remain SACP central committee members.
"We as workers have left the ANC to be taken over by people who are not necessarily friendly to workers," Nhlapo said. "We created the space for Gear to be adopted by opting out of ANC structures. Who will put the working class position in the ANC if not workers themselves?"
"It is critical for us as workers to engage with the ANC," said a PPWAWU delegate. "We need to shape and contest the ANC to ensure that it remains working class biased and an organisation of the poor. We urge congress to adopt deployment of our leaders."
Supporting deployment in principle, TGWU said COSATU's constitutional structures should decide on a deployment strategy which did not weaken the federation's organisational strength.
SADTU appealed for a deployment strategy aimed not only at the ANC and the Alliance, but also at government departments. This was necessary to transform the state and to overcome a situation where the implementation of transformatory policies was being sabotaged by government bureaucrats.
A number of speakers drew a distinction between union leaders elected as ANC leaders in their own right, those who themselves chose to take up other positions, and those deployed directly by COSATU structures into the ANC.
As COSATU deputy general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi put it: "You can't deploy yourself and then put it forward as if it is a COSATU deployment."
"There is a difference between individuals deciding what they want to do and COSATU deciding to deploy people," he said, "Or if, through a person's participation in ANC structures, they are elected at the ANC conference. That is their democratic right."
Speaking at a press conference after the congress, Vavi said COSATU leaders elected onto the ANC NEC would represent a broader working class position.
He also addressed concerns that COSATU leaders deployed onto the ANC NEC would in turn push an ANC agenda within the federation. "Affiliates operate on the basis of the mandates from their constitutional structures. As we saw at the congress, affiliates feel passionately about their mandates, but are willing to accommodate each other. So no one person can manipulate the federation as we operate on mandates and on the basis of policies."
This would ensure that the deployment of COSATU leaders into Alliance structures would not compromise the independence of the federation or prevent it from criticising its Alliance partners where necessary.
Workers must shape the ANCThe deployment of COSATU leaders into the ANC is an historically correct position, ANC chairperson Jacob Zuma told COSATU congress delegates. He was part of the ANC's delegation at the congress, which, along with the SACP, was granted observer status and speaking rights. Other ANC leaders who made an appearance at the congress as part of the ANC delegation included labour minister Tito Mboweni, communications minister Jay Naidoo, sports minister Steve Tshwete, ANC Women's League president Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and safety and security minister Sydney Mufamadi. Zuma said, had union leaders not helped shape the ANC, the organisation would not have been as progressive as it is today. He recalled people such as Moses Mabhida, who were both leaders of the trade union movement and "giants of the ANC". "It has never been seen as a contradiction for leaders who have earned their leadership out of struggle to contribute to shaping the policies of the Alliance and participating in the ANC as a political organisation. The ANC has a history of comrades in the unions, in the Party and in the ANC. It has never been a contradiction. "You can't shape the policies of the ANC as a political organisation and of the Alliance with people who don't have workers' interests at heart. "If you want a separation of the Alliance partners, you create an artificial confrontational situation where the ANC develops policy without the participation of COSATU leadership, and once you have concluded, you say they are wrong. Yet you have had the opportunity to develop those policies. So it is correct to say the leaders of COSATU should be deployed to the ANC. Leaders shouldn't be left on their own to develop policy, he added. Workers needed to ensure that they didn't deviate. "We have developed a democratic culture in South Africa. Democracy will be reversed if we don't work to improve it every day. It is in your strategic interests to ensure that those leaders who have workers interests at heart are there," he said. |
Many of the union leaders and other delegates at congress cut their political teeth in the heady days of the national democratic struggle to bring the apartheid government to its knees.
Mass mobilisation was at its height and the mass democratic movement (MDM) of organised workers, students, women, youth, urban and rural people was able to act as one, united around common objectives.
Today there is a strong sense that, in the new political situation, this unity of purpose has been lost and that the once-powerful MDM has increasingly become fragmented. COSATU's November 1996 discussion document on a programme for the Alliance pointed to "a general demobilisation of our people" and said many mass-based structures were weak. "We have failed as an Alliance to consolidate MDM organisation as a meaningful united force in society since the elections. This must be rectified through the development of an effective programme to bring these organisations on board."
The COSATU secretariat report to the congress again raised the issue: "The Alliance and its constituent members need to build on the rich traditions of the 1980's, which saw a wide variety of mass formations mobilised under one umbrella to achieve the common goal of ending apartheid tyranny and securing national liberation.
"Now, under new conditions, we need to harness that tradition to build a mass movement for transformation. Such a movement is essential to take forward programmes in areas such as public sector transformation, housing, health, literacy, rural development and others. It will also be critical in neutralising those forces attempting to block or derail the transformation process."
The secretariat report proposed that the Alliance, together with other mass formations, develop such a programme as well as fora to take the process forward.
The congress reaffirmed this view, pointing to the need for the struggles of mass organisations to be united and coordinated. The MDM should be seen as a home for popular mass formations that currently lack a common agenda and programme, said a congress resolution on the issue.
It was agreed that COSATU should initiate a broad popular movement for transformation (PMT) around common struggles on issues facing the working class. While there was little debate on the resolution, NEHAWU assistant general secretary Fikile Majola said the transformation process was key to the current stage of the struggle. "This defines the movement that we want to create," he said. "The MDM helped end apartheid. Now we need a programme for transformation that goes beyond just the MDM."
Congress agreed that a key campaign in the process of galvanising a broad movement for transformation will be an anti-poverty and equality campaign together with the non-governmental organisation (NGO) movement, communities, religious organisations and others.
But this regrouping of the forces for democratic transformation and socialism should not be seen as a narrow electoral coalition.
"The MDM forces from the Alliance, youth, civic, women, religious and progressive NGOs need to be rallied behind a radical democratic and socialist agenda," congress said.
"COSATU must forcefully articulate this position to ensure that the masses do not remain passive spectators in the country's transformation process."
In a resolution on building community structures, the congress agreed that COSATU should actively participate in rebuilding the civic movement. The federation should also engage the SA National Civics Organisation (SANCO) on issues - such as the federation's opposition to the privatisation of municipal services - which have a direct effect on what the federation stands for.
As part of this process, COSATU should initiate a discussion on the nature and the role of the civic movement.
The resolution said building strong, democratic organs of civil society was important to strengthening democracy and to ensure that communities were able to mount effective campaigns around socialist-oriented development.
As part of this process, COSATU should encourage:
Relations And Attitude To The Present GovernmentBuild political power
One of the obstacles to fundamental transformation COSATU has identified is a failure by the ANC and the Alliance to effectively drive policy formulation and implementation. "One of the critical problems," said the COSATU secretariat report to congress, "is the fact that the formulation of policies - in certain areas such as the economy, housing, transport and others - has been driven by technocrats, the bureaucracy and ministries. "The ANC and the Alliance more broadly has found itself dealing with these policies as they emerge, rather than driving their development. The result is that we often have to react to policies which are directly opposed to the thrust of the platform outlined in the RDP." The introduction of Gear was the most serious example of this problem, the report said. President Nelson Mandela, in his address to the congress, conceded that there hadn't been sufficient consultation in the Alliance prior to Gear's announcement. Even the ANC only learnt of Gear when it was already complete, he said. In addressing the problem, the congress resolved that the Tripartite Alliance should be restructured so that "the ANC in government is subject to the political control of the ANC party structure and guided by the policies of the Tripartite Alliance". This approach has already underpinned COSATU's engagement on issues such as the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill. The federation has been seeking agreement on the Bill within the Alliance and has proposed that the Bill be taken to parliament where it believes it will receive a sympathetic hearing from ANC MPs. Addressing the issue of COSATU's relationship to the government, the congress resolved that this should be based on COSATU advancing working class interests. "This means that we should support the government when it adopts progressive policies and oppose it when it advances policies that are against the interests of workers." The accountability of political representatives has also been of great concern to COSATU. Addressing the issue of former COSATU leaders released onto the ANC's election lists for national and provincial legislatures, the secretariat report they were not homogenous. "While some of them have been active in maintaining dynamic contact with the federation and in supporting pro-worker positions, others have been hopeless to say the least... "At the same time," the report said, "many ANC MPs and MPLs who were never part of COSATU have actively supported our positions. We must therefore avoid adopting a narrow approach in addressing this question." In line with this approach, the congress resolved that COSATU should: In addition, COSATU and its affiliates should coordinate their activities to engage with the parliamentary process at national, provincial and local level. Defend NEDLACNEDLAC is a terrain of struggle and should be defended since it constitutes a deepening of democracy and recognition of organised labour's central role in social and economic transformation, congress resolved. "NEDLAC was born out of our struggle to involve workers and society in the formulation of policies which directly affect them, particularly on social and economic issues," said a resolution on 'relations and attitude to the present government' drawn largely from proposals in COSATU's secretariat report. "NEDLAC's composition and character means that it contains many contradictions and is a terrain of struggle. It is an institution that we should defend," the resolution said. The congress also agreed that NEDLAC should not be counter-posed to parliamentary democracy, adding that NEDLAC negotiations did not substitute parliament's responsibility to legislate. At the same time, parliament needs to be sensitive to agreements reached in the tripartite body. "To ensure a dynamic and interactive relationship between parliament and NEDLAC, parliamentary committees should be briefed and have open access to all processes." Where appropriate, parliamentary committees should engage in discussions on issues while they are under discussion in NEDLAC. This would help broaden participation in debates. To ensure NEDLAC's potential for organised labour is fully exploited, COSATU should regularly assess and review its performance against criteria set out at its 1996 policy conference. The congress mandated the federation to convene a workshop of senior leadership to develop a strategy to involve its regions and locals in the NEDLAC process. |
COSATU congress has called for radical restructuring to ensure the survival of local government and the effective delivery of services.
Local administrations and funding methods should be restructured and municipal boundaries redrawn, the congress resolved.
Measures to give effect to this restructuring include:
The congress also resolved that:
