Volume 10, No.6 - Jan 2002
Letters
Dear Comrade
Since 1995 when the National Framework Agreement was signed and talks of privatisation became the order of the day, workers continually got the short end of the stick. Workers are being traumatized through restructuring, transformation and retrenchment.
Many COSATU affiliates are investing into outsource entities and certain parastatals through their Investment Companies. Within Telkom certain entities like the workshops and the mechanical, were outsource to private concerns. According to the Labour Relations Act, businesses are sold with full benefits to the workers. Our union CWU has agreed to this process, and has an interest in these entities.
Today these outsource entities cannot pay workers salaries and benefits. When they are being retrenched, these entities cannot pay workers their pension benefits and severance packages. How can unions have an interest in these outsource companies, and also organise workers in these entities? This is blatantly a conflict of interest.
With the IPO process in Telkom, CWU has agreed in principle to obtain shares, and thus lead to privatisation. The investment wing (CWIC) endeavors to obtain these shares. With retrenchments continuing in the parastatals and other companies, and unions buying shares, workers will not reap the benefits.
Officials and staff of trade unions earn better salaries and benefits than the members, where they organize. When unions are being minimised through retrenchment, who will reap the benefits? Officials of course.
COSATU and its affiliates cannot continually call for strike actions against privatisation, whereby a conflict of interest exist. Officials, FTSS and Staff don’t lose any wages or salaries, when workers took to the streets to support the campaigns. The shares that exist within the unions, only staff and officials will benefit from it while members will lose their jobs.
Through the above-mentioned actions, workers will become disillusioned and reluctant to participate in these campaigns. However COSATU officials must now start to debate these confusing controversies at high level. The social plans through transformation are not taking place as it should.
Many workers who have been retrenched do not get work or contracts from these entities. Union officials resign from the companies, and capitalise on these opportunities. They further exploit workers and violate all legislation which protect workers.
Black Economic Empowerment is not enhanced through these processes. Trade union leaders use quality union time to organize their private businesses at the expense of workers. However this is not conducive to the credibility of unions. Corruption in trade unions must be eradicated.
It will be highly appreciated to ensure that the above-mentioned issues attract serious attention.
Yours Comradely
Charles Minnies, CWU Shop steward, Western Cape
Dear Editor
Those liars who support privatisation say it will lead to transformation, that the sale of state assets will lead to making the ordinary black people wealthy. But this is a lie and nonsense. Only a minority of blacks will benefit to a certain extent, although it will mainly be those few in the black elite of wealthy members of black petty bourgeoisie.
The majority of blacks want to see the benefit of this. However it is more likely that foreign capitalists will be beneficiaries. Equally important, privatisation of state assets will lead to poor economic performance which will lead to crime and unemployment.
On top of that, comrades and cadres of the revolution, privatisation is a crime against humanity. There will be no better life under the privatisation system but a better life for a few. Let the workers wage an economic struggle against the government and capitalist bosses. Privatisation has been proven to fail throughout the world.
Current Rumbu
SAFSU Military Trade Union, Khayelitsha
Dear Comrades
The SACP must be more ideologically challenging and more politically independent within the Alliance. But this should not be the task of a few individual SACP leaders. Every leader has a duty to lead and defend the ideological positions of the SACP. No leader should be allowed to be neutral when any SACP ideological position is under attack.
No leader of the SACP should occupy a government position if it requires him/her to lead policies that are anti-SACP, anti-workers and anti-working class. Every leader of the SACP owes a degree of loyalty to the SACP, which requires him to carry out its policies and decisions and not in any way act against or undermine them.
I am talking here of an individual leader of the SACP, acting in his personal capacity, not carrying out any mandate of the party. This situation and the absence of a clear policy are not assisting the SACP at all.
The recent sharpening ideological differences and tensions between SACP and COSATU on the one hand, and ANC and government on the other, over government’s macro economic policy, GEAR, particularly privatisation and job losses, indicates clearly the need to for every member of SACP and COSATU to seriously take up the task of building a more ideologically challenging and more politically independent SACP within the Alliance.
It is clear that there are individuals within the ANC and government who do not want to see an ideologically challenging and politically independent SACP. The attack on the leadership of the party and COSATU, for no reason than that they are honestly defending the interest of the working class, is clear evidence of this.
As members of the SACP and COSATU we must guard against individuals within the leadership of SACP and organized labour, who might be tempted to allow themselves to be used against the leadership of the SACP and COSATU to undermine and weaken these two organisations, so that they would follow the ANC and government regardless of what the government and ANC are doing.
These are individuals whom Lenin denounced as "petty-bourgeois socialists who use revolutionary phrase-mongering to oppose the proletarian revolution and distract the workers from the revolutionary struggle."
We must also guard against being told, whenever we defend our interest as workers, that we are members of the Alliance, by the very Alliance partner who is attacking the working class or is taking decisions affecting us as Alliance partners without an agreement.
In as much as we want this Alliance, as Marxist-Leninists we do not need an alliance in which our class interest is not respected. We are taking guidance from Lenin in "The revolutionary party and its tactics" who has this to say on the question of alliances: "The Social Democrats [Communists] will always point out that this solidarity is temporary and conditional, they will always point the independent class identity of the proletariat, who tomorrow may find themselves in opposition to their allies of today."
However, this does not mean that we must run away from the Alliance, as if we fear ideological contestation or asserting our political independence within the Alliance. The SACP must be more ideologically challenging and more strongly assertive of our political independence and let the masses of our people judge whether we are really the vanguard of their interests. What is nice about this Alliance is that we share a largely common constituency.
Paul Biyase, member of Gauteng SACP Provincial Executive Committee, and NUMSA Benefits Coordinator.
Dear Comrades
I take this opportunity to congratulate these following comrades for the victory during my hearing on 27 August. These are Comrades Molly, Orlando and Maria, for the Wineland district.
Comrades, this is really a victory. My DC was one of the toughest ones I ever came across. It was really victimisation from management, because I was accused of insulting the senior manager. My three charges were about the use of abusive language toward the assistant catering manager, not working to standard and gross insubordination.
Comrades, just imagine, three charges at the same time. I was really innocent in all three charges. Fortunately the three comrades who represented me were powerful on their side. I also made sure that my preparation before the DC was of a very high standard so that those poor boers could learn a lesson about behaviour.
The chairperson was from our head office of Kagiso Khulani Supervisory Food Service. The chairperson couldn’t get any evidence from all these charges. At the end of the long, upside-down discussion the results were not to find me guilty in all three charges. Thank you Comrades, to all of you.
K Morgett Thombela
NEHAWU, Western Cape Winelands
