Volume 11, No.1 - Feb-May 2002
Letters
Dear Comrade
I am a shop steward within Umgeni Water, which is a parastatal dealing in supply of bulk water to municipalities. You might have been picking up stories in the media of massive corruption taking place in this institution.
As the shop floor leadership, we have been raising this issue since 1997 with the management, the board, and the Minister of Water affairs and Forestry, to no avail or just receiving cosmetic response and actions.
We have been also raising the matter both with our provincial and national structures of the union NEHAWU but we cannot say we receive appropriate attention or service.
The only unofficial responses we receive from some quarters are that it may be very difficult to get reception on Umgeni issue because some big guns have interest and might be implicated.
We are very much concern about the security of our members and the future of this institution. We are also told that big French transnationals in cahoots with senior officials within Umgeni Water, the World Bank, Durban Metro and DWAF want to run down the water boards and render them unviable, in order to motivate for a private take over of water service delivery.
We have tangible evidence of corruption and mismanagement, which we can share with your office. I will appreciate if you can provide some advice in approaching this mammoth problem. Thanks
Themba
Dear Editor
I am a housewife and listen to what COSATU has to say on the SABC and to the media.
You always protect the poor and unemployed and it is appreciated. I also notice that COSATU recognises everyone in South Africa. COSATU speaks on behalf of all in South Africa, not a particular group. Thank you very much for that.
I am shocked though that COSATU hasn't said anything about the changing of names of the Northern Province and the Eastern Cape.
According to the media, the needy provinces have already spent R40 million on changing the names of the provinces and of towns.
I acknowledge that this would definitely happen in the future, but shouldn't this money be spent firstly to assist the poor, the schools, the unemployed, HIV/AIDS and the hospitals.
R45 million is a huge amount of money and I don't think that the state should consent to the provinces to spend it.
I believe that it should have been discussed in Parliament first. In doing so everyone would have the opportunity to input. The Northern Province and the Eastern Cape are two poor provinces and Parliament should have been involved in the decision.
Therefore, I am shocked that COSATU, who have offices countrywide, had nothing to say in this regard. If the state has so much money to spend on "changing names", why are there so many arguments overseas.
1. The Kruger National Park needs money and tourists.
2. Nameplates of towns and provinces need to be changed.
3. Businesses must change all their correspondence. This money could have assisted in creating jobs.
4. The Post Offices must change their correspondence to the new name. They are experiencing difficulties as it is.
5. Telkom must change their correspondence. Telkom must change all telephone directories. Telkom must change 1023 directory information to the new name.
6. Road signs and maps will be changed
7. Tourist directories for South Africa will be changed in South Africa and abroad.
8. School correspondence in these towns must also be changed. Must the parents pay?
9. Municipalities, police stations, traffic departments, hospitals and clinics. Who is going to pay?
Should all their correspondence be changed? This costs a lot of money.
Will tourists abroad and locally benefit due to changing of names?
I hope that COSATU looks into the changing of names and realises that money spent on changing every letter, name etc could have been used to make South Africa a better place to live in.
Ms Betsie Senekal, Parow Valley
Dear Comrade,
I am a UK-based journalist and wish to express my solidarity with those struggling for democracy and freedom in Swaziland. I have heard about the plight of Mario Masuku and his treatment at the hands of Mswati's dictatorship.
I believe that if the UK and the rest of the international community can impose sanctions on Robert Mugabe, then the policy needs to be consistent towards all governments, including the unelected regime which currently rules Swaziland with an iron fist.
African people must be supported in their struggle against oppression and poverty. Just because Swaziland is small does not mean the monarchy, imposed by heredity, has a right to abandon all those agreements it signed to secure the human rights and dignity of the Swazi people.
I'm not suggesting that I, as a British man, have a right to determine who should rule Swaziland, but I believe the Swazis themselves must be given the opportunity to decide for themselves.
The enduring repression suffered by Swaziland since the suspension of the constitution in 1973 does not allow for freedom of expression and does nothing to solve the country's poverty crisis and the terrible legacy of colonialism. The West has done nothing to help the situation, as Swaziland spirals into yet more hardship.
I want to be able to help the Swazi democracy movement in the UK, either by joining an organisation affiliated to the Swaziland Democratic Alliance or forming a UK Solidarity Campaign. Perhaps we could help the Swazi democratic movement by fund-raising and drawing attention to the problems in Swaziland in the European media and among NGOs.
I look forward to hearing your response to my suggestions.
In solidarity!Daniel Brett
Dear Editor
It is important that when people are discussing issues they should be inspired and encouraged to be free to enquire about things which are not going right so they can use their own independent, critical thinking.
It is very important for us, the people of South Africa, to speak outright and loud against violations of human rights inZimbabwe or in any country for that matter, because we as South Africans we know exactly what it means.
We cannot be seen then condoning a government that does not respect the laws and instead amends laws that will affect and violate the rights of voters or other people who are part of an election process.
Laws must be upheld by governments. You cannot protect democracy or sovereignty by using bureaucratic or autocratic practices. Power is not given; it is earned through a correct interpretation of people's aspirations, delivery of mass mandates and through working with the people, particularly the workers who generate wealth day and night in the industries and farms and provide services in state institutions.
Coming to the Zimbabwe election, which attracted international interest, it brings to the fore a big question - why suddenly Zimbabwe became an area of interest.
Is it because Mugabe has touched untouchables and as a result the rich developed countries are in a retaliating spree, gunning for sanctions because Mugabe is not following their rules and standards?
Or are the diehards rearing their colonial ugly heads as usual, to be determiners of who should be the president of this and that country in the 'dark continent'?
If the African leaders had agreed with this, that would be to succumb on the outcome of elections being determined and decided in Europe or America. This would set a precedent that in all African countries, including South Africa, Tony Blair and company can veto a President who is elected without their blessing.
It was politically imperative that the African leaders resist this sovereignty invasion by imperialist countries. It seems that pounds and dollars to assist NEPAD were baiting cards being used as a condition for agreeing to Zimbabwe sanctions, and that is hypocritical blackmail.
What went wrong in Zimbabwe, a country whose leaders were advocates of a socialist system? It is a lesson to us that socialism is not wishful thinking; there is no blue print to build socialism. Every country in the world has embryos or seeds of socialism but it needs a conducive subjective factor and objective conditions. The working class must be ideologically organised, educated and guided in Marxist-Leninist theory.
In Zimbabwe, the leaders at the end of the day had to accept the Structural Adjustment Programme of IMF and WB. The gap between the workers and the ZanuPF started to be wide opened. Labour and social conditions became unbearable and thus workers and the poor started to lose faith and hope in ZanuPF and look for a new home in the MDC which has no programme to take Zimbabwe out of crisis.
If they had a programme they would working hard to rally and convince all the sections of society and state apparatuses to debate their visionary programme that will take the country to the prosperous future and economic recovery. It becomes useless then to accuse Mugabe and ZanuPF because the MDC are also power mongers.
Thobile Maso
SAMWU (In my personal capacity)
