Debates amongst workers have flourished since the strike. These are just some letters we have received spelling out what they think. Write and tell us what you think or debate the issue in your local or workplace.
Hoist that red flag higher!
During the WSSD Cosatu showed a spirit of comradeship by not staging the general strike and shifted it to October 1 and 2. The utterances advocated by our ANC leadership that Cosatu is part of the reactionary forces is uncalled for. Cosatu is an independent component of the alliance that must be respected. The ANC is a mass-based organisation and the leadership is accountable to its electoral constituency.
Whatever achievements/ victories we achieved don’t belong to those on top or certain individuals but to the masses which is the working class.
It is myopic thinking that Cosatu should just focus on pure labour issues. Whatever challenges confront the working class at large they are a challenge to Cosatu and the SACP too. I think those who want to be regarded as heavyweights in the ANC are not going to demand an apology from Cosatu as they did with Jeremy Cronin in the SACP, though they labelled him with far-fetched racial criticisms of calling him a white messiah.
Such people are the ones who were supposed to apologise to those white people who dedicated their lives to eradicate racial discrimination. I believe this misunderstanding of who is who in the alliance should be ironed-out before it reaches a catastrophic situation.
The far-left formations have got a totally different approach from the way Cosatu is addressing the fundamental issues affecting the masses.
The masses know very well what is the ANC and what it stands for so it is not a wise move to push neo-liberal policies down their throats. The deviation from our electoral manifesto is suicidal. I don’t believe Cosatu is a destructive revolutionary watchdog but instead it is making our leadership conscious of short-comings.
As a diverse constituency, Cosatu is a home for those to have a common approach on issues. Cosatu has properly given guidance to millions even in voting for the ANC. There is an alternative to the GEAR policy which never created jobs, instead we see down-sizing and rationalisation. The guinea-fowls have shown their true colours, so they must leave the chickens and fly with the guinea-fowls. People shouldn’t be misled – we will always defend the ANC against reactionary forces.
To our Cosatu leadership, hoist that red flag higher and higher to symbolise the workers’ blood. To the membership, greediness and self-interest must be put aside. The future doesn’t belong to cowards and nobody will lead you to total emancipation but yourselves. I believe we have to fulfill our second stage of our revolution which is socialism.
Even Christians say cowards don’t enter heaven so I think we are prepared to die with our helmets, overalls and boots on to get rid of neo-liberal policies affecting our lives, family and future generations.
Stanford Ndoba – Wadeville Local
Let’s address our differences
Many Cosatu members who were not there when others participated in the march didn’t necessarily vote against the action but supported it by staying at home.
An assessment revealed that those companies where employees reported for work had been coerced and threatened by bosses. This borders on an unfair labour practice because the application of section 77 by Cosatu for strike action on economic issues covers all who directly have interests on matters contained in the section 77 application.
Both the employers and the government must be ordered to comply and desist from using undemocratic tactics against legitimate workers’ rights, if we are really to reap the fruits of our democracy.
It was ironic that the democratic government employed the same tactics which the apartheid regime applied against democratic forces. The difference is, it did not unleash the state machinery to brutalise workers. However, workers were verbally brutalised for participating in a peaceful strike action.
The rhetoric and labelling by the ANC leadership was but one verbal assault against workers. If indeed there are ultra leftists within Cosatu, according to the ANC President, why wait until now, was it counter-strike? No. I don’t think so, it was counter-productive because it questions the intelligence of the entire Cosatu delegation who took this resolution at the time.
It is counter-productive because more than anything it hardened attitudes of workers. Because our honourable president did not make direct reference to specific individuals. He labelled everyone as ultra-left and that created a problem.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be worried about this label because leftists who are ultra, were rightist. Anyway you need to turn them anti-clockwise from time to time for them to remain centrist within the ANC!
Some of our members accuse their leaders of not drawing the battle lines very clearly by remaining in the alliance with the ANC. They want to break the alliance so that it becomes clear who the direct enemy is.
Surely our enemy cannot be the ANC but imperialism together with its offspring – neo-liberalism.
The imperialist giants, the World Bank and IMF, prescribe that the state must privatise assets in its possession before or rather if they want them to invest in our economy. The question is – who has the cash to buy – us or them?
Obviously we need to sober up, put aside rhetoric and address differences within the alliance’s set up structures or through summits. Stop being egotistic because the failure to do exactly that is sending wrong messages to constituencies. We are even playing into the hands of anarchists.
No wonder there are bombings all of a sudden – we have created the space! The emergence of the Anti Privatisation Forum is due to the space created – we don’t need them.
Tshota Solex Monya-diiwa – Denel, Pretoria Central Local
The writing is on the wall
The saying that says, the more things change, the more things stay the same, seems to be true for a number of reasons eg. ‘better life for all’ sounds just about right, but not when you take the recent events into consideration. You don’t promise people a better life but offer them a bleak future – selling of state assets (people’s assets) is definitely going to bring about a bleak future.
I am not sure what is the ANC’s intentions – first it started with the integration of the various armies to form the present ‘national’ defence force. We all know what are the results (swallowing of the non-statutory forces merely to contain the apparent time bomb – their anger.)
Probably this thing – privatisation – will serve as a pointer that workers are on their own. What else workers want from the ANC beats me. We have given the African National Congress a mandate to rule and transform this country’s socio-economic and political situation and improve the lot of our people, but the opposite is happening. We do not, as Africans, hope for the poor Afrikaner type of a contingency plan to alleviate our plight. Neither do we need the selling of state (people’s) assets to pay off the apartheid debts.
The manner in which workers of this country have been treated is really disgusting to say the least. Unions were used as fronts to articulate the ANC politics amongst other things – socialism, communism and what not.
As if that is not enough – today we have the head of the ANC youth league doing the dirty work of the ANC – accusing the workers of trying to overthrow the government. What the hell does Malusi Gigaba know about workers’ problems – and is he working anyway? He had better not use the workers to climb the ladder to get to where other fat cats have gone. This fellow has no right to accuse Cosatu or workers of treason.
This is a free country (made possible by Cosatu and other progressive forces) and forms of suppression in all its forms and style must be rejected. I am not a political expert but some political decisions are simply hopeless and pathetic if you ask me. If you privatise water and other basic services there is going to be a lot of confusion and mayhem in this country.
The writing is on the wall – all the rights workers fought for and achieved even during apartheid are busy being reversed eg. Sunday work rate, 40 hour week is selective, collective bargaining is being undermined etc. Cosatu/ workers dissatisfaction is treated with contempt as though they are foreigners.
We have voted you into government and we will vote you out collectively as workers, but that would be unfortunate. Away with privatisation and matchbox houses.
Cecil Sello Morerwa – Power Torque Diesel, Wadeville