COSATU Gauteng statement on the replacement of Premier David Makhura and the upcoming October 7th National Action
19 September 2022
The Congress of South African Trade Unions in Gauteng convened a provincial meeting yesterday (18 September 2022) to discuss amongst other things the state of politics in the province and preparation of a National Action planned for 7th October 2022 to mark the International Day for Decent Work.
The meeting resolved that the Action on 7 October 2022 will be decentralised to clusters and will be preceded by local and cluster shop-stewards councils
The focus of the National Day of Action will amongst others demand answers on memorandums handed to government for the past 24 months, including the memorandum submitted to the President on 24 August 2022. The meeting also concluded that the fight back campaign against the cost of living will continue through pickets and demonstrations at strategic government departments.
The meeting also discussed the state of politics in the province and concluded that the ANC in the province is on a political suicide mission. The recent decisions by the PEC are inward-looking and follow the same old trajectory of obsessing over palace politics while the working class is bleeding.
There are no signs that the newly elected leadership has understood nor managed to decode the message of the last couple of elections outcomes.
The people of the province have been crying for a people centred governance model that is focused on resolving their problems, yet they are still waking up to headlines about leaders jostling for positions.
At an Alliance level we were promised a broad and comprehensive consultation process around the question of Premier David Makhura. It is regrettable but not shocking that the ANC in the province has failed to honour that promise.
The message for COSATU is clear that the priority for the ANC in the province is to keep power at all costs even if it means dismantling the Alliance. In June 2019, the ANC convened a Lekgotla to translate the Manifesto mandate into a concrete five-year programme for implementation.
The Lekgotla concluded that the “Manifesto was not just a document of the ANC-led Alliance, but a compact with the people of South Africa to continue with the revolutionary programme for the acceleration of the transformation of society and move faster to build life for all by decisively tackling unemployment, poverty and inequality”.
It is telling that the current leadership collective has decided to disregard the commitment they made to the Alliance partners and the voters, and have decided to focus on positions and power.
The message we are deciphering from these recent political developments is that the working class is on its own. The ANC must understand that unlike other motive forces, the working class will not be neutral, when things deteriorate and when the centre fails to anchor the revolution, but they will take a class position over organisational loyalty anytime. It is the ANC that will be forced to choose, where its loyalties lie and not the working class.
Issued by Louisa Modikwe, Gauteng Provincial Secretary, 19 September 2022
