COSATU Welcomes ANC Western Cape Decision to Return Donation

7 May 2019

COSATU welcomes and supports the ANC Western Cape’s bold and correct decision to return Dr Iqbal Surve’s donation of R1 million towards its elections day operations. The Federation appreciates that this donation would have massively assisted the ANC in feeding thousands of its volunteers and transporting many elderly and disabled voters to voting stations. 

The federation is in full agreement with the ANC’s rationale that it cannot accept donations from persons, companies or any other sources who still needs to answer questions about the ongoing corruption allegations from various Commissions of Enquiry.

COSATU strongly supports the Commission of Enquiry appointed by President Ramaphosa into the Public Investment Corporation and how it has managed the investment of workers’ hard-earned pensions and insurance funds.  Damning allegations of corruption, poor governance have been aired at the Commission.  Dr Surve and his companies have been at the centre of many allegations raised at the Commission. 

Workers are angry and furious about the cavalier manner in which the PIC has managed and mismanaged their pension and insurance funds.  Politicians, businessmen, their relatives all too often are oblivious to the fact that the PIC funds are workers’ pension and insurance funds.  PIC is not a piggy bank but it manages workers retirement savings that are meant to take care of workers when they retire, are no longer able to work or have lost their jobs. 

Accepting a donation from Dr Surve before the Commission has had a chance to address very serious allegations, would undermine the ANC’s commitment to a new dawn and clean governance.  It would weaken the important work of the commission.  It would send a very worrying message to workers about the safety of their pensions and insurance funds invested by the PIC.  It would potentially be in violation of the progressive Political Party Funding Act, recently signed into law by the President, which prohibits using public funds to finance political parties.

COSATU is hopeful that by returning this large donation, the ANC is reaffirming its commitment to cleaning up not only the state but its own ranks.

Issued by Matthew Parks, Parliamentary Coordinator, COSATU, 7 May 2019