Statement from the COSATU Central Executive Committee, 27-28 May 2013

29 May 2013

The Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Congress of South African Trade Unions held a scheduled meeting on 27-28 May 2013, attended by National Office Bearers, representatives of the affiliated unions and provincial leaders.

The meeting took place at a time when the federation, the working class and the country face massive challenges. Unemployment, poverty and inequality remain at outrageous levels.

Millions of workers and poor South Africans are becoming more and more angry. They refuse to put up with massive levels of unemployment. They want exploiting labour brokers banned. They want rid of racist bosses. They have had enough of poverty wages and grotesque levels of inequality which have made us the most unequal society on the planet!

Millions feel increasingly marginalised and excluded in a society, where they have won political freedom, but nearly 20 years later feel left behind in a world where a rich minority get richer and richer, with access to world-class services, while the poor majority struggle to survive on poverty pay or social grants, with hopelessly pathetic public services.

COSATU has emerged as the champion of this poor majority, playing a leading role in our economic and social life, the workers' champion, and the scourge of the corrupt and the exploiters. Many call COSATU the conscience of our young democracy and the fearless spokesperson of the interests of the downtrodden within and even outside the borders of our country.

As a result we have, inevitably, made enemies, from within the ranks of the rich and powerful, who want to defend their privileges from the workers. They have plenty of allies in the media who have been working overtime recently to attack the federation by portraying it as divided, haemorrhaging members and threatened with collapse.

The CEC strongly condemned the way the media had covered the run-up to the meeting, and even while it was in session, with sensationalised stories based mostly on false information from anonymous ‘sources'.

The CEC equally strongly attacked those within the movement who leak and misrepresent all our discussions in order to feed their own factional agendas. The media and their sources together want to try to divide and weaken the federation, and to set the agenda for COSATU meetings. They failed this week and we are determined that they will never succeed!

COSATU leadership at the CEC is acutely aware of the dangers of fighting silly small battles against one another when workers continue to face massive economic challenges, mainly as a result of the continued dominance of the mining-finance-energy complex that is organised through monopoly companies. We are aware of the pain caused by the sensationalised media hyping of divisions and its predictions of an imminent collapse of the federation.

The CEC has decided that all leaders of COSATU have a responsibility to preserve the unity of the Federation so that workers are not robbed of the only weapon they have to defend them against unfair dismissals and disciplinary processes and to improve their wages and conditions of employment.

We know that millions of South Africans who love democracy and who recognise the critical role COSATU has played want to see a united, strong federation that is determined to struggle even harder to free the workers from exploitation and poverty, a COSATU that is capable of uniting progressive civil society and trade unions and that will play its role in the alliance to ensure that the future of our country is not jeopardised by corruption and tenderpreneurs.

So the CEC meeting focussed on the need to strengthen the unity and cohesion of the federation and build a united force to implement the decisions of the 11th National Congress in 2012 and the Collective Bargaining, Organising and Campaigns Conference in March 2013.

After a thorough, two-day-long discussion, the CEC resolved to fight harder than ever for the workers; we have to show them that we are not splitting or paralysed, as the media and their ‘sources' want us to believe. We are recruiting new members in the Workers' Month of May, listening to the workers with our ear to the ground, fighting against e-tolls and labour brokers and defending individual workers and unions like the NUM and SATAWU which are under attack. COSATU's flag is flying high!

The CEC agreed that it was of paramount importance to continue, and speedily complete, the process of discussion of some problematic ideological, organisational and administrative issues which arose at the February 2013 CEC meeting.

Comrades Petrus Mashishi and Charles Nupen were requested to facilitate discussions on these issues with union presidents and general secretaries, with the aim of fostering the unity and cohesion of the federation. They gave the CEC a report of the meetings which had taken place - and some which had not taken place - and some problems which had arisen, which had led to the process failing to resolve the issues under discussion.

The CEC unanimously adopted a package of measures to take this process forward urgently and passed the resolution below.

In this context it was agreed to convene an urgent meeting of the CEC Political Commission, extended to include all Presidents and General Secretaries, on 6 June. The CEC mandated this meeting to prepare for the bilateral meeting with the SACP, the Alliance Summit in October and Alliance Economic Summit on 4-7 July. It will assess the outcomes of ANC Mangaung Conference, our position on the NDP, and taking forward the Section 77 Notice on economic transformation.

We shall facilitate bilateral meetings between affiliates to discuss outstanding issues, e.g. between NUM and NUMSA on 24 June.

The CEC emerged united around a resolve that the work of the Federation must continue uninterrupted. The resolutions of the Congress stand; the decisions of the Central Committee stand; the decisions of the CEC stand. Our determination to continue to organise and service our members, to grow our numbers, to listen carefully to our members, and to implement our campaigns remains unshaken.

At our 11th National Congress last year, the workers of our country confounded the many prophets of doom who were predicting COSATU's collapse then. They were solidly united and instructed their leaders to embark on a radical programme of action to realise workers' legitimate demands. Nothing must stop us from honouring that mandate!

Resolution of the CEC on unity and cohesion of the Federation

The CEC unanimously decided that the current internal process to achieve greater levels of unity and cohesion of the Federation would continue.

The facilitators appointed by the February 2013, Central Executive Committee are given a flexible mandate to talk to individual affiliates with a view of facilitating discussions. All affiliated unions and COSATU NOBs will be allowed to make individual submissions in writing, and motivate for these directly to the facilitators. The facilitators will record these presentations. The presentations shall be based on the four broad issues identified by the February CEC which are listed as:

1. Ideological,

2. Political,

3. Organizational and

4. Administration

The facilitators will provide an opportunity to all those accused of wrong-doing to respond to any allegations contained in the submissions. The facilitators will facilitate discussions between all role players on these four identified areas in line with this flexible mandate and will develop a schedule of plenary meetings of the President and General Secretaries for discussions on specific matters.

Administrative issues will be dealt with by the facilitators where appropriate. However an auditing firm Sizwe Ntsaluba Gobodo has been appointed to conduct a forensic audit, to determine whether there was any impropriety in relation to the sale of COSATU head office and the purchase and ownership of COSATU house. Any submissions relating to this sale and purchase will be made to the auditors, and if there is any other issue requiring forensic auditing, such issue will be directed to the auditors by the facilitators.

Programme

1. The facilitators and the auditing firm will be advised of this resolution with immediate effect

2. Affiliates and National Office Bearers who wish to make submissions to the facilitators will do so with immediate effect but no later than 6 June 2013.

3. The auditors from Sizwe Ntsaluba Gobodo will be handed the file that deals with the background to the sale and purchasing of the building, which forms part of the General Secretary's submission. They will conduct a forensic investigation into the sale and purchase of the buildings based on this file and any other information that may be provided by affiliates. The auditors will conclude their report by the end of June 2013. Once the report is ready, the auditors will present a report in the presence of the facilitators to a meeting of the Presidents and General Secretaries of affiliated unions without any delay.

4. Once the facilitators have received all submissions by 6 June 2013, they will start convening the process of facilitation between role players as well as convening plenary meetings of the Presidents and General Secretaries to ensure thorough debate on these issues. They will thereafter compile their report. This process must happen during the month of June 2013.

5. The NOBs will convene a CEC meeting in the first or (at very latest) second week of July 2013 to amongst other discuss the facilitators' report. 

Statement issued by COSATU, May 29 2013

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