NEHAWU NEC STATEMENT
NEHAWU convened its 1st National Executive Committee {NEC} meeting of 2014 on the 03-04th of April 2013. The NEC considered the work in progress to date in the implementation of our four year programme of action as adopted by our CEC in December 2013, based on the broad mandates of our 10th congress and 11th congress of COSATU.
International situation
In its appraisal of the current international situation, the NEC observed that despite isolated signs of recovery; on the whole the global capitalist system is still reeling from the crisis that broke out in 2008. Indeed, despite the draconian cuts in public expenditures (including retrenchments and wage cuts in the public sector), public debts, inequalities and poverty are growing. At the same time, there is recognition by the Western governments that their artificial mechanism of supporting the economy through the so-called quantitative easing is not sustainable - whilst it's tapering is now causing havoc in economies of the global-south, including South Africa.
The NEC concluded that it is against the backdrop of this persistent capitalist crisis that the increasingly aggressive posture of western imperialism must be understood. Hence, we share the concerns of the ANC's NEC regarding "the international trend of regime-change methods that are projected as protecting democracy while in essence undermining it".
NEHAWU expresses profound solidarity with the working people of Ukraine and Venezuela. We pledge support to the Crimean people in exercising their right to self-determination and hope that this would provide impetus to the Saharawi, Basque, Kurdish and other legitimate national struggles for self-determination.
The western inspired subversive shenanigans and political infiltration in countries such as Syria, Egypt, Ukraine and Venezuela must remind us that South Africa is not immune and therefore all compatriots and the democratic movement as a whole must remain vigilant of saboteurs and collaborators in our midst. The NEC calls on the union to step up its solidarity work in support of the people of Palestine, Swaziland, Saharawi and all the other oppressed people of the world in their struggles.
National political situation
The NEC noted the Twenty Year Review released by government. On the whole, we believe that it captures the lived experiences of the overwhelming millions of our people, especially with regard to the steady expansion of access to basic services to our communities.
Clearly the challenges remain stark, especially unemployment, poverty and inequalities and we believe that the country must forge a new radical transformation trajectory to rapidly address them. Nonetheless, this review communicates a good story of the consolidation of our democracy and freedoms, and the deepening of socioeconomic transformation which the overwhelming millions of our compatriots are celebrating.
However, as part of the broader democratic movement led by the ANC, which is the custodian of our democratic system, the NEC observed with concern the ongoing abuse of some of the key pillars of our hard earned democratic system.
We condemn the political abuse of the institution of the Public Protector by the current incumbent - who is steadily eroding the standing of the institution through her unnecessary biased political comments, attendance to a rally of her favoured political party, politically motivated leaks to the media and timing of her release of the report on Nkandla security upgrades.
We have noted the release of the Nkandla report by the Public Protector. NEHAWU supports the ongoing investigations by the agencies of the criminal justice system and thus call on the authorities, without any fear or favour to prosecute those who are responsible for the scandalous waste of scarce resources
NEHAWU believes that as we celebrate 20 years of freedom and democracy it is a patriotic duty of our people and the broader democratic movement to defend our democratic system, including the chapter 9 institutions such as the Independent Electoral Commission that is now under assault by those who already know that they are going to be trounced in the 2014 general elections. We condemn the reckless language by the proto-fascist EFF, who have threatened civil war if the IEC Chairperson, Adv Pantsy Tlakula does not resign.
Whilst our own members have raised issues of concern with the leadership of the IEC, we do not support the politicisation of these chapter nine institutions, because doing so will lead the nation on a slippery slope. The NEC will be engaging with the leadership of the IEC to demand the immediate action from them to resolve issues raised by workers. We expect them to act decisively and ensure that the integrity of the institution is protected and respected and workers rights are not trampled. Advocate Tlakula should protect her integrity and that of the institution by stepping aside.
The NEC came to a conclusion that immediate strategic tasks for the working class, is to deliver a decisive victory for the ANC in the 2014 elections. We will scale up our elections campaign in the build up to the May 7 elections date. The NEC observed that under the guise of "polling surveys", the detractors and opponents of the ANC-led Alliance have only in January this year claimed that ANC's electoral support has plummeted to 53% and thus propagating a self-delusional narrative that the 2014 elections are "a game-changer" of the national political landscape.
Since the ANC-led Alliance launched its massive elections campaign and thus exposing the hollowness of this narrative, a new scaremongering narrative that the ANC is set to win two-thirds majority with "unfettered power to amend the constitution" is now being propagated. This desperate attempt to rally support for the Democratic Alliance and the hopeless attempt to create complacency amongst millions of the ANC voters is bound to fail.
The NEC calls on COSATU and all its affiliates, as well as the democratic movement as a whole to step up the campaign for a decisive victory of the ANC on the 7th May to strike a blow on the twin internal enemies of our revolution - white monopoly capital and tenderpreneursim as politically represented by the DA and EFF respectively.
Close the ranks and defend COSATU
In terms of our three year programme of action, organisationally we have declared 2014 the year in which we devote maximum attention to successfully executing the tasks of branch congresses, training of newly elected shopstewards, running public service bargaining forums, recruitment campaign and completing the membership project task team work.
The NEC considered a progress report in this regard. Whilst recognising the challenge of pursuing these organisational tasks and at the same time embarking on the 2014 election campaign, the NEC set out steps to strengthen our programme of action and directed the national union to move with speed in implementing these organisational tasks.
The NEC concluded that our ongoing work in strengthening our own union organisation is inextricably linked to the task of strengthening our federation. Given the fact that the focus and energy of COSATU continues to be consumed by efforts to defend itself against elements that are hell-bent on causing anarchy and to undermine it, NEHAWU is now calling on our federation to act decisively to put an end to this debilitating state of internal instability.
The federation should do what it has to do - it must without any fear or favour - apply its own rules and policies, and if this means expelling those who want to remain within the federation whilst destroying some COSATU unions and who see themselves as opponents of our Alliance, then let it be. It must surgically remove them, root and branch to allow itself space to begin a process of rebuilding itself and affiliates. This includes responding to the pressing workplace issues of members who are the life-blood of our federation as well as other socioeconomic and political challenges.
In keeping with this, as NEHAWU we believe that the current leadership collective must steer the federation up to the 12th congress in 2015. We have noted the decision of the South Gauteng High Court, to set aside the suspension of Cde Zwelinzima Vavi. Our NEC would be engaging with the leadership of COSATU to explore the wayforward after this decision. COSATU should deal with the current issues on its own terms and should realize that no successful organization can be built on personalities or on sentiments.
The NEC denounced the tirade by some few individuals, from the Eastern Cape against the person of the General Secretary of our union, Cde Fikile Slovo Majola under the guise of representing COSATU in the province. We will not engage with them and give legitimacy to their smear campaign.
Health
The NEC condemned the wicked attempts by pharmaceutical monopolies, collaborating with some American agencies, to obstruct the adoption of the National policy on Intellectual Property as a way of reducing the price of medicines and improve medication access for the vulnerable in our society.
We fully support the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies and the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi in their determination to ensure the successful adoption of the Draft National Policy on Intellectual Property. We support the identification in the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) of the expansion of domestic pharmaceutical production as one of its apex priorities and call for the establishment of a fully state owned pharmaceutical company.
NEHAWU is concerned by the Human Sciences Research Council's survey which reveals that South Africans are not using protection when engaging in sexual activities; they are not faithful to their partners and their knowledge of sexual health is minimal. This survey is worrying and points to the fact that we need to consolidate the good work that have been done on HIV testing and ARV's rollout and focus more on awareness. The department has done a wonderful job in reversing the Aids scourge and we should all support it to close any identified gaps in its work.
Post-schooling education
We are happy that the White Paper for Post-school Education and Training was adopted in November 2013, we now expect the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to focus on implementation. We recognize that currently the public sector is leading the way in providing opportunities for workplace training through apprenticeships, learnerships and internships. We support the Public Administration and Management Act which has been passed this year to provide for the establishment of the National School of Government as a higher education institution for training in the public service.
We are happy that the DHET has now set in motion the process of the establishment of the councils at the two new universities in Northern Cape and Mpumalanga. We will be mobilizing university stakeholders at the University of North West to fight racism and ensure that the university is not just transformed but accommodate all South Africans regardless of colour.We are deeply unhappy with the state of our FET Colleges and condemn the cavalier attitude of the department of Higher Education and Training, when it comes to resolving these issues. We have submitted three memorandums and we expect the department to respond to them because failure to do so will poison the relations with the union.
Statement issued by Fikile Majola, NEHAWU General Secretary, April 7 2014
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