Message by COSATU president at the SACP Red October Rally, Lethabong,  Rustenburg -  4 October 2014 

Comrades, please accept revolutionary greetings from the National Office Bearers and the Central Executive committee.

We would like to thank the ANC for inviting us to this Red October rally . In our view this rally is taking place at a time when our movement as a whole is going through a period of heightened confusion regarding the path we should take. Whilst there is clarity on the resolutions taken at various congresses but there appeared to be dithering about decisively taking a step forward particularly when it comes to economic policies.  

 We are confronted with perculiar challenges some of which has no precedent . These are the challenges of our time as this generation of  activists. 

Part of how the challenges of  our times present themselves is the fact that they take place at a time when the liberation movement as led by the ANC which is also our strategic alliance partner has assumed political office as the leader of government. This has presented a number of challenges in various fronts which include lack of commitment  from some sections of the movement to pursue radical economic policy trajectory ,  use  of dirty money to influence the outcomes of elections towards conferences , institutionalisation of factions which gets given official names . 

With all the challenges in the movement which also reflects in the challenges facing the federation as COSATU we  have consistently maintained a position which said that we will not throw in the towel and leave the ANC . 

In our recent conferences we said our posture will be that of supporting the current leadership of the ANC from being put on the backfoot by various factional tendencies.

We said we will be critical of the movement but we will do so in a principled manner.

It is for this reason that we want to call on our  members  and all our  structures to stay away from participating in the untimely discussions regarding the ANC 2017   election leadership issues. These discussions have all the potential of weakening our organisations. Our task must be  to unite and identify the urgent tasks of the moment in our revolution. 

We must be pre-occupied with building and cementing the unity of our organisations . As COSATU we should focus on  building from the momentum of the Special National Congress.  As the Alliance we should build from the momentum of the recent Alliance Summit where we confronted each other about each one of our weaknesses. This is the foundation we should use to build on our strengths. Our people want us to inpire hope about the challenges they face on a daily basis. 

The reality is that some within our ranks do not care about our unity , they do not care about whether the democratic government remains in power or not because that think that they have arrived. They have secured enough tenders and have enough liquid cash in their bank accounts and for them this means the vision of the freedom charter has been achieved.

It is clear that those of our organisations which have open class class interests sucg as the SACP and COSATU we should never be accommodative of attempts which seeks to treat the workers and the working as second class citizens who deserve less than the rest. 

The moment we are going through calls upon us to boldly occupy the front ranks of the struggle to assert the dignity of our people. The reason as to why we still have the DA  pursuing racism is because we have become softer.    We no longer attack racism with he vigour to destroy it but we want to accommodate racists. 

At some stage our people were called refugees by the DA because they were in the Western Cape . The statement was treated lightly and yet its implications are huge . the statement meant that the DA sees the Western Cape as a white only states where black people can only visit through a visa . The statement meant that the DA sees South Africa as a federal state where Western Cape is not part of the whole of South Africa. We did not respond to this DA’s statement in a manner was equal to it political and ideological meaning. The fact of the matter is that DA does not deserve to be in charge of the Western Cape and we need to have them removed through the ballot.  Our countr does not deserve to be governed by a racist party like the DA which still believes in white supremacy.

The recent statement by the DA which elevated PW Botha was not mistake nor was it a slip of tongue it expresses the deepest ideological beliefs of the DA.  PW Botha precided of an apartheid state which created conditions that deepened racism in this country . PW Botha was the helm of one of the most corrupt government ever.  No one ever speaks about how corrupt was Apartheid because the intention is drive a story line what white is perfect and black is inferior and continues to be so even when we are in government.  It cannot get worse than it is now. 

The statement which elevated PW Botha is a DA statement and represent the policies of the DA. It is the DA which planned a march against COSATU house on their campaign to have African youth remains exploited in the name of the youth wage subsidy . It is the DA which is went to parliament and moved for the taking away of our workers’ right to strike , It is the DA which continues up to this day to pursue cheap African labour system through their defence and advocating for labour brokers .  The DA is the party of apartheid and colonialism . It is a party which believes that black people should be kept in their inferior position. That black face which they put as their leader is just used as their political body guard to secure ill begotten wealth for whites.  Comrades we have to put our collective effort to remove the DA apartheid rule at the Western Cape. The province has become a racist province. Under the DA black people have no place in the Western Cape, whether in government or in the private sector. Racism is practice through administrative means and that is why even employment processes are highly centralised in the Western Cape. 

We are fighting in various fronts. As we fight to expose the fundamental racist character of the DA and to win over the Western Cape, we should also at the time fight against those things which divides us in our own organisations.

There is no battle we will win if  we do not take up campaigns demanding socio- economic rights and driving a programme for radical economic transformation in our country . We will not win any battle if our fights only ends up in boardrooms . let us take the class battles to the streets. For quite a long time now as COSATU we have been fighting our battle on the National Minimum Wage in boardrooms  and we are now taking it to the streets. 

The battle  for a total ban of  labour brokers will not be won in boardrooms through legislative amendments but will be won on the streets through an open class war against labour brokering companies. If it is true that some of our comrades own labour brokers we want to tell them , who-ever they that sizonigandaya.  

Comrades  as COSATU we stand here emboldened by the Special National Congress which  re- affirmed the character of COSATU as a militant and radical federation of trade unions, which is class oriented.

It said that as COSATU we should remain  committed to worker control and democracy, and to maintaining our  independence being conscious of the dangers of being co-opted by employers and politicians.

The Special National Congress said that we must  remain a worker controlled federation that is vigilant and which strive to avoid any possibility of being complacent, being   bureaucratic and being controlled by technocrats and experts.

That historic Special National Congress said that our federation must remain occupied with broad social and political issues, as well as the immediate concerns of its members. It must continuously strive to remain a social force for transformation.

Delegates to the Special National Congress insisted that COSATU’s influence on society must remain based on its organised power, its capacity to mobilise, its socio - economic programme and policies and its participation in political and social alliances. 

Today this Red October rally by our vanguard party is about how we should take class battles to the streets away from boardrooms.

We have a choice between retreating to our comfort and only talk about ourselves as that organisation which has a history of engaging without fear or we can choose to stand up and demand what we want 

We want to report that as COSATU we  have submitted section 77 notice on Job losses, VAT Increase and Crises in Electricity, Health and Public Transport Sectors.

Our engagement in each of these demands is about workers needs first. These are different section 77 notice and if there is no solution in each there will be strike action for each. If there is a dead lock in each it means the streets of South Africa will be red until December holidays. 

We have currently deadlocked on the section 77 notice which deals with public transport demands. The matter has been declared to have been considered. We have submitted all the required legal documentation allowing us to engage in a protected strike.  The strike we will be having on the 7th October will be protected for all workers.

Our demand is clear and that is we want a safe, reliable, affordable, accessible and integrated public transport system. In the absence of this public transport system, workers continue to be affected by the infrastructural backlogs and challenges which cause train delays, overcrowding and accidents.  Many workers have lost their jobs or experienced pay cuts as a result of late arrivals at work caused by train delays

Secondly we have a problem with the unfair funding model used in the South African transport system is another?  It is unjustifiable that transport costs are increasing while state funding is being drastically reduced by Treasury.

Government is fully aware that operating costs have increased; but it decreased the subsidy. The end result being the price hikes which place more financial burdens on the working class and poor.

We cannot accept that taxpayers’ money is used to subsidize the operations of the Gautrain which is not used by workers. It is only the elite who uses Gautrain and yet is you the workers who fund it.

In our view, it is unjust to use public money to fund a transport service that caters for a small portion of the population. It has been reported that the Gautrain is costing taxpayers R84 million a month. COSATU believes that these funds should be to the expansion and improvement of the public transport system.

The operations of Gautrain are being financed by the majority of the population; whilst the service is only used by the urban elite.

We reiterate our   rejection of the e-tolling system which privatises our public roads. In all the consultations, which by the way happened after the system had been put in place, the majority of our people have rejected the system but government continues to ram it down the throats of the motorists who have no other alternatives given the lack of adequate public transport system. 

We are even more angered by the fact that in July 2013 the Australian company Kapsch Traffic Com (the majority partner in ETC which is the joint venture toll collection company) announced that it expects to increase its revenue by R650 a year once collection starts! This means that over 40% of the expected revenue will go directly to Kapsch.

We want to communicate a clear message that South Africa requires an effective, accessible, reliable, affordable and safe Public Transport and not E-tolls. New dispensation or no new dispensation, e-tolls must be scrapped. 

We want government to master one thing and one thing only – Listening to the masses when we speak. If we say we don’t want labour brokers, government must ban them.  When we say we don’t want Youth Wage Subsidy don’t bring it through back door as youth employment act stop the youth wage subsidy.

When we say we don’t want E-tolls, government must respond by scrapping them. 

We want our democratic government to listen and respond positively to our demands. 

The reality is that failure to listen to the voice of worker and the working class will give space to those who want to mobilise society behind a programme for regime change. 

We have seen it happening in Brazil and in Venezuela where people’s demands were used to advance other agendas which are aimed at removing popular governments. 

We are calling on our government to listen to us when we say scrap e-tolls and don’t moderate them. Our government must listen to us when we say we want reliable, accessible, affordable, safe and integrated public transport.

The painful reality is that the working class pay a significant share of their income in 

Monetary value relative to income on public transport cost that is by far inefficient, unreliable and hazardous to say the least.

We also know from our experience as workers and the working class that spatial settlement patterns remain largely reflective of apartheid where black and coloured people were pushed to the periphery townships and informal ghettos outside main city centres.

There are diverse challenges faced by many commuters using public transport either for work, job seeking or for recreational purposes.  

Reliable research shows that  47% of households in the RSA indicate that transport is either not available or too far away; 27 per cent of households expressed concern at safety of public transport  and 23 per cent indicate that transport is too expensive.

Our experience is that mini bus taxis continue to be the main form of transport for most black people when having to get to work or for other needs. In contrast whites rely entirely (80%) on their own vehicle/private transport to get to work.

When looking at the time it takes for different race groups getting to work and the impact that public transport may have on this, it was found that most white people find it much easier to get to work, with 80% of white workers getting to work within 30 minutes. In contrast only 60% of African workers can find themselves at work within 30 minutes. 

A quarter of all black workers take between 30 minutes to one hour to get to work in contrast to just over 15% for white workers. A significantly larger number of black workers to white workers take more than 1 hour to get to work

As unreliable public transport and spatial patterns continue to impact on commuters, so too does the cost of public transport on low income households.  Research shows that 60% of households earning R500 and less pay in excess of 20% of their income on transport –this is one fifth of total income. In contrast, those households who earn R3000 and more a month pay between 1-5%. 

On average, more than 25% of South African pays 20% and more as a percentage of total income on transport. Put differently this amounts to about 2, 3 million households who pay 20% and more on transport cost. 

While workers continue to experience declining share of income, there is no reason to believe that transport costs as a percentage of income has declined today and may have risen significantly higher for lower income workers.

Cheap and affordable transport for many workers remains an illusion, with 41% of all households paying more than 11% of total household income on transport and fails to meet one of the key policy objectives identified in the National Transport Policy white paper of keeping household transport cost as a percentage of income at 10% and less.

It is in this context that as COSATU we have placed a very clear demand that we want an affordable, accessible, safe and reliable Public Transport.

Let us go out and mobilise workers to come to our marches on the 7th October. 

Amandla !

Issued by Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo, Head of Communications, SACP, 4 October 2015