COSATU's response to Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe

The Congress of South African Trade Unions is deeply disappointed with the stance taken by Deputy President, Cde Kgalema Motlanthe, on both Walmart's merger with Massmart and the youth wage subsidy.

He is reported to have said that in parliament that the government is "happy" that giant US retailer Walmart has chosen South Africa as an investment destination.

"They have done a very thorough assessment, they have been through the Competition Tribunal and they were given the thumbs-up. What Walmart are saying is that all investors must come to South Africa. We agree with them and are very happy this is what they have done."

This flatly contradicts the view of his three cabinet colleagues - Ebrahim Patel, Rob Davies and Tina Joemat-Pettersson - who have applied to the Competition Appeals Court to have the approval for the Walmart-Massmart deal reviewed, and for stronger conditions to be imposed, because they are quite rightly worried about a loss of jobs in both retail and manufacturing sectors, as a result of the merger.

COSATU and SACCAWU have expressed similar concerns, based on the mountain of evidence from around the world that Walmart's entry into the retail market leads to the closure of rival retail stores, the procurement of goods from the cheapest source with no regard to the wages and conditions of the workers producing them, and the creation of a monopoly.

This could lead to a drastic further weakening of South African manufacturing industry, as more and more cheap imports start to fill Massmart stores' shelves.

So while his government comrades are courageously battling to represent the best interests of the majority of South Africans on the Walmart matter, the Deputy President assures DA Parliamentary leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko, a hardcore class enemy to the ANC's constituency - the working class - that Walmart is welcome!

On the Youth Wage Subsidy, a policy which the ANC National General Council in 2005 rejected out of hand, he reassured Lindiwe Mazibuko that a number of accords had already been signed with regard to the subsidy, and said that "We are quite positive that a positive outcome will emerge out of those discussions."

He says that the matter was still being discussed at Nedlac and that it was important for the subsidy not to be resisted by unions, "which believed it would casualise labour. It's that fear of competition by employed workers, and we believe that through that discussion in Nedlac consensus will emerge".

The Deputy President is grossly misrepresenting the unions' arguments, which has nothing to do with a "fear of competition". They are based on a conviction that employers will use the subsidy as an excuse to retrench older workers on the present pay levels and replace them with workers for whom they can claim the subsidy, and thus create a two-tier wage structure. He is reinforcing Treasury efforts to bring this discredited policy in through the back door.

Both these parliamentary answers are giving mixed signals to South Africans, which are bound to lead to policy paralysis confusion in society. COSATU demands that the Deputy President defends ANC and government policies like the disciplined cadre we have known him to be.

Statement issued by Patrick Craven, COSATU national spokesperson, November 3 2011

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