NEHAWU POST 11TH NATIONAL CONGRESS STATEMENT
Saturday July 1, 2017
The National Education Health & Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] held a very successful and united 11th National Congress on the 26th -29th of June 2017 at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg under the theme “Strengthen workplace organisation, deepen class consciousness and advance internationalism”.
Over 575 delegates representing 272 826 members of the national union, delegates from 36 international fraternal organisations, representatives from COSATU affiliates and Alliance components including the Minister of Public Service and Administration attended the congress to assess the union’s performance in implementing the mandate of the 10th National Congress and also put together a programme of action for the next four years.
The congress received addresses from the Deputy President of the ANC, Cde. Cyril Ramaphosa; General Secretary of the SACP, Cde. Blade Nzimande; President of COSATU, Cde. Sidumo Dlamini and Minister of Public Service and Administrator, Cde. Faith Muthambi. It further received addresses from the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) Deputy General Secretary and President of WFTU TUI-PAE and messages of support from different worker’s organisations across the globe.
The 11th National Congress coincided with the 30th anniversary of the founding of our union. This is an important milestone in the history of this giant public sector union. Throughout the 30 years of our existence, we have grown into a very strong union that is preoccupied with the transformation of the public sector and the struggle to end exploitation, outsourcing and the oppression of one class by another.
We emerged from this congress as a maturing and biggest affiliate of our federation, COSATU and a leading affiliate of WFTU on our Continent, with confidence and determination to strengthen, deepen and advance our work on all that we have achieved on the key pillars of our programme of action since our last congress.
International
The 11th National Congress condemned the recent moves by the United States to reverse the advances of the Cuban revolution. Similarly, it condemned the intensification of counter-revolution activities in Venezuela and other parts of South America by the US and its expansion of military bases on our continent.
The union is proudly proclaiming that over the past four years, it has been the torch-bearer of proletarian internationalist activism and solidarity campaigns in our country. We are now challenging ourselves with the task of advancing our internationalist work. In this regard, the union shall take on the responsibility of strengthening its work with other African affiliates of WFTU, including NUM, POPCRU, CEPPWAWU and the Africa Office in building WFTU and the TUI-PAE on the African continent. NEHAWU shall support COSATU as it carries out the mandate to affiliate to WFTU and work tirelessly to encourage other COSATU affiliates to join WFTU TUIs.
Our 11th Congress has finally taken a historic resolution to disaffiliate from the Public Service International which shall be implemented with immediate effect.
The congress resolved to step up our solidarity campaigns with the struggling peoples of Swaziland, Western Sahara, Palestine, Venezuela and with the Cuban revolution. We shall strengthen our relations with other progressive solidarity and peace movements and build fraternal bonds with the progressive trade union movement of the Basque country, Latin America and North Africa.
As part of deepening class consciousness, the union shall work with the SACP, COSATU and WFTU in organising different activities to celebrate the centenary of the epoch-making Great October Socialist Revolution. We are forever indebted to the contribution of the Soviet Union in our national liberation struggle.
Central to these celebrations, the union will organise discussion forums and lectures on the contribution of Bolshevism in theory and practice to Marxism-Leninism, national liberation struggles, class-oriented trade unionism and the unprecedented and outstanding socioeconomic and scientific achievements of the Soviet Union in transforming a backward, semi-feudal and poverty-stricken country into a highly advanced modern society.
Political assessment
The 11th National Congress analysed the state of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) and reiterated our deep concern that the ANC is currently dangerously divided and organisationally paralysed and thus risking the derailment of our revolution. Unfortunately, this is taking place at the time when the balance of class forces are decisively in favour of monopoly capital and the reactionary political forces led by the DA are increasingly making inroads on the ANC’s mass base and political power.
Whilst we maintain that the Alliance remains strategically relevant, the congress welcomed the fact that the SACP is now calling for the reconfiguration of the Alliance. As we have learned over the years in the implementation of the COSATU 2015 Plan, ultimately the reconfiguration of the Alliance is a function of, and is determined by the balance of forces on the ground.
The congress conclusively agreed that corruption and corporate state capture remains an integral part of counter-revolution. Thus, the congress undertook that the union must actively support the SACP initiative of building the broadest possible patriotic and popular front to defend, advance and deepen our democracy and national sovereignty, to fight corporate state capture, corruption, rent-seeking and all forms of manipulation of our national wealth and public resources by sections of individuals and elitist groupings - regardless of whether they are black or white.
Indeed, the congress understood that ultimately the struggle for socialism involves the revolutionary seizure of power by the proletariat led by the vanguard Party, the SACP. And this is the real content of the question of the Party and State Power rather than a narrow parliamentary road to socialism. Hence, the perspective of the SACP to establish democratic working class power and hegemony over the state and all other key centres of power in society in general is correct. This includes contesting in multiparty elections, which as part of the organised working class in COSATU, SACP and SANCO we shall continue to debate and consider its implications.
Congress supports the succession of Cde Jacob Zuma by Cde Cyril Ramaphosa at the 54th ANC Conference that is taking place at the end of the year in Gauteng. Thus, the congress instructed the national union to campaign through its national and provincial structures, for a progressive leadership to emerge at the 54th ANC Conference on the basis of a programme for a more radical second phase of our transition.
Socio-economic assessment
The 11th National Congress noted with deep concern the fact that since the adoption of the National Development Plan by the fifth ANC Administration, with its Neoliberal macroeconomic policies, growth in the South African economy has plunged year after year such that it is now in contraction and condemned to a junk status.
The current recessionary state of the economy is aggravating the already crisis levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality. In this regard, the union shall be in the forefront in support of COSATU’s call for the Jobs Summit, which amongst others must also discuss the macroeconomic policies, industrialisation and comprehensive social security. At this point, the congress recognised and appreciated that our federation, COSATU is steadily regaining its strengths and impact in society, as, amongst others, illustrated by successful Section 77 mass actions and May Day activities.
Thus, we undertake to continue to support efforts to address challenges faced by some of the affiliates, the Listening Campaign and the Section 77 notice which amongst others must put forward our demands such as safe and reliable integrated public transport system, the implementation of the NHI, safe and productive investment of workers’ retirement savings by the Public Investment Cooperation, Fees-free post-schooling system, the absorption of CHWs into the public service and an end to e-tolls, outsourcing, casualization, etc.
The 11th National Congress directed the national union to develop a position paper on nuclear energy for discussion within COSATU, in this regard, the first draft shall be presented at the first CEC of the 11th Congress and discussed in our structures sub-nationally. The congress was also inspired by the North West province plan to roll-out preparations for a total shutdown in the public service as from the 3rd July 2017. The demands put forward by the province on the filling of vacancies, outsourcing, PPPs, labour-broking and others are part of the broader national campaigns of the union in defence of public services and the fight for the developmental state.
Thus, as we move towards the new round of collective bargaining in the public service, we shall mobilise our members in mass actions in support of our demands which must not only deal with the demand for wage increase but also the implementation of the outstanding issues in the current agreement, an end to austerity regarding vacancies, an end to the outsourcing of administration at GEMS and other issues related to the benefits of GEMS members and its governance. We shall work with the COSATU public sector unions to campaign for the investment of our retirement savings managed by the PIC into the public service housing scheme rather than in speculative projects in which it is currently involved.
The 11th National Congress noted with deep concern that the deepening triple-crises of unemployment, poverty and inequality in turn reproduce and worsen social ills in our society, including the abuse of women and children, xenophobia, drug and alcohol abuse and others. Thus, we condemn the escalating incidences of rape and killings of women and children; and undertake to actively participate in efforts directed at building a progressive women’s movement, combating patriarchy and to promote gender activism amongst men as part of the overall strategic objective of the NDR to overcome the triple oppressions of women in our society.
The struggle for the emancipation of women is directly related to the broader struggle for socialism, and therefore as part of COSATU we pledge to support the efforts of the SACP and ANC in deepening the conceptualisation of the perspective of a more radical phase of our transition. This includes an emphasis on building the developmental state, in which as NEHAWU we shall be in the forefront of the fight against privatisation, outsourcing, agencification and corruption in the state and society, including in the SOEs. In this regard, we undertake to mobilise our members in support of the COSATU activities in the fight against state-capture and to support the establishment of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry.
Leadership
These are the newly elected leaders:
- President: Cde Michael Makwayiba
- 1st Deputy president: Cde Michael Shingange
- Second Deputy President: Cde Nyameka Macanda
- National Treasurer: Kgomotso Makhuphola
- General Secretary: Cde Zola Saphetha
- Deputy General Secretary: Cde December Mavuso
As NEHAWU, we emerged from our 11th National Congress more united and determined for battles ahead. Indeed, our congress was a resounding, successful and we emerged from it armed with very progressive resolutions to strengthen workplace organisation, deepen class consciousness and advance internationalism.
Through robust and intensive debates at the congress, we emerged with a clear and rigorous program of action to be implemented in the next four years in order to bring us closer to our strategic goals. The union emerged from the congress more invigorated to confront the capitalist class and ready to dismantle the status quo. Our resolutions will serve as the building blocks to build a socialist South Africa and ultimately the world.
Indeed, the union is looking forward to the outcomes of the 5th ANC National Policy Conference that began yesterday and of course the SACP 14th Congress scheduled for the 10th -15th July 2017 under the theme: “Defend, Advance, Deepen the National Democratic Revolution - The Vanguard Role of the SACP”, which gives confidence to us that once again our vanguard party shall seize the moment to provide strategic direction and rescue our NDR.
Statement issued by Zola Saphetha, NEHAWU General Secretary, 1 July 2017
