NUMSA PRESIDENT CEDRIC GINA's CLOSING ADDRESS TO THE NUMSA 9TH NATIONAL CONGRESS, INKOSI ALBERT LUTHULI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE, June 8 2012
"The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.
They have a world to win.
Proletarians of all countries unite!" (The Communist Manifesto, 1848)
National Office Bearers,
Leaders of the Alliance present
9th National Congress delegates,
Former National Office Bearers,
Local and International guests,
Numsa Officials,,
The media
Comrades and friends,
I am proud and honoured to address you for purposes of closing the Numsa 9th National Congress.
This Numsa 9th National Congress has been a great success by all accounts. Each one of you made this Congress a success. We as your leadership thank you for this.
I am aware that we had some challenges largely caused by problems around delivery by some stakeholders. Obviously this caused some disappointment and frustration to the delegates and guests. For this we take full responsibility and extend our apologies.
The National Office Bearers will immediately after winding up business here in Durban take full stock of the Congress on all matters, and take remedial measures where these will be necessary. A full report will be delivered to the first Central Committee meeting.
During the entire period of the Congress, I want to inform metalworkers gathered in this Congress that both here in South Africa and across the world, this Congress has attracted a lot of attention. The world has been watching and listening to what has been happening in this Congress.
I want to thank the General Secretary of the SACP, Comrade Blade Nzimande, for gracing this Congress and for his message. Comrade Nzimande must rest assure himself metalworkers love the SACP, and when we make comments about the SACP we do so from a position of both love and respect for the workers political vanguard, the SACP.
We will do what we can to meet as soon as possible, as a newly elected leadership of Numsa, with the national leadership of the SACP, to deepen our engagement on all the matters the SACP General Secretary raised in this Congress, including the matter of leadership of the SACP itself.
We are grateful to Comrade Tyoto James, First Vice President of Cosatu, for his presence and speech, to this Congress. We are humbled as metalworkers for the wide recognition our union enjoys both in our federation and in our communities. Comrade Tyoto must know that Numsa will remain forever committed to the unity and defence of the Federation.
We are also happy that Comrade Sidumo our President of Cosatu, Comrade Frieda national treasurer of Cosatu come to support our Congress.
Comrade Zingiswa Losi, came as a delegate, in her own right. We appreciate the fact that despite her many responsibilities as a Cosatu office bearer, she still humbles herself as a shopsteward under the leadership of her local.
Many leaders of affiliates of Cosatu attended this Congress. We are grateful.
Comrade Jacob Zuma - President of the ANC and of South Africa left his busy schedule to come and be with us. We appreciate this.
We take very seriously the key message of the President to this Congress: that the working class have only themselves to blame if they do not, like all other classes, struggle to lead the ANC. In our Political Commissions, we shall examine further this question, and determine how best to action it.
We are, however, looking to see that the resolutions and leadership which will come out of the ANC Mangaung Conference this year will give comfort to the working class. Numsa will do its part, through its members who are also members of the ANC, to ensure that we secure some victories for the working class in the ANC this year.
Both Comrades E. Patel and Rob Davies have spent some time with us in this Congress. Numsa has not concealed its reservations over the pace and content of work on the New Growth Path and the crafting of a new industrial strategy for South Africa.
This Congress re affirms the decisions of the structures of Numsa that until such time that Treasury makes money available in support of the work these two ministers are doing to support manufacturing and decent jobs creation, the work of these ministers will be in vain.
We remain confident that we can and we will continue to engage with these two extremely important and strategically located ministers, on their responsibilities.
This Congress has pronounced on many resolutions covering the political, economic, social, organisation and international spheres among others.
Central to all the resolutions passed at this Congress has been the underlying demand for a new development path for South Africa which would fully implement the provisions of the Freedom Charter.
Unless fundamental transformation takes place in the ownership, control and consumption of wealth in this country, the people of South Africa shall not know real development, peace, prosperity, and democracy.
Numsa in this Congress has once again, through all its work and resolutions, re-affirmed that there can be no real democracy without economic freedom.
Numsa is inviting all South Africans to read the Freedom Charter. It is no longer a banned document. It is the basis for constructing a truly equal, democratic, non sexist and non racial South Africa, in which we shall all live as brothers and sisters, side by side. It is a document all South Africans must own.
Numsa, in line with the Freedom Charter demands, has demanded in this Congress that nationalisation of the Reserve Bank, mines, land, strategic and monopoly industries without compensation must take place with speed, if we are to avoid sliding into anarchy and violence as a result of the cruel impact of the effects of poverty, unemployment and extreme inequalities in South Africa today.
To further elaborate on all this, and the recently published Numsa Policy Discussion Documents, Numsa will host a post Congress Policy Conference.
Numsa's newly elected national leadership will quickly attend to the organisational resolutions raised in this Congress.
Our Constitution demands that we must organise all metalworkers into the metalworkers union, Numsa. Even as we have gone over the 300 000 membership target e set for ourselves, we shall not rest until all metalworkers in South Africa are recruited into Numsa.
Numsa wishes the ANC, SACP and Cosatu the very best over their constitutional processes this year. We know that the conferences and congresses these formations will hold this year can only lead to a more united, radical and fighting alliance, in the best interests of all the people of South Africa in general and the working class and the poor in particular.
We are convinced, in particular, that the SACP will emerge from its Congress stronger and better able to lead us to a Socialist Republic of South Africa.
At Numsa, we are confident Cosatu will emerge united, stronger and a better shield of the working class. We are confident that Cosatu will use this year's Congress to fast track the implementation of its Vision 2015, especially considering that we now have only three years left before this Vision is reviewed.
Numsa knows that going forward in the next four years we have work to do, at the international level. We are looking forward to contribute to the merger of the WFTU and the ITUC into one mega Global Union Federation. As this happens, we will continue to place the question of socialism in all the international fora and institution we participate in.
I remain confident that, following the tradition established after the 2008 8th Numsa National Congress, the NOBs, the Central Committee, our Regional Office Bearers, all our local office bearers and all structures of the Union will do what they can, in good time, always, to implement the resolutions of this Congress.
I must thank all head office staff for working tirelessly to make this Congress a success. I know as I have said already that we may not always have satisfied delegates and guests.
We appreciate the hospitality and warm welcome we have received from the Premier of KZN and the Executive Mayor of Ethekwini.
On behalf of Congress, I must thank the hosting Region - KZN Region - for doing a good job.
All the ushers, marshals, security staff and workers of Inkosi Albert Luthuli ICC: we thank you for making sure our Congress was well managed.
On behalf of the entire Organisation, allow me to thank all the Numsa friends with have worked with over the past four years. These Comrades do a lot of work for us behind the scenes.
Comrades, allow me to officially bid farewell and thank, on behalf of the entire membership, Comrades Phil Bokaba and Phil Shiburi, for their hard work, over the many years they have served the union. Their experience, institutional memory and skills are not lost to Numsa - we shall not hesitate to call upon them to serve the union.
Our former office bearers stayed throughout the Congress, with us. We appreciate this. This is an important tradition of the Union - we never lose our members and leaders.
Allow me to make special mention of the presence at this Congress of Comrade Tom's wife.
Comrades, travel safely to your homes, knowing you have grown your union, and we are ready, to face the next four years as a fighting force.
This 9th Congress is declared officially closed.
Amandla!
Cedric Gina
President
Numsa
8th June 2012
Durban.
Issued by NUMSA, June 8 0212
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