GRAVE CONCERN REGARDING PROTESTING PENSIONERS AT PARLIAMENT

7 May 2016

The Office of the ANC Chief Whip is gravely concerned by the situation pertaining to the elderly pensioners who have been protesting outside Parliament for the past three weeks. The pensioners, who are former employees of the now defunct apartheid era Ciskei Transport Cooperation (CTC), are demanding the payment of pensions which, they say, were not paid when they were fired in the late 1980s after participating in a strike.

The other group, which worked for the South African Transport Services (SATS), which is now Transnet, share similar grievance but is not part of those currently protesting at Parliament.

Since the arrival of the ex CTC workers at Parliament three weeks ago, we have been engaging with them, including facilitating discussions with relevant government departments, with a view to find an amicable solution. Of particular concern to us is the effect the protest is having on the health of these senior citizens, some of whom are frail, as they have been sleeping in the street in the extreme cold weather condition.

Amongst our initial interventions when they arrived at Parliament was to persuade them to sleep at the provided accommodation and accept the food that were facilitated in conjunction with the department of social development while their issues are receiving attention.

Our request was initially rejected but they subsequently began utilizing the venue, albeit inconsistently. Similar accommodation and food offer was made in their previous protests at Parliament.

One of the agreements yielded by the negotiation with the pensioners two weeks was that, given the difficult and historically complex nature of their grievance which is beyond the competence of Parliament, the department of labour should explore the pensioners' eligibility for UIF. The deadline for the submission of all applications for UIF, approximately 400 of them, was set by the department of labour for 5 May 2016.

When this agreement was reached on 20 April 2016, the pensioners, through their representative, agreed they'll go back to their homes in the Eastern Cape the next day, on 21 April, while their UIF eligibility is being processed by the department labour. However, they reneged on the undertaking the following day, stating that they'll continue with the protest until their UIF applications are processed and paid.

On Thursday, the day set as the deadline for the submission of applications, pensioners instead demanded payments of UIF, escalating their protest by blocking all the three vehicular entrances to Parliament. The blockage continued on Friday, adversely impacting the business of Parliament and causing great traffic outside Parliament.

We note that, due to high traffic volume caused, on Friday the provincial police decided to intervene and removed the pensioners and ferried them to the safe accommodation. We are informed that the police were acting independently in accordance with their own assessment of the situation, and Parliament was not involved as the protest action was taking place outside the precinct - outside of its scope of authority.

The ANC in Parliament fully understands the frustrations of the protesting pensioners. Through the our deputy chief whip, the chairpersons and whips from labour and public enterprises committees, we are part of the parliamentary team that is continuing to meaningfully engage with the pensioners to resolve the situation.

The parliamentary team is working closely with the labour department to ensure that the UIF application process is concluded without delay. Their grievance has also been brought to the attention of the department of public enterprises. We have been informed by the pensioners that the matter was also reported to the office of the public protector several years ago.

In the last few days, we have observed with disgust some opportunistic political parties jumping onto the matter only at the eleventh hour to shamelessly exploit the pensioners' serious situation for cheap political points.

This they are doing ignorantly and without an understanding of the situation and the progressing engagements. This situation involves the livelihood and the health of our senior citizens, and is not a matter to play political games with. It for this reason that the ANC in Parliament, which has been dealing with this matter since day one, had until now opted to facilitate the solution quietly.

We are further concerned by the role of one Mr Michael Matshaya, a non-pensioner who joined these pensioners as their representative. Mr Matshaya, who interchangeably refers to himself as the pensioners' 'lawyer' and 'private investigate', has been neither constructive nor helpful in in the course of the engagement.

Initially, he had belligerently refused our pleas for these pensioners to sleep in an arranged accommodation and accept warm food. He has also not been a reliable negotiating partner as a representative, often reneging on critical solutions he himself agreed to.

He misled the pensioners into believing that the UIF would be paid to them on Thursday, despite knowing well as per the agreement that Thursday was the deadline agreed with the labour department for the submission of the pensioners' UIF applications, not for payment. This led to the pensioners escalating their protests by blocking parliament gates.

In the last two years, parliamentary officials have been hard at work facilitating resolution to the grievances of both groups of pensioners from CTC and SATS . Engagements have been held in both Cape Town and East London with various stakeholders, including representatives of the groups, Transnet, the departments of labour and public enterprises, private insurance companies and individuals to get to the bottom of what happened with the pensions of these pensioners when they were fired in 1988.

Even a week before the surprise arrival of the CTC group at Parliament, a meeting was held in East London with representatives of the two groups and an agreement was reached particularly in relation to the UIF process.

What distresses us the most is the health condition of these pensioners, who are made to put their bodies on the line under bad weather condition as a form of protesting. While we respect their right to protest, we will however not give up persuading them to use the provided shelter daily and to accept regular food assistance while their matter is being attended to. We will also ensure that medical help is provided where necessary.

As the ANC we accept that Parliament shoulders the aspirations and hopes of our people, hence they would often look up to the institution to intervene in some of the most complex complaints they may have. The institution has a responsibility to do all it can, within the confines of its constitutional jurisdiction, to facilitate solutions to their problems - even on difficult matters relating to alleged apartheid era violations such as this.

Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, 7 May 2016