COSATU rejects and denounces the fallacious claims by Treasury and the Presidency

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted the falsified statement from the Presidency claiming that there were proper and adequate consultations with unions and social partners, during the passing of the Taxation Law Amendment Act.

We strongly dispute the fallacious claim that fifteen meetings took place with NEDLAC constituencies, from June 2012 to discuss this law. This law was unilaterally drafted by Treasury and rammed through the throats of social partners. There were also no public hearings done to allow workers and the public to have their say on the matter.

The Treasury actually abandoned NEDLAC and went to parliament to lobby for this law and parliament also failed to demand a NEDLAC report ,to prove that social partners were adequately consulted. We challenge them to provide us with copies of the minutes and reports of those fifteen meetings to substantiate their claims.

This law was illicitly done as evidenced by the absence of any public hearings and also by the fact that it was signed during the holiday season, a day before Christmas. It is regrettable and disappointing to see the office of the presidency being harmed and used by the Treasury to communicate such untruths.

This misinformation campaign is very unhelpful and points to a certain level of desperation and will only strengthen our resolve and agitate workers even further.

The level of distrust that they are sowing will linger for a long time and will make workers to even be more suspicious of government in future.

We are unwavering in our opposition to this law and we have escalated this issue by convening a special Central Executive Committee meeting to discuss the latest developments and plan a campaign against it.

Statement issued by Sizwe Pamla, COSATU National Spokesperson, 28 January 2016