COSATU denounces and rejects Sipho Pityana’s phony outrage

8 February 2017

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted with amazement the slanderous statements directed to the President of South Africa, Cde Jacob Zuma, and the ANC in general by Mr Sipho Pityana ,while addressing his coterie of friends and cheerleaders. While, COSATU believes that all elected officials are fair game to criticism and should be held accountable and in healthy contempt by all the citizens, who elected them; we find Mr Sipho Pityana sanctimonious hypocrisy unbearable.

He has been presenting himself in public as this terribly radical, courageous and principled leader, who is prepared to speak truth to power. The sad reality is that Mr Pityana is part of the establishment, and a spineless and subservient apologist for this country’s degenerate forces of capitalism. Mr Pityana has served as an Executive Director of Nedcor Investment Bank and Managing Director of Nedbank. He is currently the Chairperson of AngloGold Ashanti, a mining company that has done very title for the workers and for the people of South Africa in general.

He has said very little about the lack of transformation in these two companies and about the levels of exploitation and misery that AngloGold Ashanti has heaped on poor vulnerable workers. We have heard nothing from him about the trail of destruction and environmental damage that has been left behind by his company in the many communities , where they operate. He does not seem too angry about the recent statistics on mining fatalities. We do not remember him shouting about the refusal of mining companies to take responsibility and care for the silicosis victims.

Mr Pityana has been very quiet about the ongoing retrenchments in the mining sector. He has been sitting on his hands , while his company Anglogold Ashanti has just announced that they are retrenching about 849 workers, to contribute to our already high number of the unemployed workers. He has said nothing about the fact that his own company has done nothing to re-skill and retrain these retrenched workers.  We denounce and reject his phony outrage because we have only seen verbal disarmament from him on matters that are under his influence and control.

He is part of that establishment grouping doesn’t recognise it’s an establishment. They all think they’re terribly radical and cutting edge, whereas in fact they are stuffy settled conformists, whose only contribution to leadership in the country is to mobilize resentment against the ANC and the president.

For a man, who is convinced that he is at the top of the intellectual pyramid he has contributed very little. His thrash talking in the media and his overall barking carnival act has exposed him for a cynical careerist that he is. He is just singing for his supper.  We refuse to be lectured and to be subjected to political lectures  about leadership principles by a man with a versatility of convictions and who is only loyal to his bread.

Issued by Sizwe Pamla, National Spokesperson, COSATU, 8 February 2017