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21st September 2006, 07:49
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&cl...31458896C903145 (http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060920031458896C903145)
Bold added by me.
"'Put economy in workers' hands'
By Christelle Terreblanche and Angela Quintal
The 1,8 million strong Congress of South African Trade Unions has made one of the strongest calls for nationalisation since the 80s, putting it on another collision course with the ANC government.
Cosatu leaders have consistently attacked the ANC for failing to treat alliance partners equally, in particular with regard to policy formulation. On Tuesday the union made clear that the business-friendly ANC needed to reform.
Cosatu president Willie Madisha on Monday urged delegates to ensure that the ruling party "leads government instead of the ANC being led by cabinet".
On Tuesday, Cosatu delegates sent a clear message to the ANC that some government policies were unacceptable for workers and reaffirmed the fight to achieve socialism.
A possible call for an almost wholesale nationalisation of big monopoly companies and bringing under worker control the "commanding heights" of the economy came under detailed discussion during day two of the Cosatu congress.
Two separate resolutions reflecting workers' anger with retrenchments and growing wage gaps are the strongest call for nationalisation by unions since the 80s.
Discussion reflected a drive to even tighten up the tentative wording of the resolutions by calling on the provisions of the Freedom Charter and the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP).
In a bid for Cosatu's Jobs and Poverty campaign to take centre stage over the next three years, the draft resolution calls for a focus on key demands "such as for the nationalisation under workers' control the commanding heights of the economy, industries and companies, where retrenchments are envisaged or have taken place".
This is understood to include big monopolies like banks.
Another resolution by the National Union of Mineworkers about State involvement in the economy also calls on the government to be engaged through Cosatu and other civil society organs to establish a National Mining Company owned by the people, via the State.
It is envisaged that the profits would go to free education and a wider social net for the poor.
Referring to the Freedom Charter clauses on the national wealth of the country and that the "mineral wealth beneath the soil shall be transferred to the ownership of the people", it charges that the government is handing over key economic sectors like mining "to a few rich individuals which cannot benefit the majority of the people".
Discussions centred on possibly calling for all sectors of the economy, not just the big conglomerates, to go back to the State, instead of singling out some.
A resolution committee was still working on a range of amendments and may combine the two.
A draft resolution on the ANC proposed by Numsa and Nehawu, notes that while the ANC's historical constituency remains the black working class and poor majority, the ruling party's national leadership was increasingly becoming "capitalist in composition and character".
It urged workers to contest for leading positions in the ANC to ensure that business people do not dominate the ruling party.
Among Cabinet ministers present on Tuesday during the discussions were Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mphalwa, Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi and Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi.
ANC head of the presidency Smuts Ngonyama was also present, although party secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe was in Cape Town attending an emergency meeting of the party's parliamentary caucus called over the "Travelgate" scandal."
Bold added by me.
"'Put economy in workers' hands'
By Christelle Terreblanche and Angela Quintal
The 1,8 million strong Congress of South African Trade Unions has made one of the strongest calls for nationalisation since the 80s, putting it on another collision course with the ANC government.
Cosatu leaders have consistently attacked the ANC for failing to treat alliance partners equally, in particular with regard to policy formulation. On Tuesday the union made clear that the business-friendly ANC needed to reform.
Cosatu president Willie Madisha on Monday urged delegates to ensure that the ruling party "leads government instead of the ANC being led by cabinet".
On Tuesday, Cosatu delegates sent a clear message to the ANC that some government policies were unacceptable for workers and reaffirmed the fight to achieve socialism.
A possible call for an almost wholesale nationalisation of big monopoly companies and bringing under worker control the "commanding heights" of the economy came under detailed discussion during day two of the Cosatu congress.
Two separate resolutions reflecting workers' anger with retrenchments and growing wage gaps are the strongest call for nationalisation by unions since the 80s.
Discussion reflected a drive to even tighten up the tentative wording of the resolutions by calling on the provisions of the Freedom Charter and the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP).
In a bid for Cosatu's Jobs and Poverty campaign to take centre stage over the next three years, the draft resolution calls for a focus on key demands "such as for the nationalisation under workers' control the commanding heights of the economy, industries and companies, where retrenchments are envisaged or have taken place".
This is understood to include big monopolies like banks.
Another resolution by the National Union of Mineworkers about State involvement in the economy also calls on the government to be engaged through Cosatu and other civil society organs to establish a National Mining Company owned by the people, via the State.
It is envisaged that the profits would go to free education and a wider social net for the poor.
Referring to the Freedom Charter clauses on the national wealth of the country and that the "mineral wealth beneath the soil shall be transferred to the ownership of the people", it charges that the government is handing over key economic sectors like mining "to a few rich individuals which cannot benefit the majority of the people".
Discussions centred on possibly calling for all sectors of the economy, not just the big conglomerates, to go back to the State, instead of singling out some.
A resolution committee was still working on a range of amendments and may combine the two.
A draft resolution on the ANC proposed by Numsa and Nehawu, notes that while the ANC's historical constituency remains the black working class and poor majority, the ruling party's national leadership was increasingly becoming "capitalist in composition and character".
It urged workers to contest for leading positions in the ANC to ensure that business people do not dominate the ruling party.
Among Cabinet ministers present on Tuesday during the discussions were Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mphalwa, Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi and Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi.
ANC head of the presidency Smuts Ngonyama was also present, although party secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe was in Cape Town attending an emergency meeting of the party's parliamentary caucus called over the "Travelgate" scandal."