Nehawu, Ethekwini Health District Office

08/06/2018

The Joint Mandating Committee of COSATU Public Service Unions (JMC)

Statement on the status of the public service wage negotiations and our response to the PSA

Friday June 08, 2018

COSATU affiliated Public Sector Unions under the Joint Mandating Committee (JMC) representing the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union(POPCRU), National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union(NEHAWU), Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA), Public and Allied Workers Union of South Africa (PAWUSA) and South African Medical Association (SAMA) have all signed the 2018/2021 wage deal following close to ten months of protracted negotiations.

The negotiations took place under very difficult conditions including the credit rating agencies threatening the sovereignty of our country. The changes in the government added to the frustrations as the new administration dragged the negotiations even further. The downgrading of the economy had already had a negative impact on the workers and the poor. The new delaying tactics used by the employer as a result of an undertaking made by government to the credit rating agencies that it would not accede to any increase above inflation made negotiations very difficult hence the delay.

It’s however the 59, 39% majority of the workers under COSATU who pushed the employer to accede to an average nominal increase of 2, 2% above inflation for all the public servants. This didn’t come because of the social media negotiations by the PSA but by the only unions in the true sense of the word-COSATU affiliates that are known for fighting for the workers. It’s through the political maturity of the COSATU and other ILC unions except the PSA who value labour unity in collectively bargaining with the employer. The PSA miscalculated and prematurely broke ranks from the rest of the collective because they are a social media union and not a genuine union.

On the 6th round of negotiations government was able to improve its initial offer as follows:

• Pay Progression: Employer has agreed to bring forward the implementation dates as follows; Educators and TVET Lecturers: the employer will implement a 0, 3% shortfall on the 01st July 2018 and the remaining 0, 2% shall be implemented on the 01st July 2019.
Police: the employer shall implement the 0, 2% shortfall on the 01st July 2019.

• Delinking of housing allowance: This will bring to and end discrimination against married couples in the public sector as the delinking will mean that each spouse will be entitled to the housing allowance. The employer has agreed to bring forward the implementation which will cover Salary levels 1-5: Employer shall effect the delinking of the housing allowance on the 01st September 2018. Employer has agreed to bring forward the implementation which will cover +/- 400 000 public servants who were excluded from the housing allowance as follows:

Salary levels 1-5: Employer shall effect the delinking of the housing allowance on the 01st September 2018.

Salary levels 6-12: Employer shall effect the delinking of the housing allowance on the 01st September 2019.

• Abolishing of salary levels 1-3 or Enhancing benefits: The issues of abolishment of salary level 1-3 will be dealt with as part the review of Resolution 3 of 2009. However, the employer has further agreed in the meantime to improve the medical assistance for employees on salary levels 1-5 who are currently receiving a 100% subsidy on GEMS Sapphire. The improved benefits will be finalised with GEMS for implementation in 2019.The parties have also agreed to prioritise through the Government Employee Housing Scheme the development of funding model specifically addressing the needs of employees on salary level 1-5.

• Salary Adjustment: Salary Levels 1 to 7= 7%, Salary Level 8 to 10 =6.5%; and Salary Level 11 to 12= 6%

The wage deal will see 7% increase for junior employers for 2018/19. Mid-level employees will receive 6, 5% increase and senior officials will receive 6% increase. The salary adjustments will take place as follows: Those receiving their salaries on the 15th, will receive a separate supplementary run and those who are paid between the 25th and 30th, their increments will be included in their end of June salaries.

We would like to put it on record that these negotiations were the most challenging. Government auctioned the power to negotiate to the ratings agencies and lending institutions, they seemed to indirectly influence the negotiations towards a particular outcome through threats of a ratings downgrade. They purported that this higher than expected public sector wage settlement could add to the government’s debt burden.

Response to PSA

Having noted the relentless mud-slinging and media posturing by some Public Service Unions against the COSATU Public Service Unions, the Joint Mandating Committee of COSATU representing SADTU, POPCRU, NEHAWU, DENOSA, SAMA and PAWUSA decided to “put the record straight” for its members and the public in general.

The reason we have been quiet for some time was not that we were afraid to challenge any misdemeanour by anyone, in particular the PSA who have constantly been on our case for exercising our rights. We were only giving each other space to exhaust internal processes.

Record 1: We recognise the right of everyone to embark on strike as protected by the LRA and as per their mandates, but we shall not allow anyone to do that at our own expense.

Record 2: The Public Service Wage negotiations at the Public Service Co-coordinating Bargain Council [PSCBC] concluded on the 18th May 2018 and no union raised any objection to this, nor to the final offer as tabled by the employer. The PSA which was already on a dispute process at the time, sat quietly in the meeting and uttered no word. It has always wanted to have two bites at one cherry: having lost confidence in the negotiations process, but wanting to remain in the same process at the same time. For us that represents hypocrisy at its best.

Record 3: On the 21st May 2018 at the PSCBC the employer tabled the draft agreement for consideration by parties for mandate to sign the agreement. No union raised an objection to this. PSA was part of the meeting; they have never been left out of any Council meeting as they always mislead the Public Servants and the Public.

Record 4: The General Secretary in the Council meeting of the 21 May 2018, outlined the provisions of the constitution of the PSCBC (clause 17.10) and the time-lines related therefore, in so far as the 21 day period is concerned for parties to excise their rights in so far as signing the agreement. The PSA was present in that meeting.

Record 5: The PSA publicly communicated for over two months that they had been balloting their members. They perpetually made threats in the media that did not materialize, whilst doing this they would take any opportunity to drag the name of NEHAWU as part of their media posturing. This was part of their failed plan to put NEHAWU under pressure to join them in their industrial action. If the PSA was confident of its mobilization muscle, why drag other unions into their mess? The PSA should do it and it alone. When the said Union declared a dispute it never invited anyone and should therefore continue on this path to nowhere alone.

Record 6: NEHAWU like any other Trade Union has been exercising it’s right to consult it’s members and PSA deliberately misconstrued that and thought NEHAWU is with them. This was just one of their mud-slinging tactics. They have dismally failed to divide NEHAWU members. As trade unions, we shall always respect the internal processes of each union.

Record 7: We as COSATU Public Service Unions, having analysed the employer’s offer and further processes embedded in the agreement itself, such as GEHS and GEMS which stands to benefits our members when concluded, remain united and committed to continue negotiating other conditions of service for our members until to its logical conclusion. We therefore stand here united and committed to servicing our members.

Who is the PSA to claim to represent workers when they let us down in the 2007 and 2010 strikes? The PSA has never experienced the pain inflicted by the “No Work No Pay” rule. Whenever we embarked on strikes, the PSA called on its members to acquire affidavits stating that COSATU aligned unions, prevented them from going to work. The JMC would like to raise strong objections to the stunts pulled by the PSA during the wage negotiations. It is a well-known fact that the PSA has no traceable history of pulling any industrial action in the public sector but they tried to fool the public by giving false militancy calling us “sell-outs” who let down the workers.

As expected, the PSA in its “puppy approach” chooses to direct its vitriol towards COSATU Unions, accusing us of having what they classify as a “toxic majority” in the public sector. We want to make it clear that we are not apologetic about the majority that we have because we work hard to service our members and to put them at the heart beat of our approach.

A fact that cannot be disputed is that since the dawn of democracy, it is COSATU unions that have pushed the employer consistently to accede to the demands of workers. The recently released Industrial Action Report by the Department of Labour shows beyond any reasonable doubt that a great majority of the industrial actions from 2016 in the public sector were led by COSATU Unions. A suggestion that we are inherently weakened by our alliance with the ruling party is devoid of any truth and there are scientific facts to prove that.

These stunts by PSA, supported publicly by NUPSAW and SAFTU are part of bigger agenda to profile COSATU unions as toothless. As Cosatu public sector union we are therefore calling for maximum unity amongst all our members during these trying times. Our members should not allow themselves to be divided by self-serving public stunts and rather focus on the bigger picture of directing our energies to the remaining process issues which are critical in improving the conditions of the service of all Public Service Workers. We call on all public servants not to be drawn into an ego driven strike that has nothing to do with wage negotiations but an association that is obsessed with transforming itself into a union.

In conclusion, we would like to pledge solidarity with our sister union the National Union of Mineworkers [NUM] and all the workers at ESKOM as they fight against an unjust and unprecedented 0% salary increase.

Issued by the JMC

For more information, please contact:

Khaya Xaba: NEHAWU Media Liaison Officer at 082 455 2500

Nomusa Cembi: SADTU Media Liaison Officer at 082 719 5157

Richard Mamabolo: Media and Communication Officer at 063 695 6663

Sibongiseni Delihlazo: DENOSA Media Officer at 079 875 2663

07/06/2018

COSATU calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove Minister Aaron Motsoaledi as the Minster of Health in order to help save the country’s failing health system.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions is deeply worried by the state of our Healthcare System in the country. The situation continues to deteriorate and the poor communities are the ones paying the price for this total collapse of the Public Health System in particular.
People are losing their lives on a daily basis and this has reached crisis levels. What has disappointed COSATU the most is Minister Mostoaledi’s denialism and scapegoating.
He is the only Minister who has been allowed to stay in one position for close to a decade, without being reshuffled. He had ample time to set up a vision and implement it over the last nine years but he has spectacularly failed.
While we understand that Health is a Provincial competency, it is the Centre that has collapsed leaving the Provinces feeling their way in the dark. The Health System does not need more dialogue, speeches, summits or presentations but needs decisive action.
COSATU is calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove Minister Aaron Motsolaedi as the Minster of Health with immediate effect, as a way of rescuing the country’s failing Health System. He has never taken responsibility for anything from the problems with the NHI, South African Nursing Council, Health Professionals Council, Esidimeni tragedy, Listeriosis outbreak and other litany of problems that have engulfed the Sector over the years.
The Department of Health under his leadership has lost control of the NHI and the other forces at play are now in charge and they continue to try to water down the NHI. Minster Motsoaledi pays lip service to a non-racial and non-biased Universal Health Coverage. This is evident in the dragging of feet to establish the State Pharmaceutical Company and the Corporate Capture of the NHI implementation structures.
The amount of money that has been spent on the Public Health System over the last years has not delivered the desired results. We support the decisions that have been taken by National Government over the years to intervene and rescue the Health System in many Provinces but the problems start with the National Department of Health under his leadership.
COSATU will be supporting its health sector unions DENOSA and NEHAWU as they continue with their campaign to push back against the deterioration in the Health Sector. We commend them for the role that these Unions have played in cleaning up the Health Sector in North West and we shall be rolling out this campaign throughout the country.
Issued by COSATU.

19/05/2018

NEHAWU CURRENTLY REPORTING TO MEMBERS ON THE CURRENT OFFER AT THE PSCBC

Saturday May 19, 2018

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] is currently engaged in a process of reporting to its members the offer of the employer tabled at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council last night.

As NEHAWU, after our national bargaining forum which was convened on Monday unequivocally said that we were not entirely satisfied with the draft agreement and offer tabled by the employer. In that regard, the national bargaining forum mandated our negotiating team to demand government to improve its final offer in three key areas which our members were unhappy with: 1) abolishing or enhancement of level 1 to 3, 2) delinking and 3) Resolution 3 of 2009.

After extensive engagement and persuasions the employer did agree to address the three areas that we found problematic for our members. The government final-final offer tabled on Friday, 18th May 2018 manage to improve on the above issues as follows:

· Pay Progression: Employer has agreed to bring forward the implementation dates as follows; Educators and TVET Lecturers: the employer will implement a 0, 3% shortfall on the 01st July 2018 and the remaining 0, 2% shall be implemented on the 01st July 2019.

Police: the employer shall implement the 0, 2% shortfall on the 01st July 2019.

· Delinking of housing allowance: Employer has agreed to bring forward the implementation which will cover +- 400 000 public servants who were excluded from the housing allowance as follows:

Salary levels 1-5: Employer shall effect the delinking of the housing allowance on the 01st September 2018.

Salary levels 6-12: Employer shall effect the delinking of the housing allowance on the 01st September 2019.

· Abolishing of salary levels 1-3 or Enhancing benefits: The issues of abolishment of salary level 1-3 will be dealt with as part the review of Resolution 3 of 2009. However, the employer has further agreed in the meantime to improve the medical assistance for employees on salary levels 1-5 who are currently receiving a 100% subsidy on GEMS Sapphire. The improved benefits will be finalised with GEMS for implementation in 2019.The parties have also agreed to prioritise through the Government Employee Housing Scheme the development of funding model specifically addressing the needs of employees on salary level 1-5.

Salary Adjustment: Salary Levels 1 to 7= 7%, Salary Level 8 to 10 =6.5%; and Salary Level 11 to 12= 6%

The national union wants to reiterate that it shall never abandon nor betray its members for any reason hence it shall never sign any agreement that does not have their approval. In this regard, a thorough reporting back process is currently being undertaken and will be concluded before we return to the PSCBC for signing of the agreement.

Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat

22/08/2017

Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin
‘Whoever sides with the revolutionary people in deed as well as in word is a revolutionary in the full sense’-Mao

Our side of the story
Tuesday 22 August 2017
‘Unity and Cohesion of COSATU to Advance the National Democratic Revolution towards Socialism’
COSATU Cares!ITUC: HIV/AIDS Must Not Drop Off the Global Agenda16 days of activism http://www.ei-ie.org/kroppr/eikropped/2014_SRGBV_141692924314169292434046.jpg

Contents
Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
Ø COSATU to convene a Central Executive Committee meeting 28-30 August 2017
Ø NEHAWU to host 30th Anniversary Celebrations in the Free State Province today
Ø LIMUSA fights for bonuses at Denel Land Systems
Ø DENOSA Gauteng hopes community will hold Health MEC to her word
Ø Declaration by the COSATU Limpopo Provincial Gender Conference held on the 16th - 18th August 2017
South Africa
Ø COSATU is calling for more Government Ministers to follow Mduduzi Manana
International-Workers’ Solidarity!
Ø The government's decision to grant Ms Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity is disgraceful and a camouflaged surrender
Workers’ Parliament!-Back to Basics…
COSATU to convene a Central Executive Committee meeting 28-30 August 2017
Sizwe Pamla, Cosatu National Spokesperson, 21 August 2017
The Congress of South African Trade Unions will convene a three day Central Executive Committee meeting next week 28- 30th of August 2017 to discuss Organisational, Political and Socio-economic issues affecting the workers and the working class.

This will be followed up by the standard media briefing session to communicate the outcomes of the meeting to the media, our members and the entire public.

The details of the media briefing are as follows:

Date : 31 August 2017 (Thursday)
Time : 11h00
Venue : COSATU House, 110 Jorissen Street, Braamfontein.

All the members of the media are invited to the briefing

Issued by COSATU

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cid:image001.png@01CD17E4.359FF470NEHAWU to host 30th Anniversary Celebrations in the Free State Province today
Khaya Xaba, NEHAWU Media Liaison Officer, 21 August 2017
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union [NEHAWU] is celebrating 30 years as a giant public sector union since it was founded in 1987.

The celebrations started on the 28th June 2017, during our 11th National Congress. We pay tribute to all gallant founders, all generations of leaders and members who contributed in building this giant organisation.

In celebrating this important milestone the union will be convening anniversary celebrations in all the nine Provinces. The celebrations will take the form of a lecture on the history of the union, especially the role played by the union in both international and domestic workers struggles, the growth of the union throughout the years and victories won fighting side by side with workers for a living wage and better working conditions.

These lectures will be addressed by former and current National Office Bearers [NOB's]. Fraternal organisations and alliance partners will deliver messages of support in these events.

The Free State Provincial Chapter will take place as follows:

Date: Tuesday August 22, 2017
Time: 12h00
Venue: No.2 Mohale Street Beirut Makabelane Technical & Commercial High School, Phuthadichaba, QwaQwa

Members of the media are invited to attend and to cover this event.

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LIMUSA fights for bonuses at Denel Land Systems
Cedric Gina, LIMUSA General Secretary, 21 August 2017
Liberated Metalworkers Union of South Africa (LIMUSA), the majority union at Denel Land Systems is fighting for bonuses for the members and all the workers.

LIMUSA is extremely worried that bonuses have not been paid until today. It is also a concern for the union that management wishes to ignore the engagements by LIMUSA, preferring instead to engage with other unions at Denel. It will be a sad day for workers and South Africa if the rumours that are circulating are true that worker's bonuses were diverted to the Gupta linked subsidiary called Denel VR Laser.

LIMUSA has embarked on a picket on Monday, 21st August 2017 against refusal to engage and withholding of bonuses against Denel standard practice of paying bonuses immediately after announcement of annual financial perfomamce. LIMUSA will not rest until workers get their bonuses and all unorganized workers in Denel belong to LIMUSA.

The picket was held at Denel Land System', 368 Selborne Avenue, Lyttelon, Centurion around 12h00

Issued by LIMUSA Secretariat

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/Denosa_logo.png DENOSA Gauteng hopes community will hold Health MEC to her word
Simphiwe Gada, DENOSA Gauteng Provincial Chairperson, 21 August 2017


Following the visit by Health MEC in Gauteng, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa, at Baragwanath Hospital yesterday which uncovered gross shortage of staff among others, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in Gauteng hopes the community of the province will hold the MEC to her word as she promised that the shortage will be addressed soon.

DENOSA is saying this because the issue of gross shortage of nurses in health facilities throughout the province has been so glare and our red flag over this long-standing issue has always fell on deaf ears.

"We wish this time around the promise by someone in her position is kept, because the shortage of health professionals and support staff in our facilities confronts the vulnerable patients on a daily basis," says DENOSA Gauteng Provincial Chairperson, Simphiwe Gada.

"Our hopes that she fulfills her promise are based on the fact that shortage of staff at Baragwanath Hospital seriously compromises the quality of healthcare that patients receive at that facility. Bara may be a case in point, but the challenge is wide and affects almost every institution in the province."

DENOSA has long raised a serious concern about the negative consequences or symptoms of the shortage of nurses, where you find that in critical sections like maternity general nurses just get allocated to work there with no prerequisite skills on midwifery. This exploitation exposes nurses to litigations and demoralization.

"Because our cries for hiring of nurses and support staff have not been heeded, we will embark on a province-wide campaign where we encourage nurses to refrain from doing work that is not within their scope of practice. They must stick to what they were trained on. Nurses have become everything in facilities. They have become clerks in the absence of clerical staff, cleaners, porters at the expense of providing comprehensive quality patient care," adds Gada.

"Then, how will they not get frustrated when they are working under such poor conditions on a daily basis? How will they get motivated? Instead the focus of the nation is on what has become a glaring symptom of the bigger problem, and that symptom is negative and uncaring attitude. The other focus is on the increasing litigations that the Department is suffering from."

DENOSA offers this advice one more time: for as long as the underlying problem of shortage of staff in the province is not resolved, the symptoms will always be there. It is just sad that nurses must always take the blame all the time simply because they are the face of the country's public healthcare system.

Issued by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in Gauteng

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Declaration by the COSATU Limpopo Provincial Gender Conference held on the 16th - 18th August 2017
Thando Ndaba- Makitla COSATU Limpopo Provincial Gender Chairperson & Gerald Twala, COSATU Limpopo Provincial Secretary of COSATU 21 August 2017
We the 97 delegates to the Limpopo Gender Conference representing more than 200 000 workers organized under COSATU in Limpopo and thousands of unorganized and unemployed workers across the Province together with delegates from SACP, ANCWL, PWMSA and SISONKE met during the Women's month of August.

We rise from this conference under the Theme "Combat Workplace Discriminatory Gender Norms and Enhance Skills Development"

We note the inequalities which exist in the workplaces in all sectors where our trade unions are organized.

According to Stats SA women in South Africa constitute 51 % of the population while, unskilled men constitute 59.3 % and women 40.7% of the total workforce yet women are still paid less than men is South Africa. The South African gender pay gap is estimated on average, to be between 15% to 17%. This implies that a South African woman would need to work two months more than a man to earn the equivalent salary that he would earn in a year. We further note status around disability that persons with disabilities are not well represented across all occupational levels.

It is only over the last three or four decades that women's role in the history of South Africa has, belatedly, been given some recognition. Previously, the history of women's political organization, their struggle for freedom from oppression, for community rights and, importantly, for gender equality, was largely ignored in history texts. Not only did most of these older books lean heavily towards white political development to the detriment of studies of the history and interaction of whites with other racial groups, but they also focused on the achievements of men (often on their military exploits or leadership ability) virtually leaving women out of South African history.

The reason for this 'invisibility' of women, calls for some explanation. South African society is conventionally patriarchal. In other words, it was the men who had authority in society; women were seen as subordinate to men. Women's role was primarily a domestic one; it included child rearing and seeing to the well-being, feeding and care of the family. They were not expected to concern themselves with matters outside the home, that was more properly the domain of men.

This Gender conference acknowledges and agree that once a decision is taken all members regardless of the position held during the meeting shall have the responsibility to implement and defend such a decision and that lower structures respect and abide by the decisions taken by upper structures. The Limpopo COSATU Gender Conference is fully behind the Campaign of Cde Cyril Ramaphosa to ascend and be the President of the ANC in defense of the principle that has been in existence for decades in our Liberation Movement. We are also in support of a women deputizing comrade Ramaphosa in December 2017 as a principle. We will therefore continue to swell the ranks of the African National Congress,

Women's' League in particular to advance our views in those structures.

a) We also note the cases about violence directed at women and children and condemn these inhuman acts and we support the Central Committee resolution calling on government to identify one day which will be declared a national campaign to deal with the current scourge of killings of women and children in the communities and that government should avail more resources to the court system so that prosecutions can be speeded up and carried out more efficiently.

This 2nd Provincial Gender Conference realize that COSATU is a fighting federation not by decree but through daily struggles that workers and women in particular lead on the ground. We have seen from firsthand experience victories of our own COSATU led struggles when we secured the following victories amongst others :

a) An amended Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) Act which is still to be signed into law that would benefit women workers in the area of maternity leave credits and fixed rate of 66% from 38%
b) When we successfully forced government and business into negotiations about a legislated National Minimum Wage
c) We victoriously fought and stopped compulsory preservation of workers retirement fund benefits declaring that there shall be nothing about us, without us.

We therefore declare that as Limpopo COSATU Gender Conference we will continue to implement the following:

Resolutions taken in our 1st Gender Conference in 2015 and adopted by the 4th Limpopo Provincial Congress in August 2015.
To enhance our campaigns and struggles on Gender Based Violence and cascade them to rural areas
Locals to lead on Gender Based Violence campaigns given the fact that they are closer to the masses in the communities
To strengthen the campaign on decriminalization of s*x work
To strengthen the campaign on LGBTI and raise awareness within our structures, workplaces and communities
To capacitate all gender structures in the province
To continue to organize women across all races
To fight against repressive legislation which derails promotion of gender quality e.g. Traditional Courts Bill
To advocate, educate and campaign in all our structures on the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS, and also link it to male circumcision campaign.
To strengthen our campaigns on all types of Cancers
To enhance our campaign on breastfeeding and childcare facilities in our structures and workplaces
We further resolve:-

To enhance our relations with leaders who came from COSATU who are now in government
That all structures of the federation and affiliates should avail resources and support to gender structures
To reaffirm the NGC resolution that Gender Structures should be constitutionalized
To advocate, train and campaign for the implementation of Sexual Harassment Policy in all our structures and workplaces.
To urgently appoint Sexual Harassment Policy Committee in all structures of the Federation and provide training
That COSATU should lead the Progressive Women's Movement of South Africa given the fact that we are a mass based organization
To revive PWMSA in the province and participate in all levels and build a working class led movement.
All Affiliates and COSATU Gender Structures commit to work with the leadership at all levels to ensure that all these resolutions are integrated in the main programmes of structures and are practically executed on the ground.

Issued by COSATU Limpopo

South Africa
COSATU is calling for more Government Ministers to follow Mduduzi Manana
Sizwe Pamla, Cosatu National Spokesperson, 21 August 2017
The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted the resignation of Higher Education Deputy Minister Mduduzi Manana from his position, after allegedly being given an ultimatum by President Jacob Zuma. We welcome this resignation and believe that it will send a strong message to men in general, especially those in positions of power to learn to treat women with respect and also to stop gender based violence.

We hope that the president can also exact the same pressure to other incompetent and failing ministers in his cabinet. We would like to see Ministers like Mosebenzi Zwane, Faith Muthambi and Bathabile Dlamini also being held accountable for their failures.

The president himself needs to step down and such a decision will be very helpful to the country and its economy.

There is already deep concern that ours has become a cult like political system where power lies with President Zuma and as long as someone is in good books with him, they can get away with anything. We cannot afford to have selective accountability and selective outrage.

Issued by COSATU

International
The government's decision to grant Ms Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity is disgraceful and a camouflaged surrender
Sizwe Pamla, Cosatu National Spokesperson, 21 August 2017
The Congress of South African Trade Unions condemns the decision by the Department of International Relations (Dirco) Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to grant Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity following her assault of a young South African woman.

This makes a mockery of our rule of law and the principle of equality before the law. It is clear now that the citizens of this country cannot be guaranteed protection by this government. This ill thought decision is proof that our so called exceptionalism is an amount of scale ,not of quality anymore.

While we agree that government has every right to maintain healthy relations with our neighbouring countries but this should not be done at the expense of South African citizens. We cannot allow the political anarchy and vandalism of the Mugabe led administration in Zimbabwe to be imported into our country.

Ms Grace Mugabe should be banned from ever coming into this country. Our government's camouflaged surrender and cowardice is shameful. We are turning into a Banana republic very fast because of our government's misdirected idealism.

Issued by COSATU

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Norman Mampane (Shopsteward Editor)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
110 Jorissen Cnr Simmonds Street
Braamfontein
2017
P.O.Box 1019
Johannesburg
2000
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 339-4911 Direct 010 219-1348
E-Mail: mampane@cosatu.org.za

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