Phambili Ngabasebenzi Phambili!
Viva COSATU Viva! Viva SACP Viva! Viva ANC Viva!
Comrade Chairperson;
Comrade Zwelinzima Vavi;
Comrades and Friends,
Today marks the 14th anniversary since Workers’ Day was celebrated after 1994. It is not a coincidence that this Day is preceded by the biggest single victory in the history of our country, the Freedom Day. Our human dignity and rights were restored on that day. It was particularly, the sweat of the working class that led to the demise of oppression, which resulted to our people placing their trust and faith in the Alliance to lead.
This day is therefore significant for the Alliance. This is the day on which workers demonstrate their solidarity and commitment to the fight against the oppression and exploitation of workers, and to the struggle for their rights, a living wage and human dignity. In South Africa during the struggle against apartheid the fight for recognition of May Day as a paid public holiday and for the reduction of working hours provided impetus to our ongoing struggles.
It is about time we took stock of what we have achieved since then. We should ask ourselves whether workers still celebrate their victories on this day, or whether they lament the systematic loss of their rights and voice. It is also a day when we should critically assess the state of Government programmes in relation to the various sectors of our society.
Workers in South Africa have won a number of victories and freedoms through their united struggle and revolution. As we celebrate Workers’ Day, let us also remind ourselves of the pertinent challenges that relates to our working environment today. The Wage Gap, Food and Petrol Prices, Poverty and unemployment are still the biggest challenges faced by the working class today.
Achievements since 1994
One of the greatest achievements of our democracy was to ensure that workers rights are protected as never before. New laws and policies of the ANC government have restored the dignity of workers creating a framework for substantial improvements in working conditions.
The most notable victory has been the Basic Conditions of Employment Act which has made major strides in regulating the right to fair labour practices by establishing and enforcing basic conditions of employment at the workplace. The Employment Equity Act has gone a long way in addressing workplace disparities by creating a mandatory employment quota system for employers throughout the country.
The ANC led government has embarked on a vigorous programme to protect the most vulnerable workers. This has resulted in the active role of women in a previously male-dominated workplace environment. Women are now playing a central role in shaping our economic growth, and have become captains of their destiny within our economy and beyond.
The Labour Relations Act is also a major achievement in striking a balance
between the rights and interest of workers as well as government and big
business to create job opportunities. Our labour legislations have also enabled
us to begin to erode traces of exploitation that continue to degrade the lives
of our people. We have been able to vigorously address the challenges of closing
the wage gap in some sectors of our economy, allowing us to introduce minimum
wages and prescribe working conditions.
Since the democratic breakthrough of 1994, the ANC government has been able to
increase the real expenditure in health, education, housing, social grants and
other services.
There has also been a real increase in the income of individual South Africans
to over 3% per annum, compared to 1% per annum during the first decade of our
democracy. The national income per capita gradual increased by 22 per cent per
person since 1999, with increases across all income groups.
Our economy managed to create two million new jobs in the first decade of
freedom, at a rate of about 200,000 jobs per annum, which has now doubled with
over 500,000 jobs created per annum. Employment is rising than at any point
since the 1960s, due to the collective commitment of the ANC Government - even
though employment growth has struggled to keep pace with the number of new
people entering the job market.
The ANC-led government has introduced important changes to our social security
system. Since 2004 we have also extended the programme to provide social grants
to benefit 11, 2 million of the poorest of the poor in our society. A key
programme for the reduction of poverty and the development of work experience
and skills, the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), is on course to reach
its target of one million job opportunities in five years. Two years ago it had
already created more than 300,000 job opportunities.
The number of projects within the EPWP is constantly expanding, reaching more
people in terms of work opportunities, services provided and infrastructure
built.
About a year ago, 85% of all poor households were receiving water directly to
their homes, compared to just under 50% of people in 1996. But we also realise
the need to accelerate our progress to reach those who still have no access to
clean water, and on speeding up the provision of sanitation services.
More than 3.5 million homes have been electrified since 1994 through the ANC
government’s Free Basic Electricity Programme. Also, in 1996, only 64 per cent
of our people lived in formal houses. Today, over 70 per cent enjoy this right.
Between 1994 and mid-2006, 2.8 million housing subsidies were approved which is
unprecedented in South Africa's history.
As much as poverty is still a main challenge for all of us, it must however be
noted that between 2001 and 2004, the number of households living below the
poverty line has gradually dropped from 4.1 million to 3.6 million.
To address immediate obstacles to growth, government has initiated the
Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA) and the Joint
Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA). These initiatives interlink
in dealing with the country’s skills challenges and unblocking the obstacles to
faster growth. This has been accompanied by a massive infrastructure programme,
valued at R600bn, which will provide much needed economic infrastructure in the
areas of transport, energy and telecommunications, and will contribute to job
creation and skills development. It is being supported by the Expanded Public
Works Programme.
The 2010 Soccer World Cup also presents workers with a great economic
opportunity to participate in our shared economic growth and having their fair
share of the cake. The infrastructure and services being put in place will be
the true reflection of the sweat and efforts of the working class for
generations to come.
Challenges Ahead
Comrades, these are just the highlights of the most critical initiatives the ANC government has undertaken to address the plight of the workers since 1994. However, this summary is by no means exhaustive in addressing the challenges going forward. More needs to be done to eradicate apartheid’s legacy of unemployment, poverty, inequality and racism.
The emancipation of women, particularly rural women, still remains at the top
of our agenda. Women continue to encounter injustices of unfair and abusive
labour practices. Public policies still benefit our people on a cascading scale,
and rural women have borne the brunt of these cascading benefits and they have,
if at all, benefited minimally from the broader government policies.
We also need to ensure that the youth remains the valued possession of our
nation. The growth potential for union membership will be greatly enhanced by
the increase in employment of our youth, particularly unemployed graduates.
Farm workers still suffer the degrading conditions of employment, the “dop”
payment system, evictions and low salaries. This situation needs to be addressed
as a matter of urgency. We call on the judiciary to protect vulnerable farm
workers, and to punish those farm owners who still abuse their workers. We call
on the prosecutorial authorities to exhaust all their avenues in their
investigations of abuse against farm workers and the rural poor, and for the
police service to be unwavering in their quest to protect the rural poor.
Poverty and unemployment continue to be the greatest challenges facing South
Africa, and the working class in particular. The focus of the ANC’s economic
policy is the creation of decent work opportunities. This requires, among other
things, a developmental state that can use its institutions and resources to
stimulate those economic activities that will most effectively create jobs and
spur growth. The fight against poverty is at the core of our programme in local
government, including the provision of affordable basic services to all
residents. This includes the provision of a free basic amount of water,
electricity and other municipal services.
A number of national and global developments have contributed to the problem of
inflation, particularly escalating food prices. As a result the poorest of the
poor have been hardest hit by general increases in prices. The Constitution
states that every citizen has the right to have access to sufficient food and
water, and that the state must by legislation and other measures within its
available resources, assist people to enjoy these rights. The pursuit of
national and household food security is thus a constitutional mandate for the
ANC-led government. It is essential that the ANC and its Alliance partner are at
the centre of the fight against high food prices.
Our vigorous development programme that sought to provide more housing and
electricity saw the demand for electricity exceeding supply. The ANC is also
concerned about Eskom’s recent calls for a 60% increase in the price of
electricity, as this increase will have a negative socio-economic impact to the
poor. We have therefore called for a national energy summit to look at
constructive ways at dealing with the electricity crisis. As the ANC and as
government we have embarked on seeking both short and long term solutions to the
energy needs of our people and the economy at large.
For this to be achieved, it is necessary that the forces of democratic change
and progress are united and strong. We are therefore looking to the Alliance
Summit, to be held in just over a week’s time, to develop programmes and
campaigns dealing with the socio-economic challenges facing our country.
The Alliance must vigorously spearhead the revolution of the working class and pursue the objectives of fundamental change to the lives of all South Africans, especially the poor and vulnerable workers. As long as workers suffer casualization, job insecurities, unilateral retrenchments, mechanization of industry, non-negotiated technological replacements, and low wages, the strength of the workforce and our commitment to this May Day, will be hollow.
It is precisely for that reason that strong local structures of the Alliance need to be embedded in the societies in which they operate, so that all areas of dissatisfaction are addressed, and communities are free to approach movement structures to avoid the manifestation of organs of civil society that can be used to reverse and resist the democratic gains we have achieved since 1994.
As I conclude, we cannot celebrate May Day if there are workers elsewhere in the World who do not enjoy the same right to celebrate as us, the right to organize freely, and the right to enjoy the fruits of their labour as we do today. The Workers’ Day was born out of solidarity among workers internationally. Its enjoyment by all of us will therefore have to go through the same pattern. Once again the call of Karl Marx, for the workers of the world to unite, still reverberates.
PHAMBILI NGAMALUNGELO ABASEBENZI PHAMBILI!
VIVA ANC VIVA!
VIVA SACP VIVA!
VIVA COSATU VIVA