Gaye Davis=20
Cosatu’s decision to have a presence in Parliament — =20 in the shape of former communications head Neil Coleman =20 — marks a start in “peoples’ access” to the =20
For while parliamentary committee hearings are now =20 open, those taking advantage of the opportunity to =20 influence law and policy-making have largely been those =20 with the resources and skills to do so.=20
Now Coleman will spend most of his time in Parliament, =20 pushing the case of South Africa’s workers. The tag =20 “lobbyist” galls, although that is essentially what he =20 will be doing.=20
Says Coleman: “In the South African context, lobbying =20 has the connotation of back-room deals by elite groups. =20 But the people taking advantage of the openness and =20 transparency of the new democratic parliament are =20 precisely those old elites who used to lobby in back =20
“Mass-based organisations have to get their act =20 together and find the resources to meet the demands of =20 the new democratic process. It’s not good enough making =20 broad policy statements and interacting from time to =20 time.” =20
Coleman’s key function will be communicating Cosatu =20 positions to the ANC, its alliance partner. “But we’ll =20 be conveying our views at an organisational level =20 rather than trying to convince individual members of =20 parliament –we haven’t the funds to wine and dine 400. =20 And we’ll engage with other parties, if only to defuse =20 some of the misunderstandings they have about our =20
Being in Parliament has already paid dividends. Last =20 week Coleman was able to spell out the federation’s =20 position and mobilise a response from its rural =20 constituency to help put paid to a bid by the South =20 African Agricultural Union to get farmers’ =20 representation on rural local councils increased.=20
“We were getting demands from Parliament, the =20 Constitutional Assembly and provincial legislatures =20 virtually on a daily basis to make inputs on policy and =20 other initiatives, yet we’ve been at an arm’s length =20 and unable to engage directly,” Coleman says.=20
“At the same time, other interest groups like the =20 Chamber of Mines and Sacob have been pouring resources =20 into doing just that. It became clear to the alliance =20 as a whole there had to be much more intensive =20
Coleman said Cosatu could initiate legislation by =20 engaging directly with ministries. It would also push =20 for amendments to legislation already passed.=20
“For example, the Aliens Control Act was piloted =20 through in what appears to be a very unsatisfactory =20 way. There is a provision in the act forcing illegal =20 immigrants to pay for their own deportation through =20 docking of their wages — which turns on its head the =20 government’s official policy that employers should be =20 penalised for exploiting illegal workers.”=20