sales
Glenda Daniels
While the government’s final plan for the restructuring of state assets will be released within weeks – about two months later than scheduled and with labour organisations demanding a moratorium – it is expected that the motions of consultation will take place before the massive privatisation steamrolls ahead.
Labour organisations has not ruled out the fact that local government elections might play a role in the delay, but say that contrary to perceptions that the delay is about succumbing to labour pressure, it’s rather about practicalities – the government is not ready with its final social plan, and has a problem with capacity to implement.
The policy framework document for restructuring was initially discussed last November at a lekgotla. The Cabinet then sent it back to the Department of Public Enterprises for revision in May. Issues of contention relate to empowerment and employee share-ownership programmes.
The policy framework document, which was supposed to be released in May, is now with Cabinet and is due for release to the public within a few weeks.
Within the policy framework and restructuring implementation plans will be sectorspecific social plans.
However, there is also a broad social plan which is being drafted by the Department of Labour, also to be released soon.
In a “six-a-side” meeting proposed for next week between labour and the government, the union movement is hoping that it has enough ammunition to get the moratorium it wants on plans for the privatisation of state assets, which is feared may result in massive job losses.
Deputy general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) Tony Ehrenreich said that the document that was supposed to be finalised in May needed a lot more work. The delay is purely because of a capacity problem rather than for ideological reasons, he said.
Asked whether the upcoming local government elections might be playing a part in the delay, Ehrenreich said: “We can’t ignore the fact that local government elections are happening. Both sides want peace in the land.”
Despite the fact that three deadlines have passed for an announcement on the restructuring plan, Deputy Director General for public enterprises Sivi Gounden denied there has been a real delay.
“There is a wrong perception that there is a delay. Restructuring has taken place and continues to take place,” he said.
Gounden added that within the next few weeks Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe is expected to make a public announcement about the integrated plan. The social plan being drawn up by the Department of Labour will then be negotiated with the union movement.
He also said that it was premature to speculate about job losses as some sectors to be restructured would be balanced off by other sectors. The four sectors to be restructured include transport, telecommunications, defence and power.
But labour said that if it doesn’t oppose privatisation plans, between 50 000 to 100 000 jobs would be lost.
Lesley Maasdorp, head of restructuring of government state assets in the Department of Public Enterprises, however, said while he understood the concerns of labour, “it was a narrow perspective to view restructuring purely in terms of job losses, there has to be a nuanced perspective”.
“That labour has called for a moratorium has not been formally tabled to us, and we don’t want to manage our relationship with labour through the press,” he said.
Meanwhile, this week it was also announced that Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel will provide R550-million to the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council on condition that the iGoli 2002 plan continues.
The announcement comes in the wake of a 24-hour occupation of the Johannesburg council’s executive offices last week by municipal workers in protest against the plan to privatise delivery of services.
The occupation ended after MEC for Local Government in Gauteng Trevor Fowler gave a written undertaking to the unions that all implementation of Igoli 2002 would be stopped.
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union is demanding that central government withdraw this grant and stop putting pressure on local government to implement their policies of privatisation.
It is expected that South Africa’s biggest four parastatals, Eskom, Transnet, Telkom and Denel, will be restructured to fetch a targeted figure of R40-billion by 2004. This could reduce South Africa’s debt to R429-billion or 41,5% of the gross domestic product over the next 3 years.
Already about 2E400 jobs have been lost at South Africa’s parastatals over the past 12 to18 months.
Since 1996 the government has taken in more than R11-billion from partial privatisation.
Its first big deal involved the 1997 sale of a 30% stake in telecommunications parastatal Telkom to SBC Communications and Telkom Malaysia.
The highlight since then has been the sale of a 20% stake in the domestic carrier South African Airways for R1,4- billion to Swissair. It has also sold 2% of South African Airports Company to Italian airports operator Aeroporti di Roma and introduced a management partner for the ailing Post Office.
The privatisation of the parastatal Transnet has been hindered by pension fund debts in excess of R20-billion.
Between 1992 and 1995 more than 61 000 redundancies occurred and only 6 000 were a result of privatisation.