Evidence wa ka Ngobeni
The future of a thriving informal settlement in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, is uncertain as members of the African National Congress and the South African National Civics Organisation (Sanco) battle over control of the area.
ANC and Sanco branches in Kanana, Sotho for “the land of milk and honey”, have been involved in a wrangle for the past few months over who is the legitimate custodian of the informal settlement. Both organisations were selling land at Kanana to the homeless.
Last week members of Sanco allegedly demolished the offices of the ANC. They also allegedly destroyed the shack of a United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP) leader.
A Sanco branch chairperson was arrested and appeared briefly in court this week on charges of malicious damage to property.
Kanana is a dusty and dry village. But its inhabitants believe the land is “God’s given paradise”.
Residents say their area is not like a typical South African squatter camp. Most of the 20 000 residents have built homes that make the government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme houses look like matchboxes.
Residents are concerned, however, that the political battles over power and control between Sanco and the ANC could frustrate the prospects for development of their area. Without political interference, they say, Kanana can become one of the biggest success stories in the country.
So far cooperation has helped them build proper roads and install several water tanks. The area has been divided into eight sections, known simply by the alphabet sections A to H.
Kanana was formed last January by hundreds of homeless people despite repeated threats of eviction by the government. The threats have never been realised.
Homeless people who wanted land at Kanana either contacted Sanco or ANC branch leaders, who sold stands for between R90 and R500 each. This week, there were still people arriving and asking to buy stands. This week the Sanco office had a note on the door: “The stands are finished.”
The row between the ANC and Sanco centres largely on which organisation has the right to sell the stands and which one will administer the funds. Allegations of corruption and counterclaims of embezzlement of funds have been levelled at leaders of both organisations.
Kanana has been promised electricity and water by government departments. Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete who visited Bredell near Kempton Park to warn squatters that the full weight of the law would be used to evict them has also been a visitor to Kanana, where he turned a blind eye to the illegality of the settlement.
Community leaders say residents of Kanana are now divided into two groupings and are unclear who is in charge of their affairs.
Regional leaders of Sanco and the ANC in Pretoria called an urgent meeting on Tuesday to smooth out tensions between the two organisations. According to Sanco general secretary Jabu Tshabalala, the meeting has resolved to establish a task team to help restore good relations between the two organisations.
Kanana community leaders, who spoke to the Mail & Guardian on condition of anonymity, said the dispute started when Sanco leaders accused the ANC branch of interfering with the administration of Kanana. Sanco said the ANC was creating chaos by selling stands on land earmarked for schools and other facilities.
ANC branch leaders could not be reached for comment.
@Massive strike showdown next week
Analysts say there is nothing sinister about the wage disputes
Glenda Daniels
Next week’s impending strike action by about 400 000 workers could cost South Africa billions of rands. Petrol attendants, electricity workers, tyre and car manufacturer workers and gold and coal miners are expected to be out on the streets.
Workers are expressing deep frustration over more than just wage issues.
This week about 3 000 paper workers at the Mondi and Sappi mills in Durban went on strike after wage negotiations deadlocked. And nurses at Themba hospital, the second-largest medical facility in Mpumalanga, protested over medicine and equipment shortages.
While some analysts say next week’s strike could be mere posturing or a show of muscle, unionists say the mood of their workers is militant and they are serious about their demands.
The central issues of dispute between the managements of Eskom and the Chamber of Mines with two of the Congress of South African Trade Unions’s largest affiliates, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), are wage increases, leave and medical benefits, adhering to democratic procedures and the training of workers.
“There is nothing sinister about these disputes. It is part of a healthy collective bargaining process but workers know they cannot sustain protracted strikes in this economic climate,” says labour analyst Andrew Levy. “While strike action this year might be larger than last year there is still an overall downward trend because unions are losing their power and influence.” Levy therefore feels that the flexing of labour’s muscle next week is “posturing”.
However, some significant debates will emerge next week, for example the issue of striking in an essential services sector such as electricity.
“I doubt very much that indeed Eskom has made contingency plans in the event of a strike, and I think this particular sector has the potential to be a big strike. Eskom will probably depict workers as greedy and irresponsible, but I think this is nonsense. It is significant that a confrontational approach has been adopted by the unions, but by Eskom adopting a unilateral approach, so saying they don’t give a damn, this becomes a challenge to the union,” Levy says.
Next week’s strikes will cost the country dearly, according to the CEO of South African Chamber of Business (Sacob), Kevin Wakeford. “The cost to the economy of a strike is obvious as we are an exporting economy, 65% of our economy is due to foreign trade. We are heavily dependent on export contracts.
“There will be huge extra costs in overtime payment and casual labour. We are also trying to build investor confidence in South Africa, and to strike at the drop of a hat in these circumstances shows immaturity.”
Sacob economist Dickie Downing says: “This is not good for business confidence, especially with what has happened in Zimbabwe. Labour might be the biggest loser. From past calculations, if there was a strike in all sectors it would cost R3,5-billion a day.”
But NUM and Numsa this week declared that 31 000 workers on Monday will cripple Eskom after it unilaterally implemented its 9% wage offer. NUM is demanding a 10,5% increase for its lowest-paid workers. Numsa has said it will join the strike at Eskom. The Mineworkers Union Solidarity and the Eskom Employees Association say they will not provide scab labour.
NUM is also deadlocked with the Chamber of Mines and about 220 000 gold and coal miners are expected to down tools next week after a dispute over wages, medical and leave benefits was unresolved after an attempt at conciliation at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. The union is asking for an 8,5% increase and a R2 000 minimum wage; the company has offered 7,5%.
“If the workers could have their way, they would have gone on strike yesterday,” says Crosby Moni, deputy president of NUM, “but we don’t want to take advantage of the militancy in their mood, that’s why we are doing the ballot first. Then we will strike on July 26.”
Besides wages, the two sticking points for NUM are that miners should get 25 days’ annual leave instead of 21, and that terminally ill workers such as those suffering from Aids and cancer should be entitled to medical benefits.
In the car manufacturing industry the Automobile Manufacturers Employers Organisation (Ameo) tabled a 7% increase and insisted on a five-year wage agreement. The industry’s productivity has increased by 3,5%.
A formal dispute was declared last week and a last attempt at conciliation will take place before Numsa strikes. This week, pickets and demonstrations will take place at car companies.
Ameo’s chairperson, Harry Gazendam, says: “We don’t want to speculate about an impending strike. We are going into formal mediation. If present negotiations are not resolved we will be able to speak. A strike is never good for anybody, workers or employers we will avoid it all costs.”
Numsa is also planning an attack on the tyre, rubber and petrol industries over wages and the continued employment of temporary workers, who receive no benefits and training.
“The wages of petrol attendants are a national disgrace, and the conditions of petrol attendants have deteriorated over the past five months. Most petrol attendants work close to 12 hours a day for as little as R25,” says Numsa official Dumisa Ntuli. The union is demanding a 15% increase for across the board petrol attendants.
Numsa is planning to mobilise 50 000 members in the motor sector for strike action and to prepare all motor workers for solidarity action with petrol attendants. It also plans to meet the minister of mineral and energy affairs to discuss the issue of petrol profit margins.
Ntuli says that in their biggest sector, engineering, the employer body, the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa (Seifsa) has offered a 9% wage increase in the second round of wage talks but did not meet the union’s 15% wage demand.
“The engineering sector has shed more jobs than any other sector it lost 25 000 jobs in 10 years; outsourcing and subcontracting are still rife, engineering workers’ real wages have stayed the same since 1997, and women in the industry do the lowest-paid and lowest-skilled jobs,” he says.
Most pregnant women still work at night, Ntuli says, and most engineering companies have not complied with HIV/Aids policies, refusing to give workers anti-retroviral drugs.
Seifsa director Brian Angus says Numsa has informed it that even if agreement is reached in metal and engineering, employers can still expect strike action if negotiations in other sectors are not resolved. This Sunday the union and Seifsa will meet in another attempt to avert a strike.
@Power struggle in PAC
Jaspreet Kindra
“Agents provocateurs” and “aspirants” for the leadership position within his party seem to perplex Pan Africanist Congress president Mmutlanyane Stanley Mogoba more than the adverse publicity his party has received because of its role in the Bredell land issue.
But senior party sources point out that the two issues are not unrelated, and the role of the “young brigade” led by secretary general Thami ka Plaatjie and his deputy Wonder Masombuka in heading the Bredell invasions has added impetus to a power struggle already going on within the PAC.
“I will stand down now if that is what is agreed in a congress,” pronounces Mogoba. His party has been wracked with divisions following a recent decision to suspend Masombuka for his alleged involvement in the misappropriation of party funds.
“There are agents provocateurs who are causing problems I suspect they are aspirants in the party,” says Mogoba.
There are three blocs within the PAC, say party sources. One supports Mogoba, the other deputy president Motsoko Pheko and the third PAC Northern province MPL Maxwell Nemadvhinani.
Nemadvhinani took on Mogoba for the PAC president’s position at last year’s party elections. Mogoba has been president of the party since 1996.
Ka Plaatjie, who is said to be deeply distressed with Masombuka’s suspension, belongs to none of the blocs.
Sources close to Ka Plaatjie feel that the charges against Masombuka have been trumped up as both of them are “too independent” for the party leadership’s liking.
Mogoba says: “There are no factions if people are dissatisfied with the leadership they will say so.”
Mogoba dismisses the notion that PAC MP Patricia de Lille, who has emerged as the public face of the party with her high-profile role in pushing for the probe into the controversial R43-billion arms deal, could be one of the troublemakers.
Says Mogoba: “She is not one of the aspirants. If she is elected president, I would be very supportive.”
The party is currently examining a recommendation that it should hold elections for its office bearers a year ahead of the scheduled 2003, as it would give the new leadership sufficient time to prepare for the general election in 2004.
Mogoba says he is supportive of the recommendation but adds that it is in the hands of the party’s congress.