Image: Financial Mail

Zwelinzima Vavi: Not happy with government policies

He was addressing the National Bargaining Conference of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (NUMSA) in Johannesburg.

"The workers' share of national income was 56% in 1995, but by 2009 had declined to 51%.

"There is no official poverty line for South Africa, yet the Minister of Finance has acknowledged that 50% of the population lives on 8% of national income," Vavi said.

Meanwhile the number of South African billionaires had nearly doubled, from 16 in 2009 to 31 in 2010, when the country's 20 richest men enjoyed a 45% increase in wealth.

"Pine Pienaar, CEO of Mvelaphanda Resources, made 63 million rand in 2009, which means he earns 1,875 times as much as the average worker. "

Vavi added that on average, the poorest 10% of earners received 1,275 rand a month, which was 0.57% of total earnings, while the top 10% received 111,733 rand, which was 49.2% of the total.

"These are the statistics that we must keep in mind in this Bargaining Conference.

"We must reject the notion that workers must be modest in their demands, tighten their belts and concede to ideas such as wage pacts, wage freezes and the youth wage subsidy.

"We must say to neoliberal think tanks and research institutes that to argue that workers must tighten their belts whilst a minority of people who do not even lift a finger to produce anything but know how to squander profits is criminal."

Vavi added that calling for wage freezes in the context of rising unemployment (which meant greater responsibility is shifted to the shoulders of those who have jobs); rising transport and fuel costs; rising food and electricity prices - was tantamount to calling for a reduction of workers' wages.

Vavi, however, congratulated the strides that the African National Congress, "our dearest ally," had made in the transformation of the lives of many South Africans.

"Successive ANC governments have raised the number of households with access to piped water to 89%, to electricity and lighting to 80% and to sanitation to 68%. We have built 1.6 million subsidised houses and provided 1.9 million housing subsidies."

Despite this, Vavi noted that the country still faced major challenges.

"The continued commodification of basic services means that the poor citizens can hardly reap the fruits of this freedom because they are treated as consumers and clients of the neoliberal state."

He asked the conference to make a connection between a worker's wage and the social wage.

"The struggle for improved housing, cheaper and more efficient services as well as a better public transport, education and health system should all form part of the same equation."

Vavi added that he had noted the "disappointing developments" around local government elections lists.

"We must be unequivocal in our condemnation of those who cannot accept the outcomes of democratic processes of the ANC and the Alliance and opt to deviate from the central tenets of our revolution by standing as independent candidates in these elections."

As the same time, it had to be acknowledged that "some comrades" had a reason to be aggrieved.

"It is true that in some cases, popular candidates of the people have fallen victim to the powerful cliques who have appointed themselves gatekeepers. It is true that in some cases guidelines have been side stepped and frustrated.

Vavi alleged that in some cases political space was monopolised by those who had money.

"There are those who capitalise on the structural barriers that prevent many of our members from fully participating in ANC branches.

"There are many who still use money and networks as a stepladder to holding political office."

In the context of rising poverty and desperation, many of those who were interested in nothing but upward class mobility used this as away to buy votes and community members and therefore buy their way to political office.

"Our movement must be open about these things. It is only under open debate that we can start to reverse this culture," Vavi added.