MUST READ: COSATU STAY-AWAY: A SPECTACULAR IMPLOSION BY GERHARD PAPENFUS

COSATU STAY AWAY

A SPECTACULAR IMPLOSION

by Gerhard Papenfus

The much-published 7 October 2020 ‘stay-away’ by the trade union federations COSATU and SAFTU, apart from causing traffic congestion in a few metros, seemingly failed to gain traction – at least as far as the private sector is concerned.

These Federations, which vowed “to bring the country to a standstill”, seemingly were unable to garner much support. COSATU will probably claim a substantial turnout and support for its initiative, but the statistics, as far as the private sector is concerned, paint a different picture.

The public sector, where COSATU’s support overwhelmingly lies, may experience a different outcome. This will come as no surprise when one considers the fact that these very same public workers enjoyed full-pay during the past lockdown and were shielded from the brunt of the lockdown. COSATU is also protecting an overpaid, unproductive and inefficient public service, which places an inappropriate burden on the fiscus, from being right-sized.

In a survey conducted by NEASA among (private sector) employers, only 6% indicated that they were affected at all by the stay-away. Of this 6%:

• 87% experienced absenteeism of less than 10%; and
• 8.5% experienced absenteeism of above 90%.

This means that very few companies were substantially affected by the stay-away.

One cannot help but to question COSATU and SAFTU’s motivation behind this initiative.

South Africa’s exceptionally poor economic performance is the cause of high unemployment, which in turn is the main driver of poverty. The transformative and socialistic policies that these trade union federations support are, in fact, the underlying reason for South Africa’s economic woes. A stay-away won’t change that; only appropriate policies and political will can do that.

The trade unions SADTU and NEHAWU, both COSATU affiliated trade unions, are responsible for the crises that both our education and health services find themselves in. To change this, COSATU will have to do honest introspection in order to determine what they have done to have caused these national disasters, and then to correct it. A stay-away cannot cure that ‘disease’.

Also, a ‘stay-away’ alone will do nothing to change the deeply entrenched corruption in Government, even among many public service employees who are members of trade unions affiliated to COSATU.

In conclusion, one can only applaud South Africa’s workers who saw right through this sham and decided to let their feet do the talking by walking them all the way to work.

Gerhard Papenfus is the Chief Executive of the National Employers Association of South Africa (NEASA)

For more information:
NEASA Media Department
media@neasa.co.za