Dear Comrades, I disagree with the assertion that the minister "just wake up in the morning and just dismissed the very important people in the country." This creates an impression that the Minister is a lone ranger and not part of the collective. The fact is, whether soldiers have a genuine case or not, they still have an obligation to observe the Military Discipline Code and conduct themselves in a manner that reflects loyalty to the state in the prevention or suppression of internal disorder in the country. Again, the minister as the political head of the military is duty-bound to act accordingly when members display a deviant behaviour contrary to a liability to render service in the SANDF. In a nutshell, the minister is not at fault here as she cannot sit around while soldiers do as they wish. She cannot also be blamed for having inherited a system plagued with occupational dispensation misplanning as a result of lack of transformation from a leadership point of view. The past administration did nothing and the root cause of these issues requires maturity and accountability from all stakeholders. The nature of the problem is not only complex but cannot be resolved overnight - a plan of action is what is needed now. Let's not just join the chorus comrades but plead with the minister to reconsider her decision and at the same time condemn the behaviour of these soldiers - they deserve no mercy from the state as they behaved unjustly, illegal and unruly like people working for someone with an agenda to destablise the country. Never again shall this happen, rights cannot be allowed to be abused in the name of hunger! I trust the minister will find within her right a reason to review the decision to dismiss deliquent soldiers - of course with a rider to table the matter at cabinet for the department to develop a plan of action for the next financial year in terms of salary increase, and subject to be agreed upon by all stakeholders. In that way, we will achieve our goals and realise a better life for all. Amandla!!! Remain, Morgan Phaahla Ekurhuleni
"Sometimes, if you wear suits for too long, it changes your ideology." - Joe Slovo --- On Tue, 9/1/09, Mlaba, Bheki <[email protected]> wrote: From: Mlaba, Bheki <[email protected]> Subject: [YCLSA Discussion] Re: YCLSA condemns the dismissal of soldiers by the Minister of Defence and Military veterans To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 6:36 AM Greetings Comrade I agree with you Cadres, the Minister could not just wake up in the morning and just dismissed the very important people in the country or any other person for that matter, this people put their lives at risk protecting this country and the Minister that today felt that it for the good to just dismissed them. Sipho I think you right let remind our Ministers that they have been chosen to build this Nation NOT to cause war or destroy it; the only correctional action that the Minister should take is to re-instate the soldiers that are dismissed and openly discussed their grievances. This is totally unacceptable behavior by the Minister. AMANDLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of sipho shandu Sent: 01 September 2009 12:10 PM To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Subject: [YCLSA Discussion] Re: YCLSA condemns the dismissal of soldiers by the Minister of Defence and Military veterans Greetings Cadres, I am of the opinion that our president made an error when choosing a minister of defence as she cannot discuss issues. The soldiers are the most underpaid civil servants in the country and yet they have chosen to guard and put their lives at risk. I believe that the ministers' decision to dismiss them was not well thought and was very much selfish. The minister tends to forget as to who put her and her bosses in government. She tends to forget her constituencies. I feel that the minister should reconsider her decision as she was still feeling a little bit sleepy at the time it was decided. We surely do not want war. This decision also shows the manner that government treats us as citizens and civil servants. I strongly condemn the minister because she does not understand the background of these soldiers. How does it now help that she has dismissed them? Who is going to feed their families? Is this part of the NDR? All cadres out there, let us rally behind our soldiers to get their jobs back and after that to get a salary review. All ministers tend to forget that we as the people elected them into those cushy positions and we could easily cut them down to size. If they want war, then war it that they shall get and that is not a threat! AMANDLA MASOSHA OMZANSI!! AMANDLA!!! On 9/1/09, Gugu Ndima <[email protected]> wrote: YCLSA condemns the dismissal of soldiers by the Minister of Defence and Military veterans 01 September 2009 The Young communist league of South Africa (UFasimba) would like to condemn the Minister for dismissing soldiers that were involved in the strike action. We believe that this does not help the matter but exacerbates it further. The YCLSA strongly opposes the violent nature of the action by the soldiers who are members of the South African National Defence Union. The YCLSA believes that there is no form of grievance that justifies violence and threat to national security. However, dismissing soldiers who are bread winners and heads of family households implies that the Minister is using dismissal as a political tool to avoid dealing with the gist of the matter. We call on the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans not to solve the problem by avoiding it, but by urgently giving the soldiers a hearing. We believe that the concerns of the soldiers, especially related to wages and transformation of the military, are genuine and should be addressed. Labour practises should be applied to any worker irrespective of their occupation. We condemn any attempt to try and bar soldiers from being members of trade unions, and do not agree with the sentiments made by the MKVA. We therefore call upon the Minister to meet with representatives of both unions and come to an amicable solution to the matter at hand. Issued by the YCLSA Head office Contact Gugu Ndima (076 783 1516) National spokesperson -- Gugu Ndima +27 76 783 1516 <br --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
