The Sowetan of 21 May 2010 carries an article entitled, "Workers to lose 10 days pay" referring to the Transnet striking workers. This is because of the no work no pay rule to be implemented when the workers of SATAWU go back to work after the wage dispute is settled. The employee mentioned in this article has been with Transnet for the past 29 years as a driver, but his take home pay is a meagre R4800 per month. He stands to lose 10 days of that amount due to the rule of no work no pay. This is a huge sacrifice from a man like this one, who has a family to feed and children to take to school. One of his kids passed std in 2009 and could not proceed to tertiary level because the father could not afford to pay fees.
Whilst these workers are set to lose pay over the strike, some bourgeoisie economists are concerned with billions of rands to be lost by the economy. The question is who cares, because none of the workers have any share in those billions for that matter. They are going to lose the peanuts they earn called wages as they sacrificed to get a mere 15%(which now stands at 11% if the agreement is signed), for their micro economies at home, they care nothing about other peoples' economies, such as those at the helm of these parastatals like Transnet who earn a thousand times more that these workers. If you compare the take home pay of this worker mentioned in that Sowetan of R4800,with that of the CEO or Acting CEO( whatever the case currently is) ,of Transnet you will be shocked. Below is just a tip of the iceberg as to only this entity, not to mention SAA,SABC etc'executive pay(All-inclusive packages); POSITION 2007 2008 2009 CEO R8 MILLION R11 MILLION R5,3 MILLION CFO R5,6 MILLION R7,8 MILLION R4 MILLON COO R6 MILLION R8,2 MILLION R4,3 MILLION OTHER MANAGEMENT-AVERAGE R4,2 MILLION R5,7 MILLION R4,2 MILLION During the year 2009 the executives forfeited their performance bonuses because of the recession hence there is a decline that year. Transnet is a schedule 2 public entity in terms of the Public Finance Management Act(PFMA).Entities are categorised in that schedule as government owned business entities. Though the entity is operating in the open market, which is a competitive environment, it is not privately owned. The packages listed in the table above give a different picture as to that ownership aspect of these entities. One would be compelled to ask the question, who are the shareholders who get so impressed by the performance of these guys as to give them performance bonuses to the tune of R4 to R5 million rands.These shareholders definitely were also all smiles to their respective banks to cash in on their dividends during these periods. The deduction one can make is that these are privately owned government entities. Fact is government, through the DPSA,does not have a say in the determination of the salary packages of executives of parastatals.The packages are constituted by the BOARDS(which is a structure that always appears faceless.).The Board(seemingly with unlimited powers) then presents the packages with the budget of the entity to the Minister responsible for that entity. The Minister approves the budget which will in all probability imply approval of the packages. This is a typical example of the corporitisation of state-owned entities which is aimed at empowering certain individuals to become rich whilst the poor remain poorer. There is a noticeable lack of a developmental agenda in most of these parastatals,ESKOM,SAA,TRANSNET,DENEL,SABC,(including those that are not business related, i.e. agencies).Executives appointed in these institutions develop self-enriching agendas after being appointed whilst they make false promises of "turning the entity around" before they are appointed. The case of Jacob Maroga claiming an exit package of some millions, I forgot how much, and Dali Mpofu also claiming some R12 million from the financially troubled SABC.What did these guys achieve in these institutions except to create popularity for themselves. It then becomes very opportunistic and hypocritical for some in the broader democratic movement, to call for the appointment of preferred candidates as executive in some of the entities. Perhaps instead of identifying candidates, which is not our call at all(we are tjatjarag!), we should contribute to giving a clear mandate to the service delivery imperatives of the entity, and then ensure that whoever is appointed, by whoever, will follow that mandate. One thing that is noticeable, which is crucial for the developmental state the ANC government and the alliance are advocating, is lack of transformation within these entities. For instance in the case of ESKOM, you will find that most qualified artisans and some other techninicians are white. These are skills acquired through the affirmative programme of the National Party in the 1960, to strengthen the white man's supremacy over a black man. Logically these individuals will be wary of transferring these skills to other races and this is also the case in the departments we are working for, where you find those old white public servants who think that sharing what they know is critical for retention of their jobs. We need to go back to basics on these issues looking at our constitituion,the RDP etc. if we are to avoid sliding back to 1996 class project. The executives at the helm of these entities need to be workshopped on transformation issues and be given clear mandates emanating from the strategic perspective of driving the developmental agenda of the state(including the 5 key priorities of government). They are as much part of government as other government departments. They are in actual fact an extension of the services government renders to society of all classes and races. The tendency of appointing friends, relatives and even so called comrades in these entities is as rife as in government departments. I mention so called comrades because other officials do this in the name of transformation which should not be the case. The RDP is the best document ever development by our democratic movement and is a working document to achieve these goals. I support the call by the SACP made at the last Special National Congress to open up a discussion around the issues relating to state-owned entities in their respective categories,i.e. regulators, public utilities,DFIs,agencies,government enterprises etc.To consider whether it is of necessity and also beneficial to the state to keep some of them. Are they all sustainable financially and should the service be provided by a separate entity of revert back to the parent department. A summit or workshop is necessary to deal with these challenges in our state entities. These are not for profit business entities, but must act in a manner to promote the developmental agenda of South Africa. There is a rise in Youth unemplyoment.The YCL has recently held a National Jobs for Youth Summit on this. A complete overhaul of some of these entities to unlock resources for job creation is of necessity. SOCIALISM IS THE FUTURE!BUILD IT NOW! 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