On 11/25/11, Dominic Tweedie <[email protected]> wrote: > > COSATU > > > *Address by Zwelinzima Vavi, COSATU General Secretary* > > /to the/ > > *2nd Congress of the African Regional Organisation of the International > Trade Union Confederation,* > > /25 November 2011, Boksburg, South Africa/ > / > > //General Secretary of the ITUC/ > /Deputy General Secretary of the ITUC/ > /General Secretary of the ITUC Africa region/ > /President of the ITUC - Africa region/ > /General Secretaries and Presidents of all national centres of the > African Trade Unions gathered here/ > /Delegates/ > /Distinguished Guests from all the corners of the world/ > * > > Comrades and friends* > > It is with a deep sense of honour and gratitude that I welcome you to > the country you helped to liberate just 17 years ago - the country we > usually call the last-born, because it was the last country to obtain > its freedom in the African continent. > > On behalf of the COSATU Central Executive Committee and indeed COSATU's > over two million fighting members, on behalf of all the South African > affiliates of the ITUC and indeed millions of the South African workers, > we welcome all delegates.We would like to make a special welcome to the > General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary of the ITUC. > > Let me thank the Executive Bureau of ITUC Africa for giving South Africa > the honour and privilege of hosting this historic congress, and for > inviting me to deliver this address to this august gathering of African > worker leaders - the parliament of the African workers. > > This Congress is truly historic for the African trade union movement. We > are standing on the threshold of history - we are given a rare > opportunity which we must grab with both hands to change the direction, > not only of the trade unions, but also of the political economy of the > continent. > > The "renewal of the African trade union movement towards African > emancipation" is a call to all African workers to re-mobilise and fight > for a new freedom that we have not gained despite many decades of > so-called political freedom. > > This should be a defining moment in the history of the African trade > union movement. This is a rare occasion presented to us, the leadership > of the African workers. Our hope is that we would not waste this > opportunity. > > We are meeting in a world gripped by an unprecedented financial and > economic crisis, the worst crash of capitalism since the Great > Depression of 1929, with severe consequences for workers and their > families.More than 200 million people are now without work and more than > 1.5 billion are in vulnerable, low paid employment. > > Next week delegates from over 200 countries will gather in Durban in the > UN COP17 to respond destruction of the earth by the capitalist greed.We > hope that representatives will not only be concerned about melting > glaciers and deforestation, we hope that they will bring to the fore the > human dimension of the catastrophe.We hope that they will be able to see > that the environmental crisis is part of the inter-locking crises of > capitalist accumulation, and should be approached from the standpoint of > transforming the social relations of production just as we should > transform the forces of production. > > For Africa, the poorest and most vulnerable region in the world, the > crisis has given rise to a combination of contradictory possibilities > and challenges, which could on the one hand see a move onto a new > development path or on the other lead to even worse levels of poverty > and underdevelopment.As we always say, the path that the continent will > take depends on the balance of class forces.Hence, there is the need for > us to lift the political and ideological consciousness of workers, and > to link our struggles to the broader struggles of the marginalized and > economically exploited classes in our countries. > > At this congress we will talk about all these challenges. We are the > richest continent with abundance of natural resources yet we remain the > poorest continent of the world with income levels in that remain > terribly low, while income inequalities have remained stubbornly high. > > For example, one country in this continent accounts for more than 80% of > global platinum production.Two countries of this continent account for > more than 25% of global manganese production.Many countries have yet to > explore and realize their production potential. > > Yet, according to the Human Development Report 2010, more than 50% of > the African population lives on less than $1.25 a day. In the richest > economy of this continent, South Africa, the report says that 44% of > workers live on less than $1.25. > > This mass poverty and food insecurity are the result of the failed > post-colonial political economy in the continent, exacerbated by a > venal, corrupt and visionless leadership, which cares little for the > very existence of our people. > > Generations of African leaders have simply failed to transform the > economies we inherited from the colonial masters. All our economies to > this day remain dominated by the unprocessed natural resource sector, > with little or no industrialization.Some countries rely 90% on mineral > exports. Decades after the political defeat of colonialists, the same > colonialists continue to plunder our mineral resources and to sustain > their industrial bases in the imperialist head quarters. > > The scale of the sham of independence of our continent needs to be > exposed.Either we export our minerals to our colonial masters, or they > control our finances, or both.In some countries, foreign exchange > earnings and the operations of their central banks reside with the > colonial masters while in others, the mines and strategic industries are > owned by colonial masters.In some countries even the land is owned by > colonial masters, the very land question that triggered the > anti-colonial struggles is now back with a vengeance, threatening > livelihoods of many small farmers. > > We have not diversified our economies, we have not industrialized, we do > not add value to our natural resources, we do not own our mines; we do > not own our economies.We have not built a new infrastructure to link our > people to facilitate trade between African countries and even to promote > contact between our people. > > To quote the revolutionary intellectual Walter Rodney in his 1973 > classic, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa: "Means of communication were > not constructed in the colonial period so that Africans could visit > their friends. More important still, they were not laid down to > facilitate internal trade in African commodities. There were no roads > connecting different colonies and different parts of the same colony in > a manner that made sense with regard to Africa's needs and development. > All roads and railways led down to the sea. They were built to extract > gold or manganese or coffee or cotton. They were built to make business > possible for the timber companies, trading companies and agricultural > concession firms, and for white settlers. Any catering to African > interests was purely coincidental".Most of these observations are still > relevant today. > > This day we remain a largesse divided and we have allowed the language > barriers of the past to set us apart. On occasion we have allowed > external interests to keep us apart to the benefit of the former > colonial masters. This has been amply demonstrated in the case of the > conflict and war in the Great Lakes Region, by the late great > revolutionary intellectual, Dani Nabudere.Colonial forces continue to > scramble for the natural resources of the continent, using and arming > groupings within the continent as proxies. For too long we have allowed > the dependency syndrome whilst claiming to be liberated.In the process, > African pride has been eroded at times by our own actions. > > This once again raises the need for a strategic vision of transformation > of Africa's political economies and societies and their integration. If > we are to tackle these huge social and economic problems, transform the > lives of our people and take our destiny into our own hands, we need to > properly understand the roots of Africa's ongoing crisis, and what needs > to be done to change its growth path. > > Let me repeat, the greatest challenge we face is the perpetuation of the > colonial infrastructure legacy, which essentially aimed to move raw > minerals from Africa to the colonial countries, and not to encourage > movement within the region. This is why existing infrastructure is > largely directed to the movement of goods to the ports, as Rodney noted > a long time ago.Secondly, the scramble for Africa's resources by > imperialist forces and their interference on the continent mainly > through using and arming groupings so as to de-stabilize Africa's > development needs to be confronted.We believe that the working class on > the continent in alliance with other marginalized classes, properly > mobilized and its ideological consciousness sufficiently elevated, > remains the only potent force that could pave the way for Africa's future. > > The working class movement needs to ensure that it develops focused > proposals on climate change, informed by the need for the continent to > industrialise so that it can meet the needs of its population. In > particular, we need to give content to the notion of a 'just > transition', ensure that workers are not prejudiced by > inter-governmental agreements, and proactively put forward proposals on > the green economy which will take forward our decent work and > development agenda. > > To meet all these huge challenges, Africa needs to produce a new > leadership with strategic vision and a commitment to the interests of > our people to lead us in the coming challenging years.This leadership > will not emerge unless the masses of the working people on the continent > strive to tilt the balance of forces in their favour, so that they put a > stamp on the type of leaders they want to lead the continent.This > tilting of the political balance of forces is impossible without > organization, mobilization, agitation and elevation of ideological and > class consciousness. > > The trade union movement, the main organised progressive force on the > continent, therefore has an important role in promoting the birth of > this new leadership. A fresh strategic vision needs to be based on a > scientific analysis of Africa's political economy, to identify the > required building blocks for a new growth and development path. The > trade union movement, informed by a clear revolutionary ideological > perspective, needs to work with emerging social movements to develop a > strategic agenda for Africa.It needs to create bridges with progressive > intellectuals, researchers and academics on the continent and beyond, to > continuously forge a strategy to take the continent to a new level. > > We are all aware of the current limitations of the African trade union > movement, but genuine, democratically controlled and independent trade > unions are the main non-state movement internationally with the > organisation and capacity to drive a global alternative to > neo-liberalism, together with its allies in civil society and > progressive political formations. > > The trade union movement is strategically placed to exercise enormous > impact on the fortunes of Africa; but are Africa's unions up to this > task? Until now, we have been too fragmented, and we still need to > develop a coherent alternative vision and voice. > > The trade union movement must relentlessly champion the cause of working > people and the poor. It has played important roles in fighting for > better conditions of employment for workers, and in political struggles > like the anti-colonial movement, anti-apartheid movement.The movement is > however badly in need of renewal and reorganisation, given the overall > picture of few strong national centres as against many weak national > centres, and the particularly low density and coverage of organised > labour.The imperative to re-organize is also impressed upon us by the > nature of multinational and transnational capitalism, and the fact that > a new generation of anti-imperialist activists is required given the > advanced and technical manner in which capitalism now ravages our countries. > > Beyond organising to achieve broad coverage and representativeness, > trade unions must also build internal democracy and be governed by a > democratic ethos and consciousness of their autonomy. To be fully > effective, unions must develop policies that link them up with > autonomous civil society and help to establish broad democratic > coalitions to promote social causes and the fight for more accountable > leadership throughout the continent. Given the often multi-ethnic and > national character of trade unions they can feature strongly in the > fight against ethnocentrism and xenophobia in the political and social > life of African countries. > > At regional level the question must be posed: is it tenable to have two > regional organisations which are more or less pursuing the same > objectives? Should the interests of relatively few national trade union > organisations prevent the overwhelming majority of Africa's organised > working people from uniting in one regional organisation, which has so > many advantages? > > A united movement will provide African workers with a common voice at > regional and international levels and strengthens their representation. > It will allow coordinated action and responses to the needs of workers > as well as a more efficient and rational use of limited resources. > > At national level too, unity of the movement needs to be pursued. We > must actively promote closer working relationships between our members > deliberately triumph of divisions caused by languages; and ensure that > we strengthen ties between unions in sub-Saharan Africa and genuinely > independent unions in North Africa, post the Arab spring. > > Africa remains fragmented as a regional bloc and politically stunted on > the whole, in terms of the development of progressive formations. It > will be important to see if the African working class can harness the > spirit of the North African uprisings and spread it southwards. > > The democratic and progressive forces must intensify the struggle > against foreign domination, and domestic oppression and exploitation. > Africans must rediscover and reclaim their heritage, refashion > institutions that are responsive to the needs of the people and are > effective. Africans need to develop the organisational forms needed to > advance the interests of the people in an increasingly interdependent > world. All these tasks rest on the shoulders of the only revolutionary > class, the working class. > > *I wish you all a very successful and fruitful Congress.* > > > > > -- > 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] . >
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