RDC: Portant Declaration du Cobalt, du Germanium et de la Colombo-Tantalite “Coltan” Comme Substances Minerales Strategiques (24.11.2018)

Opinion: Where did the Statesmen go?

There is a lot’s of Members of Parliament, lots of cabinets and governments with Ministers smiling and making nonsense claims or laws for quick popularity instead of long-term care of their citizens. That is why I write today, because this is international issue, where did the honorable elected person who actually gives a damn go? Do they hide in cave in Afghanistan or is it in tiny local council in Dublin? I just have to ask as the assets and the capital are spoilt, bent or betrayed by the same persons who are supposed to represent us. First let me explain what a Statesman is… and be clear this is not done in my words.

Meriam Webster says this: “a usually wise, skilled, and respected government leader” (Meriam Webster). Another dictionary says this: “a man who is a respected leader in national or international affairs” (Vocabulary). Some qualities many people agree that a Statesman should have is: “Principles”, “A Moral Compass”, “A Vision” and “The ability to build a consensus to achieve that vision” (McKay, 2012).

With that in mind you have a lot of expectation of a man or woman to be respected and qualities in the leadership from the person. There are not easy being resourceful, have the ability to govern and become respected. The ability and skills comes from the person and the respect. The respect comes from the ones the statesmen actually govern and international community.

The statesmen isn’t like the Members of Parliament (MPs) and Ministers of our day. There might be a few exceptions but our society is so quick and so microwaved. The news and the decisions are taken out of nowhere. What is worrying is how the multi-national companies (Like Royal Shell, Amazon, Monsanto and others) and multi-national organizations (World Health Organization, World Bank and International Monetary Fund). That together with International trade and Unions (NAFTA, European Union, ASEAN);  who keeps forging the sovereign nations under siege by trade-regulations and the restrictions on the nations who complies with laws they set.

This here is with all of this in mind together with the endless cycles of elections that the politicians have in mind. The initial issues with the access to the media as the live-TV and debates, together with Social Media and even radio programs; there are these where their legacy and character are on display, together with the initial reporting on what they are doing in their councils or parliament. The Politicians have aspects as they supposed to be loyal to the party organization and also to the constituency.

The people who read the papers, the articles, listen to the radio and watch TV are the ones that will discuss these politicians and vote for them. They are the ones responsible for their existence if they are real elections then the ballot will pick the men and be tallied right. If they are rigged in and selected by a committee or an Executive, then they never will be statesmen; as they never have the moral compass to even show respect to the ones they represent.

An initial position for them is supposed to be the Representatives of the citizens or the constituency. These people who are supposed be leaders and take decisions where the end-game are supposed to be for the better for the citizens and constituency. In our time, the MPs and the Politicians are more into their own career and their own capital than the ones they are supposed be there for. Many of them could just been lobbyist and work for corporations instead of the chambers where they represent a district or a county.

When it is like this with the bottom-line is their own personal wealth instead of the moral judgement, when the words portrayed and pledges given are for fitting the times and popular judgement of the times instead of longevity of the constituency and nation. That is what is missing. So few politicians of our time is gambling their career for the common good or the care of their constituency; with that in mind the level of trust between politicians and the people are low.

The low trust is because politicians are not who supposed to be, they are either biased by the structures over them like the European Union or the Multi-National Companies who are controlling their judgement. The judgement and the laws set to regulate the actions of the Politicians are altered as they are usually the ones that set the standard and are the lawmakers in the Nations. That is why they need to be men of vision and moral capacity to create a consensus with others; this is because it is also agreed upon by the other parties and also with the other people who elected them.

Now that I have the bar; take shot and sit down. I have already black-balled a generation as we have inherited this, the parliament didn’t sit there all of sudden, as much as the books we have in our libraries with common knowledge didn’t happen to jump into the houses. All of this got created over time and with capacity and tender hesitation of what we wish for. This is because we as citizens have to take more care of the parties and politicians around us, as they are a reflection of our societies and the ground-level we all build. We cannot be bushwhacked by strangers, we have to make sure the policies and a law they creates is the ones that are accepted.

Because a true statesmen are the ones that makes a mark on our time; the ones that are not a politician who are just popular, but will be remembered for making the decisions that maybe was hard at the time, but on the long-term making sure that the nation and constituency got better or made progress. That is why we have politicians, they are not there to be kings and queens, be lords and honorable men who think they can run us naturally. Certainly they cannot, they are there because of us; if they do not serve us and they are not useful for us.

What I miss as I see in a Statesmen, is not take the popular decisions or the one in the time, but the ones who are there now is more politicians who thinks more about polls and elections cycles, than being about the people they represent. That they are pressured by the Multi-National Companies and International Organizations who putting pressure on them as well, but they shouldn’t bend backwards for these, as they doesn’t represent Brussels or Coca-Cola, but they represent their constituency.

I want a politician I can remember for having the balls to think about how the decisions will be remembered in 20 years and if it will be setting the standard for the ones after him/her. That is a statesman, who is somebody who actually cares about the real future, not next election cycle, not only the persons own career and also the clarity of the ramifications of their acts as representatives. So with this in mind, do you feel the same or am walking alone in this tabloid world of quick headlines and quick careers; instead of building nations and being gentlemen of the board and take charge of what is left of it. Peace.

Reference:

Meriam Webster ‘statesman’ link: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/statesman

McKay, Brett & Kay – ‘The 4 Qualities of a True Statesman’ (30.01.2012) link: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/01/30/the-4-qualities-of-a-true-statesman/

Vocabulary – ‘Statesman’ link: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/statesman

Press Statement: Jackson Karemera the brother of Lt Joel Mutabazi is missing (26.11.2015)

The Great Lakes Human Rights Link is again seriously concerned over the disappearance of Mr. Karemera Jackson a brother to Lt Mutabazi who was abducted from Uganda and has been since brought different charges against him.

Whereas it’s in the powers of the State to Prosecute those suspected of an offence, the State has no powers whatsoever to persecute innocent persons and hold them in places unknown or illegally sanctioned without the knowledge of the family of the victim.

Accordingly we urge the Rwandan government that Mr. Karemera Jackson is brought to the courts of law if he has any case to answer. We are also submitting our investigations to our Human Rights Partners all over the  world to urge the  Rwandan government to allow the family of  Mr. Karemera Jackoson  to see him and provide legal representation if necessary.

The Rwanda government has a long record of using enforced disappearances, oppressive laws, and long prison terms to silence its critics. The Rwandan Government should use the opportunity of this coming referendum to make clear they stand with ordinary citizens against the abuses by unaccountable Rwandan officials.

Noble Marara

Executive Secretary

Great Lakes Human Rights Link.

Baryamureeba suspends campaign after first rally (Youtube-Clip)

The ANC is leading South Africa off the Democratic Path – Bokamosa by Mmusi Maimane

Dr. Kizza Besigye speech in Kasese Town yesterday (22.08.2015)

Whenever I come to Kasese, I enjoy and sleep like a young child. Thank you for giving me a second home.
Thank u for the support you have given me as a person and the party in general.
I also want to thank you for giving leadership to the struggle. Joining FDC is joining the struggle. And joining the struggle is a sacrifice in itself. Not for you as a person alone but also your family.
They are denied scholarships, tenders, NAADS because they are related to you.
Some families have broken up because of this struggle. In fact NRM uses it convince your family that they would get govt services if you were not in FDC.

I know of an old man in Rukungiri who has sons in police. These sons attacked him that they have failed to get promotions because he is an FDC leader.

You encourage me.

I want to tell you what NRM is.
If you are competing with your opponent in a football match, you must study your opponents and their tactics.

Fortunately I am one of those who built NRM. I know what it is.

NRM is not a political party as FDC. It started as an Armed Organisation. It had the political wing and the military wing.

Power in the country was captured by the NRA the military wing which handed it over power to Political Wing NRM.
Read Legal Notice Number One of 1986.
NRM turned into the state.
NRA became the national army
NRC became the parliament of Uganda. At the time it had 38 members where I was of it’s members. The Chairman of NRC Museveni became the speaker of Parliament and at the same time the President.
Because he was busy, it was the Vice Chairman Haji Kigongo who would act as Speaker of parliament. Some times it would sit as parliament and at other times it would sit as NRM organ. From 1986-2006.
It’s other structures became state structures eg the RC (1-5) which became LC.

We had District Administrators of NRM SDA. When we took over power they became DIstrict Administrators. In 1995 the name changed to RDCs.
The NRM secretariat became a national organ.
The NRM school of political science became National Leadership Institute.

The NRM intelligence organs the External and Internal became ISO, ESO and Military Intelligence. They all became state organs.

There were organs the NRM didn’t have in the bush like the police. All these years they have made sure they turn them into NRM organs. Like unce Museveni said Kayihura is a great NRM cadre.

By nature M7 fears elections. When I came out in 2001, he panicked. NRM is a political system according to the constitution.
So whoever wants to contest, comes as an individual. When I came out, he said it can’t be. He called the NRM organ and declare him the NRM candidate. This exposed NRM as a party and not a system as they wanted the world to think.
We went to the Constitutional Court and the judges rules that NRM is not a system but a party hence opening up space for political parties in 2005

We started parties but the Movement state was not dismantled. Actually like the LCI has never been competed for.
The challenge we have is that we are competing against the NRM State.

For 20yrs there was no formal opposition against the NRM. That is why corruption became the centre stage. Hence public services like education, health, infrastructure etc callapsed. Because of this, NRM became unpopular.

Therefore when I came out and challenged this system and said you are dishonest. We promised to give Ugandans three things namely;
To give Uganda a new constitution
Put in place systems
Organise election.
There was betrayal of Ugandans.

We disagreed with Museveni in 1989 when I told him that we should do what we set out to do.
In 1990 he fired me from his govt and sent me back to the army.

In 1999, I wrote a document outlining what was not going well in the movement. He refused to discussion my paper up to today.

We are struggling against the NRM State. We have a disgruntled population that wants this state out. That support has been huge all over the country.

This support has failed to achieve our goal because the NRM State manipulates elections.
In 2011, Museveni picked 2 Trillion without the approval of Parliament. After the elections inflation went above 30%. Fuel prices went to near 10,000/= and sugar the same price.

They have been able to rig because the NRM controls all the state institution.
The Supreme Court Judges agreed that the elections were not free and fair except that these judges didn’t know how to use these facts.

So our support is not questioned. Gen. Sejusa confirmed this when he said that we actually won by 69% in 2006. This statement has never been challenged by NRM.

Since 2009, Our task has been structural reforms. Parliament said they didn’t have time. That It was too late.
We didn’t go to court in 2011 coz we realized that the problems we have are political and not legal.

In 2014, Ugandans met at African Hotel and came up with the Citizen Compact which was signed by Political Parties, CSO and individuals.
We all resolved that we should not go to the next election without reforms.

Museveni is actually the Speaker of Parliament because when there is a serious matter, he calls the NRM Caucus which he chairs and what he wants he what is actually that is approved by Parliament.

Last week, these reforms were rejected by Parliament unfortunately including some of our people. We don’t know if they don’t know what we want or they are working with the dictator!

Our people fear to deal with the tough situation and do the tough work. In 2001 I told my colleagues that Museveni was not going if we don’t chase him, they thought he was only seeking his last term. At the end of the day, he changed the constitution and he is still around.

When he was changing the term limits, if we had tough people, he wouldn’t have it. MPs ate 5M and changed the constitution.
This time around MPs were given 110M which even some of our MPs took. The Electoral Reforms were thrown out.

I came to this Election for TWO reason.
To galvanize our support. Actually many of our people were especially in the East and the North, had started looking at JPAM. I believe I can help galvanize this support.

I still think we should put up a fight for Electoral Reforms. Happily we have support from the International Community. You recently heard the EU asking govt to give genuine reform. The same was echoed by President Obama in Adisa baba.
Some of our leaders are fronting the NRM argument that there is no time for reforms.
The Time table is not influenced by the law but by the politics. In 1985 there was supposed to be an election but the politics changed.

My task is to boost our support, fight for reforms and prepare for election.
We are NOT for a BOYCOTT .

If you give me the flag, I will go and ask the Captain for Yellow to drop the whistle.
Our colleagues are saying they can go to the election as they are without reforms. If so, what forces the dictator to give you reform. It’s like taking your neck to the slaughter house.

This has been the Struggle I stand for.

This struggle is about the 84% unemployed youth.
This struggle is about the 19 dying mothers daily.
This struggle is about the kids dying before their birth day.
This struggle is about the poverty of our people.

This election is a matter of life and death.

The NRM is at it’s weakest. It has attacks from JPAM, Prof. Bukenya, Gen. Sejusa. By the time we meet them, they will be at their weakest hence easy to defeat.

My colleagues are talking about building structures.
I cut my first term as party president short in order to build structures except that in a dictatorship, you can’t have strong structures, he keep buying them.

Since 2006, FDC has been the Leaders of Opposition in Parliament. How would that be possible if we didn’t have structures?
Those structures we built with our own efforts. But this time around, the party got 1.1 billions.
But structures should not be the main issue for this particular election.

Our Team decided that when they pour mad on us, we get water and clean.

Moses took the Children of Israel from Egypt and crossed the Red Sea to where Joshua found them.
In our case, we are still in Egypt and the Pharaoh is still Alive. So Joshua should wait for Moses to cross the Children of Israel from Egypt.

I once again ask you to support me and elect me as your flag bearer.

#RhodesMustGo: Statement on the Marikana Campaign (18.08.2015)

Following the wave of decolonial rage incited and ignited by the #RhodesMustFall movement, we have been consistently misunderstood, misrepresented, silenced and intimidated by wolves in sheep’s clothing- the colonial institutions we are learning to deconstruct.

In the shadow of the anniversary of the massacre of Marikana, #RhodesMustFall will relentlessly drive forward the project of decolonisation to its logical conclusion. The University of Cape Town, as an integral part of the machinery of colonialism, is deeply implicated in the events of Marikana, and we are here, if only to break that machinery into pieces.

The massacre of Marikana lies at the center of the problem of South Africa. The collusion of the state and white monopoly capital has not been clearer since the negotiated settlement that formed the nightmare that is contemporary South Africa- the ‘new’ dispensation.

On Thursday, August 16th, South African Police Services killed 34 protesters at a platinum mine, owned by the Lonmin company, and located in a town called Marikana. This display of police brutality was targeted at protestors who were fighting for a living wage.

The tragedy of this expression of state violence must be historicised and contextualised. In amidst the nuances and contradictions of the details of the massacre, the #RhodesMustFall movement echoes the call to target the roots of the tree, and by the roots, we explicitly refer to the violence of a) South Africa, b) the state, and c) it’s police, as an underpinning and unholy trinity of our nation’s (dys)function.

As a movement standing for the notion that ‘Rhodes’- as a symbol of the colonial situation of our nation- must fall, it is with bittersweet irony that we discover that the London Stock Exchange listed company, Lomnin, was a former division of the company known as LonRho (London Rhodes).

‪#‎RhodesLivesOnInMarikana‬

Without decolonisation, these structures will continue to demolish post-1994 reforms as they move forward with their colonial objectives. In the words of the revolutionary, Frantz Fanon, we remember –
“Colonialism hardly ever exploits the whole of a country. It contents itself with bringing to light the natural resources, which it extracts, and exports to meet the needs of the mother country’s industries, thereby allowing certain sectors of the colony to become relatively rich. But the rest of the colony follows its path of under-development and poverty, or at all events, sinks into it more deeply.”

So what does this have to do with UCT?”

#RhodesMustFall, as we have articulated since our inception, has identified the University of Cape Town as amongst the key spaces and institutions that uphold the criminal status quo in which we find ourselves today. Through the legacy of the likes of Cecil John Rhodes, we have endeavoured to dig up the thinly veiled web of wealth, domination and violence that UCT has continuously benefitted from since its establishment.

In this, our next phase, we vow to hold the university accountable for its relationship to the unending violence against black bodies in Azania. It is an open secret that the University of Cape Town has, for several years, invested millions in mining corporations, in particular, Lonmin, through its retirement annuities. This has remained unchanged since the tragedy of Marikana.

We therefore encourage the public to work collectively in requesting the financial records of this institution because in moving forward, transparency is key.

The enormous financial contributions made by the mining sector to the university have, of course, come at a cost. The impact on knowledge production is most visceral in the engineering, economics and politics departments who house many programmes that propagate a neo-liberal conception of development and society that does little more than prepare them for careers and professions that exist to preserve the status quo and generate white monopoly capital. We note with disdain the particular deficiencies in the UCT economics department that has been established as a factory for the kinds of uncritical capitalistic thinking that will ensure that the events of Marikana will be repeated.

And of this we are certain:

Without decolonisation, Marikana will happen again.

As a self-avowed elite institution, UCT has garnered and fostered close relationships with multinational corporations who arrive at our doorstep with Trojan horses at career fairs, and on our donor acknowledgement boards. Many UCT graduates are granted safe passage into these organisations, while during education as students, are structurally and violently denied the information and history of the ground upon which they stand. The consequence is the repeated misdirection of potential skill, energy and passion away from the benefit of the majority of South Africans and toward the ends of white monopoly capital.

To further demonstrate the complicity of the ivory tower of UCT, we call to attention the presence of Judge Iam Farlam, the chair of the Marikana inquiry commission, on the university council. The #RhodesMustFall movement calls for the immediate removal of Judge Ian Farlam from council. This arises firstly out of a conflict of interest, as evidenced by the connections between Lonmin and UCT, but crucially as a response to the conclusions drawn by Judge Farlam in his report as highlighted below:

“The evidence shows -(a) that the tragic events at Marikana are rooted in widespread labour disputes in the area, particularly, at Lonmin’s Karee mine and at the nearby Impala Platinum Mine (‘Implats’) which were characterized by violence, intimidation and loss of life and the undermining of agreed collective bargaining processes; and (b) that the tragic events that occurred during the period 12 to 16 August 2012 originated from the decision and conduct of the strikers in embarking on an unprotected strike and in enforcing the strike by violence and intimidation, using dangerous weapons for the purpose”.

The conclusion listed above clearly places the root responsibility of the escalation of Marikana’s violence onto a disinherited black working class, which itself chooses to overlook the continual violence of the establishment of the mines themselves, and their historical role in the class formation and racialisation of African peoples. This is a tragedy of devastating gendered consequence, but this truth is unsurprisingly invisibilised by the power structure whose mobility is reliant on constructed and upheld ‘black dysfunction’.

Judge Ian Farlam failed to hold to account the state’s involvement in the massacre of Marikana and failed to identify the root of the violence that resulted in the murder of 34 mine workers. His decision and participation in this case must be problematised, as he sits on a governance structure that makes financial decisions regarding investments of Lomnin, (amongst others) the company involved in, and criminally complicit in this case.

The #RhodesMustFall collective reminds the UCT community in particular, that we are presently participating in the exploitation of our own workers. The struggle of the workers here is no different to those at Marikana. They demand a decent living wage of R10 500, as outsourced workers who are struggling for dignity, as they continue to prop up a university that celebrates its position as ‘the top in Africa’. We understand it as one whose ‘success’ lies purely in its upholding of the status quo.

In closing,

#RhodesMustFall demand the immediate renaming of the Jameson Memorial Hall to Marikana Memorial Hall, the removal of Judge Ian Farlam from council, a statement from the Vice Chancellor condemning the massacre, and the report and submission of a dossier detailing UCT’s relationship to mining corporations in Southern Africa.

Izwe Lethu,
M’Afrika

#RhodesMustFall

Press Release: Right Of Reply: Joint Statement Of The Civil Society Organizations Reference Group (CSORG), Inter Religious Council Of Kenya (IRCK), And The National Council Of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs Council) On The Proposed Amendments To The Public Benefits Organizations ACT, 2013

THE Civil Society Organizations Reference Group (CSORG), Inter Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK), and the National Council of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs Council) are perturbed by a statement released by the NGOs Co-ordination Board to the media to the effect that jointly with the Ministry of Devolution and Planning; the Board has submitted proposed amendments to the Public Benefits Organizations (PBO) Act, 2013 to the National Assembly.

EQUALLY disturbing is the claim in the statement that the Task Force on the Proposed Amendments to the PBO Act recommended that the law be amended before its operationalization.

WE wish to state that the overarching recommendation of the Task Force as indeed the overwhelming views collected from stakeholders and the general public is that the  2013 Act be implemented without any further delay considering that it was debated, approved and enacted into law by retired President H.E. Mwai Kibaki on January 14, 2013.

Indeed, in all the public hearings that the Task Force conducted throughout the country, all presentations and memoranda submitted by the various stakeholders were unanimous that only immediate implementation of the Act will help consolidate the gains that Kenyans have made in the exercise of their constitutionally protected rights and freedoms of expression, association and participation in the management of public affairs.

In addition to having representation in the Task Force, The CSORG attended and documented on video and audio ALL its regional and stakeholder meetings apart from a meeting with Members of National Assembly. The CSORG has developed a shadow report based on this documentary evidence. The report demonstrates an overwhelming majority of Kenyans asking for the commencement of the Act without any amendments.

IT is quite telling that while the NGOs Coordination Board went out of its way to enumerate some of the organizations that were represented in the Hon. Sophia Abdi Task Force on the Proposed Amendments to the PBO Act, the Executive Director of the NGOs Coordination Board, Fazul Mohammed found it convenient not to point out that he was the representative of the Board in the Task Force as an interested party and, as such, lost the moral ground to spearhead the implementation of the Act that has been unnecessarily delayed for more than two years.

One of the cardinal values and principles of governance articulated in Article 10 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 that binds all State organs, including State and Public Officers of who the Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning, Hon. Anne Waiguru and the NGOs Coordination Board Executive Director Fazul Mohammed are an integral part is accountability.

YET despite the clarity of such constitutional ethos of governance, the Cabinet Secretary has once again chosen not to be guided by the obviously compelling right of the public whose resources were spent on the Task Force to make the report public, in complete and arrogant defiance of Article 35 on the right of the public and stakeholders to information.

The CSORG, IRCK, and the NGO Council wish to point out that right from the time of their appointments, the Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning and the Executive Director of the NGOs Coordination Board have acted with such impunity against the civil society as though they are above the law, including the supreme law of the land.

A case in point is the obtaining situation at the NGOs Coordination Board where the term of all Directors save for that of the Executive Director expired in March 2015 yet Fazul Mohammed has the audacity to claim that the “Board reviewed the Task Force Report and recommendations and has since forwarded the proposed amendments to the Attorney General and the Clerk of the National Assembly for inclusion in the Miscellaneous Amendments Bill 2015”.

Mr. Fazul Mohammed owes the public an explanation as to who else, other than himself, sat in the Board that “reviewed the Task Force report and its recommendations and forwarded the proposed amendments to the AG and the Clerk of the National Assembly for inclusion in the Miscellaneous Amendments Bill 2015”. His eloquence when deregistering NGOs for not abiding by “due process” is not matched by due diligence when he purports to be executing decisions of a board that does not exist!

It is the position of the CSORG, IRCK, and the NGOs Council that any decisions that the NGOs Coordination Board has made after the expiry of the term of the Board, including the alleged deregistration of some NGOs, are null and void as it is only the Board that is mandated by the law to make public policy decisions.

The letter and spirit of the NGO Coordination Act of 1990 that established the NGO Coordination Board did not envisage the situation now obtaining at the Board, where one man – Fazul Mohammed sits with the Secretariat and claims that whatever decision is made at such staff meeting is a decision of the Board. There cannot be a Board without directors and Fazul Mohammed should be aware that whatever decisions he claims to have been made by the Board are challengeable in Court.

WE, THE CSORG, IRCK, and the NGOs Council wish to reiterate our demand that the Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning comes out of her self-constructed cocoon of impunity and make the report of the Task Force on the Proposed Amendments to the PBO Act public.

It is only through the immediate commencement of the Public Benefits Organizations Act without unwarranted State-instigated amendments that the civil society can consolidate the gains and deepen its collaboration and respectful partnership with the government in serving the public. Immediate implementation of the law will also go a long way in unshackling the NGOs Coordination Board from the current shenanigans and the one-man show that it has become after the expiry of the term of its previous Board of Directors.

(Youtube – Speech) DA Mmusi Maimane fires back at President Zuma (this is happens a few days after the EFF got throwed out of Parliament)

Here is clips from what DA Mmusi Maimane is adressing:

And Malema adress in the aftermath:

Press Statement by FAWU on the Campaign for Privatization-by-a-back Door (16.1.2015)

16 January 2015

The Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) notes with disgust, the suggestions and proposals; made by some representatives of Big Business and Capital, such as Barclays Bank, and by some political parties, such as the Democratic Alliance (DA); for our Government to consider embarking on Privatization of State-owned Enterprises, at the back of ESKOM’s electricity delivery challenges as a justification.

We wish to reject such suggestions and proposals with contempt they deserve and regard those as nothing but blackmailing program to the Government to privatize those critical assets to the highest or even lowest bidder from the ranks of private sector.

We call on our Government to employ a professionally-based yet development-mandate program to get ESKOM and, certainly several more of the State-owned Enterprises (SOEs), back into shape for a continued role as an enabler and catalyst for economic development and delivery of basic needs to the people.

Therefore, FAWU will not accept any attempt, even an inch of such a move, to privatise those SOEs and doing so will be regarded as a sell-out policy offensive against the clarion call of a radical phase of the transition and to the agenda of a radical socio-economic transformation in eradicating poverty, substantially reducing inequalities and creating full employment with decent jobs.

If anything, FAWU will mobilize for a, or be part of any, rolling mass action that is likely to unfold from the working class formations and communities.

The R86 billion could easily be achieved through a re-introduction of a progressive taxation system and the increased taxes to the rich than through sale of shares in companies owned by the State.

We hope our government will ignore such calls and, instead, embark on fiscal expansionism by raising taxes for the rich individuals and to the corporates so as to mobilise resources needed to support SOEs, to roll-out both social and economic infrastructure and to deliver basic services to and/or meet basic needs of the people.

For more information feel free to contact the FAWU General Secretary, Katishi Masemola at 082 467 2509

Issued by
KATISHI MASEMOLA
FAWU General Secretary

– See more at: http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=9915#sthash.5fyskRXf.dpuf