NEHAWU GAUTENG PEC STATEMENT MEDIA STATEMENT-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, 13 MARCH, 2014 NEHAWU GAUTENG PEC STATEMENT NEHAWU in Gauteng convened its normal PEC meeting on the 6th-7th March 2013. The PEC appreciated that NEHAWU declared 2014 as “the year of an overwhelming ANC election victory and branch congresses” and noted that the PEC was convening 61 days before the May 7th general elections. The meeting assessed the political, international, socio-economic and organisational issues and was characterised by frank and robust discussions. Political Assessment The PEC condemned the conduct of some few hooligans who disrupted the Provincial Shop Stewards Council meeting that was held on the 28th February 2014, targeting the President of Cosatu, Comrade Sdumo Dlamini. It is telling that the renegades could only compose songs about challenges in the Federation and offered very little in the way of ideas and solutions. The progressive philosophy of the left has always made a very good showing in the history of ideas and has never embraced absolute causes. The actions of these political mavericks proved that there is an obvious the dearth of leadership that is deeply worrying. We expect leaders to engage in debates and discussions, but the latest events have exposed to us ,that workers are sometimes led by theatrical charlatans, who think gruesome posturing and facile crowd pleasing represents leadership. In dealing with the current situation, the PEC summoned from the grave the wisdom of a great revolutionary, Cde V.I. Lenin by extracting a quote from a letter that Lenin wrote to the Communist Party of Germany in 1921.Cde Lenin wrote: Until sufficiently strong, experienced and influential Communist Parties have been built, at least in the principal countries, we shall have to tolerate semi-anarchist elements at our international congresses, and to a certain extent it is even useful to do so. It is useful in so far as inexperienced Communists, and also in so far as they themselves are still capable of learning something. All over the world anarchism is splitting up… into two trends… one in favour of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and others opposed to it. We must allow this process of disintegration among the anarchists to mature and become ripe… It goes without saying, however, that the semi-anarchists elements can and should be tolerated only within certain limits. In Germany we tolerated them for quite a long time. The Third Congress of the Communist International submitted an ultimatum to them… If now, they have voluntarily resigned from the Communist International, allthe better… They have saved us the trouble of expelling them. It is indeed the role of disciplined cadres and revolutionaries to tolerate political idiocy and narcissism up to a certain point. We also need to understand that, it is in the nature of reactionaries to pose as brave nonconformists and they represent the kind of danger that cannot be ignored because they believe themselves to be so enlightened. Our meeting resolved that our ongoing branch general meetings, town based mass meetings, branch congresses and the provincial shop stewards councils should ensure that the union members participate in the ANC Mayihlome election phase of the campaign in the build up to the 7th May 2014 general elections. International Working Class Solidarity Our union will mobilise its membership in the province to join other activists in commemorating the 10th Israel Apartheid Week on the 10th-16th March 2014. The Israel Apartheid Week will be used to raise consciousness and awareness about Israel’s apartheid policies towards the Palestinians. The commemoration will culminate in a workshop titled “Dissecting Israel Apartheid” at the Apartheid Museum, Newtown on the 15th March 2014. The PEC also celebrated the release of comrade Fernando Gonzalez Llort, one of the Cuban 5 compatriots who were languishing in the US prisons and pledged to support the campaign by the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5 and to also nominate the Cuban 5 for the 2014 People’s Choice Awards. Socio-Economic Assessment The PEC pledged to support the initiative by National Department of Health and Department of Basic Education to administer the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to 9 year old girls who are in Grade 4 to prevent cervical cancer. We will encourage our shop stewards to mobilise union members and community members to authorise the administration of the HPV vaccine to their 9 year old daughters who are in Grade 4. NEHAWU calls for the establishment of the Monitoring Team which should be constituted by all the education stakeholders in the province. This team will assist the Gauteng Department of Education to check schools readiness, infrastructure maintenance and procurement processes when schools re-open and throughout the school year. The meeting also committed to campaigning for clean toilets and general hygiene in schools. Organizational Assessment The PEC asserted that the new regional organisers who have been appointed from the 1st February 2014 must help ensure that the union improves service to members. Branch general meetings, regional bargaining forums and the provincial bargaining forum shall be convened during March 2014 to solicit mandates for the 2015 public service wage negotiations. Branch Congresses will be convened in all the 345 NEHAWU branches in Gauteng between May and July 2014 to assess the state of each branch, elect leadership and to entrench and sustain internal democracy. Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat Office For further information, please contact: Tshepo Mokheranyana(NEHAWU Gauteng Provincial Secretary) at 011 336 1508 - 082 455 2934
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 14:35:40 +0000
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