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Don’t expect much: Why Saftu is boycotting Ramaphosa’s jobs summit

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Saftu secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi. Picture: Jabu Kumalo
Saftu secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi. Picture: Jabu Kumalo

The South African Federation of Trade Unions has snubbed an invitation to attend the Presidential Jobs Summit stating that it does not believe that the Summit will contribute anything to the reduction of unemployment, alleviation of poverty or the narrowing of inequality.

The union was invited to attend the summit –announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his 2018 state of the nation address – as a stakeholder of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).

However, Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi announced on Tuesday that although his union welcomed “the long-overdue recognition of its status as a ‘stakeholder’ by Nedlac”, which led to its invitation to oversee the proceedings, Saftu would not be attending the summit.

“Saftu has long been excluded by other stakeholders in Nedlac’s labour constituency, despite being the second-largest and fastest-growing trade union federation in South Africa, with more than 700,000 workers.”

Saftu decided to decline the invitation, because the federation did not believe that the Summit would contribute anything to the reduction of unemployment, alleviation of poverty or narrowing of inequality, said Vavi.

The veteran trade unionist also revealed that he was concerned that his union’s invitation “might be simply a way to swell numbers, and give the appearance of inclusivity when agreements being presented at the summit had already been fixed by the three constituencies of government, business and labour behind the backs of workers”.

Vavi reiterated that Saftu was particularly determined not to run the risk of being seen as a party to resolutions like those of past summits, “where empty rhetoric was used to cloak the protection of vested interests”, and prevent a genuine attempt to create jobs or redistribute wealth.

“Our view is that the government and business constituencies in Nedlac do not begin to appreciate the scale of the economic catastrophe into which the country has been plunged,” said Vavi.

The job crisis has been accentuated by the fact that for the second quarter in succession, the country’s GDP – the value of goods we produce – declined, and by the National Planning Commission’s decision to slash its forecast for unemployment by 2030 by more than half, from 6% to 14%.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) also revealed last week that South Africa had lost 69 000 jobs quarter-on-quarter‚ from 9.817 million in March to 9.748 million in June this year.

This means that South Africa has the world’s sixth highest level of unemployment, at 37.4% and that 14 million South Africans were living in extreme poverty, surviving on less than a R18 a day.

The country has also been recorded as the world’s most unequal society.

Although having committed to attending the Jobs Summit set to take place on October 4 and 5 at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, other trade unions have also said they “don’t expect much to come out of this summit in terms of job creation”.

Lungi Mtshali, spokesperson for the minister in the presidency, said on Tuesday it was unfortunate that trade unions had a negative outlook on the summit.

“The presidency expects all parties involved to come to the table and talk about practical solutions that would allow a growth in the economy that will allow the creation of jobs that the country needs,” said Mtshali.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), however, welcomed the convening of the Presidential Job Summit in response to the economic crisis saying: “We hope that government and the private sector will take this summit seriously because our economic crisis requires all social partners to come to the table with honest proposals and real commitment”.

Cosatu, however, also announced that it had “been worried about the commitment of some government departments and officials and business leaders to providing meaningful contributions”.

The job summit which is expected to bring together government, business, labour and community organisations is expected to provide a platform for open discussion on the challenges faced by each social partner in the creation of jobs.

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