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The Congress of South African Trade Unions supports the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) march to the Gold Fields South Deep mine today. The union will hand over a memorandum raising a myriad of issues including unfair labour practices.  We support the NUM in opposing the company’s five year Employment Equity plan for 2016 and are also are behind  its call for the transformation of the mine management that remains dominated by white people.

COSATU wants immediate action by government to address the lack of transformation by big companies. The latest report released by the Commission for Employment Equity, showed us that white people and males in particular occupy 68% of top management positions, while blacks only occupy 14,3% in the workplace. The federation and its affiliates is committed to fighting for transformation ,because we are seeing open defiance and stubborn resistance by corporate South Africa to transformation.

The failure to transform the South African labour market has exacerbated  the existing inequalities in South Africa, where millions of ordinary workers are still victims of the inherited apartheid-era wage structure.

The enactment of the Employment Equity Amendment Act 2013, which came into effect two years ago to convince companies or institutions to embrace the principle of employment equity and affirmative action, in order to redress the racial, gender and other injustices inherited from our past, needs support.  It is obvious that an increase in the fines for employers ,who fail to prepare or implement an Employment Equity Plan has not shaken these institutions and companies. Workers need to mobilise and claim what the legislation has promised them. The time for threats is over and it’s time for action.  The Department of Labour and its inspectors must put strong monitoring and enforcement mechanisms in place.

The federation and its affiliates is ready to fight the exploitation of mineworkers and other vulnerable workers. The mining sector cannot be left to operate the same way it has been operating over the last hundred years. We will force them to transform and also will not allow them to wreck our economy with mine closures and retrenchments.

Issued by COSATU