Date: 05/06/2012

Source: ANC

Title: SA: Zuma: The President of the African National Congress, during Numsa's congress, Durban

President of NUMSA, Comrade Cedric Gina,
General Secretary, Comrade Irvin Jim,
NUMSA National and Regional Office bearers,
Comrades Delegates,
Invited Guests,
Comrades and friends,

I bring revolutionary and fraternal greetings from the National
Executive Committee of the ANC to this important congress of the
National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa.

We meet as the ANC marks 100 years of existence, while NUMSA celebrates
25 years of organizing metalworkers in our country. We extend our
heartiest congratulations to NUMSA on this critical milestone.

It has been a long road since NUMSA was formed in May 1987.

Since then, NUMSA has grown into one of the largest and most
influential trade unions in our country, working tirelessly to improve
the status and working conditions of metalworkers.

This congress, which coincides with the 25th anniversary, enables us to
pay tribute to those comrades who built this trade union to be what it
is today. In particular we remember those who lost their lives in
combat, fighting for freedom and a better life for the workers of our
country.

In this context, we pay homage to an outstanding leader of NUMSA,
Comrade Jabulile Ndlovu who was tragically killed in Pietermaritzburg on
her way back from the founding congress of the organization on the 17th
of May 1987.

Her memory lives on in the minds and hearts of many in Pietermaritzburg
and beyond, for her bravery, clarity and outstanding leadership
qualities and the dedication to improving the lives of workers and all
the people of our country.

The centenary of the ANC and the marking of the 25th anniversary of
NUMSA, enable us to remember scores of other workers who were brutally
murdered, injured or displaced during the state-sponsored violence that
engulfed KwaZulu-Natal in particular, and later the PWV region.

It was a painful and traumatic period for scores of our people.

You will recall as well that NUMSA was formed during the state of the
emergency, a period of immense and brutal repression.

COSATU was under siege and its headquarters had been bombed earlier
that year. Leaders were being targeted for arrest or for assassinations.
Indeed, we have come a long way since then.

Sometimes, it is just unbelievable that we once lived through such
horror and survived to usher in a free and stable democratic state,
which enshrines the rights of all including the rights of workers which
are enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic.
More importantly, the struggle for worker rights has never been
divorced from the struggle for freedom, human rights and justice.

Therefore, we are celebrating the contribution of workers to the
achievement of freedom from colonial oppression and apartheid.

Leaders and members of NUMSA and COSATU were in the trenches as part of
the mass democratic movement, vowing never to rest until this country
and its people were free from bondage.
As the stalwart of our movement and our leader Comrade Govan Mbeki
pointed out, no oppressor can willfully hand over power.
He said; “It is doubtful whether history can provide a comparable
example of a tyrant loosening his grip on power and allowing it to be
negotiated in the hands of the enemy.
“But it is important to acknowledge that the apartheid regime was
forced into handing over power by the sheer weight of millions of people
who had been mobilized into an irresistible force."
COSATU was a powerful component of that irresistible force referred to
by Oom Gov.
Comrades,

It is not surprising that NUMSA took a significant decision to appoint
one of the greatest teachers and political theorists of our time, Harry
Themba Gwala, the Lion of the Midlands, as Honorary President, given the
period in which this trade union was formed.

Comrade Gwala was known for his forthrightness, militancy and most
importantly, hard work.

He was also one of the finest Marxists and political educators you can
think of. He was himself an outstanding trade unionist. He produced many
cadres and leaders of both the ANC and SACP as well as the labour
movement from the 1940s onwards.

He continued this tradition when he was on Robben Island, dedicating
his time to teaching others politics in general and political Marxist
scientific theory in particular, as well as labour theory.

I am proud to say that I learned some of my political and labour theory
from Mtomdala.

His protégés also include Comrade Moses Mabhida, the former vice
president of SACTU and former general secretary of the South Africa
Communist Party and a senior leader of the ANC. Comrade Mabhida was also
once a national commissar of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK).

Comrade Gwala would use any material to teach Marxist theory, even the
Bible, which he knew from Genesis to the Revelations even though he was
not a Christian believer but a Marxist.

His belief was that any document can be used to learn and teach or
develop theory.

Therefore the lack of material on Robben Island did not stop him at all
from continuing his work of producing leaders for the movement who had
political clarity.

We also honour Comrade Gwala for his vociferous efforts of defending
the people of the Midlands from violence sponsored by the apartheid
state during the 1980s in Pietermaritzburg and surroundings.

Mtomdala never compromised on the defense of the people, in particular
the defense of the working class. That is how dedicated he was to
achieving the freedom he had dedicated his life to.

We draw inspiration from Mntomdala as we recommit ourselves to building
and uniting the ANC-led Alliance to confront the challenges we face at
this point in our national democratic revolution.

The democratic state has done well since 1994 in creating peace and
stability and forming democratic institutions. We have done well in
transforming the state from an apartheid instrument designed to oppress
the majority and create a better life for a few, to a state that must
serve all the people of our country especially the poor and the working
class.
We have done well in extending basic services. However, despite the
progress made, we continue to face the persistent triple challenges of
unemployment, poverty and inequality.
While more people have access to water, electricity or housing, many
more are still waiting for these services, indicating that the backlogs
we are facing are huge.
In other areas, in addition to the backlogs, it is clear that the
capacity of the state to deliver the services must still be improved.
In addition to basic services, scores of people, especially the youth,
remain jobless or have no decent jobs. The ANC has identified the triple
challenges as the primary focus area at this point in our history.
We have identified Africans, women and the youth as carrying a
disproportionate burden of these challenges.
We have made a commitment that over the next decade, both the ANC and
all organs of state, shall pay a single-minded and undivided attention
to the three challenges.
We had declared in the 2011 January 8 statement that while we had
achieved political emancipation, on its own, without economic
emancipation, was meaningless and incomplete.
As we prepare for the policy conference later this month in which we
will review performance and plan ahead, we need to reflect on these
critical questions.
Our Strategy and Tactics Discussion Document for the policy conference
proposes that we advance to a Second Transition, which will help us to
deal with the triple challenges.
This is based on the premise that our first transition involved
compromises that were necessary at the time for stability and moving
forward, but which now render us unable to take our social and economic
transformation forward.
We cannot maintain the status quo if we are to eradicate or at least
seriously dent poverty, inequality and unemployment.
It means we cannot continue just managing the situation on the day to
day basis. We must bring about real change where necessary for the good
of the country and to change the lives of the poor and the working class.
For example, to achieve economic transformation, the state cannot be a
bystander in the economy. It must participate and play a central and
strategic role in the economy. It must intervene directly by investing
in underdeveloped areas and by directing private sector investment. The
state is already directing infrastructure development in our country, as
one of our primary tools of achieving growth and development.
Our massive infrastructure programme, forming part of the New Growth
Path, and costing more than R800 billion, should ensure the expansion of
social services such as water, electricity and roads, while building
economic infrastructure as well such as ports, railways and upgrading
airports.
The state will lead efforts to rebuild and expand the physical platform
for jobs and growth. There is a pivotal role for metal workers in this
infrastructure plan.

The sectors that NUMSA is involved in are key to infrastructure, for
example inputs such as steel, rods and cables.

But our ambition with the Infrastructure Plan is to use it to expand a
broader set of local industries to create jobs.

We want South African made earth moving equipment to be used in the
infrastructure build phase, and locally made buses, train carriages and
locomotives to be used on the newly built or upgraded rail lines.

In the energy sector, we are keen to see locally made turbines and
boilers, as well as green energy components.

The infrastructure plan must also help to unchain mining in different
parts of the country. But this must not simply be a one-way line from
the mine to the ship. We are working on greater beneficiation of South
African iron ore, manganese, coal and other minerals.

These jobs, in shelters and downstream manufactured goods, are where
NUMSA members work.
For the auto industry, the transition from the Motor Industry
Development Programme to the Automotive Production and Development
Programme by 2013 has largely been completed.
This programme has helped to build sufficient confidence in South
Africa’s capabilities and policies, even in the midst of global
stagnation.
As a result, the country has over R15 billion investment commitments
from both assemblers and component suppliers.
This has been accompanied by large increases in the number of vehicles
assembled locally and by the production of component parts in South
Africa which augurs well for the growth of the industry.
Comrades and friends,
For the ANC to effectively lead economic transformation and the second
transition successfully, organisational renewal remains paramount. What
type of an organisation do we want to be, what are the responsibilities
of ANC members at this point in our history?
How do we strengthen the movement, ensuring discipline and undivided
focus on the goals of building a prosperous society?
The issue of the renewal of the organisation is likely to generate very
fruitful debates at the policy conference.
Comrades and friends,

The policy conference will be taking place in a highly contested and
challenging global environment.
It is also a difficult period which has seen a crisis of capitalism
that led to the collapse of banks in the United States and Europe.
This crisis, which was not of our own making, cost us one million jobs
in South Africa from which we are still trying to recover.
We have also seen ineffective governance on the other hand leading to
the collapse of the Eurozone.
Some of the questions we will be asking ourselves at the policy
conference is how do we cushion ourselves from such shocks in the
capitalist system which affect us whether we like it or not.
We will be meeting as well in a period when the developing economies of
the South such as India, China and Brazil are growing faster and
providing a viable economic alternative for South Africa as the
developed world recovers from various shocks.
In forums such as IBSA and BRICS, we push the agenda of the South
economically, socially and politically.
We will also be meeting in an environment where Africa is rising like
never before, experiencing growth while other regions are struggling.
Given our decision to prioritise Africa above all other regions, the
growth of the continent is positive news for our country in political,
social and economic terms.
This rejuvenation is also important for the agenda of achieving the
regeneration of the African continent which has pre-occupied our
founding father and mothers since the first declaration on the
regeneration of Africa by Pixley ka Isaka Seme in April 1906.
Comrades, we will also be meeting against the background of the
occurrences in North Africa last year, called the Arab Spring.
There are many lessons to be gleaned from that episode, especially with
regards to the relations between Africa and the developed world, the
African Union and the United Nations.
We have been contributing to the improvement of relations between the
African Union and the United Nations, in order to improve collaboration
especially with regards to peacekeeping and peacemaking.
The policy conference will also pronounce on matters such as the
Palestine-Israeli question. Our position remains firm that a credible
inclusive dialogue between Palestine and Israel must take place on the
basis of a two state framework leading to peaceful co-existence between
Israel and a free state of Palestine.
Closer to home, the Freedom of the Peoples of Western Sahara with
internationally recognized borders is an important principle. The ANC
supports a negotiated settlement with the government of the Kingdom of
Morocco under the auspices of the UN.
Regarding Cuba, the ANC continues to pledge solidarity with the
government and the people of Cuba. We call for an immediate end to the
United States embargo on CUBA and support the release of the Cuban five.
Comrades,
The policy conference will also review ANC performance in all priority
areas including education, health, the fight against crime, rural
development, gender equality, youth development and a host of others.
We must use the policy conference to reaffirm the role of the ANC, as
outlined by Comrade Oliver Tambo at the funeral of Comrade Moses Mabhida.
He described the ANC as “the parliament of all the people of our
country, the representative of our future, the negation of the divisions
and conflicts that racial arrogance and capitalist greed have imposed on
our people’’.
We look forward to fruitful debates on these questions and the
emergence of a stronger ANC and stronger Alliance, ready to take our
country forward to a national democratic society.
I wish you a fruitful and successful congress as you chart the way
forward for NUMSA and indeed the country. Amandla!
Thank you.