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The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) in the Northern Cape convened its ordinary Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting from the 19th to the 20th March 2021. The PEC considered the international context, political and socio-economic situations including organisational assessment in particular matters affecting our members and the working class in the province.

The PEC resolved to strengthen and advance our international solidarity program as part of our pillars. In this regard, we will develop a program to fight neoliberalism and capitalism including the implementation of austerity measures by our government. We will intensify our solidarity support with the people of Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Western Sahara, Basque, Cuba, Palestine and Venezuela. The PEC expressed strong support of the nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize of the Cuban Henry Reeve medical brigade for its unparalleled internationalism.

The PEC after making extensive assessments resolved that the African National Congress (ANC) has betrayed workers and that workers are currently being butchered by the ANC government. There is a deliberate reversal of the gains of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) such as the principle of collective bargaining. It is further our undertaking that the elites in the ANC are in collaboration with white monopoly capital to misinterpret the real motive force of the NDR for selfish personal accumulation. The meeting concluded that the NDR is currently stagnant and the agenda of being comfortable with corruption is the order of the day. 

We further note the silence of the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the province on the continued attacks on workers in the province and the damaging activities that continue unabated. The PEC resolved to mobilise our members in calling for an end to the recycling of corrupt senior managers in the provincial government. The entire revolutionary alliance must fight corruption, as it robs ordinary people of much deserved service delivery. 

The PEC reaffirmed the principle decision taken by the national union at the Central Executive Committee (CEC) not to campaign for the ANC in the upcoming local government elections. In this regard, we will not utilise our limited resources to deploy Office Bearers or Shop Stewards to campaign for the ANC, either in the bi-elections or the forth-coming local government elections. 

Furthermore, the PEC noted the upcoming regional and provincial conferences, and resolved that members of NEHAWU are free to participate in those processes as individual members of the ANC. However, we will not identify with nor pronounce on any leadership slate about leadership preferences towards the conferences. 

The PEC expressed support for the demands of the students and that the current shutdown led by our reliable ally, the South African Students Congress (SASCO), is important especially in the Northern Cape Urban and Rural TVET College and Sol Plaatjie University. NEHAWU will be mobilising workers in the sector to reject the anti-worker tendencies of the Urban NCUTVET college principal who has declared himself an opponent of good governance and transformation.

The meeting directed all regions to convene meetings with our Community Healthcare Workers (CHW’s) to report back to them on the progress made and new developments relating to the demands made in 2020. The program will also include recruitment and members meetings in public health, SANPARKS, ACSA, Private Social Development and State Admin. As we scale up our work in these sectors, our primary area of focus will be to ensure that all workplaces have fully established and functional health and safety committees. 

The PEC welcomed the availability of the vaccine, however, expressed disappointment about the roll out of the vaccine to frontline workers in the province. The PEC called on the department of health to improve on their communication with frontline workers regarding the vaccination. 

We wish to applaud our frontline workers for their dedication and sacrifices made during these difficult times, and further reassure the Community Health Care Workers that we will not abandon the call for their absorption. 

Issued by NEHAWU Northern Cape Provincial Secretariat