Press statement issued by the Congress of South African Trade Unions.

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COSATU’s position on Nepad

The Congress of South African Trade Unions wishes to clarify
its position on the New Partnership for Africa's Development
(Nepad). Media reports have suggested that COSATU is
simply “opposed” to Nepad. This is a gross oversimplification.

The federation’s views on Nepad were clearly explained in a
media statement on 25 April 2002. It reported that the Central
Executive Committee (CEC) had agreed that COSATU should
embrace the broad principle of Nepad - that there is a need for
Africans to undertake an initiative to ensure better governance,
end conflicts and embark on sustainable development. The CEC
agreed that the continent needs to put an end to wars, coups,
military dictatorships, and permanent indebtedness and that
ways must be found for Africans to develop the continent’s
resources for the benefit of the African people and to strengthen
the role of civil society.

The CEC took the view that the transformation of Africa can
only happen if it is driven by its people. There was a strong
feeling that the NEPAD plan has been developed only through
discussions between governments and business organisations,
leaving the people far behind.

The CEC decided to engage with government, in collaboration
with our trade union colleagues in the rest of Africa, to bring
about changes to the NEPAD to address the needs of the
workers and the poor of Africa. To begin this process
COSATU has asked for NEPAD to be put on the agenda of the
Presidential Working Group. The federation has also been
looking into the possibility of holding an all-Africa trade union
conference.

The CEC raised concerns about the economic proposals in the
NEPAD, in particular the need to ensure that macro-economic
governance does not stray too far towards stabilisation, at the
cost of growth and employment creation. Moreover, the
emphasis on privatisation in the section on infrastructure ignores
the reality that privatised services will not serve the poor on our
continent.

The CEC decided that we should open a broader discussion on
NEPAD within the structures of the movement. The CEC has
given the Executive Committee (Exco), which is meeting on 29-
30 May, a mandate to pronounce on COSATU’s stance on the
contents of NEPAD and a further report will be given after this
meeting.

This view was explained in an SABC interview with COSATU’s
General Secretary on May 23. The SABC, however, edited the
interview in a selective way that gave an entirely inaccurate view
of COSATU’s position. The story carried by the SABC on the
evening of May 23 has given the impression that COSATU
rejects Nepad out of hand. COSATU is going to demand a
retraction of the story from the SABC’s senior management,
failing which COSATU will be taking the matter up with
Broadcasting Complaints Commission.

Patrick Craven and Moloto Mothapo
Acting COSATU Spokespersons

[email protected]
082-821-7456
339-4911

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Contact 082-821-7456 Patrick Craven or Moloto Mothapo for further comment.

Visit the COSATU web site at http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/latest.html for
copies of our most recent press statements. For the full archive go to:
http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/archive.html.

Get free e-mail for union members. Visit http://www.union.org.za and sign
up now! It's free!

COSATU takes steps to ensure that any attachments are free from viruses.
You should, however, carry out your own virus check before opening any
attachment. COSATU accepts no liability for loss or damage caused by
software viruses.

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