16 April 2002
The South African Communist Party (SACP) strongly condemns the business chamber for delaying and dragging the government-labour-business-community negotiations at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) in preparation for the Financial Sector Summit scheduled to be held on 31 May this year.
Last week's negotiations could not continue because the business chamber chose not to be present knowing full well that no meaningful negotiations could take place without their presence. On last week's negotiations agenda was discrimination in the financial sector through red-lining, racial discrimination, gender-based discrimination and HIV/AIDS based discrimination.
Since the negotiations started on 28 February, little progress has been made and no substantial agreement has been reached on the major issues. So far agreement has been reached only with regard to the problems related to the Credit Bureaux and the need for state regulation of the Credit Bureaux. There is still no agreement on the following demands:
These are substantial areas which, if addressed, will be a major step forward in the transformation and diversification of the financial sector in our country. These are the very issues which inspired the SACP to launch the Red October Campaign to Make Banks Serve the People in October 2000.
By delaying the negotiations on these major issues, the business chamber is showing that it is not committed to the transformation and diversification of the financial sector in our country. Indeed, the majority of the financial sector in our country remains committed to apartheid ownership and control patterns in the financial sector and the maximisation of private profits at the expense of the overwhelming majority of our people. These delays in essence means the unabated continuation of racist and other discriminatory practices in the banks and the financial sector as a whole.
At this stage, the SACP still calls on the business chamber at NEDLAC to stop its delaying tactics and come back to the negotiations table and negotiate meaningfully. The SACP recognises that it is important that the negotiations which precede the NEDLAC Financial Sector Summit are meaningful and are able to address all the major issues. In this way, the NEDLAC Financial Sector Summit can be a success.
However, it is clear to the SACP that ongoing mass struggle will ensure fundamental transformation and diversification of the financial sector in our country with or without the private financial sector. Therefore, the SACP will, before the NEDLAC Financial Sector Summit, call a National Day of Action in support of the above demands and to put pressure on the business chamber. The SACP calls on all South Africans to support this Day of Action and to condemn the business chamber for its delaying tactics at NEDLAC.
CONTACT
Mazibuko Kanyiso Jara (surname Jara)
Department of Media, Information and Publicity
South African Communist Party
Tel - 011 339 3621
Fax - 011 339 4244
Cell - 083 651 0271
Email - sacp1@wn.apc.org