14 May 2020
The South African Communist Party (SACP) in Moses Mabhida Province (KwaZulu-Natal) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) held a bilateral meeting through a virtual meeting platform. The meeting discussed the challenges confronting the working class and vulnerable sections of our society, the outbreak and spread of the deadly novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and its impact.
As this joint SACP-Cosatu provincial statement was released, Covid-19 cases and deaths were spiralling. There were already over 12 000 cases and 219 deaths countrywide.
Meanwhile, imperialism was putting governments throughout the world under tremendous pressure to open-up the economy, without governments putting in place measures to stop the spread of Covid-19.
The envisaged lifting of lockdowns if recklessly approached signifies that the imperialist ruling class is carrying out policies that it knows will lead to the deaths of tens or even hundreds of thousands of people. They are also rationalising why schools should also be re-opened while ignoring the danger to children and workers.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned governments, that a premature return to work without adequate preventative measures could risk the resurgence of the pandemic. Governments should take this warning seriously, rather than follow what the self-centred, imperialist ruling class wants.
South Africa has laid a good foundation in curbing the spread of the disease. Now it must ensure that it builds the infrastructure it needs to combat both Covid-19 and future pandemics.
The ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic
Many governments have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic with measures that leaned more towards saving profits than lives. This has prevented a scientific, globally co-ordinated, humane response to Covid-19 from taking place.
For decades, scientists and epidemiologists have been warning of such pandemics such as Covid-19. However, most governments did nothing to take preventative measures, build up stockpiles of protective gear for health-care workers and lifesaving medical equipment, as well as build medical treatment capacity. The bilateral meeting called for a more co-ordinated and united effort aimed at strengthening our public health system against the Covid-19 and future pandemics.
The meeting welcomed the arrival of the Cuban medical professionals and expressed sincere gratitude to the Cuban people for their sacrifice and commitment to protecting the fundamental human right to life. When days were dark for the South African people, Cubans came forward and offered their internationalist solidarity. The meeting thus urged the people of South Africa to warmly welcome the Cuban Internationalist Medical Brigade and work together with them in the war against the deadly virus, Covid 19.
Forcing workers back to work
The financial oligarchy and its media puppets are demanding that workers return to work, recklessly, an action which will lead to more deaths. Their aim is to normalise death and the pandemic, and thus treat workers’ lives as expendable.
The ruling class intends to utilise the mass social desperation to force workers to return to work in a reckless manner. This is the reality of capitalism. Workers around the world must unite to fight against corporate greed and to secure adequate social protection.
Protect workers and provide lifeline to the poor
In order to fight the scourge of Covid-19, billions and trillions of rands must be allocated. However, these must not be directed more at bailing out big business but on improving the material conditions of the poor and workers’ augmenting. The resources should also be directed at building quality health-care capacity and infrastructure and safeguarding public health, including through adequate provision of personal protective equipment, especially to all health-care and as well as to other essential public services workers.
The repayment of student loans, mortgages, other debts and liabilities, must be immediately suspended, for at least six months. All workers must continue to receive their full income for the duration of the pandemic, and all non-essential workplaces must remain closed until it is safe to re-open them. Quality health-care must be made available to all, especially the workers and poor who are excluded by the profit-based private health-care sector, and thus free of charge to the marginalised, and on the basis of the principles of equality.
Government was calling on workers to go back to work through a risk adjusted gradual opening of the workplace. Yet the very same government (by cutting the public sector wage bill) has reneged on implementing a resolution agreed upon three years ago. The government must ensure that it negotiates in good faith and keeps the agreements that it enters into.
The government as the employer must provide workers with a safe working environment, taking into account the reality of Covid-19. Government can do much better by ensuring that it provides resources to workers, personal protective equipment and generally ensure that the public sector workplace is redesigned to comply with Covid-19 regulations.
The meeting called for more incentives to be considered for frontline and critical workers who are providing essentials, given their sacrifice in the fight against Covid-19.
Pulling together all the unions and community
The SACP and Cosatu will mobilise all workers and ensure that they are vigilant at all times, keep workers’ rights protected and ensure that they save lives. This requires a fighting federation and all workers united.
Creating platforms for the voice of the poor
Being concerned about the lack of platforms where the majority poor people can make their views heard, the meeting resolved to establish a Civil Society Coalition against Covid-19. This coalition shall consist of social movements, trade unions, and other civil society formations. The Civil Society Coalition against Covid-19 will provide platforms for the poor to participate in the process of finding solutions, they deserve a chance to he heard. An appraisal of the extent to the Covid-19 pandemic is impacting on the poor, of the effect of the measures taken by governments across the world, and of what more can be done to mitigate the challenges brought about by the outbreak of the virus, is impossible with their voice being heard.
National Health Insurance
The National Health Insurance (NHI) should have long been fully implemented. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the deficiencies in the health system. Swift implementation of the NHI would have gone a long way in preventing the situation. Still, it will go a long way in improving the health system and bring about universal access to quality health-care.
A Comprehensive Social Security System
In many parts of our country people are subjected to the mercy of others in the distribution of food parcels. The fact that many people are falling through the cracks makes our case for a comprehensive social security system stronger. This could incorporate the minimum income support grant (proposed by the Alliance Political Council for consideration) for the poor, particularly unemployed workers and workers in the informal sector who do not receive any grant or payment from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
The dignity of our people must be respected and protected as expected in terms of the Constitution. the proposed grant will go a long way in protecting the dignity of the poor.
ISSUED BY JOINT SECRETARIAT OF SACP AND Cosatu IN KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE
Themba Mthembu
Provincial Secretary
SACP Moses Mabhida Province
0833036988
Edwin Mkhize
Provincial Secretary
Cosatu KwaZulu-Natal
0765228839/0823997756
