South African History Online

Speech by President Nelson Mandela at the sixth national congress of COSATU

Johannesburg, 16 September 1997

Comrade Chairperson;
Comrade President,
John Gomomo;
Comrade
Secretary-General,
Sam Shilowa;
Members of the Central Executive
Committee;
Distinguished Delegates;
Ladies and gentlemen,

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of this, COSATU's Sixth
National Congress. May I therefore start by thanking you most sincerely for
inviting me to be a part of it.

It was my privilege also to take part in the Fifth National Congress, in
September 1994.

Then, we were fresh from the election of a democratic government led by the
ANC, a historic victory made possible by organised workers acting in unison with
other democratic forces.

Then, we were witnessing the launch of elements of the government's programme
of action, with the RDP's Presidential Lead Projects that shone like beacons in
our nation's quest for a better life for all. These projects - for school
feeding; free health care; access to clean water; land reform and urban renewal
- were also markers of our determination to focus especially on improving the
lives of the poor.

Then, our Alliance was yet to take the measure of its responsibility as the
leading force for transformation in the current phase.

Today, we have behind us three year's experience of striving to implement our
vision; three years in which together we have made great strides; three years in
which the scale of the challenge on which we have embarked has become clearer;
three years in which the opportunities and constraints of our work within and
outside of government have been tested.

We can rejoice in the fact that, on average, every single day since the
democratic movement took office, 1,000 people have gained access to clean water;
that each week has on average brought another two clinics with access to
health-care for some 20,000 people; that currently 1,000 electricity connections
are being made each day and 1,000 houses are being brought into construction or
completed under the government's capital subsidy programme every two-and-a-half
days. It is puzzling therefore that a perception persists that government is not
addressing basic needs. It is perhaps natural that those who were privileged
under apartheid are less appreciative of the changes. It is only to be expected
that our opponents, especially those who have lost power and who have no
alternative policies of their own, will pretend that our work lacks substance
and, with scowls on their arrogant faces, scoff at us when we celebrate our
achievements. In this situation it must surely be amongst the tasks of Alliance
leaders to help communicate the reality that the cumulative impact of such
programmes is changing millions of lives which were blighted by apartheid's
inhuman policies. The foundation for a better life has been laid. Our task is to
speed up implementation.

We could add much to the list of gains made between COSATU's last congress
and this one, in particular for the workers of South Africa.

Our new constitution and other laws secure and entrench new rights of
workers, most of them unheard of in the history of our country; many of them
among the most advanced in the world. In NEDLAC we have an institution which
formalises and promotes the participation of civil society in the determination
of policy. We could point to the intense consultations between unions in
particular sectors and corresponding government departments in the formulation
of policy and legislation.

We cite such gains not because they are the sum of what has been achieved,
nor because we can be satisfied with them. Rather they form the backdrop to an
acknowledgment that we need still more effective liaison and consultation in the
field of policy. They provide a context for broaching issues which remain
unresolved or are being debated, not only between Government and organised
labour, not only between the ANC and COSATU, but also within the ANC as much as
within COSATU itself.

These matters are lightened by the successful recent Alliance Summit, and its
agreements on processes for continuing discussion where differences remain.

It is common cause that restructuring of the public sector; macro-economic
policy; the labour market and industrial development strategy are fundamental to
the process of transformation. These are precisely the areas in which, as
partners, we most need to focus on strengthening our consensus on the policies
and measures that will promote our shared goals.

It is in the nature of an alliance that its partners will not agree on all
matters that fall within the broad vision that binds them. What is important is
the readiness to discuss disagreements when they do arise and the shared
commitment to find solutions. It is therefore not in keeping with the character
of our Alliance when COSATU declares that positions it holds that differ from
those of the ANC or government are non-negotiable. By the same token it is wrong
for the ANC to present its own positions as non-negotiable, even while
exercising its broader responsibilities in government.

Our starting point must be the need to ensure that we produce the resources
to achieve the goals of reconstruction and development; to use them to the
greatest effect to improve the lives of our people, especially the poor; and to
adopt the policies which promote the achievement of those goals.

As we agreed at the recent Summit, macro-economic strategy must be measured
against the objective needs of transformation and the real constraints the
country faces.

Like any policy, it is not cast in stone. Its usefulness must be measured
against its goals. Its appropriateness must be judged in the light of prevailing
conditions. For the same reason, any proposed elaboration or modification must
find justification in changes in objective conditions and not merely in a desire
for agreement, or in a sectoral drive to satisfy narrow self-interest.

And while our measuring-rod must always be improvement in the lives of the
poor, democracy dictates that any such decisions must be with the involvement of
all major sectors of our society, including labour and business.

What we do know is that we cannot continue to give up one-fifth of our
national budget to servicing debt; that jobs performing no useful function in
government should not consume resources that could be used to provide services
and productive investment; that it defeats our purposes to produce goods that
our own people cannot afford and others will not buy; and that we should
restructure and streamline public corporations in line with the challenges of
transformation.

There are also dilemmas that arise from the competing nature of some of our
goals, from the multiplicity of interests not only among the former victims of
apartheid in general, but also within the ranks of the poor, including the
organised and the unorganised; the employed and the unemployed; as well as rural
and urban communities.

For example, allocating fishing quotas away from big corporations to allow a
share of this sector to poor fishermen excluded by apartheid, is seen by the
workers in the big corporations as a threat to their own employment.

And though they differ in scale, such dilemmas and hard choices are, in the
end, of a kind with those which have delayed the Basic Conditions of Employment
Bill. The problems that have attended this Bill not only testify to the
importance of the issues involved. They also bring out in bolder relief the
debate about our reading of the current situation and the route we should adopt
towards the common objectives of a democratic, caring and prosperous
society.

I am confident that, as we have done before, we will find a solution in the
form of a compromise acceptable to all sectors. More important still, when we do
this, we will be opening the way for a major improvement in the working
conditions of the overwhelming majority of South Africa's workers. That the Bill
is a strategic advance, there is no question. But the issue is how we resolve
outstanding matters in a manner that is consistent with our broader objectives
of reconstruction and development.

Such an achievement will stand us all in good stead as we face still greater
challenges, not least that of job-creation. There are important questions about
the precise nature and scale of unemployment in our country. But there can be no
doubt that the level is unacceptable. There can be no doubt that we have been
more successful in turning the economy around and generating growth than we have
been in creating jobs.

We have all accepted the proposal of the Labour Market Commission to convene
a national jobs summit, so that all social sectors can join together in taking
responsibility for the development of programmes for employment-creation.
Certainly, this matter will create challenges and dilemmas for all of us -
government, employers and employed workers - as acute as any that we have
faced.

We are confident about our economic future, because the fundamentals are in
order. The long-term trends include growing strength in manufacturing; improving
export performance; and falling inflation. Major investment in mega-projects and
Spatial Development Initiatives are helping fuel what is akin to an industrial
revolution. As was agreed at the Summit, we need together to elaborate our
industrial strategy to take us into the new millennium on a high road of
sustainable growth. We need to work together to mobilise the investments to
achieve this, public and private, local and international.

Comrades;

I have dwelt on the challenges that face us as allies, because we bear so
large a responsibility for dealing with them.

But we should also remind ourselves of the broader Alliance vision from which
these issues derive their meaning; the deepening of democracy; the entrenchment
of human rights; freedom of speech and other rights that we gained in struggle -
all of them underpinned by the Reconstruction and Development Programme. It is
our joint responsibility to defend and advance these gains and guard them like
the apple of our eye.

Nor should we forget that the Alliance has a mission to lead not only its own
constituencies but the whole of society in the building of a new nation founded
on a partnership of all social sectors. Reconstruction and development depend
on, and in turn promote, reconciliation and nation-building, and these too form
part of our mission.

Such are the reasons that make this Congress, and the forthcoming conferences
of the ANC and the Communist Party, to have such critical importance.

That is why the structures of the Alliance must not fail us. The processes
set in motion at the recent Alliance Summit should ensure that all of us make a
decisive contribution in charting the way forward into the twenty-first
century.

In the three years since we achieved democracy, we have laid the foundation
for a better life.

Today the call is to build on those foundations.

Forward ever!

Njalo Nje!.

Issued by: African National Congress