THE Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) was formed in 1985. Its founders included current African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa (at the time the National Union of Mineworkers’ first secretary-general) and Jay Naidoo, Cosatu’s first general secretary and later a minister in Nelson Mandela’s first cabinet.
Cosatu-affiliated trade unions account for nearly 2-million members and it is part of the tripartite alliance (with the ANC and the South African Communist Party), which some of its leaders claim provides its members with political influence they would not otherwise enjoy. Cosatu’s heyday was between its launch and Nelson Mandela’s release, when it played a major role in organising general strikes, wage strikes and in mobilising support among workers across the country. Cosatu was a significant contributor to the success achieved by the United Democratic Front, a coalition of hundreds of civic organisations, in its opposition to apartheid.
There’s nothing surprising about the involvement of trade unions and their federations in politics and political organisations, usually on the left of the political spectrum. The Labour Party in the UK is closely tied up with the union movement, from which it receives substantial financial support and which requires that its preferences be accorded pride of place in the party’s policies. Inevitably, this creates a tension between leaders of the two groups.
Under Zwelinzima Vavi, Cosatu’s currently suspended general secretary, this tension between Cosatu the ANC has become both pervasive and profound. Vavi has not hesitated to attack the ANC for what he sees as its unwillingness to confront corruption. His own political focus is on the increasing socialisation of the state, a position from which he has frequently chastised the ANC and its commitment to the National Development Plan.
Vavi has long been at odds with Cosatu’s president, Sdumo Dlamini. Observers have noted that Dlamini is the principal representative of the public service unions, which have grown in stature and power. Vavi has accused Dlamini of wanting to turn Cosatu into the ANC’s tame labour desk, which he has, of course, strenuously denied.
It is usual to find among strongly opinionated individuals powerful differences of opinion, whether these have their origins in personal ambition or divergent world views. But the degree to which these have become entrenched and are now exercising influence over the positioning of the various factions has suddenly become front and centre of the 2014 general election drama.
The ANC, said its secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, this week, will shift to the right if the working class abandons the party. That would be "brutal on the working class". This is the voice of deep concern. The ANC has never had to fight an election in which the very core of its support is troubled. As though to underline this, Mantashe referred to Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, previously a member of the South African Democratic Teachers Union, "and now that she was a minister the union was fighting her".
The ANC has long been regarded as monolithic, in much the same way as its immediate predecessor, the National Party, was.
But the broad church Mandela once identified as its overarching strength can also be its weakness. The deep disconnect between "workers" and union bosses is being felt at many levels in business.
Because of the overt fraternisation between organised labour and the ANC, this translates into suspicion verging on dislike at the street level, and explains, partially at least, why next year’s general election is shaping up to be a watershed for the country.
Regulators need ethics too
REGULATION has become one of the great expansion industries of the 21st century. The cry of many politicians seems to be: if it moves, regulate it. They figure it’s safest (and simplest, for them) that way.
But, in a profound and pleasantly short paper, Chris van der Walt of ISS Compliance argues that South Africa is being force-fed a diet of business ethics through regulation — but that scant attention is paid to the ethics of regulation. As he puts it, unethical conduct by a single corporation affects many, but a lack of regulatory ethics affects everyone.
Business ethics consists of three principles — utility, right and justice. An individual will favour one of these; the same applies to a company. An individual’s bias is influenced by his personal value system, a company’s bias by the nature of its business.
Utility requires conduct that will generate the most good for the largest number. The principle of right means an emphasis on conduct that least interferes with individual rights. Justice means just that — the fairest and most equitable solution.
In South Africa, utility is the weapon of choice for regulators — regulate to bring the most benefit to the biggest number with the available resources. This has become so entrenched that it’s no longer questioned. As Van der Walt asks, it may bring the most votes, but is it really the best way?
The trouble is that utility-based regulation can’t accommodate everyone. So it aims to satisfy the majority, which almost always brings it into conflict with whether it is right and whether it is fair.
A feature of regulation is the punitive powers applied. Take a look at those available to the South African Revenue Service. The more power used, the more we work to overturn the existing order. It is a feature of the human condition that the value we accord institutions diminishes in proportion to the force applied by the institution.
Regulation often relies on offences and penalties. That brings about breaches, and criminals, and that requires more regulation. But, by itself, more regulation isn’t the answer to problems.
And there is a new belief in a holy trinity — licensing, supervision, enforcement — all under the same roof. Dispenser, prosecutor and judge in one. The imposition of administrative sanctions, such as the enforcement committee of the Financial Services Board (FSB), has become all too pervasive.
It’s as though we’re being told that one institution (the FSB) doesn’t trust another (the justice system). This really isn’t good for society.
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