[DEBATE] : NEHAWU STATEMENT ON THE RECALL OF PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI AND CABINET RESIGNATIONS

[Dominic Tweedie]

23 September 2008

NEHAWU STATEMENT ON THE RECALL OF PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI AND CABINET RESIGNATIONS

The National Education Health and Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU)
welcomes the progressive ANC NEC decision to recall President Thabo
Mbeki. This is a decisive action which will close the old difficult
chapter in our movement which had brought uncertainty about the
direction of our national democratic revolution. Unity of our movement
and the nation is paramount and every effort to remove obstacles to
such unity should be greatly welcomed.

We are carefully observing that some cabinet ministers and deputy
ministers have refused to heed the call by the ANC President Jacob
Zuma to stay put and have resigned. We hope that some of those that
have resigned did so to abide with the constitutional imperatives and
are available for re-appointment by the new President of the Republic
of South Africa.

There are important issues that NEHAWU want to highlight on the
decision to recall the State President viz.:

Why the Recall?

Firstly, the principle of recall – removing an elected official before
the end of the term has become an entrenched radical democratic
practice within our movement and should be embraced by our society as
a whole. The noises from some opposition parties against the recall
might have to do with the implication this shall have in their
organisations. Opposition parties have little to benefit from a strong
ANC in the making and they are worried that they are poised to loose
the forthcoming elections.

In recent times the ANC has applied these recall principles in a
number of cases involving mayors, premiers and now the State
President. We believe that this principle will go a long way in
complementing representative democracy, by ensuring greater commitment
to organizational mandates and policies and greater accountability –
something that was not obvious under Mbeki administration. We are
deeply reminded here of how the economic policy called GEAR was
introduced.

Secondly, the state of paralysis in some parts of the public sector
has been obvious since the ANC Polokwane Conference. Despite efforts
to create a high-level "War Council" to accelerate service delivery
and inclusion of the ANC Deputy President in the Cabinet, leadership
at government level has not been forthcoming. This has given way to
abuse of (including outright looting) of public resources. The
commercial media depiction of a "lame-duck President" also contributed
to this sense of paralysis, with the state limping from one crisis to
another, crises that also undermine unity and cohesion within our
movement.

It is in this respect that we welcome the recall of President Mbeki.
Having said this, we however, wish to salute President Mbeki for his
commitment and dedication to the tasks of changing our society and the
state. We expect him to continue to play such a role in different
capacities.

Cabinet Resignations

The resignation of some Cabinet ministers and deputy ministers with no
intention of being available for re-appointment confirms what we have
been saying as the union for a number of years now. Most members of
the Mbeki Cabinet acted as a faction within the ANC. Their recent
actions are no different from other actions in the past, which sought
to undermine the policy directives of their organization - ANC. They
refused to heed the ANC call to stay put in order to pay allegiance
not to the movement but to an individual. This is a factionalist
behaviour that is behind what we call the "1996 Class Project". This
is the project which aimed to replacing our mass-based ANC (and the
Alliance it leads) as a centre of policy-decision making, with
state-technocratic control for the benefit of the elite and
big-business.

We want to say the following:

Throughout the history of the ANC there have always been others who
sought to factionalise or divide our movement. Some decided to break
away from our movement in order to weaken it. These attempts took
place, for example, after the adoption of the Freedom Charter in 1955
and after the Morogoro Conference of 1969. But this giant movement
became even stronger after these occurrences. It is expected that
after Polokwane Conference of 2007, there will be others as well. But
the movement will prevail because it is far bigger than individuals
within and outside ANC.

 A Call to public service workers to stay put

NEHAWU calls on all its members and workers in the public service not
to be distracted by these developments, but focus on the tasks of
serving our people. We must engage our maximum efforts to support the
incoming administration in all ways we can and not listen to anyone
who tries to take our eyes off the ball. In coming days and weeks the
union will be communicating effectively with all our members in
particular, and workers in general, to ensure that these developments
are appropriately understood.

Implications of the Judge Nicholson Judgment

Various reviews and comments have been made on the Judge Nicholson
judgment on ANC President Jacob Zuma case. NEHAWU joins the calls that
among other things, steps should be taken to charge Maduna, Ngcuka and
McCarthy for contravening the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)
Act. The judgment did make inference to systematic abuse of the organs
of the State, implicating Maduna and others.

Welcoming our new State President!

We warmly welcome announcement by the ANC to deploy its Deputy
President, Comrade Kgalema Montlante as President of the Republic of
South Africa. A new chapter is in a process of being opened, and the
public service workers look forward towards working together with the
leadership in government headed by President Montlante.

Issued by NEHAWU Communications Department

For further information, please contact Fikile Majola (NEHAWU General
Secretary) at 011 833 2902 or 082 455 1751 email: sizwep at nehawu.org.za