Karima Brown
26 November 2009
Johannesburg — THE Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is not backing down in its quest to influence economic policy.
General secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said yesterday Cosatu wanted a complete overhaul of the economy. "We need a complete mind- set change. We are calling for a new growth path in recognition of the structural crisis in the economy," he said after a meeting of its central executive committee.
Cosatu said it would develop a framework on alternative policies on exchange-rate management, interest-rate policy and inflation control. Cosatu's stance comes two weeks after a meeting with its allies, after which the African National Congress (ANC) made it clear it led in making policy.
Although it made concessions at the alliance meeting, yesterday's announcement is likely to set the tone for strident debate on economic policy among the allies and in the Cabinet.
Asked how Cosatu would convince ANC officials, who have already said existing conservative macroeconomic policy would remain, Vavi said the ANC was a "broad church".
"I have not heard of a resolution on policy position in the ANC that says the party is tied to conservative macroeconomic policies. We are going to engage with resolutions taken, not individuals," he said.
Cosatu said it would also form "tactical" partnerships with business to lobby on specific issues.
Manufacturers would be its partner in lobbying on a weaker rand rate and it prefers a rate of R10/ to support the sector. It would partner mining companies to oppose Eskom's proposed tariff hikes of 45% a year for three years. Vavi said there was a need to move away from capital-intensive sectors and focus on more-labour intensive sectors.
He blamed past economic policies for what he termed the current crisis.
"The underlying cause of the crisis now ravaging the working-class communities is the mistaken policies between 1996 and 2004, of cutting tariffs and privatising basic services, conservative fiscal and monetary policies pursued in those years."
The job-loss bloodbath, with SA losing nearly 1-million jobs this year, proved SA was far from getting out of the recession, another reason Cosatu wanted changes to economic policy.
"We have lost 959000 jobs in nine months. The 0,9% growth rate will not cancel that. Even when the economy grew by nearly 6% we never witnessed the unemployment rate declining below 23%. This is what we call a structural unemployment crisis."
"More of the same medicine" would not solve the crisis. An overhaul of the economy was needed. Cosatu's alternative framework was also likely to set out its position on the need for a clearer growth and development strategy.
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