Leadership of the Congress of South African Trade Unions,

Leadership of the Alliance,

Comrades and Friends,

Thank you for inviting me to deliver this lecture in honour of the first President of COSATU, Comrade Elijah Barayi.

Elijah Barayi was a great human being and a dedicated cadre of our struggle.

He was a person of principle, conviction and commitment.

As a potent, but unassuming, champion of the working class and the poor, Elijah Barayi would not expect us to use this platform merely to recount his life.

He would not expect us to expend time in singing his praises.

He would insist that as much as we may want to honour him, the kindest way to do so would be to advance the struggles of his people.

And yet, if we are to draw lessons from the enormous contribution that Elijah Barayi made to our struggle, we will need to reflect on his life and his person.

It is telling that Elijah Barayi was never recruited into the NUM.

He recruited himself.

He was one of the most vocal delegates at the first NUM Congress in 1982.

His contributions were very forthright. He had a manner of speaking which made everyone sit up and listen.

He often started his contributions very softly and gently, but to make his point his voice would rise to a crescendo as he made a point of great revolutionary significance.

At that conference it became clear to everyone that in Barayi we had a true working-class leader, but much more than that, we had a leader who was deeply immersed in the politics of the Congress movement, its values, principles and very rich traditions.

He had been an activist in the ANC in the 1950s, having participated in the defiance campaign.

When the ANC was banned he was one of those leaders who found refuge working on the mines. This gave him space to continue the ANC’s underground work.

Comrades Barayi’s activism is perhaps best described by Vic Allen in his book, “The History of Black Mine Workers in South Africa”.

He wrote:

“Elijah Barayi on hearing that the NUM had been formed immediately started organising workers into an NUM branch at the mine where he worked.

“He was much older than the other activists and had had experience in the ANC. He came from Cradock in the Eastern Cape which was an area well known for its support of the ANC.

“He was entirely unknown before the Congress but achieved instant popularity through his impressive oratory, his political commitment and his unrestrained attacks on the apartheid government.

“When it was a criminal offence to say such things he described himself as an old ANC stalwart. His election gave a sign that there was an underlying sympathy for the ANC amongst the NUM delegates at the conference.

“When he was elected president of COSATU he declared in his acceptance speech ‘to the South African government, I say: your time is over. We do not apologise for being black. We are proud of it. As from today Mandela and all political prisoners should be released. PW Botha you have failed in your duties to release Mandela.’

“Then in a manner that became customary for him he departed from his script and, in a rousing and memorable political peroration, gave the government an ultimatum to repeal the pass laws within six months or face the consequences.”

Comrade Barayi’s unscripted remarks calling for the repeal of pass laws within six months immediately revealed fault lines within COSATU.

A number of union leaders that were more aligned to the old FOSATU were most unhappy about these remarks arguing that they were populist.

Yet his remarks were welcomed by unions that were more aligned to the Congress movement.

It can be said that it was these unscripted remarks that positioned COSATU as a working class revolutionary trade union federation that believed that the interests of workers did not stop at the factory gate but extended beyond the factory gate into the communities where the workers lived.

It was these remarks that began to raise the consciousness of many leaders within COSATU unions. He raised COSATU’s image amongst the working people of South Africa.

Comrade Barayi was one of the motivating voices in getting the NUM to be the first union in COSATU to adopt the Freedom Charter.

After the Freedom Charter had been adopted by a few more COSATU unions, Barayi led COSATU in adopting the freedom Charter.

His commitment to the ideals and strategic objective of the ANC were legendary.

He was one of those union leaders who regarded the Freedom Charter as the lodestar that would lead all of us to freedom.

I recall that each time the NUM leadership had to interview candidates for employment by the union, he only had one question for the applicants and that was whether they knew the Freedom Charter.

If an applicant did not know at least two or three clauses of the Freedom Charter, he was unemployable as far as Comrade Barayi was concerned.

He was a very kind and compassionate leader who forever wanted the union to ease the burden that ruthless employers were imposing on workers.

But more importantly, he knew that the ultimate solution would only come when the apartheid system was defeated and the exploitation of workers was brought to an end.

When we negotiated with the bosses he would sit quietly listening to every argument that the bosses gave for not paying workers a living wage.

When the inevitable dispute was declared, he knew his task was to mobilise workers to win a living wage.

When the NUM began, mineworkers were among the lowest-paid industrial workers in the country.

Due to the struggles that were led and waged by Comrade Elijah Barayi and others, mineworkers’ conditions have improved drastically.

Despite this, much still needs to be done to ensure that mineworkers get their due, both in what they are paid and in the way they are treated.

When we speak about Elijah Barayi, we should be able to speak about him in a manner that sees beyond his life and his contribution.

We should speak about him as part of a great workers’ movement that fought for the rights of the most oppressed and exploited in our society.

We do so not so that we may memorialise him, but so that we may affirm the place and role of that great movement, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, in our country today.

For while the campaigns led by Elijah Barayi and others may have achieved great victories for workers, the struggle of the working class continues.

It is a matter of great sadness that Elijah Barayi passed away just a few months before our first democratic elections.

He did not live to see the entrenchment of the right to strike in our new democratic Constitution, and the many provisions that advance the rights of all South Africans.

He did not live to see the passage of progressive labour legislation, which provides for decent basic conditions of employment and promotes a cooperative labour relations environment.

Nor did he bear witness to the many transformative policies and programmes that have changed the lives of workers for the better.

Though we have achieved much for workers, we know there is still so much more that we need to do.

Our country has yet to overcome the high levels of structural unemployment that were all too familiar to Elijah Barayi and others during the dying years of apartheid.

While we have made progress, we have not achieved levels of economic growth that enable us to create jobs in sufficient numbers.

We have increased access to education, but so many of our people still do not have the skills they need to succeed in the workplace.

We have reduced levels of poverty, but still too many of our people – including some who have jobs – live in poverty.

Our work is far from complete.

For all the achievements of the last 22 years, our most challenging tasks still lie ahead.

In meeting these challenges, nothing is more important than a strong, united, cohesive and progressive trade union movement.

For only such a movement can effectively mobilise workers to advance their interests in the workplace and in broader society.

As they were three decades ago, the challenges that face workers today are not confined to the shopfloor.

They are challenges that are deeply rooted in the political, social and economic fabric of society.

Throughout its history, COSATU has understood that the struggle of the masses of our people for national liberation cannot be separated from the struggles of workers.

From the moment of its launch, COSATU has been an essential part of broader political and social struggles.

From the moment that Elijah Barayi called for the abolishment of pass laws, COSATU has taken bold, clear and revolutionary positions on the central political issues of the day.

It is correct that this should remain the stance of the federation today, for the struggles of workers cannot be separated from the struggles of broader society.

It is this understanding that lies at the core of COSATU’s continued participation in the Alliance.

The Alliance is a key mechanism through which organised workers articulate their political aspirations and through which they pursue their political interests.

The Alliance is the mechanism through which COSATU, together with the ANC and the South African Communist Party, pursues the shared objective of a national democratic society.

The Alliance continues to confound its critics, who struggle to understand its nature, objectives and durability.

They wonder how the working class can find common cause with other classes; how socialists can pursue a shared objective with those on the left who aren’t socialists.

They do not understand that socialists participate in the advancement of the National Democratic Revolution because it creates the most conducive conditions for socialism.

They do not understand that the ANC, as a multi-class mass-based organisation, is able to unite society around common goals and to transcend the contradictions that would otherwise disrupt the achievement of a national democratic society.

The ANC cannot lead a national democratic struggle without the well-organised motive force of the working class, nor can socialists create the conditions for socialism without a national democratic society.

What this means, as Elijah Barayi understood, is that the Alliance is a partnership based on principle, not expedience.

Its relationships are strategic, not tactical.

As former ANC President Oliver Tambo said:

“Ours is not merely a paper alliance, created at conference tables and formalised through the signing of documents and representing only an agreement of leaders.

“Our alliance is a living organism that has grown out of struggle. We have built it out of our separate and common experiences.”

This is why the Alliance must endure – because its work is not done; because the national democratic revolution is still in progress.

Comrades and friends,

At this moment in the history of our country, the unity of the Alliance is fundamental.

We are engaged in the second phase of our transition, in which we must transform our economy to equally serve the interests of all South Africans.

We must change patterns of ownership and control.

We must ensure that our people have education, skills and opportunities.

We must redistribute land, capital and natural resources.

We must restore the wealth of the nation to the people.

We do so under difficult economic circumstances.

As we work to overcome the dreadful legacy of colonialism and apartheid, we must confront the immediate challenges of weakened global demand, lower commodity prices and the impact that these have on the growth of our economy.

We must also contend with electricity supply challenges, the effects of a devastating drought and constrained public finances.

Not only does this constrain our ability to grow the economy and create jobs, it also has a devastating effect on the daily lives of working people.

In support of the nine-point plan announced by President Jacob Zuma in the State of the Nation Address last year, government is working with business and labour on several critical interventions in the economy.

These include significant investment in small business, strengthening of state-owned enterprises, improving the labour relations environment and mobilising private sector investment in infrastructure.

This great undertaking will not be achieved unless the Alliance is strong, cohesive and effectively mobilises the broadest cross-section of South African society.

This means that each of the components of the Alliance need to be strengthened, they need to understand their role and they need to be integrally in shaping and implementing policy.

COSATU, like its Alliance partners, needs to be a meaningful participant in determining the nature of our developmental state and the growth path that the country’s economy should take.

It must lead efforts to transform the labour market and strengthen the public sector.

It must fully participate in the shaping of the industrial policy and contribute in the determination of fiscal and monetary policy.

As it participates in developing the positions and implementing the programmes of the Alliance, COSATU must remain firmly and fiercely independent.

It answers to no one but the workers of this country.

Comrades and friends,

If we are to remain true to the memory of Elijah Barayi, we need to be honest about the state of the Alliance and its components.

We need to acknowledge that the structures of the Alliance do not function as they should.

Except for during elections and in the build up to conferences, the Alliance does not have a coherent and consistent programme of action.

We must acknowledge that most of our structures have felt, in some way or other, the negative effects of political incumbency.

Many have been weakened by factionalism as comrades compete against each other for positions and resources.

This is not the Alliance that Elijah Barayi worked to build and which he and his comrades bequeathed to us.

It is incumbent on every structure of the Alliance – every ANC branch, every COSATU shop steward council – to work to restore the Alliance.

It is incumbent on every leader, every member, every councillor and every deployee to consider how best they can emulate the greats like Elijah Barayi in building a movement that advances the interests of the workers and poor.

As we work to build the Alliance, we should not confuse unity with uncritical uniformity.

The Alliance will always be characterised by debate and there will always be differences.

Speaking at the Alliance Summit in 1997, former ANC President Nelson Mandela said:

“There are issues on which we agree from the outset.

“There are issues where we will start from different angles but because of our concern for unity and harmony as comrades, we will compromise, and come out with a uniform position.

“And, there are issues where it may be very difficult for us to agree and I think we should be realistic enough to appreciate that this is going to be the position.”

The responsibility then falls on the leadership of the Alliance to ensure that these debates are managed in a constructive manner, and that they are not allowed to paralyse the programme of the Alliance.

Elijah Barayi understood that the people of South Africa come first.

For him, robust engagement should respond to the strategic priorities of the moment, and not be driven by the interests of personalities or factions.

He made his contribution within the structures of the Alliance, taking great care to ensure that differences were not exploited to cause division and confusion.

Comrade Barayi was a builder and an organiser.

He was a disciplined cadre of the movement, who was totally opposed to factionalism and the kind of deviant behaviours that we are witnessing today in the ANC.

He was a person of great courage and an unflinching commitment to the liberation of his people.

Comrades and friends,

On the 3rd of August, together as the Alliance, we will have another opportunity to renew our covenant with our people.

We are confident that the voters of this country will give us a mandate to govern local municipalities because we have the commitment and the capacity to transform the economies of our cities, towns and rural areas.

We have the means to build municipalities that provide services efficiently, that attract investment, stimulate growth and develop their people.

We have a clear plan to promote local procurement of goods and services and to increase local production.

We have a plan to grow SMMEs and cooperatives and to support these through public procurement.

We will continue to work to meet the basic needs of all South Africans, extending our electrification programme to remaining areas, accelerating the upgrading of informal settlements and improving support to indigent households.

We are committed to reduce the outsourcing of municipal services, and call on members of COSATU to work with us to develop internal capacity to deliver quality services.

We dare not fail to unite our people to advance the struggle for social justice to which Elijah Barayi selflessly dedicated his life.

This is no time to attack one another.

It is no time to divide our volunteers on the ground.

It is no time to put the interests of the individual above the interests of the collective, of the people.

This is a time to unite our people behind the banner of the ANC and the shield of the working class, the Congress of South African Trade Unions.

I thank you.

Source: The Presidency Republic of South Africa