COSATU supports Minister Lynne Brown in opposing the privatisation of State Owned Enterprises

Cosatu supports the Public Enterprises Minister, Ms Lynne Brown in her unmistakable opposition to the privatisation of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). This posture is totally in line with the position of the federation that SOE’s should be kept under the control of government, and be used as a tool for economic transformation and also to drive the developmental agenda of the state.

The call for the nationalisation of SOE’s is driven by the remnants of the neo-liberal agenda ,that promoted the privatisation of state owned assets after the adoption of GEAR policies in 1996. This call is the legacy of the globally rejected Structural Adjustment Programs that were promoted by the International Monetary Fund {IMF} and the World Bank in the eighties. These policies have never worked anywhere in the world and those calling for their reintroduction ,are not doing so in the interests of the majority of the people.

SOE’s should be reoriented towards the delivery of services. They should be given an explicit mandate to focus on the provision and the reduction of costs of basic services.

The task of fundamental transformation of our economy, the creation of decent work and the provision of basic services to the majority of our people cannot be left to the market forces.

We reaffirm our resolution on a need for a strong developmental state to intervene decisively in the economy to redistribute resources in order to address unemployment, inequalities, poverty, and rural-urban development divide.

We need the transformation of SOEs to be informed by this key strategic objective.

We still call for the strengthening of the boards of ‘independent’ regulatory institutions like NERSA and ICASA to ensure that these institutions act according to the strategic objectives the country has set itself.

We also reiterate the May 2008 Alliance Summit’s call for a moratorium on privatisation and outsourcing and the review of current outsourced public sector utilities. This means that the agencies created must be reincorporated back into their line departments and this must be accompanied by the strengthening of the capacity of these line departments.

Minister Lynne Brown can count on our overwhelming support in opposition to the privatisation of SOE’s.

We will mobilise and agitate for the defeat of those, who want to put their grubby hands at the SOE’s.

Issued by Sizwe Pamla, National Spokesperson, COSATU, 7 October 2015