SATAWU welcomes TRANSNET appointment of SizweNtsalubaGobodo as auditors
The South African Transport & Allied Workers' Union (SATAWU) welcomes yesterday announcement by Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba that SizweNtsalubaGobodo will be conducting Transnet external audits from now on. As biggest union organising in Transnet we see this move as a step in the right direction to transformation of the accounting industry.
When he addressed our 3rd Congress in October 2011, Minister Gigaba said " the only way we can eradicate the legacy of the system of Colonialism of a Special Type will be through pursuing a radical programme of transformation which takes into consideration the interconnectedness of the national, class and gender questions in our democratic revolution, taking into account "the hierarchy of disadvantage suffered under apartheid will naturally inform the magnitude of impact of the programmes of change and the attention paid particularly to those who occupied the lowest rungs on the apartheid social ladder."
This appointment will go a long way into the transformation of the accounting industry which has remained unchanged. The prevailing practice of appointing black professional firms as junior partners to their white counterparts or the so called "top four" by virtue of size and age must go. It is regrettable that government had to intervene first before such a historic appointment could be made. Well done to SizweNtsalubaGobodo - may their success breed further success and be the pioneer of such future appointments.
We are conscious of the fact that the accounting industry might have hesitations about this appointment. We want to remind Transnet that State-Owned Companies (SOCs) can make a meaningful contribution towards cushioning the country against the worst effects of the crisis by expanding their infrastructure investments and, through these, driving industrialisation and embarking on programmes to crowd-in the private sector who are sitting on piles of cash at the moment that they could otherwise be investing in productive capacity to create jobs.
Let us remind you that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system. difficult and painful as it may be, SATAWU support Minister Gigaba in transforming this industry.
Statement issued by Mamokgethi Rea Molopyane, SATAWU National Spokesperson, February 21 2012
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