NEHAWU WESTERN CAPE SUPPORTS THE CALL FOR TRANSFORMATION BY WORKERS AND STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

THIRSDAY, 19 MARCH 2015

NEHAWU offers total support to the planned demonstrations by students and workers at the University of Cape Town's main campus on Friday, 20 March 2015, to demand transformation and a change to the discriminatory and oppressive status quo, at the university. The union is calling on all its members and workers in general, inside and outside the university, to participate in this campaign, that is demanding the transformation of the University of Cape Town {UCT}. This institution has been resisting transformation for the last 20 years and has used all repressive methods to stifle the dissenting voices calling for change.

Workers and students at UCT are afraid to speak out, because they face a backlash and threats of intimidation, oppression and bullying. As a result of this, they are silent witnesses to incidents of dishonesty and unconcealed wastage of public funds by the management of this institution.

The university has a very high staff turnover of  black employees, and our union has raised the issue of the non-implementation of employment equity laws by the university. We even took this issue to the CCMA but so far nothing has changed. The only thing we have witnessed is unashamed window dressing and insolent overconfidence by the management.

Our union has run out of patience and we cannot allow the status quo to continue unchallenged. The university cannot continue to victimise this country's citizens and defy the employment equity laws of our country in its quest to resist transformation.

We demand that university must in-source the cleaning, security, garden and catering services that are currently outsourced to exploitative private service providers. The argument that this is not their core business is illogical because all support functions are critical to ensure that the institution delivers on its core mandate. They cannot divorce their core business from the support services because they are mutually symbiotic.

The middle managers have been used by the institution as puppets to oppress, discriminate and silence workers at UCT. The workers at the bottom end of the salary scale are exploited and their development is stifled. The university uses the exploitative labour brokers, who treat workers as nothing but glorified slaves. They do this while ensuring that they create work for white retirees ,who are using the institution to supplement their retirement packages. As a union and a stakeholder ,we refuse to allow this institution to be used as the last outpost of apartheid that avoids change and protect ill-gotten white privileges.

Statement issued by Luthando Nogcinisa, NEHAWU Western Cape Provincial Secretary, March 19 2015

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