Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe: Amandla! Viva NUM,Viva.
Audience: Viva.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe: Amandla. Viva NUM. Viva.
Audience: Viva.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe: Viva Cosatu. Viva.
Audience: Viva.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe: Viva Cosatu. Viva.
Audience: Viva.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe: Viva the South African Communist Party. Viva.
Audience: Viva.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe: Viva the African National Congress. Viva.
Audience: Viva.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe: Viva the African National Congress. Viva.
Audience: Viva.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe: Long live the revolutionary alliance. Long live.
Audience: Long live.
Programme Director, thank you very much for your warm words of welcome. However, there is a protocol matter that we need to correct, because you invited the former general-secretary. Now, the former general-secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is comrade Cyril Ramaphosa. So we follow in his footsteps. In his presence, we are not former general-secretaries. In 'his' presence.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe: So this could have cast a bit of confusion. However, comrade President Senzeni Zokwana , comrade Vice-President Piet Matosa, the General-Secretary, comrade Frans Baleni, the Deputy General-Secretary, comrade Oupa Komane, the National Treasurer, comrade David Macatha, Health and Safety Officer of the Union of Mine Workers, comrade Peter Bailey, our former leaders, comrade James Motlati, comrade Cyril Ramaphosa, comrade Paul Nkuna, comrade Marcel Goldin, I salute you all.
The President of the federation, comrade Dlamini and the General-Secretary of the federation, comrade Zwelinzima Vavi, and all other leaders here present this evening, the leadership of the South African Communist Party, the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC), dear delegates and distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
I am truly honoured to address this gala dinner that marks the 30th anniversary of the existence of the National Union of Mineworkers. Let me also thank you for inviting me to break bread with you and share a few thoughts this evening as we celebrate this milestone.
From a personal viewpoint this anniversary particularly echoes with a sense of history, since the NUM was at some point in my life a home, but further forged, expanded and honed my political experience and growth over the years that I was part of its family.
Therefore tonight feels more like a homecoming moment for me, a reunion with a family to which I am thankful for all the love and nurturing with which it has shaped my own growth and development. Because, on an occasion such as this, there is so much to reflect upon as evidenced by what comrade James said here earlier, I thought it useful to focus a bit on NUM's history and the lessons such history holds for us today, as we create the future.
My reason for this approach is that both the National Union of Mineworkers and its predecessor, the African Mine Workers Union, have left an indelible impress on the mining and, indeed, the political history of South Africa.
It is therefore advisable to surface these highlights as we look back at the 30 years of the NUM's history. You should not wonder at the mention of the African Mine Workers Union, because we cannot speak of the National Union of Mineworkers outside of its historical context.
Most of us will know that the last surviving office bearer of the African Mine Workers Union at the time of the NUM's formation, the late James Nkwentla was honoured with the status of an elder who provided counsel to the Union in the 1990s.
This is also a crucial lesson. Often times we forget that there is always a thread that links up the past with the present. Present social processes are usually the outcome of past developments. As we say, indlela ibuzwa kwabaphambili.
In point of fact, many leaders with proven track records of their commitment of the reconstruction and development of our country today, can proudly credit the National Union of Mineworkers with being the formative political influence on their growth as activists, leaders and human beings.
In much the same way, the African Mine Workers Union impacted on society in a manner that moved the struggle forward. You will recall that after the 1946 mine workers strike, the African National Congress Youth League was inspired to come up with the slogan, 'Freedom in our Lifetime'.
This strike of 1946, also lead to the disbandment of the Native Representative Council in protest over police brutality in trying to break the strike. You will recall that those who participated in that strike were hunted down like animals, once they left the mine compounds, and killed.
These are important historical events in many ways as they profoundly affected society. It is a matter of common knowledge that the discovery of both diamonds and gold in the late 1800s transformed our society at the palliative level leading to a hitherto unprecedented modernisation drive that changed our country forever.
Driving this unprecedented modernisation was the exploitation of workers in general and African workers from all over Southern Africa in particular.
It is equally true that with this economic transformation came a fundamental change in the demographic makeup of the country. The mining industry attracted multitudes of skilled workers from Europe, North America and Australia to our shores.
It is from this history of craft trade unionism that trade union consciousness would later emerge and spread to black workers, who were additionally subjected to national domination as a people.
Historically the intersection between capitalism and racial domination on the one hand and national liberation and workers struggles on the other have shaped South Africa socially, economically and politically. Because present-day South Africa has been shaped by this historical experience of racialism and capitalist exploitation.
Today the democratic government faces an odious material and philosophical legacy cast in these terms. Consequently, from this perspective, it is not difficult to see in practice the class content of the national struggle and the national content of the class struggle.
Comrades, it is also a rewarding realisation to observe that the National Union of Mineworkers has grown to become a colossus, but it is in society and during its growing process it has changed the lives of mineworkers from almost pig level existence to decent, humane conditions. When it was formed, conditions in hostels for mineworkers were for all intents and purposes the same as those found in prisons.
Today the NUM has brought about significant changes in the health and safety conditions of workers. Indeed, there was a time when the lives of workers meant nothing and the mines themselves treated the death of workers as loss control. Today the death of workers is the loss of human lives and it is commemorated as such.
Ladies and gentlemen, the question that arises then is what are the lessons we can learn from this history that gave us our experience as National Union of Mineworkers and, of course, its predecessor, the African Mine Workers Union. In responding to this question, I would submit that solidarity is one key lesson among many that stand out in the National Union of Mineworkers' history. In this regard, the history of NUM manifests the highest form of solidarity.
This brief anecdote that I am about to tell will illustrate my point in terms of solidarity on the national front. After the 1997 mineworkers strike, one of the NUM shop stewards by the name of Motsamai was dismissed and sat at home without work for two years. He then found a job at a mine in the Limpopo province.
He later learnt that he and his fellow workers had just been employed because the original workers there had all been dismissed for industrial action. Prompted by his deep sense of solidarity he then mobilised all his co-workers into an industrial action of their own with the reinstatement of the dismissed workers as their key demand. As a result, all of the dismissed workers were ultimately reinstated.
The reinstatement meant that Motsamai and his co-workers would have to lose their jobs. This scenario of losing his newly found job was a great setback to him. However, his deeply held principles of solidarity took precedence of his immediate circumstances.
For him what was important was the reinstatement of the dismissed workers. As a product of the NUM, Motsamai was molded into a highly principled human being with a heightened sense of justice, fairness and selflessness.
The NUM is challenged therefore, to continuously measure itself against these lofty standards set by Motsamai, and to put in place programmes to inculcate the same kind of principles in all its members.
My second example of solidarity is in the international context. When Cuban mines ran out of protective gear and batteries for headlamps as a result of sanctions imposed by the United States government in the 1990s, they sent out a request for help.
The shortage of such equipment and protective clothing meant that the Cuban mines could only operate one shift per day instead of two, since they had to recharge the only pool of batteries they had overnight.
The National Union of Mineworkers jumped at the opportunity, shipping off a container full of the requested necessities to Cuba.
And for this, the Cubans were, therefore, grateful and were able to go into two shifts of production. The second example at international level has to do with the difficulties once faced by the Chemical Construction And Mining Union in the then Zaire, or today, the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the region known as South Kivu.
This Union lacked the means of communication as well as transport, which resulted in union members relying on management-owned transport. This compromise them severely, and such that mining bosses expected acquiescence and pliability in turn. Once again the National Union of Mineworkers came to the rescue, purchasing motorbikes for the union, so that it would no longer depend on the mine bosses for transport.
The list of international solidarity in terms of the NUM's history goes on and on. Solidarity, whether at international or national level derives from principles of a shared vision in pursuit of a better world for all, a world with indivisible humanity. It is a lesson that we must take into the future.
Here, comrades, one of the key tasks facing the National Union of Mineworkers, as we go forward, is the imperative to continue the creation of the conscious cadre who understands his or her role in society in the mold of Motsamai, as mentioned above. This new form of consciousness can only come about as a result of political education, but also to protect our organisations from derailment.
As I want to conclude, I wish to invite all of us this evening to pay homage to those who died in fatal mining disasters, such as those at Colebrook, Kinross, Vaal Reefs, and so on. There were many more who died even before the era of the National Union of Mineworkers and whose lives did not amount to much in the eyes of the mine owners at the time. All these are unsung heroes whose blood and sweat were the early foundations of South Africa's development.
Lastly, let us remember that a national conference, a national congress, is by definition a gathering of all members of an organisation. Unfortunately, the right of members to participate is limited by the size of the venue. Baring the limitations imposed by the size of the venue, all members would attend the national congress. As a result, their right to participate is delegated to those of you who are delegates.
So, in your contributions, in your inputs, in your interventions and submissions as delegates to this conference, please, please do remember that you are not only representing yourselves, but also those you left behind in your branches, in your regions. And most importantly, you also represent those who are no more.
With these few remarks, comrades, because time is against us now, I wish to congratulate the National Union of Mineworkers on reaching this 30 year milestone and wish you many, many more gains in the revolutionary struggle going forward.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe: Amandla
Audience: Yebo [Yes]
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe: Viva NUM, Viva.
Audience: Viva.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe: And I thank you for your attention.
