SPEECH BY MR JOHN MOODEY, MPL ON THE WORKERS DAY MOTION DELIVERED IN THE GAUTENG PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE ON TUESDAY, 28 APRIL 2015

I clearly recall the bad old days prior to the 1980’s and the challenges workers in South Africa faced, more specifically the challenges black workers faced.

Even though workers not of European origin were discriminated against, the black worker was more oppressed, oppressed to the extent that they were denied the fundamental right to establish or belong to a Workers Union.  But then of course we all know, that in apartheid South Africa, people of colour were not considered as equals, they were considered lesser beings and thus denied most basic human rights.

I recall the challenges that people of colour (non-Europeans / nie blankes) faced in the workplace.  No matter how qualified or experienced a non-white worker was, you could not progress beyond the level of supervisor, and then you could only supervise non-whites.  No matter that you did the same work as your white / European counterpart, you earned substantially less and you did not have the other fringe benefits such as a pension fund, medical aid, housing subsidy, etc.  Those were the days of job reservation.  Those were the days when workers in general, were nothing else but another resource, a means of production.

I also remember when non-white political organisations were banned (I do not refer to the puppet organisations that in one way or another participated in the illegitimate system).  It was the workers who took up the challenge, to defy the apartheid regime and to fight for the liberation of workers and the freedom of our country and all its people.

Many of us in this August House, were leaders in the Trade Union Movement.  We bravely withstood the onslaught waged against us by the employer aided by the regime.  We were targeted, we were deliberately discriminated against, denied and overlooked on promotions.  The deliberate attempts at making our lives at the workplace so unbearable, that hopefully we would resign, the attempts to dishearten us.  I also remember the attempts to bribe us with huge bonuses and promotions and in exchange, we only had to sell out our fellow workers first and foremost, our lives dedicated to the course, to improve the plight of the workers and to free our beloved country from oppression.

On Sunday, I listened to a program on 702.  It was about domestic workers.  I recalled that in 1946 Eleanor Roosevelt said “The Unionisation of Domestic Workers will be salutary for both this employer and the employee” This program brought home to me the fact that the domestic worker is still to a large extent being exploited.  The irony of it all, is that to a greater extent, this exploitation of the domestic worker, is at the hands of an employer who is a worker as well.  We expect much from our domestic help, who in many instances raise our children, yet we pay them the barest minimum wage.

In conclusion:  The question I ask of us former leaders of the workers is this, what are we doing to grow this economy, to address the plight of the millions of unemployed workers, especially the youth.  What are we who now occupy positions of leadership in Government doing, to offer our unemployed youth, hope?  I quote another Roosevelt:  “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future” I believe that as leaders we must lead, we have to bring the employer and employee to understand that we co-exist, that we need each other to grow our economy and to build a South Africa in which we all have an opportunity to prosper. Thank you.