Unions react to GNU Cabinet

Unions have mixed reactions to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of the Government of National Unity (GNU) Cabinet on Sunday.

Ramaphosa announced a 76-member National Executive composed of representatives from 11 political parties, signatories of the GNU.

UNIONS WEIGH IN ON GNU CABINET 

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) said that appointing new ministers within the Criminal Justice Cluster is critical as it can influence the direction of law enforcement, corrections, and overall justice policies.

The union said the CJC has, for the longest time, been under immense strain, with continued infightings, high levels of crime rates, police killings, overcrowding, and understaffing- all coupled with vast levels of backlogs in various areas.

“This new era brings about an opportune moment to remedy this past trend and to bring about much-needed confidence through cooperation with all stakeholders to achieve stability.

“We expect the newly appointed ministers to be committed to transformative leadership that addresses historical injustices and contemporary challenges within the criminal justice system. We anticipate the insurance of policies that promote fairness, transparency, and efficiency in law enforcement, corrections, and judicial processes,” the union said.

Meanwhile, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) Secretary-General Irvin Jim said Ramaphosa did a good job keeping the DA out of our country’s economic cluster.

“However, we are as firm as NUMSA in rejecting the ANC and DA GNU. We firmly believe that the ANC must go back to the basics of a revolutionary agenda and dump the DA to go back to the 1969 Morogoro conference!” he wrote on X.

“We’re happy that Cyril and his DA stay away from the economic cluster, but he must be removed as a president of the country for bringing the DA into our lives. This is political-ideological treason !!” He wrote in another post.

Additionally, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) has also objected to Siviwe Gwarube’s appointment as Basic Education Minister.

The union expressed concerns about the DA’s education policies and the party’s anti-trade union stance.

SADTU spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said that historically, the union has never been on good terms with the DA because its policies have been anti-trade union.

“For a long time, the DA did not believe that trade unions have a right to exist. They’ve always stated that SADTU is responsible for all the problems in the education sector, and they always put them on SADTU’s doorstep.

“They always accuse us of opposing the education in this country, of being in charge of education, and of controlling the department of education and the ministers and all,” she said.

The new Basic Education Minister, Siviwe Gwarube. Image: Supplied

SACP CALLS ON RULING PARTY TO REVERSE ELECTORAL DECLINE

On Monday, the SABC reported that South African Communist Party (SACP) General Secretary Solly Mapaila said the ANC must do all it can to reverse the electoral decline it suffered at the 29 May polls.

Mapaila said that at the moment, one may say they’ve reached a point of stalemate. In other words, a party with a below 25% election vote can hold such great sway in the general political posture of the government.

“That’s why we believe that we should not even have considered them; we should have pulled together a different coordination,” he said.