Worker’s Day, 1 May 1999

For decades South African workers have been celebrating Workers Day in defiance of the apartheid regime which never recognised this day and moreover sought to divide the working class on the basis of race and gender.

Since the overwhelming victory of the ANC on 27 April 1994 and the democratic breakthrough that that day represents, workers of our country have legitimately been commemorating the struggles of the working class against exploitation and brutality.

Workers’ Day is inscribed in our national consciousness as a national holiday where we have time to contemplate the gains that we have made and consider the challenges that yet face us. On this day, we not only consider our own struggles, but we link up with the workers the world over in a collective, internationalist struggle.

The past five years of democratic rule in our country have seen enormous advances for the working masses of our country.

The ANC has ensured that for the first time workers in South Africa enjoy constitutional guarantees – workers rights as well as other basic human rights such as the right to water, housing and other socio-economic rights. The right to access to information, accountability of public enterprises and procurement policies for social objectives.

Legislation passed over the last five years has improved working conditions of millions of South African workers, in particular the vulnerable workers (such as farm and domestic workers) who do not have strong unions to protect their rights.

For the first time in our country, workers have the right to fair labour practices, the right to form and join trade unions, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike.

The Labour Relations Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Skills Development Act and the Mines Health and Safety Act are but a few of the legislative advances made by the ANC working jointly with you, the workers of this country.

The Employment Equity Act is one law in particular that has received criticism from opposition parties. But all that the Act seeks to do is to redress past imbalances to promote equality which is a hallmark of our new Constitution.

It is an Act that takes account of the fact that apartheid spent much more on white children’s education than on the education of African, Coloured and Indian children. Through Job Reservation, the apartheid regime ensured that whites, and more especially men, made it to the top.

The talents, abilities and potential of the majority of our people were not developed nor recognised. The affirmative action programme and policy of the new government wants to ensure that all employers make an effort to give everyone an equal chance – especially those who were discriminated against in the past – African, Coloured and Indian people, women and the disabled.

The ANC recognises that while important advances have been made over the last five years, much more needs to be achieved, particularly to improve the lives of the working people, the unemployed and the poor.

The ANC has set in place a programme and a vision for the next five years. In the next period of governance, we seek to:

• speed up the delivery of affordable public housing, health, transport, social security, education, and other services, in both rural and urban areas
• consolidate and implement the worker rights contained in the Constitution and the new labour legislation; and to align all government policies and programmes to achieve the objective of jobs for all at a living wage.
• improve the quality of existing jobs (including protecting the most vulnerable, such as farm and domestic workers); as well as stemming retrenchments and creating new employment
• introduce legislation to make retrenchments more difficult, and to implement the agreements of the Jobs Summit

The ANC is committed to accelerating the pace of change and this requires the help of each and everyone of you, the citizens of our great country.

We call on the workers of COSATU, NACTU, FEDUSA and the unemployed people in South Africa to join hands with the ANC in the national offensive to create jobs, at a living wage, for all South Africans.

On this Workers Day, we call on the workers in South Africa to continue the fight for change together with the ANC to transform South Africa into the country of our dreams.

Together, let us continue the fight to speed up delivery and to create jobs for our people.