'Better off under apartheid'

T

The Cosmos

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Johannesburg - Unemployed and casual workers were better off under apartheid than now, said Cosatu's general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi on Saturday.

He said inequality had widened in the past 13 years with a minority of capitalists and bureaucrats getting richer.

"Many of the millions who are unemployed, or whose jobs have been casualised, are even worse off than under apartheid. Around 20 million of our people are still mired in poverty. We still face many challenges and the task of transformation is far from complete," he told the 20th anniversary celebrations of the South African Municipal Workers Union in Cape Town.

Vavi said the main reason workers' wages had remained low during the democratic dispensation was privatisation and the Growth, Employment and Redistribution policy (Gear), espoused by President Thabo Mbeki in 1996.

He said Gear had led to the scandalous situation of a supposedly "booming" economy that left 40% of workers unemployed.

"The country's economic policy, including the budget, is not based on the promises of the Constitution," he said.

He said the union federation was striving to formalise the relationship with its partners through an "alliance pact", which would oblige the government to discuss all new policies with its allies.

Earlier in the year Vavi clashed with Mbeki for saying the country's economic growth was merely a government ploy to create hype and no different to nazi propaganda.
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http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_2210487,00.html


At least someone is talking sense. :rolleyes:
 
Buying Power

So then Vavi has a brain in that head of his.

Although we have always treated our staff in a fair and appropriate manner the fact of the manner is that the amount I pay them now although considerably more than I did 14 years (10% increase pa) ago hasn't got the same buying power that it used to.
My Staff's wages are being eroded by the high costs of transport and food in a big way.
Notwithstanding those costs they will for all intent and purposes never own a property of their own as that cost has leapt out of all proportion.
RDP Housing is no better than the slums of old and new. Just the building material has a bit of cement smeared between it.

When people talk nowadays in Millions one just thinks to oneself how little a Million Rand is any more.
People are struggling to survive. The Rand is worth very little and the wages are not keeping pace with the real inflation rate.
 
They are staring to wake up . I wonder when they are going to blame the whites for that.
 
aww. So it turns out the Afrikaner refrain (Apartheid was better for blacks than the ANC) is based on fact.
 
BTTB said:
So then Vavi has a brain in that head of his.

Although we have always treated our staff in a fair and appropriate manner the fact of the manner is that the amount I pay them now although considerably more than I did 14 years (10% increase pa) ago hasn't got the same buying power that it used to.
My Staff's wages are being eroded by the high costs of transport and food in a big way.
Notwithstanding those costs they will for all intent and purposes never own a property of their own as that cost has leapt out of all proportion.
RDP Housing is no better than the slums of old and new. Just the building material has a bit of cement smeared between it.

When people talk nowadays in Millions one just thinks to oneself how little a Million Rand is any more.
People are struggling to survive. The Rand is worth very little and the wages are not keeping pace with the real inflation rate.
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Do you think you could live (not necessarily in the manner you're accustomed to) off it?
 
bwana said:
Do you think you could live (not necessarily in the manner you're accustomed to) off it?
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It should be relative and based on what they are worth, how much they contribute to the bottom line or income of the company, thats what labor and Unions fail to understand and thats why businesses fail to the detriment of the poor workers who lost their jobs.
 
lsuacner said:
aww. So it turns out the Afrikaner refrain (Apartheid was better for blacks than the ANC) is based on fact.
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Nope It was not the APARTHEID, that was a fault and was wrong , but rather the management and leadership which Africans and South Africans needed and will for always today and forever need. That is fact and the whole of Africa proves it.
 
Sure, the ANC have made a cockup of looking out for the little guys but given that during the apartheid era a large majority didn't have buying power/freedom when it came to business I think in the long run we're all better off now.
 
Fudzy said:
Sure, the ANC have made a cockup of looking out for the little guys but given that during the apartheid era a large majority didn't have buying power/freedom when it came to business I think in the long run we're all better off now.
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Exactly just imagine where would would have been if the white elite of the time did not block but involved the black majority? Any way water under the bridge that should belong to history, just the modern day black elite cannot overcome the past and move to the future. The old African disease that plaque our country.
 
bwana said:
Do you think you could live (not necessarily in the manner you're accustomed to) off it?
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Nope.
But 14 years ago or more I could have lived off those wages. This is the difference. The Buying Power of R1 has dropped faster than inflation.
 
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