Labour bodies unite to protect PIC

LABOUR federations and unions yesterday set aside their differences and spoke with one voice in demanding worker representation on the board of the Public Investment Corporation.

Organised labour, during presentations to the finance standing committee, opposed the use of PIC funds to bail out state-owned enterprises, including SAA, which have been bedevilled by charges of maladministration and corruption.

There were also questions posed about Deputy Finance Minister Sfiso Buthelezi automatically being chairperson of the PIC.

This happened amid growing fears about moves to turn the PIC into the next project for state capture, and perceptions that the investigation into the corporation, ordered by Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba, was a ploy to get rid of chief executive Dan Matjila.

In a presentation to the committee, Cosatu’s parliamentary co-ordinator, Matthew Parks, said no decision could be allowed to be made about public servants’ pensions without the involvement and agreement of his federation and its union.

“Workers and our members have had enough of their hardearned taxes being looted by a corrupt elite in both the public and private sectors,” Parks said. He said the government should do its job by removing SAA board chairperson Dudu Myeni and institute a full investigation into the national carrier.

Fedusa general secretary Dennis George said public servants feared the PIC would be used to bail out SOEs. “We demand a worker director on the PIC board.”

The Public Servants Association’s Tahir Maepa said their fears were well-founded: “They are based on the systematic manner credible institutions are crumbling,” he said.