Fighting for the workers
EVEN though the minimum wage is not a lasting solution, if it was properly implemented by all companies, surely it would make significant impact in reducing poverty and inequality in the country.
This viewpoint is shared by Lindelani Lindokuhle Mashaba, secretary of COSATU uMhlathuze, a man with a long history in trade unionism.
Born and bred in the dusty street of Hlabisa, Mashaba has a taste of both rural and urban life, having started as a herd boy looking after his father’s cattle and doing stick fighting and later moving to eSikhaleni township where he was introduced to the world of politics.
‘Being born out of wedlock also contributed to my upbringing, and saw me attending seven different schools before my tertiary life.
‘I began my primary education at a farm school, called Petergate Combined School in Mkuze, before moving to eShowe’s KwaZibonele Primary, eSikhaleni’s Thambolini Primary and Nongoma’s BhekuZulu High School where I matriculated. ‘My stay at eSikhawini introduced me to politics. In fact, before going to BhekuZulu High, I had attended Impumelelo High in Mahlabathini, but was expelled for organising a strike.
‘This was a boarding school and we had a boarding master who was threatening us, so we felt we needed to strike first. ‘We demanded that he be fired for misconduct and for having an affair with learners. It happened but we were also shown the door!’ He enrolled at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg Campus to study towards a BSC in Chemistry.
‘I was forced to drop out after studying for one year due to lack of funding. At the time there was no NSFAS. ‘I came back home in eShowe to work for Home Affairs as a clerk. I was only paid after four months and the working conditions were terrible and racism was rife.
‘I then registered for a nursing diploma at Ngwelezana College.