Various Gauteng regions falling under the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) gathered at the Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni to discuss pertinent issues affecting the law enforcement sector following the national congress which elected new leaders in Durban last November.
Provincial congress saw members and delegates discuss various reports and draft resolutions to take the union forward.
Popcru president Thulani Ngwenya warned that in the wake of the “damage inflicted on the sector by the sixth administration under President Cyril Ramaphosa”, more had to be done to ensure that the country moved forward better positioned to serve the interests of all South Africans.
This comes in the wake of ANC president, Cyril Ramaphosa, announcing the government of national unity as the only option to govern the country following the ANC’s failure to win the elections with a convincing majority.
While Popcru welcomed last week’s election results, Ngwenya called on the ANC and its coalition partners under the government of national unity (GNU) to prioritise workers.
He said the union, would, however, reject any coalition or policies that infringed on the rights and interests of workers and he called on the ANC to align itself with parties on the left.
“We do not want anarchists or a rerun. We must have a like-minded government that respects the rule of law and the Constitution. This means that when parties come together, they will likely need to create a new manifesto, as the current party manifestos are so far apart,” he said.
As things stand, the ANC on Thursday, revealed that it had met with parties such as the DA, IFP, NFP and Patriotic Alliance in its bid to formulate a GNU.
“But whatever shape the seventh administration takes, the people of South Africa should be the centre of the coalition, and particularly the working class and poor. Political parties come and go, but workers remain. And, as we warned the government before the elections, the workers that it has been leading are not satisfied,” Ngwenya said.
Some of the resolutions discussed and taken by the conference included matters relating to the township economy, the two-pots pension system, the NHI Bill, strengthening of the alliance, as well as the impact of the immigration crisis.
All the regions seemed to agree and welcome most of the resolutions passed during the two-day elective conference.
Ngwenya said the working class and the poor would be the watchdogs of the seventh administration as it took shape in the coming days.
“We will give the new government the benefit of the doubt, but we will not be silent observers, and we will not stand idly by while the rights of workers are threatened. The ANC stands at a crossroads, and it must pick the right path. There must not be a reversal of the gains that workers have achieved,” added Ngwenya.
Saturday Star
Siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za