House Chairperson, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament and viewers at home, let me quickly go to just this last point about the socialist ego. Do you even know what the socialist ego is? [Interjections.]
The socialist ego is the one that you were speaking about which you said you know it is the one that equates to triple challenges. The society is not equal. Where the DA is sitting it wants unequal society. That is the social ego that you know. Let us tell you what our social ego
is. It is the one that moves towards a just society. [Interjections.]
With that said, we want to say, as the ANC: We support the revolution of Cuba, where Cubans continue to fight for their own freedom. We are saying to them they must continue to dispose and dispel the neoliberals that want to take over and dictate what happens to their country. [Applause.]
The strike at SA Airways has been called off by the two unions, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, Numsa and SA Cabin Crew Association, Sacca. The strike was settled basically on the terms of the management before the strike.
In summary, after two days of discussions under auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, CCMA, the parties agreed on an increased 5,9% on total cost of employment retrospective to 1 April 2019, which will be paid in the February 2020 payroll, subject to availability of funding.
The section 189 of Labour Relations Act on consultation of possible retrenchment will be deferred to January 2020. Consultations on retrenchment will continue for SA Airways management categories outside the bargaining unit. The parties further agreed to establish a task team whose main objective will be to identify and consider cost-saving initiatives, including insourcing and contracts.
The fact that the unions decided to go on strike before entering into a CCMA-facilitated mediation process means there is a serious trust deficit between organised labour, those in management and the board of SA Airways. The fact that workers took their own company to a brink of collapse, because they would not accept a 5,9% wage increase, suggests that there is more to this dispute than meets the eye.
The most progressive aspect of the settlement is that the agreement to establish a task team made up of management and organised labour to consider ways to save SA Airways. As the ANC, we support this initiative and we hope that it succeeds. Government, trade unions, board executives
of state-owned companies, particularly those facing financial challenges can take a leaf out of the SA Airways as a model of a collective problem- solving strategy.
Now, we need to build a social compact and reject privatisation. I will repeat that: We need to build social compact and reject privatisation. As South Africans, we must realise that with the exception of the likes of the AfriForum, Solidarity, the DA and the FF- Plus, who are still suffering from the apartheid hangover, we are not too far apart in our desire to build successful South African institutions.
In our elections manifesto as the ANC, we call for the strengthening of the social compact between the government, business, labour, civil society and traditional leaders to build a developmental state. We unapologetically say that we will, and I quote:
Strengthen and consolidate existing state-owned enterprises to ensure that they remain focused on their mandates to support socioeconomic
transformation while improving the government systems and containing the costs of their operations. The ANC will extend public ownership guided by the feasibility studies in pharmaceuticals renewable energy and the banking.
In his reply, the President, in the state of the nation address debate that took place this year, 2019, said, and I quote:
We disagree with the view that the most effective and efficient way to provide services to our people is through the private sector. [Interjections.]