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The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in Gauteng welcomes and supports the Gauteng Provincial Government's NASI ISPANI programme led by Premier Panyaza Lesufi. The Federation has consistently called for employment creation and encouraged the government to stop outsourcing its responsibility to deliver services to private companies and tenderpreneurs.

After the COSATU march to demand the creation of our people's jobs, safety, and security on 6 July 2023, the Premier announced thousands of jobs to be created every month until 2024. The citizen of South Africa have always looked for decisive leadership, and we salute the Premier and his collective for leading from the front.

The GPG leadership is showing that nothing is impossible if you put people first. The Apartheid state was used to design our current problems, and we need the democratic state to act to fix them. The last two decades have shown us that this cannot be left in the hands of the market alone to resolve.

The neoliberal policies based on "market forces" and international competitiveness will not solve our economic and unemployment problems. These policies have seen more and more people sliding into poverty in this country.

There is a drastic need to change attitudes to deal with unemployment and stop the ongoing economic stagnation. As COSATU Gauteng, we stand ready to offer full support and constructive partnership to anyone who explores bold solutions that will help this province chart a progressive path.

In 2013 the ANC government adopted the National Development Plan, which called for building a "capable developmental state". In a way, the notion of building the developmental state was drawn predominantly from the 2012 Mangaung Conference that consolidated the anti-neo-liberal spirit of the 2007 Polokwane Conference and adopted the concept of a Radical Second Phase of our Transition. The 2014 ANC Manifesto, which was meant to guide the introduction of the Radical Second Phase, made the following commitment in this regard:

"The ANC is committed to building a democratic developmental state able to lead efforts to overcome unemployment and poverty and reduce inequality. The developmental state would play a strategic guiding role in the economy and decisively intervene in the interests of the people, particularly the workers and the poor".

The GPG is implementing the ANC Manifesto, something we have been demanding and campaigning for the past 29 years.  A developmental state should be able to intervene in working-class areas by creating jobs and providing safety and security, health, and education to the people.

People can see and touch service delivery in our province for the first time in many years.   Whilst some are negative about the NASI ISPANI programme, the Federation will ensure that its Affiliates in different departments will monitor the recruitment and selection processes to ensure transparency and fairness. We will also ensure that all those employed through this programme will not be exploited and are fully covered by this country's labour laws.

Our Affiliates are working hard to assist all the recruits and are ready to represent them in case of unfair labour practices.  Amid this positive development in Gauteng, we call for our provincial government to enhance service delivery in education, health and building of a sustainable socialist township economy that would help communities to drive their local economies and create jobs. The Premier is also called to deal with corruption decisively and insource all outsourced government services.

Issued by COSATU Gauteng