/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The registration application of the Labour Party of South Africa (Labour Party) was formalised by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on 5 March 2024, when the IEC issued the Party’s official certificate of registration.

The Labour Party will be taking the IEC to the High Court tomorrow to extend the deadlines in the election timetable namely, the cut-off dates for submissions which obliged newly registered and/or unrepresented parties to comply with section 27 of the Electoral Act by Friday, 8 March 2024 (which is tomorrow). The Labour Party also contends, in short, that without this interdict it seeks through the High Court, the elections will not be free and fair. The Labour Party is not the only affected party, and absent the interdict, there is an adverse effect to the integrity of the elections.

The Labour Party was registered as a result of a resolution taken by the 2023 Special National Congress of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) after years of deliberation within AMCU about the need to make a difference in the broader social and economic realities faced by South Africans.

AMCU currently has a total of 18 (eighteen) regional offices in all nine provinces, and it is gradually expanding – both in terms of scope and in terms of reach. AMCU’s track record speaks for itself. When it took over as trade union on the Platinum Belt, workers were earning poverty wages, and most were in abject poverty. These days, platinum mineworkers are finically secure and the lowest paid worker at least earns a living wage of around R18 000.

Over the past years the mining sector has been in decline, and there have been massive waves of retrenchments in specifically platinum, gold and coal. Wage negotiations have also seen some longer periods of industrial action, during which the staying power of trade unions was really put to the test. 2

AMCU realised that it had in many respects reached a cul de sac when it comes to engagements, and for it to have a meaningful impact in the lives of people, it would need to participate in national policy-making processes. Furthermore, the workplace has become highly politicised, meaning that the engagements in terms of the labour legislation are no longer responsive.

Even though we have the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) in this country, it has become another proxy for neoliberal economic policies and consultations between social partners tend to be either highly superficial or undermined by parallel deals.

It thus became clear that we need to be in Parliament to influence the national dialogue and socioeconomic policy-making.

However, this Labour Party is not a party for only AMCU. Right from the start we said that the Labour Party must be a home for all progressive and likeminded organisations, including trade unions and civil society organisations that share our values and ethos.

The Labour Party convened an engagement in Ekurhuleni yesterday (6 March 2024), to which we invited all the major trade unions, trade union federations, academics and others to share the vision of the Labour Party. Even though we had a good engagement and learnt a lot from each other’s point of view, it was quite disappointing that most trade unions were not in attendance. However, our door will remain open to these unions and organisations, and we will be ready to engage them as we continue our campaign.

Let us then focus on some of the Labour Party’s core values and ideological points of departure…

At the centre of the Labour Party’s ideology is, as one would expect, issues related to the world of work such as job creation, decent wages and equal pay for work of equal value.

The Labour Party’s main campaign slogan is: “The power is in your hands”, emphasising the connection to work being done with one’s hands, but also the realisation that voters can bring change by what they do and how they vote.

The Labour Party emphasised that unemployment remains enemy number one, and it is fair to say that it is unemployment that leads to poverty and inequality. It was explained how work is at the centre of society, and how work brings dignity not only to workers, but also to their families and the community in general.

The reasons for the registration of the Labour Party centred on many factors, such as the fact that the country is bleeding jobs like never seen before and that there is a vacuum when it comes to a left voice in the current political dispensation. To illustrate the latter, it is clear that all current political parties on offer basically talk left while they walk right. 3

In terms of trade policy, we must be saddened by the fact that South Africa has become a dumping ground for low quality goods from other countries. We don’t even manufacture the clothes that we wear, and we consume food that we don’t produce.

Even though God endowed South Africa with the most fertile soil, loads of sunshine and natural wealth, the way the current government approaches trade with other countries sees us importing almost everything, including basic foodstuffs like milk and wheat.

There is no job security, because the government exports jobs by allowing Europe and Asia to dump its unwanted stuff at our harbours. We need to review trade policies to create local jobs. We must improve food security by utilizing all arable land owned by the state – there must be no vacant land where people are not engaged in agricultural activities. Community gardens must be in every suburb and township.

We will strongly oppose any foreign investors who only seek to extract and loot our God-given mineral and natural endowments. Like we read in John 10:10: “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life”. As a working class, we are not sub-human that we must depend on others to be able to make a living for ourselves. As it is written in Deuteronomy 28:13: “If you listen to these commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom”.

The Labour Party strongly advocates for the protection of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) such as Eskom and Transnet. It explains how access to the services provided by SOEs is often a crucial part of the lives of workers and the working class in general. The fact that these services are lacking and being disrupted in South Africa, has led to an erosion of the social wage of all citizens.

The term “social wage” refers to the virtual income of citizens due to the reduction of cost of living through access to quality public services.

South Africa’s social wage is extremely low, mostly due to the imploding public transport system, ailing provision of basic utilities like water and electricity, lacking policing, low-quality education, poor public health, and other basic public services. In South Africa, while the working poor is trapped in these low-quality services, those who earn slightly more must spend their money on private health, private education, private transport, and private security services. This seriously diminishes expendable income.

Protecting SOEs therefore increases the social wage by expanding public services, encouraging skills development and vocational training. 4

Let’s be honest, in 1994 we took over a functional state, even though it was racially exclusive. We failed to build to build an inclusive, progressive and functional state in the New South Africa. We call all South Africans, irrespective of race, tribal lines or culture to join the Labour Party in securing a future for our children.

One of the proposals of the Labour Party, is to create employment through conscription of unemployed youth to perform public services at a monthly stipend. It is argued that this will have a double benefit, in that it will lead to increased levels of public service while also addressing unemployment and barriers to entering the world of work, such as lacking skills and work experience.

That is why we are still inviting likeminded organisations with good moral values and high ethical standards to join forces with the Labour Party to make a difference and bring change.

We are not in competition with any political party, we are fighting poverty, inequality and unemployment. Our efforts are not channelled to any of the political parties in South Africa, but our energy will be directed to improving livelihoods.

One of the principles of the Labour Party is to avoid entering into unscrupulous funding agreements.

We must fund our own revolution. Our revolution will be funded by likeminded organisations banding together for the sake of social and economic justice. For you to be liberated from any kind of captivity, you have to fund your own campaign.

In terms of mining, we must be very clear that the mineral wealth of South Africa must benefit all South Africans. Mines should not just be for the gain of the few rich individuals, but instead the surrounding communities must experience improvement in their lives and livelihoods.

Before any shaft is developed, there must be proper infrastructure and community projects. The Mining Charter must be incorporated into the MPRDA (Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act) to be enforceable. Currently it is merely a code of good practice, and the mines who choose to ignore their SLPs (Social and Labour Plans), are merely rapped over the fingers and nothing happens to them.

The interim executive of the Labour Party is busy making the final arrangements for the official party launch, and we will soon thereafter call our National Convention where the party leadership will be elected, and policy resolutions will be formally adopted. A party manifesto is still in the process of being drafted, on the basis of these ideological points of departure. These include the following key demands:

Jobs for all!

Tax the super-rich!

Industrialise!

Beneficiate!

Above all, we believe in God, the Creator of the universe and the final Auditor of humankind. Our only Saviour is Jesus Christ, and therefore the Labour Party shall base our policies on Christian values within the confines of a secular state.

As we read in Proverbs 29: “When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan”. That is why the Labour Party remains open to any leader who has high moral values and ethics, and who wants to join us in making a difference in the lives of ordinary people.

Issued by Labour Party of South Africa