As government embarks on a fishing expedition to raise funds to bail out SAA, the trade union movement is still uneasy about the use of workers’ pension funds at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) to further shore up the airline.
The latest to enter the fray is the Information Communication and Technology Union (ICTU), which yesterday opposed the PIC’s possible buyout of government’s stake in Telkom.
The union feared it could result in more job losses at the already bleeding state-owned telecommunication enterprise.
ICTU, an affiliate of the SA Federation of Trade Unions, has joined other unions from both Saftu and Cosatu that have expressed opposition to the use of workers’ pension funds to prop up SAA with bailouts.
The National Assembly’s standing committee on finance has sought legal advice on the legality of the R3 billion bailout given to SAA by National Treasury last week.
The DA has challenged it, saying it breached public finance management requirements.
Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba has refuted that in a confidential report to Cabinet about the selling of its Telkom stake to PIC that was leaked to the opposition party.
Gigaba described the claim as “malicious and unconstructive”. But ICTU general secretary Ezekiel Mashaba said there was no reason to doubt the report as Telkom has confirmed the government was considering options regarding its 39.76% stake in the fixed-line operator.
“The report must, therefore, be taken seriously, given the SAA’s desperate financial situation and other reports of a move to ask the PIC to provide the funds for its bailout.
“The union believes that if this goes ahead, it will be a further step towards the privatisation of Telkom, which will put more jobs at risk, in addition to the 4 400 which were announced two years ago,” Mashaba said.
According to Mashaba, Telkom cut its workforce from 22 000 to 12 000 since 2013. “All these developments raise the fear that privatisation by stealth is taking place.” – ericn@citizen.co.za
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