Youth structures to form part of constitutional structuresThe National Congress agreed to the establishment of a Numsa youth desk. But just how it should work and fit in with existing structures was the task of Numsa’s July Central Committee. Jenny Grice reports. 

There is a smattering of delegates younger than 35 years old in Numsa’s Central Committee, but that doesn’t mean that the others with more years to their names were any less supportive of the establishment of Numsa’s youth desk.“

We are old,” said Mpumalanga regional secretary, Mabhontshisi Linda, “but we support the initiative and it should filter down to regional and local levels.

We need to build from the bottom.”What was a matter for debate was just how the youth desk should work and how it should link in with constitutional structures.

Many regions urged caution – “we must be cautious of not creating a monster that we cannot control,” said Hlanganani delegates. “We must be able to fuse it in with current constitutional structures so that we don’t find that we are being taken somewhere.”

Others delegates stressed that the youth must be mentored and groomed for many of the youth are individualistic in nature.

The older leaders carry the organisation’s values and culture. They must pass on their knowledge.Vice president, Phil Bokaba, jokingly reminded delegates of how general secretary, Irvin Jim behaved in his first Central Committee when he was a shop steward. “

We used to call him Cosas. Sometimes we were going this way, he was going that way. I called him raw material! You buy it, you put it in a machine and you make a product. From Cosas he is gradually coming to us.

Today he is GS and that’s what we want. Youth must be part and parcel of us – they must learn the ropes from the elders and after learning the ropes, they must take over, but consult with us when they take these ropes!”

The CC agreed:* A coordinator is required to operate the desk. * The Numsa youth desk must be filtered down to the regional and local level* The Numsa Youth Desk as a sub-structure must be accountable and subordinated to the constitutional structures* The youth desk must engage and establish relationships with different youth groupings.

It must engage with progressive young structures to prepare young people for the world of work and politically.

It must work with graduate students from higher institutions to make sure they understand the world of work and participate in campaigns on issues affecting young workers* The structure must be under the political authority of the constitutional structures* The cut-off age for participation in the Numsa Youth structures is 35.

Getting to the roots of the problemJenny Grice 

In Numsa’s July 2009 Central Committee (CC), Numsa regions had to report on progress with particular regional programmes. Again and again the Sedibeng region failed to update the meeting on how they had implemented different programmes in their region.

This prompted the CC to resolve that the secretariat should meet with the regional office bearers and the regional team to establish why. The meeting was called for mid-August 2009.

Deputy general secretary, Karl Cloete, explained his presence saying that Numsa didn’t want to “find itself in a situation where Sedibeng had disappeared into thin air.”

However, after allowing all those present to speak, it became clear that the regional office bearers (ROBs) had already taken action to stop it disappearing “into thin air”.

Just a week earlier, the ROBs had organised a meeting between themselves and the regional team – the regional organiser, educator and administrator.

All had put past differences and disagreements behind them and agreed on a programme to guide them going forward.

One other major problem that came to the attention of the July 2009 CC is the fact that the Vereeniging (Matlosana) local, claims that elections for the current regional office bearers at the regional congress which took place early in 2008 were unconstitutional.

In this regard the July 2009 CC mandated the NOB to undertake an investigation to establish the legitimacy of the Vereeniging complaint.

It is a problem that the ROBs cannot resolve on their own since the local believes that the ROBs themselves are the problem! “If you can assist us with regard to the Vereeniging issue as soon as possible,” said regional chairperson, Engineer Kgapula, “this region will go back to where we were before.”

Regional organiser, Joeey Maake, echoed his sentiments. “Resolving the Vereeniging dispute is central,” he said.

As Numsa News went to print, the National Office Bearers were still finalizing a date to meet with the Vereeniging local and the othe local shop steward councils in the region to try and resolve the long-standing dispute.

The Numsa CC of December 2009 will receive thte NOBs findings on the Vereeniging complaint.

Source

Numsa News 

Hulle speel rugby om dwelms, alkohol en misdaad te bevegDie rugby span bestaan uit Alpha Engineering en motor en tyre sektore wat geleë is in Swellendam in die Weskaap. Die doel van die span is om dwelms, alkohol en misdaad te beveg.Die span is al 3 maande aan die gang. Ons is tans besig met ‘n werkers beker kompetisie waar 6 spanne om die beker meeding. Ons grootste ondersteuners is ons families en vriende. Die rugby truie word tans geborg deur Alpha Engineering. Die span uitdaag enige werkersspanne uit om ‘n vriendskaplike wedstryd teen ons te reël.

Kontak gerus vir Jaco by 078 931 4694

Pic: The Alpha Engineering rugby team – if you want to challenge them, phone Jaco

They play rugby to fight drugs, alcohol and crimeDeep in the heart of Swellendam, Numsa members with their community have found a new way to fight drugs, alcohol and crime. They have formed rugby teams and they play against each other.

They have negotiated with their company, Alpha Engineering, to provide them with rugby jerseys. At the moment they are busy taking part in a “workers’ cup” competition.

Their biggest supporters are their friends and family.They are challenging other teams to take them on! Contact Jaco on 078 931 4694.

Source

Numsa News