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Alliance urged to acknowledge health crisisDate Posted: Friday 02-May-2008By Wendy Jasson da Costa & Sharika Regchand
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has called on the tripartite alliance to pool its resources and turn around the country's health system.
His comments, at Thursday's Workers' Day rally in Durban, came on the eve of the first alliance summit since 2005.
Mantashe told a few hundred workers at Durban's Currie's Fountain that the problems in the health system were obvious, whether it was babies dying of klebsiella or those dying as a result of drinking contaminated water.
Mantashe was referring to two babies who died of klebsiella at Umlazi's Prince Mshiyeni Hospital last Friday, and the nearly 80 babies in the Eastern Cape who had died as a result of problems at water treatment works.
He said the alliance should acknowledge the crisis rather than wait for opposition parties to hurl insults at the government.
The alliance had the task of ensuring that South Africans had the benefits of freedom.
"It is this responsibility that makes it a luxury for the alliance partners to spend a lot of time dealing with their differences, instead of focusing on pooling their resources and energy in ensuring that the dream of a better life for all becomes a reality," said Mantashe.
The alliance summit is to be held from May 9 to 11.
Thursday's rally also focused on issues that directly impacted on workers' pockets, including the country's electricity problems and looming price hikes in food and fuel.
Cosatu's Thulas Nxesi called on affiliates to monitor the rise in prices and ensure that this year's wage increases compensated workers for the drop in their "real standard of living".
He said the situation was critical for those who were unemployed or in casual jobs, and that South Africa could experience violent protests by the poor, as had occurred in other countries.
Rising food and petrol prices were also highlighted at the May Day rally held at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall on Thursday.
SACP provincial treasurer Siphiwe Gwala said that price increases were higher than wage and social grant increases, resulting in many families going to bed hungry.
He said the plight of the poor would be worsened by Eskom's planned electricity tariff hikes.
"The SACP is totally opposed to the solution that punishes our people for the problem that (the government) did nothing about," said Gwala, adding that inflation targets should be revised.
He said the party was committed to the fight for affordable health care and opposed to the downgrading of public health facilities.
Mantashe also raised the Zimbabwe issue, saying there had been a "de facto coup".
The ANC's chief whip in parliament, Nathi Mthethwa, said South Africa could not turn a blind eye to Zimbabwe.
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