ACTSA Scotland and STUC Women's Delegation
to South Africa

2 - 11 November 2002

(For the list of participants, and of the projects visited, see Appendices)

Between 2 and 11 November 2002, eleven women took part in the first ever
ACTSA Scotland/STUC women's delegation to South Africa. It was inspired by
the wonderful speeches made to the Scottish Trades Union Congress in
Aberdeen in 2001 by the then South African High Commissioner, Cheryl
Carolus (now Chief Executive, South African Tourism).  She spoke to
Congress of the work being done in South Africa by women to enable both the
rebuilding of that country and the rebuilding of their own lives.  But she
also said that this work is rarely recognised in the world outside South
Africa.

We hoped that in visiting them we would learn from their experiences, and
see if we could offer them any practical assistance.  We believe we have
accomplished this and will shortly through ACTSA be prioritising the many
challenges we have set ourselves since our return.

Some assistance in the shape of banking information and links with women's
organisations in Scotland have already been implemented but there remain a
number of longer term projects that will need to be organised and given
support and practical assistance from the trade union movement and others
in Scotland and the U.K.  The help and assistance has not been one-way as
we have learnt a great deal from the many initiatives and challenges our
colleagues in South Africa have faced.

One example is the work of COSATU in co-ordinating a completely new
approach to gender politics in 1998. This not only took a great deal of
courage in the face of stiff opposition but a great deal of long term
planning for a campaign which continues and will continue for some years to
come.  This long-term venture is already paying off and is something we
should be able to integrate into our own discussions on mainstreaming.  Not
only have our South African colleagues wrestled with this and formulated a
strategy to deal with it, they have ploughed resources into making it a
reality.  Our COSATU colleagues should be congratulated on their work in
the trade union movement and all areas of government in South Africa and
have indicated they are only too pleased to share their knowledge with us.
Their publication "Understanding Gender - A Struggle within a Struggle"
should be a useful tool for the future.  This has been made available to
the STUC.  Their gender policy is available on their website (see Appendix
2).

We also hoped that the visit would, as an act of solidarity, help to
strengthen links between our unions and their sister organisations in South
Africa.  That has now become a reality.  We were not prepared, perhaps, for
the similarities we would encounter of women facing challenges daily, many
of them exactly the same that we as women, particularly trade unionists, do
here.  For instance, the difficulties women face in the work place, in
trade unions and government - local and national - remain, by virtue of the
fact that they are women living in a patriarchal society (whether that
society is new or mature).

We were all left with an overwhelming impression of people working together
with enthusiasm.  We saw real progress being made enabling the black
population to have access to the most basic of human needs - fresh running
water, a roof over their heads, electricity, enough to eat.  Some of the
living conditions we witnessed were appalling by any standards.  But we
were also impressed by the sense of determination of South African people
to overcome this; by their sense of purpose as they worked toward their
goals, to change things for the better. 

The women that we met were particularly inspirational.  Confronted by
multiple problems such as the appalling incidence of HIV and AIDS (which we
were told has reduced life expectancy to 42), the huge number of road
traffic accidents which result in an even higher number of deaths than from
HIV and AIDS and illnesses that mean that many people seen in the street
have a disability, by the high incidence of rape and violence against
women, these sisters work tirelessly for their families, for each other and
for their communities.  They work with minimal resources, sometimes NO
resources.

The visit took place in 3 stages: Cape Town, East London (Eastern Cape) and
Johannesburg.  Sometimes our group of 11 split up so that we could visit
more places or projects.  This meant that within a week we had visited 23
organisations and projects and the wealth of information available will be
published in due course as well as progress on the projects we work on.

The meeting with SADSUWA representatives, who told of the formation of a
trade union for domestic workers, (cleaners, gardeners and drivers) and
their success in achieving a minimum wage for these workers in the space of
2 years, was inspirational.  We hope that we will be able to give them
support in the years ahead and consider something along similar lines for
the future in Scotland.

We were initially surprised to be taken to two Old Age Projects but once we
had visited them we understood that there is an urgent need to support such
projects.  They exist to prevent malnutrition, loneliness and abuse of old
people.  In a country with such high poverty old people can be regarded as
a burden and the projects we visited not only make sure they are safe and
can collect their pensions safely but that they have a way of making money
through skill based projects.   The  Dimbaza Project, for example, was in a
disused factory unit that was gloomy and damp, where the workers and
clients were desperately trying to raise funds for a new building.  Yet
even in such depressing surroundings the will to support one another and
succeed in developing their society was remarkable.

At the Nomzamu co-operatives, formed by workers as a result of
privatisation of key support and maintenance work within Fort Hare
University, the pride and enthusiasm of the workers were almost tangible.
They were keen to tell us how much better it is working in a co-operative
than previously for a private employer.  There are a number of ways they
can be offered practical assistance by getting banking advice and basic
Health and Safety guidance, as even from a short visit this seemed
conspicuous by its absence.  Money for computers and programmes as well as
equipment such as a tractor would also be very welcome. 

In particular it was notable that organisations like Rape Crisis,
Masimanyane and POWA, all support organisations for women suffering rape,
sexual assault, sexual harassment or discrimination do not as here in
Scotland, concentrate their efforts on one aspect of violence against
women.  All of them deal with sexual and domestic abuse, all of them have
to deal with AIDS and HIV, all of them provide support for children who
have been abused and all of them provide access for men in similar
circumstances.  They provide training for communities and have developed
not only into campaigning organisations but participate in and carry out
research for sections of the government not in competition with each other
but in partnership.  There is much to learn both for women's organisations
in Scotland as well as the trade union movement although it is hard to
envisage a time in Scotland when they will also be able to be mainstreamed
and men will not only be encouraged to become involved in them but expected
to.

In one project we visited a worker said "South Africa is still a
traumatised society."  And of course this must be true.  However, as most
traumas pass and life continues, so it is in South Africa.  We have come
away with an impression of a hard working people, a generous people but a
people, black and white, multicultural, striving to deal with the post
traumatic stress of the rape of their country.  This is perhaps an extreme
analogy, but when a woman is raped every 26 seconds in South Africa and it
is estimated that 1 in 3 women live in an abusive relationship, perhaps not
entirely inappropriate.

A short report such as this cannot do justice to the visit.  We can only
say that overall, the visit was judged a success and as previously stated
we will be meeting shortly to prioritise the areas where we feel we can
offer assistance.  We hope to publish a full report on all of these
projects and the progress made with some of them later in 2003.

We made a verbal report of our visit to the STUC Women's Conference in
November 2002, and collected over £300 for the Rape Crisis Centre in
Khayelitsha.  Hopefully it will only be the beginning of an investment in
future training and socialisation, which will be part of the recovery of
the South African people.

Special thanks must be afforded to ACTSA Scotland for facilitating the
visit, to the unions who sponsored us, and to the STUC.  NEHAWU took on the
bulk of the organising for our visit and we are indebted to them for this,
as it would not have been possible to visit so many projects or meet so
many people without their assistance.


Linda Shanahan



[For further information on this visit or to donate to or assist with any
of the projects mentioned, please contact Annie White, ACTSA Scotland Trade
Union Secretary at annie.white@actsascotland.org.uk ]


Appendix 1

Participants

Scottish Trades Union Congress Women's Committee        :

Linda Shanahan (Chair)                  FBU
Agnes Tolmie                    Unifi
Christine Spalding                      Amicus AEEU
Sandra Kennie                   UNISON
Katrina Purcell                 UNISON
Mary Fee                                USDAW

ACTSA  Scotland:
Annie White                    Trade Union Secretary           

Jane Wilford                   Health & Housing Convener

Shamin Akhtar                  Women's Officer

Marian Pallister                       Freelance Journalist

Alison Pearson                 Glasgow College of Food Technology


Appendix 2
Projects and Organisations Visited

Cape Town 3 - 5 November

Khayelitsha Rape Crisis Centre
Khayelitsha TB and Chest clinics
Khayelitsha Youth Project on Safe Sex
COSATU  Regional Office (Congress of South African Trade Unions)
SADSAWU- South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union
SACCAWU  - South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union
CWU  - Communications Workers Union
NUMSA   National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa
South African Parliament
Cape Town Municipal Council

East London 5 - 7 November

3 Nomzamu Co-operatives at Fort Hare University - Catering, Cleaning and
Gardening
NEHAWU  Regional Office  (National Education Health and Allied Workers
Union)
Dimbaza Society for the Aged, Zwelitsha
Women's Old Age Project
Nkqubela Chest Hospital, Mdantsane township
Masimanyane   - "Womankind"

Johannesburg 7 - 10 November

Water Project run by Denis Goldberg
Erkuleheni Municipal Authority
Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries
COSATU Head Office
POWA - People Against Women's Abuse
POWA Local Centre, Katlehong, Soweto. 


  www.rapecrisis.org.za
  www.cosatu.org.za
  www.saccawu.org.za
  www.cwu.org.za
  www.numsa.org.za
  www.nehawu.org.za
  www.womankind.za
  www.erkuleheni.com.za
  www.powa.co.za