Lorraine Roberts – Report

South African Delegation Jan 27th – Feb 6th 2011

Following on from the 2009 Delegation to Southern Africa, when I

represented the West Midlands Region, I have since spent some time in
helping to facilitate a further delegation for the West Midlands Region, in
conjunction with Ray Mouratsing from The Barnet PCT Branch in the
Greater London Region, in order to set up a twinning agreement with a
sister union in South Africa. Ray has supported the West Midlands
Region in organising flights and accommodation and using his existing
contacts in South Africa to assist our delegation.

I was chosen with two other delegates, Jude Emelifeonwu and Louise
Andrews to take part in this delegation, which was scheduled for 27th
January – 6th February 2011 and I hope that this report is an honest and
useful account of my time there.

The main aim of the delegation was to build solidarity, ways of working
together and to re-establish a twinning agreement between West
Midlands Region and NEHAWU in the Kwa Zulu Natal Province (Region)
There was also a hope to meet with the North West Province who had
indicated a desire to re-kindle their twinning agreement.

I found this visit to be an entirely different experience from that of 2009,

when we had the support and to a degree the protection of comrades
from ACTSA. On this delegation, I felt that we were a little more
vulnerable and these feelings increased slightly when we witnessed an
incident involving a youth running riot with a stick and several police
officers trying to ‘restrain’ him, directly outside our hotel on the first
evening.

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27th January 2011.

Upon landing in Johannesburg, we caught an internal flight to Durban,

where there was some confusion as to whether we were supposed to be
met at the airport by our South African comrades. The suitcase of one of
the Greater London delegates went missing, so some time was spent at
the airport, whilst they tried to track it. However, still no one had arrived
to meet us, so we made our way to the hotel.

The following morning (28th January), at the hotel, we met with Trudy
Guma International Officer and Phakamani Ndunakazi - Provisonal
Educational Officer for NEHAWU. They informed us that they had been
at the airport waiting for us and that they had also been to the hotel, but
were told by the hotel staff that we had not checked in. This had caused
a degree of panic as they thought we had been arrested.

However, panic over, Trudy and Phakamani, together with Pheki Ndaba,
the NEHAWU Regional Officer who had also joined us, gave us a
wonderful tour of Durban, taking us to what I felt was South Africa’s
equivalent to Blist’s Hill at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum. Part of this
visit included a fantastic re-enactment of a Zulu courtship – an amazing
experience.

We spent the first few days in Durban in the care of Trudy, who gave us
her undivided support and attention and the hope was to facilitate the
signing of a twinning agreement with the Provincial Secretary of
NEHAWU. This meeting, where we were also to do a presentation about
Unison and the West Midlands Region, had been scheduled for Tuesday
1st February at 8.45 am.

Throughout our time in Durban, we visited several hospitals, including

Fort Napier which is a psychiatric hospital, which houses people who
have committed crime and are undergoing psychiatric assessment and
also a unit for helping and supporting abused children. The General
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hospital in Kwa Zulu Natal is still separated into two buildings by a road,
which was a strong reminder of the apartheid days and it was still very
clear which hospital had been used for black people and which had been
used for white people. We were told by our guide that there were plans
to bring both hospitals up to the same standard, but you could see this
would be a slow process and it was a strong example of how apartheid is
still embedded in the infrastructure of South Africa.

Some of the challenges faced by the hospital are that many of the people
in the surrounding villages still rely on traditional herbalists when they are
ill, therefore they are not accessing medical assistance until it is too late.
There is also a lot of crime in the surrounding area and people are
extremely poor and desperate. We were told by the hospital manager
Miss Adams, that people will sell their children for food and money and
she is concerned for the safety of the nurses travelling to and from work.
The hospital is affected by budget restrictions with only what is deemed
essential expenditure permitted, this includes not being allowed to buy a
kettle or a microwave for the staff.

The hospital visits were very interesting and informative, but a little
frustrating after a while as this seemed to become the main focus.
However, from discussions at these visits, we did learn that the people of
South Africa are very politically aware and we also learned that although
NEHAWU is a politically drive union, that other’s such as SAMWU (South
African Municipal Workers Union) are not. We were told that SAMWU
choose only to deal with everyday member issues. It appeared from
conversations that there were also some status issues between the
South African unions, with some being perceived by others as being of a
lesser status.

We were hopeful for a Municpal visit and this was provided in the form of
a visit to the Mhalathuze Water Board, where we were made very
welcome. The Water Board has been privatised but is still unionised and
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non profit making. Discussions took place around plans for the future
and managing water resources as well as the costs of recycling. It is felt
this may be more of a reality in 2018-2020. The relationship between the
union and the management appeared very positive with transparency
and effective consultation. Membership was currently at 70%. It was
also interesting to learn that the Water Board offers a bursary award for
women interested in civil engineering, which includes tuition and
accommodation to try an encourage more women into the industry.

(Picture – Our meeting with Mhalathuze Water Board)

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(Picture – one of our hospital visits)

At the Visit to the Ngwlezane General Hospital we asked the question

about how adults with learning difficulties are cared and provided for.
We could not seem to make it understood exactly what we were asking
and it soon became clear to us why, as we witnessed people with such
needs begging in the streets. However, we were told that there is a
Ministry of Women, Children and Disabled People which has targets that
have to be met.

Some of the issues regarding members at this particular hospital were

that, although policies are in place, they are frequently misinterpreted – a
similar problem to that faced by some of our own members in Local
Government. Another problem was difficulty in recruiting occupational
health nurses.

The 1st of February arrived and we prepared for our meeting to sign the
twinning agreement at the COASTU offices. We were all suited and
booted ready for 8.30 am. However, we were informed by Trudy that the
Provincial Secretary was at the airport and would therefore be late and
was now unable to meet us until the afternoon.

We continued waiting for notification that the Provincial Secretary was

ready to meet, and from 1.00 pm until 6.15 pm just sat at the hotel
waiting, but we heard nothing. Numerous phone calls to him and his
officers from Trudy were to no avail. Eventually, hunger got the better of
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us and we decided to retire to the hotel dining room in the hope that he
may join us. However, we heard nothing from him until 10.15 pm, when
we were telephoned to say he could meet us in the morning.
Unfortunately as we were due to fly to Johannesburg very early the
following morning it wasn’t possible. We therefore agreed to meet with
him in Johannesburg at the offices of NEHAWU on Thursday afternoon
and evening where we were accompanying the Greater London Region
to their meeting with a representative from NEHAWU Freestate. We
would also be meeting Nomthandazo Sikiti - NEHAWU’s National
International Relations Officer and be re-joined by Trudy Guma.

In Johannesburg we visited the offices of DENOSA, accompanying the

delegates from Greater London Region who were hoping to establish
links and set up a twinning agreement with Kalafong hospital which the
2009 delegation had visited. DENOSA (Democratic Nurses Organisation
of South Africa), as usual, were extremely enthusiastic, professional and
welcoming and we spent time with them discussing the practicalities of
twinning and ideas for establishing a time line of work.

(Picture - Meeting with DENOSA)

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We had parted company with Trudy on the understanding that we would
meet up with her again in Johannesburg. However, when we arrived at
the NEHAWU offices, we were informed by Nomthandazo, that the
Provincial Secretary was again unable to join us and also that Trudy had
been delayed. However, the meeting still enabled an opportunity for
Greater London region to re-establish their twinning agreement with the
Freestate as planned.

(Picture - Jude, Louise and Lorraine with Nomthandazo Sikiti at NEHAWU Offices)

Ever hopeful, we agreed with Nomthandazo that we would return again

the following day, to meet with the Provincial Secretary and/or Trudy–
third time lucky! However, it was not to be, as neither arrived. I felt
Trudy was herself frustrated by the lack of commitment from the
Provincial Secretary. Nomthandazo also had other commitments that
day, so I asked that we sign our part of the agreement and leave copies
with Nomthandazo, so that if the Provincial Secretary wished to sign
them at a later date he could do so.

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Signing our Part of the Agreement with staff from the NEHAWU Offices looking on.

Overview

This visit was very educational. The delegation learned a great deal
about how the Unions in South Africa work and also discovered how
difficult and frustrating it can be to establish twinning agreements with
Sister Unions overseas, even when the ground work has already been
done. The Unions in South Africa appear very status driven and with this
in mind it is possible that the Provincial Secretary felt that as lay
members, we were not high enough in status, for him to meet. However,
this is only my own perception and may be completely wrong. The
delegation made every effort to facilitate the signing of the agreement
whilst in South Africa and upon my return I contacted Trudy Guma and
Nomthandazo Sikiti, to thank them for the time and effort they put into
our visit and offering continued friendship and a hope of working together
in the future. They are both still very enthusiastic, but neither is able to
sign the agreement on behalf of the Provincial Secretary and although
they state that he is now ready to sign the agreement, I am still awaiting
a signed copy. We had also hoped to meet with the North West
Province who had indicated that they wished to re-kindle a twinning
relationship, but unfortunately they also cancelled the day before we
were due to meet.
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The joint delegation was useful for networking purposes and sharing of
contacts, although, it was at times frustrating as the two Region’s were
working to different agendas. NEHAWU being primarily Education and
Health seemed to focus on health, which was generally based around
hospitals. I hope that the West Midlands Region will be able to build on
this visit in the future but for the time being I feel that unless there is
some further commitment from our comrades in South Africa it will be
very challenging. Those at ground level in NEHAWU Kwa Zulu Natal are
very enthusiastic, but unfortunately, this enthusiasm doesn’t seem to
always be shared by the Provincial Officers who have the authority to
make it happen.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow delegates for their
commitment, support, good company and good humour during our time
in South Africa.

(Louise Andrews, Lorraine Roberts and Jude Emelifeonwu)

West Midlands Region Delegation to South Africa

January 27th – 6th February 2011
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Report by Lorraine Roberts

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