There has been a strong commitment to co-operative development in
It would be understandable if amongst the wider black population there was less enthusiasm for co-ops. For many years particularly in the agricultural sector they bolstered white power. Beginning in the 1910’s and 20’s, they focused on input supplies and joint marketing; and establishing processing co-ops. They became a powerful lobby holding a virtual monopoly in key agricultural sectors, backed by ready access to finance through the Land Bank, and controlling the Marketing Boards that regulated prices until this system was dismantled post-apartheid.
A classic example is KWV which came to dominate the wine and spirits industry. Formed in 1918, by growers in the
The history of financial mutuals goes back further still. Old Mutual the South African financial giant was founded by Scotsman John Fairbairn in 1845 as the Mutual Life Assurance Society of the
In its early days it enabled white farmers to build up their businesses offering insurance and savings to weather the ups and doubts of agricultural markets. What was wrong with these organisations was not their co-operative nature but their failure to adopt the key co-operative principle of open membership. The things they did to enable small producers to gain economies of scale and less affluent communities to gain access to finance are needed today more than ever. Co-operatives like trade unions are not inherently progressive. They have the capacity to be so but can be corrupted into advancing the rights of one group over another.
The concrete situation in
It was a welcome move therefore in response to the UN Year of Co-operatives that last month SA Trade Minister Rob Davies addressing the International Co-op Day celebrations in
Mangaliso Stalin Khonza, National Spokesperson for the Young Communist League said in response he hoped “That implementation will be speedy and not get delayed by bureaucracy. The co-operative agency will go a long way in ensuring that co-operatives do not remain an option only for cleaning, public school feeding schemes and other basic services. The Agency must ensure that the co-operatives are capacitated in terms of skills and resources to operate fully even in the commanding heights of the economy such as banking, mining and IT.” He went on, “It is well known fact that co-operatives can serve to curb the increasing unemployment particularly amongst the youth and will further ensure the communities are directly responsible in their own service delivery and development; unlike the corrupt entrepreneurial system which serves to illegitimately profit uncaring entrepreneurs.”
If any country needs its wealth spreading more fairly then it is
Co-operatives can make a difference in undertaking work contracted out by local government where there has been a huge problem with corruption. In his address to the SACP’s 13th Congress on July 12th Blade Nzimande, Minister for Education and Training and SACP General Secretary said that to help the sector grow, the SACP is.. “calling for effective state support for the co-operative movement, including setting aside certain functions in the state (eg. school nutrition, cleaning services, etc) exclusively for cooperatives.”
A strong commitment by the SACP means this new found commitment to co-operatives has a chance of working and I look forward to a thriving co-op sector that serves all of