2008 News
The Department of Trade and Industry has contracted the Growth Laboratory (G'Lab) to conduct a survey of all registered cooperatives in South Africa. They really need to speak to you to assess the needs of your cooperative and clarify how DTI can help.
The Nomzamo Cleaning Cooperative, a worker cooperative, in existence since 2001 has been successfully providing cleaning services to the University of Fort Hare. On 26th March the University decided to terminate the tender arrangement with the cooperative and has instead chosen to procure the services of a private company called Homeguard.
About nine construction cooperatives, involved in brick-making and other construction related activities, are meeting to form a secondary cooperative to coordinate and support their activities. These cooperatives are located in the East Rand of the Gauteng Province. Both cooperators and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan government are excited about this development.
The Newtown Housing Cooperative (NHC), in the Johannesburg inner city, is currently being legally managed by the National Finance Housing Cooperation. This state funding institution is claiming about R14 million from the cooperative.
A team of COPAC researchers attended a COOPAfrica Weekconference, convened by the ILO and the UK Cooperatives College, inDar-es-salaam, Tanzania in December 2007.
Esther Gicheru, the principal of the Kenya Cooperative College, was recently one of three recipients of the prestigious ICA Rochedale Pioneer Award for over twenty years dedicated commitment to cooperative development.