Leo Zeilig, Johannesburg
On May 18, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) led a general strike to protest against low pay, job losses and casualisation. There is growing working-class anger at the levels of poverty and unemployment in South Africa. The statistics tell the story: officially more than 25% of the population are out of work, but most people recognise that the real figure is closer to 40%; one report estimates that 51.2% of the population are either out of work or earn less than R60 (A$12) a month.
According to the government and business leaders, the one-day strike cost the South African economy R2 billion (A$400 million). Cities across South Africa were paralysed by demonstrations. In Johannesburg, 20,000 demonstrators marched behind union banners into the blinding sun. Before the march, speakers described the "failure of the ANC" to address poverty and job losses. The mood was militant. One construction worker expressed a general anger: "I am here to fight against job losses and casualisation. The government is doing nothing about poverty and unemployment. They put money in their back pockets. We vote and vote and nothing changes. We want to go forward."
Zwelinzima Vavi, COSATU general secretary, asked the Johannesburg marchers: "We fought for democracy in this country, but where is democracy when people are engulfed with poverty and unemployment?". The South Africa Communist Party issued a document on the day of the national strike criticising the ANC government's record, while SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande told marchers that "our revolution is in danger".
In the eastern coastal city of Durban, 10,000 workers and supporters marched in the city centre, forcing businesses to close.
In Cape Town, however, COSATU officials cancelled the planned demonstration. On April 16, police had attacked a demonstration of striking security guards, arresting strikers and trade union leaders. Pictures of police firing at the demonstrators from point-blank range were seen across the country. The capitalist press condemned the strikers. "Strikers Rampage", cried the headline in the popular tabloid the Citizen after the demonstration. The liberal weekly Mail and Guardian had a front-page headline that declared: "The strike must end". Politicians of all stripes denounced the "violence" of the striking security guards. It was under this pressure that COSATU's Cape Town leaders called off the May 18 demonstration.
The security guards' strike has now been raging since March 23. Security guards are among the most poorly paid workers in South Africa. The guards are demanding an 11% pay increase. The employers have attempted to break the strike. On April 1, they struck a deal with smaller unions leaving the main union, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), to maintain the strike. SATAWU workers have been shot by police and prevented from demonstrating. Media reports claim that 19 strikers have been killed since the strike started. Yet the media howls about the "violence" of the striking security guards.
Guy Slinsby, a full-time officer for the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union, explained the significance of the strike for the whole labour movement: "The SATAWU workers are giving the lead. The employers are trying to divide them, so it is an attack on every trade unionist. They are inspiring us. The employers are using every tactic not to give workers the 11%, but more importantly they are trying to smash the union in the sector."
The SATAWU contingents at the May 18 national strike marches were by far the largest and most militant. Their energy and dynamism is animating the wider movement. However, calls for solidarity from union officials at the Johannesburg rally were peppered with words of "caution". In fact, there has been no practical solidarity from COSATU for the embattled security guards.
A second major factor that permeates South African labour movement politics is the question of Jacob Zuma. For many, Zuma appears to represent a more radical ANC, and he was widely expected to take over from president Thabo Mbeki. He stepped down as deputy president of the ANC after he was accused of raping a family friend. On May 8, he was acquitted. His supporters have relaunched Zuma's bid for the presidency.
On May 18, many speakers called on the trade union movement to support Zuma. His widespread support reflects a frustration with the poverty and unemployment that grips South Africa. Zuma has become the pole of attraction to all those disappointed and angry with the market-driven agenda of the ANC government.
The general strike exposed the weakening of the governing coalition. The Alliance groups together COSATU, the SACP and the ANC. But the major fault lines are not simply between the Alliance "partners", but also within each organisation. Dissatisfaction is generalising. Groups critical of the ANC leadership — on the question of Zuma and the SATAWU strike — are growing within the ANC, as much as outside it. A victory for the SATAWU workers would be a blow to the employers and the ANC's neoliberal policies.
From Green Left Weekly, May 31, 2006.
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