The statement made by the Secretary General of the African National Congress with regard to the recent mining strike was on point. It is very inconceivable that a country that produce more than 70% of platinum in the world will be immune to the recent imperialist agenda.
Those who understand International Politics will agree with Gwede Mantashe that he is correct to say the strike at Lonmin and the surrounding is influenced by foreigners.
This is not a xenophobic articulation, this is a precise analysis of what is currently happening in the country. South Africa is Africa’s economic power house and it will always draw attention to foreign investors and some are bound to have contradictory views with the workers. Their aim is to come to South Africa and milk us while their bank balances continue to grow.
Over the past decades Africa has been subjected to lot of Special Adjustment Programmes (SAP) that are driven by the Breton Woods Institutions (IMF, WORLD BANK and WTO). The aim of these institutions is to ensure that post-independent, Africa must continue with neo-liberal policies that promotes privatisation and most importantly profit maximisation by Multinational Companies (MNCs).
History has taught us that this can only be possible where there is political and economic instability. South Africa is politically and economically stable and it is within this context that Gwede Mantashe said that foreigners want to de-stabilise the country’s economy. They have done that in other African, Asian and Latin American states and we are also not immune from this neo-liberal agenda.
It comes as no surprised that pseudo socialists parties like Workers and Socialist Party (WASP) see Gwede’s comments as xenophobic. This is because the organisation itself is led by foreigners. The question is what is their interest at Lonmin as the workers Party? In fact what is their role in resolving the conflict in Marikana?
If we fail to take Gwede Mantashe’s comments very serious, we will see our country’s economy bleeding to death. The imperials successful agenda in Marikana will push them to the next limit, they will soon focus on other sectors of the economy giving birth to other Joseph Mathunjwas of this world. Let us ignore Gwede at our own peril.
