Class wars at the centre of Cosatu strike

How to save the poor and the working class from socio-economic doom is the central argument between the ruling party and its alliance partner, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in the latter’s battle for public service wage hikes.

This emerged when the trade union federation held a briefing ahead of the planed national strike, further unpacking the message behind its campaign.

“What we are actually saying is that a number of good pronouncements have been made and good intentions have been demonstrated but we need action now. From time to time, when this president or any other president when he speaks there are things that we hope will be become better, but that is never the case,” Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said.

He was referring to promises by President Cyril Ramaphosa and his predecessors to introduce pro-poor and worker-friendly policies which would see government increase its social spending in certain areas and raise wages.

Austerity measures and other economic policies favouring private capital interests over social spending were behind some of the steady economic decline South Africa was on before the Covid-19 pandemic, and which have only been exacerbated over the initial and extended lock down periods.

Cosatu wanted government and particularly, the National Treasury, to better manage capital outflows in the country, billions in rands which go untaxed, Cosatu second deputy president Mike Shingane stressed.

Shingane said the contentious austerity measures announced in this year’s budget angered trade unions and far left movements such as the South African Communist Party (SACP). These measures would see more taxes affecting the bottom earners in the work force and the poor. Budget cuts which were at odds with the working class agenda, adopted by the ANC’s alliance partner, also sparked a warning from Cosatu that these decisions, if executed, would lead to a devastating depression.

“We are also on the strike to also highlight the issue of gender based violence (GBV). In our view, our society should be able to have a conversation among ourselves as to where exactly we went wrong. Either the law enforcement agencies are not acting tough enough in order to serve as a deterrent or there is something wrong in society. The point is that we need to go out there,” Shingane added.

“Employers in government and in the private sectors must not be allowed to divide us or reverse the workers’ victories. The cynical alliance between government and the private sector which has seen the emergence of a welfare state and the intensification of the super-exploitation of workers should be collectively fought by both unionised and non-unionised workers,” said Ntshalintshali reading their statement on Monday morning.

Among the group’s complaints against the state was that it allowed corruption to flourish in both the private and the public sector.

“It is obvious now that we cannot rely on government to discipline capital, but we need to unite and do it ourselves…Business and their opportunist political bedfellows know that they no longer have legitimacy, but they are not going to give up easily.”

Thousands of Cosatu members were expected to stay at home from Wednesday this week, with no planned street action in order to maintain Covid-19 safety.

Simnikiweh@citizen.co.za

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