The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.24           June 17, 1996 
 
 
S. African Workers Rally To Defend Jobs  

BY GREG ROSENBERG

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - "Phuma, Marais, Phuma!" (Xhosa for "Out, Marais, out") shouted more than 5,000 municipal workers who took to the streets here May 27. The members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) employed by the metropolitan government here marched to demand the ouster of National Party (NP) provincial official Peter Marais, who had drafted a proclamation that would result in large-scale job losses by union members.

The march took place two days prior to the metropolitan elections in this area of South Africa's Western Cape province. The hotly contested race has become a forum for debating many issues central to this country's post-apartheid transformation. Among these questions are what place workers rights should occupy, the role of trade unions, and the need to create jobs for the 50 percent of blacks in this country who are unemployed. Other issues in dispute are the government's intention to privatize certain state-run industries, and whether decent education will remain the domain of those who drew privilege under the rule of the white regime.

"We are marching to protect jobs, to stand for the union, and to say that the ANC will stand for the people," said Cape Town laborer Archie Williams. ANC member Richard Hange came to support the march "because my parents are working here, and these are my brothers and sisters. I live at Nyanga in the shacks. The workers here demand proper working conditions and a living wage. As a member of the ANC it is my right to support these workers in their struggle, which will make a better life for all of us."

Electrical department laborer Abdur Angus - like most marchers someone classified as Colored under the old regime -

said he was angry over administration threats to lay off workers. But Angus wasn't sure for whom he would vote in the local elections. "The ANC government is doing all right but they are a bit slow," he said, adding his concern that "under [apartheid official] Verwoerd it was the white man getting all of the benefits; under the ANC the black man is on top. But we'll give them time."

In a repeat performance of its course during the 1994 national elections, the National Party (NP) of F.W. de Klerk, which holds a 54 percent majority in the provincial government here, has sought to capitalize on the divisions among working people in this province fostered under apartheid - trying to divide especially whites and Coloreds from Africans. In mid-May, for example, a small gang of Colored National Party supporters sought to drown out ANC president Nelson Mandela's speech in a local township with shouts of "kaffir," a racist epithet.

After conducting their militant, peaceful march to the provincial building, SAMWU members proceeded to the gates of City Hall, where they were to be addressed by Mandela in a meeting hall later in the day.

Provocation opens door to attack
As unionists sang, danced, and discussed, a separate group of about 150 members of the former Cape Corps - a division of the old apartheid army - marched to the gates of City Hall and staged a provocation.

The ex-soldiers, demanding to see Mandela, charged the gates guarded by police. The cops, mostly veterans of the apartheid police, used this as an excuse to call in reinforcements and armored cars, and open a sortie with riot shields. In no time, the ex-soldiers began hurling rocks and bottles at the cops -

some of which also struck union members. This reporter witnessed police then open fire indiscriminately into the crowds. More than 45 people were injured in the melee that ensued. At least six union members were injured by buckshot blasts from police shotguns.

As thousands of people scurried for cover, union members took immediate steps to get their injured comrades to the hospital. Their anger was directed against the ex-soldiers -who most believed had staged the provocation at the behest of the NP - and the cops.

When Mandela's speech began two hours later, he condemned the provocation, and promised the thousands of assembled unionists a swift investigation of the day's events.

The ANC president also blasted the insistence by NP officials that the ANC take its distance from the 1.6 million member Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). NP officials continually complain that the ANC is a "pawn" of the union federation.

"Many of you may have noticed the leader of a Mickey Mouse political party that is disappearing from the political scene trying to give us advice on COSATU," Mandela told the cheering throng. "They tried to be hard on COSATU when they were in power and had to give it up. Together with the democratic movement COSATU overthrew their unpopular and stinking regime."

No to death penalty
The two chief capitalist parties contesting the elections are the NP and Democratic Party. The Democratic Party emphasizes the need for "more cops on the beat," with a clear preference for the interests of capital. The NP stresses that it wants the death penalty reinstated, and the status quo maintained in education, which is to the benefit of whites in South Africa. Both parties criticize the ANC for the slow pace at which government is providing housing, water, and other basic needs to the black majority.

ANC candidates in the race range from urban and rural workers to wealthy architects and academics.

In his speech to municipal workers, Mandela asked if they knew why the NP was emphasizing the reintroduction of capital punishment, outlawed last year by the Constitutional Court.

"Under their government it was only blacks who were executed - Africans, Indians, and Coloreds. Although they've lost power, they still think they will intimidate blacks by sending them to the gallows."

"Prophets of doom who've never done anything for our people are now saying, `why are there no houses? This comes from people who live in big houses," Mandela said.

The South African president pointed out that the ANC-led government had "made a start" by providing school feeding programs for children, and free healthcare, access to electricity, and clean water to millions of people. "Access to land has been opened to the previously excluded, and a system of united education is being phased in," he said. Mandela warned, however, against "false promises," saying that the transformation would take years to accomplish.

Students on the march
Student protests erupted at several universities and technical colleges in the latter half of May. At the University of Zululand, students marched to protest the exclusion of 270 students who had failed to pay tuition in the allotted time. At Technikon South Africa, hundreds sat in to protest management's failure to establish a previously agreed to study center.

Student and worker protests rocked the University of Durban- Westville campus. Marches involving thousands took place, their principal demand being that management act to eradicate the legacy of apartheid education, including increasing financing for students, lowering of rents, and increased student and staff influence over decision-making.

Black students at Technikon Pretoria demanded a scrapping of the 18 percent interest rates on owed tuition fees, a lowering of marks needed to qualify for exams, a review of language policy at the school, and a reduction in food prices on campus. Clashes took place between black and white students on campus.

Television news showed whites armed with cricket bats preparing to swing at black students. The Pretoria protests were led by the AZAPO-aligned Azanian Front, whose president publicly threatened to petrol bomb the campus if student demands were not met. The South African Students Congress, aligned with the ANC, opposed the violence and called meetings open to all students to work out their problems.

Inequality in education must cease
The battle over the transformation of public education has also intensified. During the week beginning May 20, 10,000 teachers and their supporters - with the active backing of the National Party - marched here to oppose proposals advanced by the government and South African Democratic Teachers Union to restructure education.

These proposals include radically redirecting education funding to poorer provinces, black townships, and rural areas from better-funded areas. In many cases, teachers would face a choice of either being reassigned to other parts of the country or accepting a voluntary retirement package. According to officials of the education ministry, teachers have been inquiring about taking early retirement in droves.

Speaking here at a campaign rally for Revel Fox, the ANC candidate in the wealthy white suburb of Claremont, Mandela told a questioner that while further consultation was necessary, the restructuring of education must proceed.

"As long as I am the president not a single teacher will be thrown into the streets because of a lack of money," Mandela declared. But he said that using 100 percent as an average, the Western Cape was funded at a rate of 140 percent, while the Eastern Cape was funded at a rate of 70 percent.

Privatization debate
A renewed debate on the privatization of state-run industries is also taking place. The parties of the employers argue that a tamed labor movement, and privatized industry, are necessary for foreign investment.

Typical of articles appearing in the press was an interview with German capitalist Claas Daun, published in the May 21 Durban Mercury. Daun, who says businesses he owns employ more than 10,000 people in this country, is "a little bit concerned" over recent developments here, including the rights granted to workers in the new constitution. "I have a lot of interests in South Africa but I won't commit myself to any more until the government can show clearly that they are neutral and not working for COSATU."

The business press applauded when Mandela, after a state visit to Germany, told reporters that "privatization is the fundamental policy of the ANC and it is going to be implemented. The responsibility for creating an investor and trade-friendly environment is for us to take."

Other ANC officials have taken further steps in this direction. Deputy Finance Minister Gill Marcus of the ANC told the National Assembly May 23 that both business and labor were pushing the country to the edge with their antagonistic relationship. "Their unseemly, aggressive and confrontational approach denies the critical economic imperatives of the moment, including the creation of an investor-friendly environment," she said. She called for a social partnership "with meaning."

COSATU general secretary Sam Shilowa reiterated the labor movement's opposition to privatization of state assets such as the telephone, transport, and electrical utilities in a May 24 speech. "We think privatization will not assist significantly ... by delivering more phones, better health care and public transport. If the state's welfare and service functions are privatized the government's programs for water, telephone, electricity and health delivery will inevitably fail. Only the wealthy will be able to afford basic services and this will undoubtedly spell disaster for our future."  
 
 
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