Strike by 150,000 council workers brings South African economy to a standstill
Hundreds of council workers rampaged through central Johannesburg yesterday in a “trash” protest marking the first day of a nationwide strike over wages and benefits by 150,000 municipal employees.
Singing and chanting liberation songs from the struggle era, protesters emptied rubbish bins and scattered litter across the roads as a long column of T-shirt-clad strikers danced and weaved its way through the nearly deserted heart of South Africa’s commercial centre.
Shopkeepers and traders, worried over how recent protests by taxi drivers quickly turned into looting sprees, boarded up windows and closed stalls for the day despite the presence of dozens of well-armed police. Similar demonstrations took place elsewhere in the country.
The strike by public transport workers, refuse collectors and licensing officers shut down clinics, buses and trains. Many parts of Johannesburg also suffered power cuts, including the Johannesburg headquarters of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which quickly issued a defiant statement saying that it was working as usual.
The stoppage is the latest threat to the newly elected Government of President Zuma in what is rapidly becoming South Africa’s “winter of discontent”. A bitterly cold winter has made life especially hard for the poor and triggered violent protests in townships across the country.
Doctors and construction workers putting the finishing touches to 2010 World Cup stadiums have already been involved in bitter disputes. Today workers in the gold and coal sectors will announce whether they are taking an improved offer or stopping work in some of the biggest mines in the world. “This is all a massive challenge to Zuma. People were bound to be disappointed but the impact of the recession and the conspicuous consumption of ANC leaders who drive around in brand new cars and preach belt-tightening is a contributory factor,” William Gumede, a political analyst, told The Times.
Mr Zuma, who steered the ANC to an election victory in April and took office a month later, captured the leadership after a bruising succession battle with the former President, Thabo Mbeki, largely by cultivating the left wing of the party and its unionist allies, and appealing to the masses, whose lives have barely changed since the end of apartheid.
“He has raised expectations and must now deliver; how he handles this crisis will define his presidency,” said Mr Gumede. “The election did not settle anything. Now the hard choices are coming.”
The current strike is in pursuit of a 15 per cent wage increase. The employers have offered 11.5 per cent. Inflation is put at just over 8 per cent, but the country — heavily dependent on commodities — is in recession for the first time in 17 years.
So far, the unions have been careful to emphasise that they are not fighting the ANC Government they fought to see elected, and have aimed their anger at incompetent officials and corrupt local government representatives.
At the weekend, Mr Zuma appealed for more time to clean out the old guard and realise the benefits of new structures, but among the poor patience is in short supply.
“We vote but nothing changes,” said Elijah Ngobeza, who lives in the sprawling, violent township of Thokoza, outside Johannesburg. “We want houses, toilets, water and electricity, just like our leaders.”
Unrest in the townships, the barometer of South Africa’s health, worries government insiders and foreign investors most.
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