11 August, 2008
An estimated 80% of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) 1.8 million members participated in a national strike on 6 August, protesting rampant inflation. The day-long strike marked the culmination in a series of four work stoppages calling for relief to rising electric and food costs. COSATU also issued a stern demand for a decent living wage to counter a June inflation rate that hit 12.2%.
In the South African capital of Pretoria last week, 30,000 trade unionists marched on a government building while the cabinet of President Thabo Mbeki was meeting inside. In Cape Town, another 40,000 staged a four-hour march.
Across South Africa, some 18 pockets of mass strike activity and protests took place. Nearly all the major mining houses were forced to cease operations because miners heeded their union’s call to stop work, and three auto assembly plants were also shut by striking workers.
The nation’s workers and consumers demanded a roll back of a government-imposed 27.5% tariff increase in July atop already high electricity costs from state-owned utility Eskom. They also vowed to resist another two-cent-per-kilowatt increase due in September.
They also protested a hike to food prices totaling 17% in recent months, interest rates that just broke the 20% mark, and fuel prices that rose a full 35% from 2007 to 2008.
The first national strike called by COSATU this year happened on 9 July. The national labour centre followed that up with strikes on 16 July, targeting the provinces of Kwazulu Natal, Western Cape, Mpumalange, Free State, and Northern Cape. On 23 July, the day-long stay-aways expanded to Gauteng, Eastern Cape, North West, and Limpopo provinces.
NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni
The 320,000-member National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), COSATU’s largest affiliate, fully endorsed the walk-outs. NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni said fuel costs alone have made it prohibitive for many miners to travel from worksites to their homes to visit families when they are not working.
“We need to send a very strong message that the poor of our society are deeply affected” by this current economic crisis, said Baleni. “Electricity, food, and everything else is quickly becoming beyond reach.”