Glenda Daniels
The tripartite alliance is balanced on a knife-edge as talks deadlocked this week between the African National Congress and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) over the government’s privatisation policies.
Cosatu says it will engage in a two-day strike on August 29 and 30 with a build-up of half-day strikes and lunch-time demonstrations until then in sectors most affected by the policies. These are electricity, telecommunications and local government sectors.
Talks between the government and Cosatu over privatisation began in June but the government only responded to labour’s demand to stop its policies this week.
“They have said in no uncertain terms that they will not shift or compromise under any circumstances. They are clearly not interested and they have given us no option but to embark on action.”
The head of the ANC’s policy unit, Jeff Hadebe, said this week after meeting of the party’s highest decision-making structure, the national working committee, that the ANC had no intention of changing its economic policy.
Over the past week the relationship between tripartite alliance members came to a head over the macro-economic policies of the government, with the South African Communist Party and Cosatu wanting a more socialist focus. The ANC on the other hand, has been steamrolling privatisation, which is costing the country massive job losses.
The attacks between the partners have not stopped flying. Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi recently attacked Hadebe for reneging on promises to consult the federation over privatisation and over the continued implementation of the neo-liberal growth economic and redistribution strategy (Gear).
Privatisation entails the sale of state-owned enterprises, the introduction of private competitors in sectors historically controlled by the state, and relinquishing the management of state functions to private companies which entails outsourcing and that state functions operate on a commercial basis, rather than with a focus on social needs.
Cosatu argues in a position paper that privatisation is not appropriate in the South African context. The federation says “it is in inherently difficult if not impossible to compel private interests to serve the poor or intervene strategically to restructure the economy”.
Cosatu demands not just an end to the sale of state assets but a re-examination of whether it is desirable for market forces to govern the delivery of basic services.
Cosatu wants basic services water, sewage, housing, health, transport, electricity and telecommunications to remain in state hands.
The paper says: “In public, government generally voices some cautions on privatisation” and “virtually without exception, government documents avoid the term privatisation, preferring euphemisms such as ‘restructuring’ or ‘public-private partnerships’. Yet key policy documents point to an overwhelming belief in the efficacy of markets and private managers.”