Anti-privatisation protests could embarrass the government.
In a surprise move reminiscent of last year’s anti-privatisation protests during the Durban racism conference, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is calling for a civil society-led, anti-privatisation campaign in August this year.
Johannesburg will host the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development between August 26 and September 4.
The announcement, coupled with a tough Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) Workers’ Day statement, indicates the federation is still on the warpath on economic issues – despite attempts to repair its strained alliance with the ruling party.
Gwede Mantashe, general secretary of NUM – Cosatu’s largest affiliate – said the campaign would form part of Cosatu’s programme. It would involve the mobilisation of groups like the church, unions and NGOs.
After the union’s 30th national conference in Bloemfontein over the weekend, where the announcement was made, Mantashe said the movement would not be political but would function as “an informal coming together of civil society”.
Mantashe compared it to the mass mobilisation led by the United Democratic Front in the 1980s. “The important thing is that people be mobilised and not be spectators,” he said.
The move comes as a surprise as Cosatu, in a goodwill gesture earlier this year, announced that it was suspending its anti-privatisation campaign until the growth and development summit. The summit is expected to be held under the auspices of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) later this year.
African National Congress national chairperson Mosioua Lekota, who also attended the NUM conference, reacted to the call to involve civil society in the anti-privatisation campaign diplomatically, saying debate should be encouraged.
Last year Cosatu staged a general strike against privatisation when the world conference on racism kicked off in Durban in September. The timing enraged the government, leading to unprecedented tensions in the tripartite alliance. ANC ministers accused Cosatu of trying to embarrass the government.
Zwelinzima Vavi, Cosatu general secretary, said this week that the labour federation would support the NUM, which would first have to table the proposal for debate in the federation.
Cosatu had an ongoing campaign against privatisation, so the NUM’s call did not contravene its policy. He denied any connection between the timing of the planned protest and the world summit.
In a Workers’ Day statement this week, however, Cosatu said it would be staging demonstrations under the auspices of the Civil Society Summit being held in parallel with the World Summit, to highlight the plight of workers.
The Mail & Guardian reported last week that the government started lobbying the trade union federation, to head off anti-privatisation and anti-globalisation violence which has become a feature of world meetings.
Last week senior government leaders briefed Cosatu on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), which is to be showcased at the World Summit.
Since then Cosatu has publicly announced its unhappiness with Nepad. In its Workers’ Day statement, Cosatu said it was launching a debate on Nepad and African Union.
It said: “We must find a way to transform the plight of the majority of the African people and put an end to war, dictatorship, indebtedness and corruption on the continent. But workers and the poor must not be left out of the process. If Nepad is to succeed, it must be driven from below, by the people of Africa, and not left to heads of state and international business, who will be looking for new ways to strengthen their stranglehold on Africa.”
In a hard-hitting speech at the NUM conference over the weekend, Vavi referred to last year’s anti-privatisation strike – and specifically to Public Enterprises Minister Jeff Radebe’s jibe that union investment companies benefited from privatisation.
“Government, in its attempt to blackmail us, claimed that our investment companies are benefiting from privatisation. We were caught off guard, as we actually did not know where these companies are investing.” Vavi told NUM delegates that the federation’s investment council was investigating the matter.