There were conflicting reports of the success of a Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) call for a worker stayaway in Mpumalanga, the Free State and Northern Cape on Monday.
Cosatu hailed the protest against job losses a ”magnificent” success, while the South African Chamber of Business said its impact on businesses was hardly felt.
”Mines and factories have ground to a halt and workers are moving en masse to the marches,” Sam Mashinini, Cosatu provincial secretary said in a statement.
He said 15 000 people had marched in Secunda, Mpumalanga. There had been a ”big turnout” from the mining and manufacturing sectors as well as farm workers.
The province’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry said there the protest action had not received much support. It had ”no impact whatsoever” in the Dullstroom area, said chamber president Wayne Hampson.
”We’ve been totally unaware of it here. There were certainly no marches in the centre of Witbank,” said Brian Floyd, chamber president for the area.
About 5 000 people attended the march in Secunda, which proceeded without incident, said police spokesperson Captain Abie Khoabane.
”Most companies in Middelburg weren’t really affected; only about 10 to 15 people stayed away. In Witbank, a third of people stayed away, but they were mainly Numsa [National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa members],” said a chamber representative.
Similarly in the Northern Cape, the response seemed lukewarm.
In Kimberley, only one business, an abattoir, reported a stayaway of almost 90%.
”Telkom had about 60% stayaway. The municipalities didn’t get much [of a response]; the others all nil. I don’t think there was much of an issue,” said Sharon Steyn, representative of the Northern Cape Chamber of Business.
Cosatu said about 2 300 workers had marched in Welkom and 1 500 in Bloemfontein.
”There weren’t so many people. I don’t think it [the call for a stayaway] had any effect,” said Free State chamber secretary Margie Bester.
‘Strikes not a solution to unemployment’
Cosatu’s rolling mass action against job losses is not a solution to creating long-term sustainable jobs in the country, according to T-Sec economist Mike Schussler.
Schussler said any strike on a short-term basis is not ”a problem”, but Cosatu’s weekly strikes in different provinces could create problems for the economy in the long term.
”The unfortunate thing about this rolling mass action is that it is not hurting the intended targets but small business. Look, a big company — say in mining — can easily recover lost production, while a small business with 50 people will suffer due to production loss,” Schussler noted.
He added that the South African economy is making inroads in terms of job creation with a number of jobs created last year and at the beginning of this year.
Cosatu said on Monday that the catastrophic loss of jobs and shocking levels of unemployment are by far the biggest threats the country confronts today.
”Tens of thousands of jobs have disappeared from the productive heart of the economy — mining and manufacturing. Thousands more workers face losing their jobs in the near future,” the union federation said.
Cosatu added that its central committee in August noted that the overwhelming response to the general strike on June 27 had yielded some positive results.
Labour analyst Andrew Levy said Cosatu’s strikes are only a political process voicing Cosatu’s discontent with policies.
Levy added that this kind of strike does not have long-lasting, meaningful impact.
”This strike reinforces overseas investors’ negative view of labour unions,” Levy said. — Sapa, I-Net Bridge