Cosatu on Thursday threatened strikes before October over big electricity price rises and declined to say whether action could start before the Soccer World Cup in June.
“The last thing we want to do is disrupt the World Cup but our interest is bigger than the World Cup,” Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi told reporters.
Cosatu, consumers and businesses have condemned the power regulator’s decision to grant Eskom average annual price increases of more than 25% over the next three years to fund a badly needed increase in capacity.
Vavi told reporters the federation would consult its members in March and April to discuss protest action.
Cosatu — which has almost two million paid up members — has already filed notice of a strike in October, which unions are obliged to do under South African labour law, but Vavi said they may file a notice for earlier action.
“We might even be on strike before that,” he said.
Widespread anger
Any strike before or during the Soccer World Cup finals could damage South Africa’s hopes of using the biggest sporting event held on the continent to showcase the country abroad and draw in tourists and investment in the longer term.
Anger is widespread in South Africa over the power price increases, which will mean a rise of 24,8% this year and even more in subsequent years.
The increases fell short of Eskom’s request for a 35% hike annually over the next three years.
But critics say the hikes could lead to increased inflation expectations, big real wage increases, and further slow the recovery in private business growth and the household sector after the first recession in nearly two decades.
Eskom wants to raise R461-billion ($62-billion) to build more plants and avoid a repeat of blackouts that crippled the vital mining industry in 2008.
Meanwhile, Earthlife Africa in Johannesburg and the Women’s Climate Change Forum have planned a demonstration outside Eskom’s regional office against the hikes on Monday.
Silencing ANC leaders
Vavi also took aim at “crass materialism” and “tender entrepreneurs” in the African National Congress leadership and said this was endangering the ruling party.
“The new tendency is trying hard to take us back to the politics of labelling, back-stabbing, rumour and scandal-mongering, marginalisation and the closure of state for free and democratic debate.”
This “small right-wing tendency” is being led by materialists and tender entrepreneurs. It was not supported by the majority of the ANC’s leadership, but there were worrying signs that this tendency was succeeding in silencing most ANC leaders.
Vavi was referring to a group hoping to oust current ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe in the party’s 2012 elective conference.
“As we have said before, this small group is impatient and is not even prepared to wait for the normal process of nomination, and given a space they may move a vote of no confidence to those they regard as sitting ducks.”
ANC Youth League president Julius Malema has come out in support of current Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula to replace Mantashe in 2012. – Reuters, Sapa