THIS is the way the world ends," wrote TS Eliot in the final stanza of his oft-quoted poem, The Hollow Men. "Not with a bang but a whimper."
And thus, it appears, will be the way the tripartite alliance that has dominated South African politics for the first two decades of democracy finally reaches its sell-by date. Not with the dramatic split that has always seemed inevitable given the broad spread of philosophies and ideologies that were accommodated in the alliance as preparations were made to resurrect the country from the ashes of apartheid, but with a whimper of conflicting class interests, denouncements, angry statements and endless litigation.
And whimpers of regret on the part of the African National Congress (ANC) that it can no longer have its cake and eat it. The governing party described the National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s (Numsa’s) weekend expulsion from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) as "tragic", and "a huge setback" for the alliance. But that does not begin to explain the symbolic or practical impact of the move. Alliance politics and the way SA’s political parties have become aligned over the past two decades will never be the same again, whatever happens next.
The bottom line is that the ANC’s bid to co-opt Cosatu’s leadership in the manner that the South African Communist Party’s executive has been persuaded to refrain from criticising its policies and practices in the interests of "unity" has failed.
The real world pressures were just too great — if Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim had not drawn a line in the sand, the union would eventually have suffered the same fate as the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
The NUM has been decimated by the politically independent Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) after its leaders failed to heed warnings that their credibility among ordinary members had been undermined by their perceived co-option by both mine management and the ANC. As much as most NUM members on the platinum belt may have supported the ANC, at least before the Marikana massacre, they wanted their union to concentrate on labour issues, not alliance or ANC factional politics.
The same applies to Numsa and, to greater or lesser degrees, most of Cosatu’s other affiliates. In general, the public sector unions have historically gained from the maintenance of a cozy relationship with the governing party, although how much longer that can continue in the current economic environment is debatable. But the other unions have seen little benefit from giving the ANC a blank cheque before elections and are now digging in their heels.
First prize for the seven unions that announced yesterday that they would no longer participate in Cosatu central executive committee meetings out of solidarity with Numsa will be the reversal of its expulsion and forcing the federation to hold a special national congress to resolve the disputes that have paralysed it for months. These include the pending disciplinary action against Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
These goals seem unlikely to be achieved, so there is every likelihood that at least some of the seven — and Mr Vavi — will eventually follow Numsa into the wilderness and that they will form the core of a new labour-orientated socialist political party. It is unclear whether this development will have much effect on the outcome of the 2016 local elections, although the 2019 national election could be another story. However, union turmoil will inevitably knock on to the shop floor in the same way that Amcu’s rise affected mining production, and that should be of concern to business and political leaders alike.
Cosatu. Picture: REUTERS
THIS is the way the world ends," wrote TS Eliot in the final stanza of his oft-quoted poem, The Hollow Men. "Not with a bang but a whimper."
And thus, it appears, will be the way the tripartite alliance that has dominated South African politics for the first two decades of democracy finally reaches its sell-by date. Not with the dramatic split that has always seemed inevitable given the broad spread of philosophies and ideologies that were accommodated in the alliance as preparations were made to resurrect the country from the ashes of apartheid, but with a whimper of conflicting class interests, denouncements, angry statements and endless litigation.
And whimpers of regret on the part of the African National Congress (ANC) that it can no longer have its cake and eat it. The governing party described the National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s (Numsa’s) weekend expulsion from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) as "tragic", and "a huge setback" for the alliance. But that does not begin to explain the symbolic or practical impact of the move. Alliance politics and the way SA’s political parties have become aligned over the past two decades will never be the same again, whatever happens next.
The bottom line is that the ANC’s bid to co-opt Cosatu’s leadership in the manner that the South African Communist Party’s executive has been persuaded to refrain from criticising its policies and practices in the interests of "unity" has failed.
The real world pressures were just too great — if Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim had not drawn a line in the sand, the union would eventually have suffered the same fate as the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
The NUM has been decimated by the politically independent Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) after its leaders failed to heed warnings that their credibility among ordinary members had been undermined by their perceived co-option by both mine management and the ANC. As much as most NUM members on the platinum belt may have supported the ANC, at least before the Marikana massacre, they wanted their union to concentrate on labour issues, not alliance or ANC factional politics.
The same applies to Numsa and, to greater or lesser degrees, most of Cosatu’s other affiliates. In general, the public sector unions have historically gained from the maintenance of a cozy relationship with the governing party, although how much longer that can continue in the current economic environment is debatable. But the other unions have seen little benefit from giving the ANC a blank cheque before elections and are now digging in their heels.
First prize for the seven unions that announced yesterday that they would no longer participate in Cosatu central executive committee meetings out of solidarity with Numsa will be the reversal of its expulsion and forcing the federation to hold a special national congress to resolve the disputes that have paralysed it for months. These include the pending disciplinary action against Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
These goals seem unlikely to be achieved, so there is every likelihood that at least some of the seven — and Mr Vavi — will eventually follow Numsa into the wilderness and that they will form the core of a new labour-orientated socialist political party. It is unclear whether this development will have much effect on the outcome of the 2016 local elections, although the 2019 national election could be another story. However, union turmoil will inevitably knock on to the shop floor in the same way that Amcu’s rise affected mining production, and that should be of concern to business and political leaders alike.
Post a comment