South Africa: President Jacob Zuma’s social Flashback

The South African President can hardly contain his first big strike action, which has waited for the end of the World cup event to start.

The country’s main labour federation, COSATU, has threatened to break its long-standing alliance with the ruling African National Congress (ANC).  Unions are widely credited with helping to elect President Jacob Zuma. COSATU has filed a strike notice of seven days in order to expand the strike to key sectors of the industry. It called the private sector to join the movement observed last week by the employees in support of wage demands.

By the voice of its secretary-general, Zwelinzima Vavi, it denounced in a statement the “covenant alliance” that “might implode because of fundamental differences related to the question of the unbalanced power within the leadership… “.

This statement may accredit the “idea that the union might want to break down its ties with the ANC, forged in their common struggle to end the Apartheid”.

The strike has, so far, no major impact on the currency value of the rand or on the financial markets, but traders fear that the movement could continue in September and extend to other social groups.

These fears are confirmed by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), South Africa’s largest union, declaring to join public service workers on strike for one day next week in solidarity if the government refuses to increase pay.

Also, the police union representing 145,000 officers announced plans to join strikers, though a labour court has banned them from walking off the job because they perform essential services.

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