By Charlie van cuced.
Gelderen
THE FINAL whistle has blown. The Springboks - 14 whites and one black - have defeated the favourites New Zealand.
In the presidential box Nelson Mandela, dressed from head to foot in the once-hated green and yellow Springbok colours, dances a jig. He joins in singing of the Afrikaaner national anthem, Die Stem.
The whole country goes into a euphoric rhapsody not a million miles from the enthusiasm which hailed the first non-racial elections a year ago.
This outburst of national fervour has come just in time for Mandela's crisis-ridden government. Mandela and the created." South African ruling class are hoping that the new found national enthusiasm for rugby will do the same for the working class. If you can't give them bread, give them cirThe hopes aroused in the masses by the end of apartheid the ANC. have not been fulfilled. There is growing militancy in the labour movement.
June saw the first nationwide the wastepaper basket. half-day strikes since the elections. They were against the persistent failure of the governmentto meet the demands of the workers - especially against the of the economy. proposed Labour Relations Act (LRA). The principal aim of the act is to limit workers' right to Stability This is made very clear by to major parastatals. Ministry of Labour: "labour disputes can," they say "be avoided or resolved quickly and a climate of stability attractive to foreign investment These restriction on the right to strike -one of the key demands of the Freedom Charter - is just one example
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No. 87, July 1995 1995, Page 11