ALLOWEN RETRENCH THE BOSSER ACE AND ONLY THROUGH Post-Apartheid South Africa has hardly lived up to the dreams of those who fought long and hard against the tyranny of racist capitalism. We spoke to SALIM VALLY, the national media officer of the Workers Organisation for Socialist Action [WOSA] about the Government of National Unity and the future for the workers' movement. Q. What is the Government of National Unity's record to date, especially in relation to the much heralded Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP)? SV: The RDP was supposed to address the problems of poverty but it is clear to us that the RDP has got some fundamental flaws which will militate against meeting its goals.
The RDP waxes lyrically around the porerty of the people and the need for redress but this is supposco to nappen through economic social partnership of capital. labour and the state, the economy will grow and peoples' needs will soul Aincan manutacturing goods competitive internationally.
But South African goods cannot market with the Pacific rim countries, its just nes possibic. Ine sociat contradictions in South Africa, the poverty and the level of unemployment (50 per cent PEACE AND ONLY Solm Vally (centre) on the plotform ot a recent meeting sponsored by the Workers Organisation for Sociolist Action plus), will militate against that scenario.
And so the premise from which the RDP starts off, that we can have cconomic growth based on the kind of investment that's coming into the coun ty which is non produce, specula tory, ouying rcar estate and snares or the stock exchange doesn't create jobs.
The direction is a 50-u society Seventy per cent of people are margi. nalised and only 30 per cent, the middle class, highly skilled, highly organised workers will benefit. Q. The Government of National Unity has recently been talking about privati. sating national assets and although COSATU has threatened strike action they have called off their actions at the last minute. What is SV: The whole privatisation issue is vitally important for the workers movement in this country. Privatising state assets is really the crowning glory of the pro-boss faction in the ANC.
We fully support those unions in Seventy per cent of people are marginalised COSATU and NACTU (National Council of Trades Unions) who have come out against privatsatson The trades union leadership's quandary is that they don't want to rock the boat, the. son't want to show up un goveriment for what at is, •nica 2s basically a captalist goverment.
We are attempting to appeal directly to the rank and file to challenge the compromises made by the leadership and are calling for a united front be PEACE ANd ONLY THROUGH ALISM tween trades unions, regardless of which federation they belong to, other left political parties including the Communist Party, to come together to oppose privatisation.
It needs to be said that some people in the ANC leadership who were called left wingers are the ones who are pushing privatisation.
toe nest acaoo against oratesaton was a two hour action and was called around the right to work, and of course an issue like privatisation makes it even More not use we now be vatisation will mean even more unem. ployment.
And the other crucial issue is around democracy within unions, Because of the whole social contract approach this has resulted in more and more of a gap between the rank and file and the lead. crshipDemocracy, the undertaking of mancsies and reporting back to the membership was something the union movement in south Alrica was very proud of but that is fast being eroded.
Unions leaders now sit on tripartite bodies like NEDLAC (National Eco. nomic Development and Labour Coun cil) and labour and makes decisions that. affects hundreds of thousands of work.
Of course the only way this can be serously audressco is through the for mation of a political party-a mass workers party-which is also on the agenda for this country. Q. How far are we from the formation of such a party? SV: We need to be very careful. We could proclaim a mass workers party tomorrow but it wouldn't be mass. For us it won't come about until a significant number of workers themselves understand the need for a mass workers party and take it upon themselves to form such a party.
The last thing we want to do is substute ourscies for tie working class so what we've been agitating and working in the unions, working with encies to get them to understand the Already the National Union of Metalworkers in South Africa, the second biggest union in the country, has passed a resolution supporting the forWe've had discussions with the executive of the Communist Party in various regions but unfortunately they are still tied to the AN and in fact many of them have taken positions that Many of the CPs Ieading cadre are and more the GNU is coming out in favour of capital and is simply endorsin the dictates of the IMWorld We have also had discussions with AZAPO and some leading members have written articles supporting the idea. But at the moment it is the nationalists who hold sway.
There are important constituencies in both AZAPO and the PAC, workers and youth, who we lyove been appeal-