South Africa
General strike to challenge privatisation
As the fight against privatisation steps up a gear here in Britain, trade unionists will be pleased to hear about the successful two day General strike in South Africa.
On August 29 and 30, particularly in the large enterprises thousands of workers demanded that the government reverse in attacks on services. Huge demonstrations were also held in many parts of the country, including 350,000 in Johannesburg and 300,000 in Durban and 300,000 in Pretoria.
COSATU stated that around 60% of those who were not in essential services – and therefore exempted from the action by the unions – came out on strike, though there was a difference in response in different parts of the country.
In South Africa, too the unions have had to confront government propaganda, claiming that what they are putting forward is not privatisation but merely "restructuring", and that they are acting in the interests of ordinary people by providing "consumer choice".
And of course the South African trade unions in the main see themselves in as being in alliance with the government in fighting the legacy of apartheid.
Some of the union statements reflect this tension, and in general the unions are reluctant to point out the fact that the agenda being followed by Mbeki has a great deal in common with those pursuing the neo-liberal agenda elsewhere in the world.
Despite these limitations, other aspects of the criticisms are sharp. This is perhaps not surprising in a situation where over 100,000 jobs have been lost as a result of privatisation.
Public sector job losses have contributed to soaring unemployment, which rose from 15% to 25% between 1995 and 1999 in terms of official figures. Real unemployment probably stands at nearer 40% And for every worker who loses their job, five or six people lose their livelihood.
Privatisation has been accompanied by attacks on wages and conditions in the public sector.
The effects of some privatisations that have already completely or partially gone through are already apparent.
The government partially privatised in schools in 1994. Now, the rich pay high fees and get great schools in the suburbs. Meanwhile, working people’s schools in the townships and rural areas don’t have electricity or enough classrooms, resulting in high failure rates.
Privatisation of health care started under the apartheid regime, mainly through deregulation. Today 16% have private heath insurance at a cost of R36 billion. This is more the R32 billion spent on public health.
Spending on public health care has fallen by 15% in real terms since 1996 – resulting in a real deterioration of service. There has also been a shift of key health professionals from the public to the private sector.
Some cities have privatised water management, leading to rising prices and a worse service. Durban’s costs are set to go up by 28%. Making people pay for water has led to cut offs and even exacerbated the spread of cholera.
Privatisation of the telephone system means even though Telkom is rolling out new phones, basic rentals and local call costs go up – and phones get cut off for poor people.
The cost of local calls has risen by 40 per cent in the past three years, while the cost of international calls, which mostly rich people use, has dropped 35 per cent.
The fight over electricity is at the centre of the current action, as the government is planning to permit the private generation of up to 30% of electricity – particularly through the transfer of a stake to a "black empowerment"(!!) consortium.
Because the government says the electricity company Eskom, which previously supplied the cheapest electricity anywhere in the world, has to make profits and pay taxes, huge numbers of people will end up with no service.
60,000 households in Soweto alone had their power cut off this winter. Now the National Electricity Regulator says it wants market prices for electricity, which could result in price rises of 20% – though other consultants have suggested that soon prices will need to rise by 50%.
While this round of strikes is over, COSATU will be meeting in the next few days to discuss plans for the future. Solidarity with South African workers needs to be raised both in trade unions and in the anti-globalisation movement in Britain.