The fight for the soul of South Africa’s labour movement

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the country’s largest trade union federation, expelled the metalworkers’ union, NUMSA, on 8 November. NUMSA was the federation’s largest and most politically militant affiliate.

Seven affiliates have withdrawn from COSATU’s executive in protest. The rank and file members of two other unions have also come out against the expulsion – standing against their union leaders’ decision. So too has the leadership of one of COSATU’s regions.

The splitting of the labour movement is part of a broader political realignment that began at the end of the 1990s when township protests erupted across South Africa. Increasing anger at the ruling African National Congress was the background to Thabo Mbeki losing his bid for reelection as ANC president at the ANC’s elective congress in 2007.

The realignment took on a life of its own following the Marikana massacre of more than 40 striking mine workers by police in August 2012. Less than a year later, the Economic Freedom Fighters was formed by expelled former ANC Youth League president Julius Malema.

Divisions

COSATU, and some of its affiliates, are riven with infighting. Many COSATU meetings cannot take place because of the divisions and disagreements. SADTU, the teachers’ union, has been expelling and suspending members en bloc this year to keep the lid on a potential revolt by the rank and file. SAMWU, the municipal workers’ union, has just lost a court bid to do the same to its office bearers. Disheartened, hundreds of members of SADTU are forming a new union.

Speaking at a press conference, NUMSA secretary general Irvin Jim said: “COSATU is consumed by internal battles between those who support the ANC and those who consciously fight for an independent, militant federation which stands for the working class.” He is right. Disgracefully, sections of the COSATU leadership, along with the Stalinist South African Communist Party (SACP), defended the massacre at Marikana.

Since then, NUMSA constantly and openly has attacked both the ANC and SACP, which are in political alliance.

Tensions reached a high point in late 2013. In December, NUMSA held a special Congress that passed two major resolutions: first, that it would not campaign for the ANC; second, that it would launch a united front against the ANC-SACP alliance. The hope is that the united front will lead to the formation of a workers’ party.

As Irvin Jim argued after the expulsion: “We have been rejected by COSATU, but we have not been rejected by workers.” NUMSA is also considering forming a new, more radical union federation. Such a move would certainly attract hundreds of thousands of workers from inside and outside COSATU.

Mass strikes by new unions that are not affiliated to the federation, such as the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, have exposed how conservative the main unions have become.

COSATU was established in 1986 to fight the apartheid regime. But it is part of what is called the tripartite alliance with the SACP and the ANC that has governed since black majority rule was won in 1994.

The way forward

The way forward is going to require lots of intervention and arguing. The seven unions that support NUMSA have not broken their relationship with the ANC-supporting leaders of COSATU. They are showing no signs as yet of mobilising to reorganise COSATU or get rid of its present leadership.

Furthermore, full engagement with the rank and file members of these unions has not been achieved, even in NUMSA. Many unions have a top-down approach; it is not yet clear how the expulsion has gone down with NUMSA’s 340,000 members or with the members of the other unions.

The Democratic Left Front, an anti-capitalist project launched to forge unity in struggle, said, “COSATU will degenerate further into essentially a sweetheart and bureaucratised union … [The left] must regroup around the leadership of NUMSA and fight for a new COSATU that is militant, democratic, worker controlled, independent and socialist.

“This will open a new chapter in the history of the workers’ movement in South Africa. Now is not the time to mourn. We must organise.

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Ashley Fataar is a member of the revolutionary group Keep Left. He lives in Cape Town.