COSATU

Nearly four weeks ago, with inflation running at around 7% and following several years of declining real wages, an indefinite strike began across the South African public sector involving hundreds of thousands of workers (libcom.org coverage 1 [url=http://libcom.org/news/south-africa-zacf-statement-support-publ

Today thousands of workers have joined one of the largest strikes in South African history. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) – which is a partner in the ANC government – has called for a one-day solidarity strike today from public and private sector workers as the ongoing pay dispute enters its 13th day.

An analysis from the ZACF journal Zabalaza #7 of the African National Congress (ANC)'s neo-liberal Growth Employment And Redistribution (GEAR) policy and its relation to the ANC-aligned Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP).

Lost in Transit

Huge marches brought the central business districts of Johannesburg and Durban to a standstill as police sealed roads and businesses closed shop. The strike also crippled some gold mines and shut numerous schools, but other sectors of the economy were largely unaffected.