On Wednesday, the eve of Afrika Day, I found myself sauntering the lawns of the Union Buildings to “support” the black workers embroiled in a protracted strike against the mining company, Sibanye-Stillwater.
Reportedly, this is the company that “bought” the mining operations in Marikana from that company, Lonmin, whose brand was associated with the massacre of black workers by the police of the post-1994 rainbow government of the ANC in August 2012.
But my visit there was met with agonised, yet determined, faces of black people, the working class in this land on Afrika Month. This is the month which should really be reminding us about the ideals of liberation, anti-imperialism and anti-colonisation. The restoration of Afrika and its wealth from the colonial powers and white settlers lay at the core of the collective intent of our revolutionary leaders in Addis Ababa on that historic day of May 25, 1963.
I learnt that the workers had camped at the Union Buildings lawns for six days already, on Wednesday, and they had vowed to stay put until President Cyril Ramaphosa came to address them; implying that in six days, Ramaphosa had failed to meet the striking black workers! The strike is collectively “led” by two unions, which in 2012, were supposedly not seeing eye-to-eye, Amcu and NUM.
A poster with logos of both unions depicted the powerful message: “Stop arrogant bosses from looting our minerals”. Whatever the circumstances, what fortified me was that element of unity of the workers against the common enemy, the capital! This is something that has been elusive for post-independence Afrikan leaders since 1963, and black political parties in the disappointing 28 years of the ANC-led rainbow government.
Ironically, this white mining company is named “Sibanye” (meaning “we are united”). This, for me, sounded like a jibe to the struggling black workers who are excluded from this fantastical “unity”. It had, since 1994, become fashionable for white companies to change names or adopt names to sound “Afrikan” while the core attitude and substance of those companies remained anti-black, imperial and exploitative. I have consistently found this tendency quite sickening.
Anyway, it became clear that the workers have, among others, demanded a R1 0140 per month across-the-board increase, as against the company’s offer of around R850,00. Meanwhile, in terms of the company’s “remuneration plan” the executives are reported to have scored R800 million and, starkly, the company CEO, Neal Froneman, is said to be getting around R300 million in what is referred to as a “three-year share option payment”.
I’m not interested in interrogating this corporate jargon. In the end, this amount is intended to be a payment to the CEO. This, in my opinion, is a clear oxymoron of “unity” that marginalises the black workers. That’s “Simunye” from the Orwellian perspective.
It is reported that even the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, has been irked by this impasse and threatened to withdraw the mining licence from the company, Sibanye Stillwater. This “obscene” windfall for company executives in the face of poor workers, plus the temerity to say the company can absorb the strike for a long time, has come as a form of arrogance and embarrassment to the ANC government that has over time been consorting with white capital. As a leader of the Tripartite Alliance, which includes workers (via Cosatu) and the so-called vanguard of the working class (SACP), the ANC must be really disturbed by this episode. That’s how I locate the disposition of Mantashe in this regard. Interestingly, the workers, through their union leaders, have embraced his suggestion or threat to Sibanye-Stillwater that the licence be withdrawn.
But the workers take the suggestion further to say the licence, once withdrawn, be given to a consortium of black business people. Amcu president, Joseph Mathunjwa, impressed this point upon the workers when he later addressed them at the statue of an unknown white ancestor right there at the lawns of the Union Buildings.
This is not really a newly-found piece of wisdom. To me, it sounds too familiar to the idea of exploring the avenue that the mines should be nationalised, with greater empowerment for the working class. Let’s not be shy to frankly call for “nationalisation of the mines”, as part of a socialist agenda, because this is a component of the ideals and objectives of the liberation Struggle.
The strike by these mineworkers should serve as a crucial reminder of the core matters of our freedom struggle that the post-1994 dispensation has failed to address.
The strike at the Sibanye-Stillwater mine exposes the horror and insensitivity of capitalism and serves as a textbook illustration of what neo-liberalism is about in practical terms.
Our politicians keep on mouthing phrases of the “triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment”, while corporates and capital, generally, flagrantly show us the middle finger. The ridiculous notion that the private sector can be relied on to create jobs and contribute to the development of the state is spectacularly exposed by this melancholic issue. It cannot be disputed that vulnerable workers have been left to their own devices.
Hard as it is to say, I think this is the logical consequence of the so-called leader of the Tripartite Alliance, the ruling party, sleeping with the enemy.
In a pragmatic sense, the consortium of the ANC leadership with capital has practically meant that the Tripartite Alliance is now in all fairness a Quadruple Alliance, with white monopoly capital (WMC) as a silent fourth partner. Unless those in the Alliance are still committed to the noble ideal of the total emancipation of the working class and blacks in general extricate the ANC from the capture of WMC, this country will never rest because our martyrs, heroes and ancestors have not found peace.
It might sound perplexing that after “refusing” to be addressed by President Ramaphosa, the same workers are now demanding the same persona to intervene in this stalemate. In fact, the workers say they won’t leave the Union Buildings “until Cyril comes here and addresses us”. But this situation exposes the complex nature of labour relations in this country, and how cornered the workers are. I think they are entangled in political dimensions that have really nothing to do with the pursuance of their interests. Workers are completely under siege, which is further exacerbated by the curse of distracted leadership, unions rocked by instability, divisions and capture by politicians and corporate.
So, camping at the Union Buildings is an ambivalent act in that it, at least, leaves a twofold impression. In the first instance, it does, of course, pressure the government. Indeed, it has embarrassed and further exposed the complacency of the ruling party, particularly in its relationship with capital.
It certainly exposes the lie or the assumption that the rainbow government is there to serve the interests of black people and the working class. The second layer to this situation is the temptation for the workers to play in the hands of the corporate captors, which is white capital.
It is during moments like this that the investment that WMC would have made in politicians is expected to show its returns. The capture by capital is simply purposed for such critical moments where its “security apparatus” (read captured politicians) are expected to distil and contain the anger of the striking workers. In any case, leaders of the neo-apartheid or rainbow society look like us, are in the same “liberation movement” with us, sing revolutionary songs and slogans with us, and even toyi-toyi better than us!
So, whither is trade unionism bound in this country? What are the socio-political ramifications going forward? Evidently, the Tripartite Alliance is now in the spotlight because it is just as untenable as it does not make any strategic revolutionary sense in the post-1994 politics. Who champions this alliance, anyway? I don’t think conscious workers would like to be part of an exploitative machinery purposed to grind them literally to their death.
With each ticking second of each passing phase of history, it gradually becomes clear that it’s the leaders who stand to benefit from this convenient arrangement. However, the exploitative instinct and greed, which define the nature of capital, inadvertently assists in removing the veil over the ugly portrait of this unholy alignment of the past 28 years. Perhaps, this is the time to unshackle the workers from this scheme of exploitation. It’s time to undo the messy broth cooked by politicians. This, of course, demands a definite paradigmatic shift.
Given the context of what has been happening in the past few weeks, it is evident that the workers have finally learnt the importance of realigning their thinking. Unions from different federations have joined forces and fought side-by-side against their common enemies in the different sectors.
In addition to the Sibanye-Stillwater workers, examples of Sars workers affiliated to the likes of Nehawu and PSA provide food for thought and a vista for possibilities of worker unity in this country. This is an overdue trend that is expected to gain traction henceforth.
The belligerent mood that engulfed the Saftu elective conference has further prompted suggestions for a rethinking of the divided trade union landscape. I think there is palpable pressure (which the leaders are expected to deny or downplay) for Cosatu to delink from the “Quadruple Alliance” and re-engage Saftu.
Barring the political ambitions and egos of certain leaders, there is, frankly, too little that sets these federations apart, while there are so many commonalities that should make them come together. In the end, this is an opportune time for the working class and all oppressed people in South Africa to demystify the Struggle and the concepts of “emancipation”, “liberation” and “empowerment”.
Now, the workers should redefine their real enemy having learnt the lesson dished out by Thomas Sankara decades ago: “The enemies of a people are those who keep them in ignorance”.
As I have said, this is the time for the working class to unshackle themselves and undo the messy broth. Mayibuye iAfrika. Izwe Lethu!
David Letsoalo is a Sankarist, an activist and Law academic