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South Africa nation wide strike against rising prises africa revolts
A nationwide strike over rising living costs brought much of Africa’s biggest economy to a standstill on Wednesday.
Millions of South Africans downed tools, forcing mines and manufacturers to cut back operations, as trade unions flexed their political muscle.
The normally bustling streets of Durban, home to the continent’s largest port, were all but deserted until thousands of protesters marched past shuttered banks and shops.
Cosatu, the trade union federation that called the strike, is demanding government action to lower prices and has attacked steep rises in interest rates. Its leaders have warned of further action if its demands are not met. “We will be like prisoners,” said Zet Luzipo of Cosatu. “We will keep knocking and knocking until there’s a hole to get out.”
“The price of food has tripled,” said Sboniso Makaye, 46, a teacher whose school near Durban had closed for the day. “Last year a five-litre bottle of cooking oil was R34 [$4.70, £2.40, €3]. Now it’s R108.” The slogan on another demonstrator’s T-shirt expressed the anger of the hungry in a country marked by widening inequality: “Eat the rich.”
The strike, which marked an escalation in a rolling programme of industrial action by Cosatu, drew dire warnings from business. Mining, foundation of the economy, was hit hard. Harmony, the world’s fifth biggest gold producer, said between 74 per cent and 97 per cent of its employees stayed away, causing losses of about R27m. Goldfields, the fourth biggest gold producer, reported similarly low attendance. AngloPlatinum, the foremost platinum miner, was also short-staffed. Car manufacturers also closed their doors nationwide, said the industry body.
“There are political motives behind this strike and it will have serious economic consequences,” said Neren Rau, chief executive of the South African chambers of commerce and industry. Investor sentiment would suffer, he said, further darkening a gloomy economic outlook. “We can’t afford for this to continue.”
The unions’ headline demand – for a planned rise in electricity tariffs to be scrapped – appears unlikely to be met. Eskom, the struggling power utility, has warned that prices will have to rise still further if it is to avoid repeats of recent debilitating power shortages.
Rising prices across the board – the wider target of the strike – are largely the product of global food and fuel inflation.
But Cosatu and its allies on the left are also embroiled in a bigger political struggle. The federation and the Communist party, which form the ruling alliance alongside the African National Congress, have been central to the rise of Jacob Zuma, the party leader who looks set to win the presidency next year.
Cosatu is demanding changes to the conservative economic policy of the outgoing president, Thabo Mbeki, and the central bank’s inflation-targeting mandate. Both will be on the table later this month at an alliance economic summit, an ANC spokesman said.
Millions of South Africans downed tools, forcing mines and manufacturers to cut back operations, as trade unions flexed their political muscle.
The normally bustling streets of Durban, home to the continent’s largest port, were all but deserted until thousands of protesters marched past shuttered banks and shops.
Cosatu, the trade union federation that called the strike, is demanding government action to lower prices and has attacked steep rises in interest rates. Its leaders have warned of further action if its demands are not met. “We will be like prisoners,” said Zet Luzipo of Cosatu. “We will keep knocking and knocking until there’s a hole to get out.”
“The price of food has tripled,” said Sboniso Makaye, 46, a teacher whose school near Durban had closed for the day. “Last year a five-litre bottle of cooking oil was R34 [$4.70, £2.40, €3]. Now it’s R108.” The slogan on another demonstrator’s T-shirt expressed the anger of the hungry in a country marked by widening inequality: “Eat the rich.”
The strike, which marked an escalation in a rolling programme of industrial action by Cosatu, drew dire warnings from business. Mining, foundation of the economy, was hit hard. Harmony, the world’s fifth biggest gold producer, said between 74 per cent and 97 per cent of its employees stayed away, causing losses of about R27m. Goldfields, the fourth biggest gold producer, reported similarly low attendance. AngloPlatinum, the foremost platinum miner, was also short-staffed. Car manufacturers also closed their doors nationwide, said the industry body.
“There are political motives behind this strike and it will have serious economic consequences,” said Neren Rau, chief executive of the South African chambers of commerce and industry. Investor sentiment would suffer, he said, further darkening a gloomy economic outlook. “We can’t afford for this to continue.”
The unions’ headline demand – for a planned rise in electricity tariffs to be scrapped – appears unlikely to be met. Eskom, the struggling power utility, has warned that prices will have to rise still further if it is to avoid repeats of recent debilitating power shortages.
Rising prices across the board – the wider target of the strike – are largely the product of global food and fuel inflation.
But Cosatu and its allies on the left are also embroiled in a bigger political struggle. The federation and the Communist party, which form the ruling alliance alongside the African National Congress, have been central to the rise of Jacob Zuma, the party leader who looks set to win the presidency next year.
Cosatu is demanding changes to the conservative economic policy of the outgoing president, Thabo Mbeki, and the central bank’s inflation-targeting mandate. Both will be on the table later this month at an alliance economic summit, an ANC spokesman said.
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