Growing 'anti-capitalist' mood in S. Africa

By M.S. Prabhakara

CAPE TOWN, JULY 25. The South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), two partners of the ANC-SACP-Cosatu tripartite alliance, are holding a `bilateral meeting' tomorrow at the Cosatu House in Johannesburg, which also houses the offices of the SACP. According to a media release, the agenda for the meeting includes ``a political analysis of the current domestic and international political situation from a working class standpoint''. The meeting is also expected to discuss the ``struggle for socialism in South Africa and internationally, given the growing anti-capitalist sentiment, consciousness and mobilisation''. There is little doubt about the ``growing anti-capitalist sentiment'' at the ground level in South Africa, given the despair of the poorest of the poor people, and the proven inability of the Government to chart out any alternative coherent and workable path of development. Indeed, there is a recognition of these harsh realities even within the Government, casually related to the unique history of the country and its apartheid past, though the illusions of an uninterrupted linear economic growth, consequent upon oodles of foreign investment which are only waiting to come in, persist.

The meeting is certainly unusual, though this is not the first time that the two partners of the tripartite alliance in South Africa, which includes the African National Congress, are holding such a `bilateral'. The meeting is taking place in the context of the tensions, long standing but always contained and resolved or papered over, among the partners of the alliance on crucial issues of the economy, in particular issues relating to the government's privatisation programme and related issues affecting the working class.

The unusual aspect of the meeting is that the ANC, the dominant partner of the alliance, is on the sidelines though the meeting will be discussing essentially issues arising out of the ANC governance. While these issues have always been addressed in meetings of all the partners of the tripartite alliance, this time only two of the partners of the tripartite alliance are meeting separately.

Tomorrow's meeting is taking place in the wake of a meeting all the partners of the tripartite alliance last week which dealt with the same issues. There have been reports that the meeting was marked by some tensions between the SACP and Cosatu on the economic policies of the Government, in particular issues relating to the programme of privatisation and the related issues affecting labour.

Another context of the meeting is an impending strike by workers of Eskom, a crucial public sector utility supplying power. Though the Eskom management and union leaders are optimistic about a new wage agreement by tomorrow, workers at the ground level have already gone on strike in some areas.

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Section  : International
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