South Africa was formed as a colony based on exploitation: of natural resources, and of people.When gold and diamonds were discovered in the late 19thcentury, the country industrialized rapidly.
The demand for labour in the mines and factories led to large scale migration to Johannesburg and the port cities of Cape Town and Durban, from across the subcontinent, India, China and Europe.
Black people were forced off their land and into the cities to find work.In the melting pots of the new cities, they created their own culture.From the start, work was racially stratified.
White workers got the best jobs.Black workers did the most dangerous and low paid work. The challenge for South Africa’s workers has always been to form a non-racial labour movement.
Waves of industrial unrest after the First World War saw the formation of the first unions to organize black workers:the Industrial Workers of Africa and the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union, or ICU –“I see you”.
These unions rejected racism and fought for gender equality.After the Second World War, another wave of militancy led to the creation of the non-racial South African Confederation of Trade Unions. But the apartheid government banned non-racial unions and arrested union organizers. Black workers were banned from skilled jobs, and the government didn’t recognize black trade unions. Union organizing was driven underground.
In 1973, a wave of wildcat strikes against low wages and insecurity spread out from the docks in Durban, along the transport routes and the supply chains, taking in the textile industry and many other factories. Even though their unions were not recognized, workers began to organize and win.The student uprising of 1976 added to the momentum of the growing union movement, and the apartheid government was forced to recognize black unions.
Workers came together to form the powerful federation FOSATU in 1979. FOSATU was committed to workers’ control of the economy, and a non-racial democracy in South Africa.After unity talks among unions committed to building a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa, COSATU was formed in 1985.The union federation committed to fighting both bad bosses and the racist regime.
Moses Mayekiso was the general secretary of the Metal and Allied Workers’ Union, which merged into IndustriALL affiliate NUMSA. He was arrested by the apartheid government for treason and freed after an international campaign led by the IMF.
South Africa’s trade unions understood the link between apartheid and capitalism. They understood that the exploitative system was highly profitable for business, and the two had to be tackled together.
“In South Africa, we don’t want to change the face of the government, to put Black capitalists forward. What we want is to change the system, to change society.” The unions realized that they could be the economic arm of the struggle for freedom. If they shut down the economy with industrial action, apartheid would no longer be profitable, and business would have to support democracy.
In 1987, COSATU adopted the Freedom Charter, the declaration that united the forces fighting against the regime. In a final push against apartheid, in 1989, COSATU started a defiance campaign with the United Democratic Front and the Mass Democratic Movement. This campaign of mass civil disobedience made it almost impossible for the regime to function:
Workers went on strike; consumers boycotted shops; students walked out of schools and universities; street and block committees closed down their communities; apartheid laws were defied with the mass invasion of public space: people flocked to beaches, parks and public buildings that were reserved for whites only.
The combination of defiance in the streets and the economic impact of strikes and global sanctions meant the system was unsustainable. The apartheid government started negotiations for a transition to democracy. Nelson Mandela was released, and became the first president of the new democracy in 1994. The Constitution enshrined the human rights that so many had been fighting for. Workers’ rights were protected, and today workers are represented by their unions in a tripartite system with industry-wide collective bargaining.
By coming together in unity, by organizing industrially, South Africa’s workers found their voice and their collective power. Together, they were more powerful than the regime, more powerful than racist laws, more powerful than guns. Coordinated industrial action, combined with mass civil disobedience and international sanctions, brought the regime to its knees.
