COSATU fully supports the ongoing taxi strike
15 June 2017
The Congress of South African Trade Unions fully supports the taxi strike and we believe that their grievances are justifiable. Whilst their conduct of blocking the roads is an inconvenience to workers, who mainly rely on taxis, this is the price we have to pay for having an unregulated capitalism where the profits for owners of capital are unlimited but workers wages are adjusted to inflation. The federation calls for urgent government intervention to regulate the pricing of key products in the economy including the prices of taxis and pharmaceuticals. The government should also regulate the profit levels of companies by expropriating any excessive profits through taxation and they must be redistributed to the poor through free public services. COSATU urges employers not to apply the “no work no pay” principle as most workers would be unable to access their workplaces for reasons beyond their control.
The taxi industry is one of the largest employers in the country and plays an important role in the economy. One of the reasons why the taxi industry is facing this challenge is lack of subsidies. Government has spent more R 25 billion in establishing the Gautrain and is spending billions in subsidising the Gautrain ,which is mainly used by the elite whilst the majority of people use taxis. Taxis were the main mode of transport during apartheid and they played a big role in building this economy, yet today government has neglected this industry in favour of so-called modern transport system such as Rea Vaya and Gautrain. COSATU wants to see a radical transformation plan for the taxi industry across the value chain from manufacturing of taxis to their financing. This must be subsidised by the government to ensure that workers do not spend all their salaries on transport. Currently most workers spend more than 15% of their incomes on transport.
The problem in South Africa is a problem of an unregulated free market capitalism ,where the working class and the poor have to work hard until they die without a holiday or pension; whilst a few proprietors are getting richer and richer. If the ANC Policy conference which is scheduled for end on June 2017 is not going to address the problem of an unregulated capitalism then it would be a waste of time. Whilst the ANC discussion document acknowledges that we cannot rely on the market to radically transform the economy the policy proposals seeks to entrench the unregulated nature of our capitalist system which is a problem.
In Malaysia before the government introduced the new economic policy they had to be forced through violence which was meted against the elite Chinese Malay. The ANC should wake up and not wait for a revolution to radically change this economy. Whilst the mainstream media seems to be preoccupied with Guptas; ideologically speaking the Guptas are a symptom of a large problem of an unregulated selfish capitalist system ,which is driven by racial discrimination, cheap labour, greed and the exclusion of the majority from the economy.
The fundamental difficulty is that the South African state is a capitalist state and since the balance of class forces favours the ruling bourgeois class, then the state reflects that bourgeois hegemony. In a capitalist society the state and the government of the day do not exist as stand-alone entities, disconnected from societal class relations Despite the vulgar and unrefined corruption of the Gupta clique, the South African capitalist state is no different from others, it was already “captured” from the beginning. This bourgeois hegemony is exercised over society as an organic whole, including the state, and it imposes limits with regard to what the government of the day can do. This is the reason why despite resolutions of ANC conferences and Alliance summits, macroeconomic policies are dictated by finance monopoly capital, whilst the sovereign rating agencies provide an on-going oversight role.
Prior to 1970’s Malaysia was focused on growth and exports and neglecting empowerment of the indigenous Malay majority. In 1969 there were riots which resulted in the killing of Chinese Malays. It was only after these riots that the Malay government introduced the new economic policy which sought to increase state intervention in the economy and to introduce redistributive economic policies such as affirmative action and quotas. The ANC has the advantage that it can learn from the experience of countries such as Malaysia. We do not have to wait for marches, riots or revolution ;we must radically transform the economy to reflect the demographics of our society. The ANC trickle down economic growth policies have failed the black majority and must be abandoned now before it is too late.
Issued by Size Pamla, National Spokesperson, COSATU, 15 June 2017
