The South Africa’s Economic Policies are a threat to our Democracy
25 January 2017
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa missed an opportunity to tackle poverty, unemployment and inequality with the very people who are directly responsible for the global economic crisis, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Switzerland. Ramaphosa and his delegation of political and capitalist business elites flew to Davos to participate in the World Economic Forum in Switzerland last week.
The global neo-liberal capitalist system remains mired in a deep, long-term structural crisis, which is causing mass poverty, widespread unemployment, extreme inequality and environmental destruction. The WEF itself confirmed that neo–liberalism was to blame for rising income and wealth disparity and this is a threat to globalization. As a result the captains of capital are now talking about focusing on developing the ‘local economy’.
The WEF is taking its cue from newly elected U.S. president Donald Trump and the rise of rightwing political parties and movements in Europe and the U.S. The billionaire megalomaniac, who rose to power partly through insulting minorities and women, has made it patently clear that from now on, U.S. foreign policy will be dictated by one thing and one thing only: “America First”. It is not ironic that a fascist and uber capitalist like Trump is promoting nationalist protectionism, instead of allowing capitalists to have unfettered control and access to global markets. The global rightwing is turning to the nation state as their last refuge!
Trump from a very reactionary and backward perspective, is simply reinforcing what we at NUMSA have always known: That if you want a nation to develop to its fullestpotential, the state must intervene in the economy on behalf of the working class and the poor to guarantee full employment, equitable growth and all round development of the country and its people.
In South Africa, mass poverty, systemic and structural unemployment and extreme inequality are more pronounced. These triple evils affect largely the black and African parts of the South African population. These conditions are the backbone of the racist South African economy and society – the poverty, unemployment and inequalities suffered by the black and African population are the perfect opposite reflection of the opulence, extremely low unemployment and superior lives enjoyed by the majority of the white population, and tiny black elite. This explosive ugly reality confirms the continuing colonial character of post 1994 South Africa.
According to Oxfam, the country’s top three billionaires own the same wealth as the bottom fifty per cent of the entire population, worse than under Apartheid! Service delivery protests are a daily occurrence, and universities and tertiary institutions have now become battlegrounds for the struggle for decolonization and equality.
So whilst the rest of the world is engaging in a different narrative, our government, led by Ramaphosa, has vowed not to deviate from the backwards neo-liberalist policies which are responsible for entrenching the colonial character of post 1994 South Africa and increasing poverty.
Instead of fighting on behalf of the majority of the people who elected them to power, the ANC government continues to beg for crumbs from the tables of its white imperialist and corporate masters. Ramaphosa’s remarks re-positioned South Africa as the whipping boy of the open capitalist markets.
Below we unpack what the deputy president said and what it means for the working class.
FISCAL DISCIPLINE
Ramaphosa promised not to deviate from strict fiscal discipline. What that means is that government will tighten the screws on the working class and the poor. We can expect more austerity measures and social spending will be cut back even further. This is despite the fact that in the category of social spending South Africa has the fifth lowest rate amongst the 40 largest economies (half that of Russia and Brazil), yet still by far has the worst poverty and inequality.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LABOUR, BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT
Ramaphosa claims that government has made tremendous progress on strikes and collective bargaining. What he should have said is that the government has waged a war on workers. The former founder of the National Union of Mineworkers is working very hard to undermine workers’ rights by placing a limitation on the right to strike. The only power that workers have is their labour, and by limiting the right to strike, you remove the only bargaining power that they have. Ramaphosa who is a game farmer in his spare time, places more value on his precious buffalo, than on human lives.
Furthermore, labour federations COSATU and FEDUSA have stood back and allowed this attack on workers to occur. These Yellow unions are being used by this government to rubber stamp anti-worker policies. They are willing to undo all the achievements of previous generations of workers because they are driven by politics of the stomach. They are desperate for power. They are rolling back on our rights and they have no mandate from the workers to do so. NUMSA has the backing of at least three hundred thousand workers. We are Africa’s biggest trade union. We call on COSATU and FEDUSA to tell us which workers in which sector gave them the right to undo our constitutional right to strike?
NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE
Ramaphosa was at pains to paint a rosey picture of a happy relationship between government, business and labour, when in fact the opposite is true. The ANC onslaught against workers began way back before and during the negotiations for a post-apartheid South African dispensation. It culminated in 2012 when miners were gunned down by the SAPS in Marikana for demanding a living wage.
Instead of researching the actual cost of reproduction of a worker, the profitability of various sectors, and then coming up with a fair minimum wage which is applicable to different sectors, government simply thumb sucked the figure of R3500 per month. The proposed minimum wage is an insult to all South African workers in general. This government is spitting on the memory of the workers and the community of Marikana. The proposed national minimum wage is nothing more than an attempt to appease ratings agencies. The ANC government is doing exactly what the Apartheid state did in the past – marketing South Africa as a haven for cheap black labour.
CRISIS, WHAT CRISIS
Ramaphosa assured white monopoly capital that South Africa has the best financial services infrastructure in the world which can withstand disasters. What about the unemployment crisis? Clearly the deputy president does not view an unemployment rate of 36% as a disaster. The financial services sector has been one of the few sectors to benefit from this current crisis, whilst other sectors, especially manufacturing and mining have been hemorrhaging jobs. It’s clear to everyone that capitalism is failing us.
What Ramaphosa should have said is that government is dumping the National Development Plan (NDP) and all other pro-capitalist economic policies. Instead we must embark on a path for the radical and full implementation of the Freedom Charter which demands the nationalization of the mines and banks in order to ensure that all the people of South Africa benefit equally from South African wealth and for the state to be able to direct development on behalf of South Africa. He should also have informed the capitalists that South Africa was going to amend its constitution so that land can be expropriated without compensation and equitably distributed.
In an attempt to advance his fascist world view and advance imperialism, Trump has promised to punish American companies for basing their operations outside of the U.S. There is nothing stopping us from demanding the nationalisation of the commanding heights of our economy and placing them under worker control, in order to create a truly democratic economy and society – a socialist South Africa! This is the most immediate way of creating jobs and growing the South African economy.
In South Africa today, hundreds of billions of rand are leaving the country legally and illegally as capitalists search where they will make the quickest and biggest profits, with no regard for the welfare of the national economy, our people, our environment and least of all, the conditions of the workers who produce the wealth. The whole capitalist system is corrupt. One way to mitigate against this is to put controls and breaks on the movement of capital out of the country.
NUMSA is fearless about promoting a socialist agenda. We recognize that we need a truly socialist, revolutionary, visionary leadership to put the working class and poor people of this country first.
For the last 22 years we have adopted capitalism with all its crass excesses, and it is failing spectacularly, with explosive and violent consequences. Its failure is threatening the very life of South Africa, as a country.
Thousands of people fought and died to bring an end to Apartheid. The Freedom Charter was an expression of the wishes of the oppressed people of South Africa. If their lives do not fundamentally change post 1994, the social unrest we have seen will engulf us and destroy us all.
The revolutionary socialist workers party which NUMSA is working hard to establish is the only instrument in the hands of the working class to achieving the goals of the Freedom Charter, and socialism. Many have sacrificed their lives for our freedom – we dare not fail.
Issued by NUMSA, 25 January 2017
