Marikana
lesson not learnt
By Stef Terblanche
·
Published in Leadership magazine's online bulletin on 11 June 2013
In October last year, a
multi-sectoral stakeholders’ meeting convened by the president announced
measures to prevent a recurrence of the Marikana events. Yet, almost eight
months later, the mining sector remains beset with serious labour problems,
government wants to deploy a 'peacekeeping' force, the economy is under siege,
and many other associated issues remain unresolved. Clearly, the lesson of
Marikana has not been learnt.
To define the Marikana tragedy
– and subsequent labour-related developments – simply as a labour relations or
mining sector issue, is to miss the point completely.
That is why two months after
Marikana, responding to rising investor and public concerns, President Jacob
Zuma convened the high-level meeting of stakeholders from business, civic
groups, government, security and labour.
A package of measures to be
implemented urgently was announced to ensure a Marikana-like incident did not
recur, that public and investor confidence in the economy and in social
stability was improved, and that they would use their respective resources and
capacities to build a partnership for development.
“In the context of the new
pressures facing the economy, however, additional steps and sped up
implementation are required to ensure that the nation’s economic and social
goals are achieved,” it was stated, acknowledging that social, labour and
economic issues were inseparably intertwined.
A fundamental problem
underlying Marikana and similar areas, identified earlier, was the
socio-economic plight and living conditions of mineworkers, many of whom lived
as migrant workers under appalling conditions in shanty settlements.
The parties therefore
recognised “the joint responsibility of the public and private sectors to
improve the living conditions of working communities, including the role of
mining companies and municipalities”.
A 'crack team' was to be
deployed to municipalities to address housing and infrastructure in mining
communities, while the Presidency was to establish a task force to bring
together relevant government authorities with leaders from business, organised
labour and communities to plan a new partnership “to urgently address the
development of sustainable human settlements in key mining districts”.
The parties further agreed to
urgently address socio-economic challenges in respect of income inequalities,
promote greater social cohesion in communities, work toward measurable progress
on infrastructure development and living conditions, fast-track commitments in
the social accords agreed upon in 2011, advance social security and health
insurance reform, and take action to address reckless lending and growing debt
levels.
The explosion of illegal
strikes and the like by non-unionised workers, as well as the violent
competition for dominance between established and new unions, labour relations
arrangements and the collective bargaining systems under the existing labour
laws were other fundamental issues.
The parties recognised the
importance of “supporting the systems of orderly collective bargaining” and
“combating violence in public protests and industrial action”. They agreed to
build confidence in labour market institutions.
The parties agreed that steps
were to be taken to combat violence and lawlessness, to stabilise communities,
and to build wider support for the law enforcement agencies in allowing them to
do their work. They furthermore agreed to defend the values of the Constitution
and the Bill of Rights.
The parties further agreed to
urgently respond to impacts of the international economic crisis. And, there
would be measurable progress in youth employment, support for companies and
workers affected by the economic slowdown, as well as public employment
programmes.
Announcing the package, the
Presidency said that apart from the task teams, there would be further regular
meetings in association with the National Economic Development and Labour
Council for updates on progress made.
Almost eight months down the
line, however, the economy is under serious pressure, labour relations are
tense and on the verge of more serious turmoil, socio-economic pressures are
mounting and the country seems to be moving into crisis mode.
It seems none of the lofty
promises made at the 'stakeholders meeting' has been realised. It may be argued
that the Farlam commission of inquiry into Marikana has yet to be completed,
delaying dealing effectively with the root causes – but the country does not
seem to have the luxury of so much time on its side.
In fact, South Africa’s
prospects have seriously deteriorated over the past year in the face of
unresolved labour unrest and violence; the threat of more strikes;
unrealistically high wage demands; ongoing socio-economic pressures and
escalating protests; serious production disruptions in a number of industries;
shrinking manufacturing output; a sliding rand and rising inflation; weak
commodity exports due to shrinking demand falling prices; declining business
confidence; a slowdown in gross domestic product growth; downgrades in growth
forecasts; international rating agencies warning that the outlook was becoming
more negative, among others.
The World Economic Forum has
ranked South Africa as having the worst co-operation in labour-employer
relations out of 144 countries globally due to the high level of state control,
rigid labour laws and loss of free market functioning, with the labour market
expected to fracture further and untenable pressures in labour relations to
continue mounting.
President Zuma’s response to
date has seemed less than adequate.
When labour and economic
pressures recently hit the ceiling, he responded with a media briefing where,
instead of announcing detailed action plans, he merely called on all in South
Africa to pull together; praised South Africa’s “excellent legal framework
governing industrial relations”; raised the importance of a stable mining
sector; said government had embarked on initiatives to stabilise and strengthen
the mining industry and improve mineworkers’ living conditions; pointed out how
the National Development Plan (NDP) envisaged growth of above 3.5% (the actual
first quarter growth rate this year was 0.9%); and said solid tourism figures
suggested there is change in South Africa and “we have a good story to tell”.
When ratings agency Standard
& Poor's in March affirmed South Africa's sovereign credit rating at
BBB with a negative outlook, the government responded similarly, saying that
“the rating opinion did not take adequate account of the positive developments
over the past six months” in South Africa.
Among these “positive
developments”, government listed the ANC’s adoption of the NDP, aspects of the
NDP being detailed in the 2013 Budget, and Zuma’s reaffirmation of economic
policies in February.
But reaffirming policies is
not the same as implementing them.
Furthermore, only weeks later,
the NDP is on the verge of being sabotaged by the ANC’s labour and communist
allies, with government already having backtracked on a number of labour and
employment-related issues raised by the plan. (See our separate report.)
However, not only government
but also labour – and to a lesser extent the private sector – are to blame for
not carrying out the promises made in October last year:
Rival unions remain locked in
a war for dominance on the mines, killing each other’s members, and a central
bargaining system has yet to be established in the platinum mining sector – the
red zone of last year’s problems;
The peace accord in that
sector remains meaningless after the Association of Mineworkers and
Construction Union (Amcu) and non-unionised strikers at Lonmin refused to sign
it;
The National Union of
Mineworkers (NUM), having been replaced as majority union at Lonmin by Amcu,
now refuses to abide by the very winner-takes-all labour legislation its parent
labour federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), wrote
together with the ANC in the first place;
Unions continue making
economically unsustainable wage demands such as the up to 60% increases
currently being demanded by the NUM;
Economically damaging strikes
continue; and
Labour legislation and the
entire collective bargaining system remains out of touch with current
realities, yet the government and ANC-aligned Cosatu cling to it, ruling out
any revision, while the ANC-led government makes more concessions to Cosatu to
secure its support in next year’s general election.
While government has again
promised neutral assistance to the mining sector and unions operating in this
sector, convening a team of ministers to intervene, it still openly sides with
the ANC-aligned NUM, blaming Amcu for the violence and disruption.
Labour Minister Mildred
Oliphant mooted a “peacekeeping force” n mining areas. But with the role of the
police in the Marikana tragedy still to be fully established and acknowledged,
Amcu is likely to view it as an attempt by the state to use force to try and
inhibit the union's growth.
Almost three decades ago
already, the apartheid government learnt that police or military intervention
only buys dubious time; the solution still has to come from the politicians and
the parties involved.
And, while heralding the
importance of the mining sector and promising to assist mining companies in
distress, government threatens to take away the mining licences of a company
such as Anglo American Platinum when it needs to restructure and retrench
workers as a direct result of the labour unrest and poor economic conditions.
Meanwhile, the crack team that
would have been deployed to municipalities to address housing and
infrastructure in mining communities is nowhere to be found by mining companies
wishing to assist, nor is the presidential task force that was promised.
Many mineworkers, other
workers as well as unemployed and impoverished South Africans continue to live
in appalling conditions. A majority of municipalities remain unable to manage
their finances and provide services, let alone improved housing and
infrastructure. The list goes on.
The tragic lesson of Marikana
has clearly not been learnt, and history seems likely to repeat itself.
