Public Service Strike Drives Wedge in South Africa’s Ruling Alliance

Public Service Strike Drives Wedge in South Africa’s Ruling Alliance

JOHANNESBURG -- The divisions that have time and again beset South Africa's tripartite alliance -- consisting of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) -- have returned to haunt the union and further threaten its existence.

This time, the rifts are playing themselves out in a devastating public-service strike that pits South Africa's president and head of the ANC, Jacob Zuma, on one side and the leftist allies that propelled him to power within his party and the country on the other. No sooner had Zuma urged workers, who are pressing for an 8.6 percent pay increase instead of the government's offer of 7 percent,to return to work than COSATU went public about its grievances and urged workers to disregard Zuma's order.

"The abandonment of patients, including babies in incubators, as well as schoolchildren, is difficult to comprehend and accept, no matter how sympathetic one is to the needs of workers," Zuma said in his first public address since returning from a state visit to China.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review