Historic decision by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA)

[Jolly Red Giant]

In a historic decision by the Special Congress of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) cut all political and financial ties with the ANC and the SACP (which NUMSA GS Irvin Jim described as ‘ideologically bankrupt’). NUMSA is the largest (340,000 members) and most left-wiing trade union within COSATU and acts as a pole of attraction for the ranks of other trade unions in defence of workers rights. Irvin Jim – in direct defiance of COSATU’s ‘one union – one industry’ policy – has declared that the NUMSA will not turn away any worker needing help to defend their rights.

The Special Congress backed the launching of a ‘united front’ of workers, community and student activists to defend the rights of working class people and will establish a ‘Movement for Socialism’ to build for the establishment of a mass party of working class people.

Delegates at the Congress donated over R200,000 rand (the delegates toyi-toyied into the conference hall waving R100 notes in a demonstration that each delegate was expected to donate a minimum of R100 – most delegates donated significantly more. The NUMSA investment arm with at a further R300,000 in donations in the coming days.

The Workers and Socialist Party welcomed the monumentous decisions by the NUMSA and invited the NUMSA to take a leading role in WASP for the upcoming elections – the NUMSA is still to decide its political strategy – but the WASP will actively participate in the NUMSA’s United Front and its Movement for Socialism.

The post-1994 political and industrial consensus is now decisively broken – for the first time a major union has split from the ANC/SACP/COSATU triumvirate (rather than smaller splits from existing unions). The industrial weight and reputation of the NUMSA will result in a seismic shift in the political situation in South Africa in the coming period.

http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/6595

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Great news! It looks like the bosses' Tripartate Alliance's grip on the SA working class is finally breaking. NUMSA hasn't fully come out in support of WASP though-maybe they are keeping channels open with Malemna's group?

[Jolly Red Giant]

Great news! It looks like the bosses' Tripartate Alliance's grip on the SA working class is finally breaking. NUMSA hasn't fully come out in support of WASP though-maybe they are keeping channels open with Malemna's group?
No they haven't - and it would probably be a bit much to expect them to at this stage. However, the NUMSA did come to the same conclusion as the WASP and adopted the same approach as outlined by the WASP in terms of convening a Conference for Socialism to discuss the building of a mass workers party.

What the NUMSA didn't do was take the WASP up on the offer to take a role in the leadership of WASP and stand candidates under the umbrella of the WASP in the upcoming election. If they had it would have made a massive difference to the prospects of WASP in the election. I suspect that this was more to do with not adding to the current attacks from the SACP who are going ballistic ove rthese developments - and for the NUMSA to link directly to WASP would have been like pouring gallons of petrol onto an already blazing fire.

[Sea]

the bosses' Tripartate Alliance's grip on the SA working classWait.. what? Can you explain this some more? Is there a book that I haven't read or something?

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

The workers movement in South Africa is almost completely subordinate to the ANC, SACP, and COSATU, due to the roles they played during the anti-apartheid struggle. The problem is that all three organizations are plain old neo-liberal groups that still make use of radical language, which makes it easy for them to paint any dissenters as reactionaries. For instance, when the pigs murdered those striking workers all three groups placed the blame on the independent union behind the strike, not the cops. If the cops were guilty of anything that would mean the ANC was guilty of something since the ANC is synonymous with the South African state at this point. Obviously the ANC must be beyond criticism for all time, so as a result the troublemaking workers and their reactionary unions that refuse to bow down to COSATU must be the ones to blame, not the cops.