Democratic Socialist Movement

Mass protests against price hikes erupted in Mozambique’s capital Maputo on Wednesday, September 1, in response to dramatically rising prices of basic goods. Several protesters, including two children, were shot dead by police (the official death toll is seven, while some Maputo residents claimed 13 people had been killed), and 288 were reported injured, as police fired both rubber bullets and live ammunition.

“
They say:
The 8,6% demand is simply not affordable” and “It’s a choice between improving the wages of state
employees and continuing to address the service delivery needs of poor communities and the unem-
ployed,
”
(Public Service Minister Richard Baloyi 19.08.10)

We say:
THERE IS MONEY!
...both for decent wages and conditions at work, for jobs and for service delivery. But most of the wealth is squan-
dered on luxuries and used to assist the capitalists to get richer at our expense, through eg tax breaks. The ANC was
elected to close the wage gap yet minsters earn R1,7m a year – almost 30 times the average wage of a teacher and
the public sector wage gap is 91 to 1. Minister Baloyi says a democratically elected government has the same right to
use luxury cars as the apartheid regime and claims that “every additional cent spent on salaries means less money
for essential services”.

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There was a massive turn-out as a day of nationwide marches was called on August 26, on the ninth day of South Africa’s public sector strike involving 1,3 million workers. About 40 000 workers marched in central Johannesburg, 25 000 in Cape Town and about 20 000 in Pietermaritzburg (KwaZulu-Natal). Marches were also held in many other towns.

- For class independence and workers unity!

        - Cosatu out of the Tripartite Alliance now!

        - Build a mas workers party on a socialist programme!

A week into the public sector strike and it has become abundantly clear that the conflict between public sector workers and the government is in reality, in the words of the front page headline of the Times (11.08.10) A WAR BE­TWEEN SOUTH AFRICA’S CLASSES.

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– Time to end the Alliance of bosses and unions!

Build working class unity – working and unemployed, young, old. . . An injury to one is an injury to all!

For the second time in three years public sector workers are left with no alternative but to take to the streets for decent salaries and benefits. The unions have drastically reduced their salary demand from an initial 15% to 8.6% and for the housing subsidy from R2 500 to R1 000. Government has moved from its initial offer of 5.2% to only 7% on salaries and from R100 to R130 on the housing subsidy, rejecting outright the demands for the equalisation of medical aid subsidies and the effective date for salary increases to be brought forward to 1^st April from 1^st July.

On the 5^th and 6^th of July, 2010 two terrible accidents happened in the mines of Kroondal and Marikana at Rustenburg resulting in the horrifying deaths of five workers and injuries of an unconfirmed number of workers. These incidents sparked a wave of shock and dismay at the cruel indifference of the bosses towards the loss of workers’ lives and the spectre of unsafe working conditions that continues to haunt the mining industry

Steve Jolly, councillor on a worker's wage for the Democratic Socialist Movement's sister organisation in Australia, here gives an account of the mine workers rally he addressed in Rustenburg on June 26.

Also published on the Committee for a Workers' International site: www.socialistworld.net .

Let them eat cake - the ugly backdrop to the beautiful game

Nothing symbolises more graphically the ugliness that forms the backdrop to the beautiful game than all the scandals, corruption and greed surrounding the mega event on which the entire world’s media is focused – the 2010 World Cup. The first to be held on the African continent, it is being presented as an opportunity to contribute to the development of sport and the economy. Through amongst others, “football Fridays” (when the national anthem should be sung by all and the national football jersey worn), and the special “diski” World Cup dance, it will brighten up the fading colours of the “Rainbow Nation”, boost “nation building”, provide redress for historical injustices, create jobs and help SA escape the effects of the global recession and kickstart economic recovery – a panacea for all social and economic ills.