The victory of the Lonmin mine workers, after the brutal Marikana massacre, has sparked widespread unrest in the mining sector. Thousands of workers are now out on militant strikes in the gold, platinum, iron and coal mining industries.

The strike wave also spread to the motor industry. Dubbed wildcat strikes, the workers are acting on their own volition, independently of the unions to which they may belong. After much criticism for being overridden by  the Lonmin workers and their failure to have any impact on events, the National Union of Mine Workers has now deemed it fit to declare their backing for these strikes though we do not know of any tangible support being given to the workers.

Vigorous action took hold in the transport sector where thousands of truck drivers went on strike. This strike was led by Congress of South African Trade Unions affiliate, the South African Transport Workers Union (SATAWU), who threatend a possible extension to ports and harbours.

All workers are demanding wage increases far in excess of what has been the case previously and rightfully so. The Amplats Corporation has responded by dismissing 12000 workers who failed to attend disciplinary hearings but the workers remain unphased and determined as ever.

In united action, workers are standing up against scare tactics, used successfully by bosses in the past. In Marikana, it has forced bosses to backtrack, reinforcing the gains that workers achieved. Bourgeois commentators now express fears that if this strike wave continues then the economy can be seriously damaged with a major loss of foreign investors’ confidence.

It is perhaps too early to conclude that worker struggles in South Africa have been elevated to a new and higher plateau but one conclusion is now beyond question – the working class was not defeated in the 1992 negotiated settlement and deals with the capitalist bosses.  COSATU bureaucrats, as well as leaders in the National Council of Trade Unions (NACTU)  and other unions have been criticized by both left and right for pursuing their own selfish interests while neglecting those of the workers.

For the left, it speaks of outright betrayal while bourgeois interests demand that the COSATU leadership acts “wisely” to regain and maintain the confidence of the workers and to keep their demands within “reasonable” limits. For now, the workers are having none of that. Escalating living costs as well as the gross income gap between workers and bosses fuels worker anger while the ANC looks on helplessly, trying to defend its failed neo-liberal economic policies. For now, the left must not only look to short term support for worker struggles but it must plan a meaningful approach, firstly to left wing political unity and then general political leadership in the overall struggle.[artheading][/artheading]