Just three weeks after South Africa was basking in the glow of a successful World Cup, the country is facing its biggest strike by public sector workers in three years.

Unbearable strain
Demands for inflation-busting wage rises of up to nine percent threaten to derail the economic policy of President Jacob Zuma’s government, and place an unbearable strain on the political alliance with the left.

Nearly one million workers could down tools next week as two of the country’s biggest unions, the Public Servants Association (PSA) and COSATU join forces.

Compromise
President Jacob Zuma’s leadership has been called into question and he has been accused of dithering. Political commentator Professor Robert Schrire says South Africa has to make some hard decisions. He told RNW:

“Ultimately there will probably be a compromise which simply delays the inevitable. And the inevitable is a basic decision by South Africa about whether it’s going to be a high-growth economy in which the poor benefit or whether growth is going to be stunted and captured by a small minority of trade unions and government officials.”

President Zuma has tried hard to please everybody since he has been in office with the unfortunate result of pleasing almost nobody. Some have questioned whether his alliance with the unions, who brought him to power in the hope of shifting government policy to the left, will actually hold.

Recession bites
Even though inflation stands at just 4.2 percent, many families are feeling the pinch as the global recession starts to bite. More than 25 percent of the working population are unemployed and it falls to their families to provide financial support.

In the run-up to the World Cup thousands of jobs in the construction industry were created. Now that the stadiums and new hotels have been built, those jobs have come to an end.

And now, customs officers, healthcare workers, government workers, nurses and teachers have all rejected the government’s wage offer of 6.5 percent. They are demanding an 8.6 percent increase and a 1000 rand (104  euros) monthly housing allowance.

Hostage to fortune
Professor Schrire says the left has no alternative candidate with whom to ally itself. Breaking off support for Zuma would ultimately reduce the unions’ influence.

“I don’t think we’re seeing an unravelling of the alliance because there’s always a golden rule in politics, and that is to beat a candidate you have to have another candidate. And Zuma is still the only game in town.”

Construction workers used the World Cup as a bargaining chip for previous wage increases and succeeded in getting their way. It remains to be seen whether public sector workers can hold South Africa’s struggling economy and Zuma’s power base as a hostage to fortune.

Listen to an interview with Professor Robert Schrire