COSATU’S Contested Legacy For use by the Author only | © 2012 Koninklijke Brill NV Afrika-Studiecentrum Series Series Editor Dr. Harry Wels (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands) Editorial Board Prof. Bill Freund (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) Prof. Lungisile Ntsebeza (University of Cape Town, South Africa) Prof. Eddy van der Borght (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands) Dr. Marja Spierenburg (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands) VOLUME 28 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/asc For use by the Author only | © 2012 Koninklijke Brill NV COSATU’S Contested Legacy South African Trade Unions in the Second Decade of Democracy Edited by Sakhela Buhlungu Malehoko Tshoaedi LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013 For use by the Author only | © 2012 Koninklijke Brill NV Originally published in Southern Africa in 2012 by HSRC Press, Cape Town, South Africa, under ISBN (paperback) 978-0-7969-2395-0. Cover illustration: ‘Headgear of an abandoned gold mine’, Welkom, Free State province, South Africa, 2011. Photograph by Sakhela Buhlungu. ISSN 1570-9310 ISBN 978-90-04-25139-7 (paperback) ISBN 978-90-04-21460-6 (e-book) Copyright 2012 by HSRC Press, Cape Town, South Africa. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. For use by the Author only | © 2012 Koninklijke Brill NV Contents List of tables vii List of figures ix Abbreviations and acronyms x Preface xiii 1 A contested legacy: organisational and political challenges facing COSATU 1 Sakhela Buhlungu and Malehoko Tshoaedi 2 The experience of conducting a longitudinal study: the COSATU Workers’ Survey, 2008 32 Christine Bischoff and Malehoko Tshoaedi 3 COSATU, oligarchy and the consolidation of democracy in an African context 56 Johann Maree 4 Making sense of unionised workers’ political attitudes: the (un)represen- tation of women’s voices in COSATU 90 Malehoko Tshoaedi 5 The sociology of upward social mobility among COSATU shop stewards 110 Themba Masondo 6 COSATU, the ‘2010 Class Project’ and the contest for ‘the soul’ of the ANC 132 Ari Sitas 7 ‘What would you do if the government fails to deliver?’: COSATU mem- bers’ attitudes towards service delivery 147 Sarah Mosoetsa 8 COSATU’s influence on policy-making in post-apartheid South Africa: fact and fiction 167 Grace Khunou v For use by the Author only | © 2012 Koninklijke Brill NV 9 COSATU members and strike violence: what we learn from quantitative and qualitative data 186 Karl von Holdt 10 COSATU and internal migrant workers: old fault lines, new dilemmas 212 Nomkhosi Xulu 11 COSATU’s attitudes and policies towards external migrants 228 Mondli Hlatshwayo 12 The trade union movement and the Tripartite Alliance: a tangled history 259 Sakhela Buhlungu and Stephen Ellis Appendix Taking democracy seriously: COSATU Worker’s Survey data set 1994, 1998, 2004 and 2008 283 Contributors 305 Index 309 vi For use by the Author only | © 2012 Koninklijke Brill NV List of tables Table 1.1 Which leader represents worker interests best? (selected results from question asked during survey in 2004 and 2008) 4 Table 1.2 How a shop steward should exercise his/her mandate (by percentage) 21 Table 2.1 Provinces covered in the COSATU longitudinal study 34 Table 2.2 Employment by sector between 2005 and 2009 37 Table 2.3 COSATU Workers’ Survey researchers 1994, 1998, 2004 and 2008 40 Table 2.4 COSATU affiliate membership figures 2007–2011 47 Table 2.5 Age of COSATU members between 1994 and 2008 48 Table 2.6 Year in which respondents joined the unions 49 Table 2.7 Gender distribution of COSATU members 50 Table 2.8 Highest formal educational levels of COSATU members 50 Table 2.9 Occupational category as defined by companies 52 Table 2.10 Security of tenure of COSATU members 52 Table 3.1 Are you a member of the SACP? 65 Table 3.2 Which party are you going to vote for in the forthcoming national elections? 68 Table 3.3 Cosatu has entered into an alliance with the ANC and SACP to contest the elections. What do you think of this arrangement? 69 Table 3.4 Classification of African regimes, end 2001 71 Table 3.5 African legislative election results, by ordinal number of election, 1989-2006 73 vii For use by the Author only | © 2012 Koninklijke Brill NV Table 3.6 South African post-transformation election results 73 Table 4.1 COSATU has entered into an alliance with the ANC and SACP. What do you think of this arrangement? 97 Table 4.2 Do you think that this Alliance should continue and contest the elections after 2009? 98 Table 4.3 Have any of the following services been provided or improved since 2004 in your area? 99 Table 4.4 Which party are you going to vote for? 100 Table 4.5 When you decide to vote for a particular party, which is the most important factor behind your decision? 100 Table 5.1 Have any of your shop stewards in the workplace been promoted into managerial positions? 119 Table 5.2 Is it acceptable (i.e. do you approve) for shop stewards to be promoted into management? 119 Table 7.1 Worker expectations in 1994 and assessment of access to services, 1998, 2004 and 2008 149 Table 7.2 Perception of access to services by province, 2008 151 Table 7.3 Yes, these services have improved since 2004 elections. 152 Table 7.4 In which ONE of the following areas would you like to see improvements after the 2009 elections? Select the most important one only. 153 Table 7.5 Involvement in local government or community development initiatives 155 Table 7.6 If the government to be elected fails to deliver, workers will: (more than one possible) (percentages) 157 Table 7.7 COSATU affiliates on participation in mass action, if the government fails to deliver (1998 to 2008) 158 Table 7.8 Participation in community protest action since 2004 by gender 160 viii For use by the Author only | © 2012 Koninklijke Brill NV Table 7.9 Have you participated in community protest action since 2004? (by union) 161 Table 9.1 Attitudes towards violence during strikes (by COSATU affiliate) 190 Table 10.1 Are you a migrant? 217 Table 10.2 Migrant workers by sector 217 Table 10.3 Migrant workers as a proportion of union membership 218 Table 10.4 Age categories of migrants and non-migrants 219 Table 10.5 Migrant worker by age and gender 219 Table 10.6 Proportion of migrants within each educational qualification level 220 Table 10.7 Migrants as a proportion of COSATU members in each occupational category (also by gender) 221 Table 10.8 Migrant workers’ security of tenure, including proportions of migrant men and women in each category 222 Table 10.9 Service delivery: migrant worker responses by service provision area (percentages) 223 List of figures Figure 8.1 COSATU members’ support for the Tripartite Alliance, 1994–2008 179 ix For use by the Author only | © 2012 Koninklijke Brill NV Abbreviations and acronyms ANC African National Congress ANCYL African National Congress Youth League ANSA Artists for a new South Africa AZAPO Azanian People’s Organisation BBBEE Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment BEE Black Economic Empowerment CAX Coalition against Xenophobia CAWU Construction and Allied Workers’ Union CEPPWAWU Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union COPE Congress of the People COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions CPP Convention People’s Party CWIU Chemical Workers’ Industrial Union CWU Communication Workers’ Union CWUSA Council of Workers’ Union of South Africa DA Democratic Alliance DENOSA Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa FAWU Food and Allied Workers’ Union FOSATU Federation of South African Trade Unions GEAR Growth, Employment and Redistribution HOSPERSA Health and Other Service Personnel Trade Union of South Africa HSRC Human Sciences Research Council ILO International Labour Organisation IMF International Monetary Fund LRA Labour Relations Act MAWU Metal and Allied Workers’ Union MDC Movement for Democratic Change NALEDI National Labour and Economic Development Institute NEDLAC National Economic Development and Labour Council NEHAWU National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union x For use by the Author only | © 2012 Koninklijke Brill NV NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development NMMU Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University NPP New Patriotic Party NUM National Union of Mineworkers NUMSA National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa PAC Pan-Africanist Congress PAWUSA Public and Allied Workers’ Union of South Africa POPCRU Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union PPWAWU Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme SAAPAWU South African Agriculture, Plantation and Allied Workers’ Union SACCAWU South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union SACP South African Communist Party SACTU South African Congress of Trade Unions SACTWU Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union SADC Southern African Development Community SADNU South African Democratic Nurses’ Union SADTU South