Work in Progress Issue no.46 - Striking OK Workers in Class War

Title: Work in Progress Issue no.46 - Striking OK Workers in Class War
Creator: WIP
Subject: WIP
Date: Feb 1987
Type: text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/112034
Identifier: vital:33540
Description: The current state of emergency is into its ninth month. If anything, regulations promulgated during December and January make it more restrictive than before, and recent statements from government ministers suggest that there is no intention of ending emergency conditions at present. With a whites-only election scheduled for 6 May, opposition political parties have protested that the terms of the emergency favour the National Party in the election campaign, and seriously hinder other party efforts. And there is no indication that some of the most repressive aspects of emergency life - long-term detention, comprehensive media censorship, and a blanket ban on all sources of information concerning security force activities unless sanctioned by government - are softening. Government is clearly using emergency powers to undermine and attack serious challenges to its power - the ANC, the trade union movement, popular political organisations, and the embryonic structures of 'people's power' that developed in townships after 1985. But it is important to recognise that the state of emergency is not only being used to attack: it also functions to support and promote some interests and organisations at the expense of others. Organisations like Inkatha and its trade union wing, UWUSA, are benefitting from repression suffered by progressive organisations in Natal. The detention of all leading COSATU trade unionists in Northern Natal, for example, created a space for UWUSA in that area. In East London, government is attempting to create a basis of legitimacy for Duncan Village's newly constituted town council. But this could only happen after the UDF-affiliated Duncan Village Residents Association was severely weakened by police raids and detentions. Strikers involved in the OK Bazaars dispute have been so badly harassed by police that OK management approached government on this question. And government's attempts to silence discussion on the ANC within South Africa, and at the same time wage a propaganda war against that organisation, are greatly helped by emergency provisions. The blanket ban on advertisements calling for the unbanning of the ANC is just one example of this trend. Importantly, then, progressives must not only look at which organisations and interests are being undermined by the state of emergency. They must also ask who benefits. For government and its allies are not just involved in a battle against progressive opposition forces. They are also intervening in an attempt to create, support and direct structures and organisations which are more sympathetic to government's view of the future than any progressive groups will be.
Format: 47 pages, pdf
Publisher: Work in Progress (WIP)
Language: English
Rights: Work in Progress (WIP)
Rights: No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher

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