THE almost meaningless display of verbal pyrotechnics that annually accompanies the matric results is thankfully behind us. But the reality of a potential 700 000-plus school leaving job seekers is most definitely not. Along with double that number who dropped out before Grade 12, they highlight the most volatile element in South Africa.
It
matters not that a minority may move to tertiary studies, and others may repeat
their matric year. All are young, many angry, with few having any hope of jobs
and often having little prospect of rising beyond rural penury or the squalid
shacklands of urban settlements.
Together,
this student cohort constitutes an additional charge to an already ticking time
bomb of discontent; perhaps the biggest immediate threat to instability that
faces South Africa as we enter fully into 2017.
At
least, as this year dawned, there were more than those few voices on the
margins who regularly point out what a farce this fetish about matric is, and how it
tends to obscure briefly the reality of poor schooling and jobless futures. This
is especially pertinent in a country that has not dealt seriously with early
childhood education, let alone adult basic education and training, core demands
in both the Freedom Charter and the Bill of Rights.
The
simple fact of the influx of a new mass of school leavers into an already
saturated job market is enough to illustrate the difficulties in the way ahead.
But there are many more, not the least of which is the ongoing economic crisis
that has given rise to a degree of political instability globally that is
probably unparalleled historically.
However,
amid all the doom and gloom, peppered with the usually facile comments by
politicians and economists about “turning the corner”, there are many examples
of bravery, heroism, compassion, dedication and solidarity - actions that keep
the flame of hope burning. Around the world, working people, organised and
unorganised, have suffered greater insecurity, wage stagnation and rising
unemployment for more than a decade. Yet many remain remarkably resilient.
It is some of these cases I hope to illustrate over the coming year as examples of how, despite often tremendous odds, working people have dealt with adversity and exploitation. Many of these cases never make the news, let alone the headlines, but they are inspiring, although sometimes gut-wrenchingly sad.
Plight of the Bangladeshi garment workers
Take the case of the Bangladeshi garment workers whose plight was highlighted by the disastrous fire at the Rana Plaza plant in 2013 that saw more than 1 000 workers burned to death. That resulted in a massive international outcry and the workers in Bangladesh rallied. In solidarity with international trade union groupings, they won major concessions.
READ: Bangladesh pay protests force factory closures
But
then the media attention died down, the economic crunch continued and once
again, the same poor conditions and brutal, low-wage exploitation set in. Yet
thousands of workers have not been cowed. Although there have been sackings,
beatings and jailings, a fight back continues for a wage equivalent of just R1
400 a month.
But
in terms of tenacity and the example of solidarity in action, we have to look
no further than Gauteng where a group of former Midrand municipal workers have
been fighting for their rights to jobs and pensions for 22 years.
This case came to my attention as 2016 drew to an end. Most of the survivors - 55 have died over the years - meet every Sunday to pool their resources and to plan what to do next.
Dismissed workers' tenacious fight for their rights
In a peculiar twist to this tale of tenacity and solidarity, the head of the financial services company handling municipal employee pension funds is the same man who was the human resources and labour relations manager at Midrand when the workers were dismissed.
Kamani
Ernest Letjane founded Akani Retirement Fund Administrators in 2000. He is
also the chairperson of the new R250m Ekurhuleni International Convention
Centre and hotel complex.
Last
month, the workers delivered a memorandum of their demands to Akani and lodged
an appeal with Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba. According to an impressive
timeline they have produced, former mayor Amos Masondo agreed that their case
had merit, but his successor, Parks Tau, reversed this decision.
The
timeline, along with documentary evidence, makes for a compelling argument.
This includes the workers having lost in court when their case was dismissed
when it transpired that that their legal representative was not the lawyer he
claimed to be.
Because this case arrived over the holiday period, it was not possible to get responses from all the parties involved. Such responses - or at least the opportunity to respond - are necessary to provide an honest telling of a potentially heroic and yet tragic tale. If and when the emailed queries from Inside Labour are responded to, this important story will be finally and fully told.
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