‘White Foreigners’: History Repeating
Terry Bell Gwede Mantashe, former chairman of the SA Communist Party, former general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and now the powerful secretary-general of the governing ANC, sounded furious this week. In what must qualify as the most ironic case of “we’ve heard all that before”, he blamed the platinum […]
Platinum Strike: Where to Now? [Updated]
Update: Late yesterday news broke of an “in principle” agreement on a new wage offer between Amcu and the platinum producers. According to www.platinumwagenegotiations.co.za, which is run by the platinum producers, Amcu will be taking this offer to striking mineworkers for a mandate to accept the offer. It is believed that this new offer consists of an […]
Three Picks at Encounters
The Encounters Film Festival kicks off today and runs till June 15th in Johannesburg and Cape Town. There are some great films being screened and The Con has picked three documentaries to wet your appetite. But you can go here to see the full list of documentaries and when they are being screened. […]
The “Numsa Moment”: A New Trajectory for Workers
In January 1973, dockworkers in Durban embarked on a wave of wildcat strikes against low wages. In total, some 61 000 workers took part. What became known as the “Durban Moment” not only broke the industrial relations framework that had been established after black trade unions had been smashed by the apartheid state in […]