The largest of these demonstrations drew tens of thousands of unionists, many of them miners, to central Johannesburg on April 12. About 7,000 marched in Pretoria on April 5. More than 20,000 joined protests throughout the Eastern Cape province on March 8 and thousands marched in Cape Town on March 15.

These protests, including a large rally scheduled for May Day, are building up to a one-day general strike on May 10.

The Johannesburg action was reported to be the largest action in that city since apartheid rule ended in 1994. The union federation estimated that between 60,000 and 100,000 took part. Police put the number at 10,000.

The marches have met with disapproval from the big-business press and spokespeople for capital, along with some government officials, who declare that they are for creating jobs, but that protests are "counterproductive." Economist Tony Twine said that COSATU's campaign "makes business want to employ less labor rather than more. It does not do our image abroad any good and that image is vital in our attempts to attract investments."

Fighting workers are not buying into this argument. Leonard Motletse from GaRankuwa marched here on April 5. "How can the government speak of economic growth when thousands of people are losing their jobs?" he asked. Vincent Maledimo from Soshanguve said, "I'm here because our jobs are being given away in the name of privatization."

"Workers demand a job-creating economy," read one poster. "Retrenchment equals hunger," said another. COSATU says that since 1994, more than 500,000 jobs have been destroyed by capital, and as a result of government layoffs.

"Thousands of quality jobs have been replaced by casualized, subcontracted, sweatshop, and temporary jobs that push more and more of the working class into poverty. As a result of these strategies and the persistence of low wages in many sectors, the army of the working poor is growing by the day. According to the 1996 census, 26 percent of workers earned less than R500 a month [$76 at current exchange rates]," said a statement issued by the federation for the Johannesburg demonstration.

Willie Madisha, the COSATU president, told the Johannesburg protesters that there was an "investment strike" in the country. Addressing his words to the employers, he said, "This is your chance to show your patriotism and create jobs that are desperately needed. We urge you to refrain from investing your money in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the London and New York Stock Exchanges. You have until May 1 to respond, or else you will face an unprecedented general strike on May 10."

Specific demands put forward by COSATU include amending labor law to make employers negotiate with unions on layoffs; slowing the pace of import tariff reductions; a basic grant for unemployed workers; and union involvement in talks on privatization of state assets.

Until now there has been no wholesale privatization of government-run entities. Instead, hunks of state-run companies have been sold to capitalist investors from abroad.

Public enterprises minister Jeff Radebe announced on April 14 that the government hoped to accelerate and complete the "restructuring" of the telephone utility, the rail and ports utility, a military hardware manufacturer, and the power utility by 2004. He told a news conference that some layoffs would be necessary.  
 
 
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