The strike met with a mixed response. Only COSATU-affiliated unions lent their support to the action. According to officials of the labor federation, about 60 percent of the workforce stayed away nationwide, although the actual figure appears to have been smaller, as many large industrial plants and mines stayed open. The South African Chamber of Business stated that 15 percent of workers in private industry struck over the two days. The government opposed the strike and said few state workers participated.

The most concentrated support for the walkout was reported in gold mines in the Free State, at the Port of Durban, and in plants owned by four of six auto manufacturers.

In Johannesburg, thousands of workers marched on the first day of the strike. Metalworkers, telephone workers, transport workers, food industry workers, health workers, teachers, and a small number of miners formed contingents. The South African Communist Party and the Landless People’s Movement also participated in the march, as did the Anti-Privatization Forum, a group aligned with "antiglobalization" forces.  
 
Anger over price hikes for food, services
During the march, workers expressed anger over rising prices for food and basic services, and continued job losses. In the past year the price of maize meal, a staple for millions of working people, has risen by 110 percent, and other food prices have also increased sharply. As the currency, the rand, has depreciated against the dollar and the euro, prices for basic commodities, from fuel to clothing, have also soared.

According to COSATU secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi, four state-owned enterprises--Eskom (the electricity utility), Transnet (railroads and other transport), Telkom (the fixed-line phone company), and Denel (an arms manufacturer)--have cut 100,000 jobs. Some of these companies, such as Telkom, which has eliminated 20,000 jobs and is slated to be listed on the stock market next year, have been partially sold off to private capital. Stakes in other companies are to be sold off in the next couple of years. A number of municipal water services have now been contracted to private operators.

"If they privatize services like water and electricity, I’m going to pay a lot," said Meshack Mabula, a machine operator and member of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa who participated in the October 1 march. "But it’s going to be even worse for those who are not working." Official unemployment here continues to hover at about 30 percent.

"We are against the selling of state assets because it results in joblessness and poverty," said Winston Mahli, a member of the South African Democratic Teachers Union in Soweto, where many of his students have parents who are unemployed. "Privatization of basic services means people cannot afford them. We think standing up against privatization will make some sense to government, will help it reconsider its position. The government is right to defend its position by talking about globalization and so forth to say that they want to create jobs, but the opposite is happening."

Asked whether this was a march against the government, as asserted by officials of the African National Congress, which leads the government, he replied, "It’s not a march against government, it’s a march against government policies."

Blessing Vilakazi, a gold miner at Durban Deep, noted that "the families of people working in the mines are poor. Privatization will affect everyone, especially for electricity and water."

"I spend 100 rands (1 rand = US 10 cents) on the electricity card per month, but it isn’t enough," said Themba Mkhabele, a general worker and NUMSA shop steward at the Maxiprest tire company, whose monthly take-home pay is R1,000. "It’s only good for lights and cooking. You cannot run a fridge and all that other stuff that will make life easier. TV, music, those are luxuries."

Asked about the government’s stated view that privatization is required to increase efficiency and boost the economy, Mkhabele responded: "Do you think that is a good idea? To say that I must die today so that I can live tomorrow?"

Amos Maphake, a clerk at electricity utility Eskom, noted that as private capital buys into the state-run companies, jobs are not being generated. "A lot of people at Eskom have already lost their jobs and a lot more are going to lose their jobs. And it’s going to affect the community definitely because the price of electricity will definitely go up. There are still a lot of disadvantaged people who do not yet have electricity, and I wonder with this privatization, how are they going to get access to electricity? They can have privatization, but a lot of people will not be working and definitely will not be able to afford to pay those services."

Following the strike, public enterprises minister Jeff Radebe told a press conference that the privatization measures would continue. "There is no question about the political commitment of the ANC government in proceeding with this program because of the benefits that it will have for the economy of this country."

ANC leaders bitterly criticized the strike. The party’s secretary-general, Kgalema Motlanthe, called the walkout "a political strike against the ANC government." A statement from the organization said "the ANC cannot support a strike against the policies our government is correctly implementing in pursuit of our strategic objective: the overall liberation of the historically oppressed masses of our country." ANC Youth League president Malusi Gigaba went so far as to declare the COSATU action "a counterrevolutionary strike aimed at defeating the new government," an allegation that a COSATU spokesperson rejected.  
 
 
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