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Nelson Mandela is no more. At about 20:50 on Thursday, 5 December Nelson Rohishlahla Mandela passed away peacefully after a long illness. The news was announced by President Jacob Zuma to a worldwide audience. He was 95 years old.

South African trade unions have announced a general strike from 12-14th November against the implementation of policies which, taken together, represent a major assault against the living standards of the masses of workers, the poor and large sections of the middle class.

The National  Union of metalworkers of South Africa(NUMSA) is in the process of gathering the views of its members in preparation for the union’s extraordinary national congress to be held in December.The forthcoming congress of Numsa that will be held in Ekhurhuleni will give the union a mandate on how to deal with the ruptures inside […]

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) will hold a special national congress to deal with divisions that have ravaged South Africa’s largest labour federation for the last period. The announcement came on August 19th after the three day meeting of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting that was held in Johannesburg. This was […]

On Wednesday 14 August South Africa’s biggest labour federation, Cosatu is scheduled to hold a special meeting of its Central Executive Committee to discuss the future of its General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. This is only the latest instalment of a series of divisive events that have engulfed Cosatu. At bottom, this reflects a struggle between […]

According to the Minister of Labour Mildred Oliphant, a total of 17,290,552 working hours were lost in 2012 due to “unprotected” or “un-procedural” strikes.

On Monday, September 3, most of the miners arrested during the Marikana massacre were released after an outcry of protest forced the state prosecutor to withdraw charges of murder against them. The strike at Lonmin continues as well as strikes and protests at other mines. The incident has clearly revealed the real content of the […]

Eighteen years since the end of Apartheid – and the dawn of ‘freedom and democracy’ –  the  brutal killings of 34 miners by the police in the Lonmin owned platinum mines at Marikana last Thursday has exposed the stark reality of the suffering and agony of the South African proletariat. This shooting is reminiscent of […]

On June 2nd the ANC won, as was expected, a landslide victory in South Africa’s second democratic election. This article looks at the policies of the first term of the ANC government, the debates within the South African Communist Party, and the perspectives for the next five years.