Author: Leonard Gentle
-
South Africa and the Changing Possibilities for the Left
With the claims that a new trade union federation will be launched in March 2017, it is appropriate to draw up a balance sheet of the labour movement in South … Keep reading »
-
(part 2) South Africa and the Changing Politics of Labour
Part 2: NUMSA and the Emergence of a New Movement NUMSA has always been the left critic within COSATU. Its roots lay in the traditions of independent socialism of FOSATU and … Keep reading »
-
South Africa and the Changing Politics of Labour
Part 1: The Demise of COSATU The two biggest signifiers of the state of the labour movement in South Africa in 2014 are, on the one hand, a terminal crisis within … Keep reading »
-
Forging a New Movement: NUMSA and the Shift in South Africa’s Politics
The decision of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) to cut ties with the African National Congress (ANC) has received poor analysis. Comment has tended to focus … Keep reading »
-
A Week in August in South Africa
The Factions in COSATU, Economic Fear-Mongering and the State We’re In It is reported that Lenin once observed that there are decades when nothing happens and then there are weeks … Keep reading »
-
The Massacre of Our Illusions … And the Seeds of Something New
The story of Marikana has so far been painted shallowly as an inter-union spat. In the first few days after the fateful Thursday and the shock and horror of watching … Keep reading »