July was a month of great turbulence for SA on the social, political and economic fronts. The political hysteria of the sentencing of Jacob Zuma by the Constitutional Court to 15 months in jail pitted the ANC — with its mixed track record of hostility and antipathy towards the judiciary — against its own commitment to respecting the rule of law.
Ironically, at the heart of the dispute was the ANC’s governance during the Zuma years, when accountability ground to a halt and state capture networks infiltrated the state. That resulted in the formation of the state capture inquiry where — in line with the ANC’s overall approach to governance that had created it in the first place — Zuma opted out of accounting to the head of the commission, judge Raymond Zondo.
The escalation of that impasse engulfed the Constitutional Court itself, which had to operate under unusual circumstances and direct Zuma to appear before the commission. His failure to do so resulted in the court finding Zuma guilty of contempt and sentencing him to jail.
The gravity of that call naturally polarised society, with some seeing it as the moment when a culture of accountability once again trumped an age of impunity. For others, the fact that Zuma — who faces so many other more serious criminal charges that have accumulated for the past 15 years — would end up seeing the inside of a prison on the basis of omitting to do something, rather than committing a crime, appeared delightfully ironic.
For hard-core supporters, the moment represented an opportunity to rally against the imprisonment and call for civil disobedience that resonated with many people who participated in the looting and rioting across the country. That looting frenzy, involving many people with little proximity to Zuma himself but preoccupied by other social issues, mutated into long-brewing social unrest, underpinned by long-standing frustrations with the state of the nation and their position in it.
After the looting, billions in assets and infrastructure had been destroyed and the usefulness of the state intelligence services and law enforcement institutions was regarded as nonexistent. While the state was dealing with that social unrest, another potential headache was looming on the horizon.
A meeting of minds on public sector wages has been elusive since the Treasury reneged on the final leg of the multiyear wage agreement, saying the deal was no longer affordable. That led to a protracted battle led by public service & administration minister Senzo Mchunu, with the unions on the other side. The unions’ demand for an 8% increase would not only have required more resources be directed their way but, in an age of austerity and the pandemic, would be a difficult sell to citizens battling to make ends meet. The one instrument and trump card held by unions during negotiations with the government was the possibility of a general strike.
In a year that has seen the persistence of the pandemic and the unrest of July, the idea of a general strike in a matter where the government had the ability to intervene was clearly a no-no for the state. The agreement reached this week, whereby public servants will get a 1.5% increase, at least eliminates the possibility of a general strike.
Curiously, the agreement was reached outside the parameters of the multiyear agreement, which means the unions will either revert to demanding an annual negotiation framework or the state will have to find an even more diplomatic way of proposing a multiyear agreement that will be accepted. The fact that the previous agreement was abandoned unilaterally by the state makes that possibility a bit remote.
• Sithole (@coruscakhaya) is an accountant, academic and activist.
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