The strike wave that shook South Africa some months back has still not abated. Although the authorities recently broke the 10,000—strong municipal workers strike in Johannesburg - expelling more than 1000 strikers — it was a hard and bitter trial of strength.
On July 24th, about 2000 Black workers walked off their jobs to demand higher pay. The next day, the municipal authorities sacked 1350 of them. This provoked an even broader strike and, by July 28th, some 10.000 Black sanitation, transport, gas. health, and electricity workers Although the workers were eventually forced back to work - after severe police repression for four days they brought Johanesburg's public services Moreover, only a few days after the ending of the municipal workers' strike, in Secunda, hundreds of Black construction workers downed tools at a vital Sasol synthetic fuel plant. This time, despite police attacks on the pickets, the workers stood firm and won major pay increases Similar strikes have developIn Johannesburg, a month-long strike by the city's Black bus drivers forced substantial ial wage increases and recognistion of their union. Black journalists, and other workers, at the Post newspaper won salary In Cape Town, the widelysupported strike by hundreds of Black meat workers entered The importance of Black workers' strikes is not just that they have advanced living in the teeth of - and the right to organise their own Such struggles have, entwined with the general upsurge against the white - symbolised by the mass student protests and - and have given that opposition a This was dramatically revealed by the June 16th and 17th strike in Cape Town when more than 200,000 Black workers downed tools in solidarity with the student protesters and the victims of the regime's brutal police measures (which included school children murdered in cold blood).
MILITANCY The militancy of the Black population has become so widespread and sharp that even those Black leaders who have traditionally co-operated with the white minority have been forced to take their 'distance'.
One of Prime Minister Pieter Botha's major aims, in recent months, has been to foster divisions within the Black population which is composed of Africans, Coloureds (those of mixed ancestry) and Indians - by creating pro-government councils of African and Coloured collaborators.
This scheme collapsed last month in face of almost unanimous Black opposition, even from among those he expected to co-operate with it STABILITY As it has done with previous periods of Black unrest, the apartheid regime has tried to deal with the situation by escalating repression. Thousands of students and Black leaders are still languishing in the apartheid regime's jails.
Moreover, as a sign of how serious the regime views the growing strike actions, the South African army still remains on a war footing. Not even during the upsurges of 1976 and 1977 were such extreme measures taken Such measures are a sign of the fear developing in upper echelons as the racist minority feels itself both "isolated by the wall of Black African states surrounding it and 'threatened' by the Black radicalisation in its own country.
And it is correct to feel threatened since its 'hard stance' has not been able to stem the growing aspirations of South Africa's working class. As an editorial in a leading South African newspaper lamented "there are restive times ahead on South Africa's labour front".