Business: Can Ramaphosa channel his inner Thatcher?

In 1987, an anti-apartheid firebrand named Cyril Ramaphosa led South Africa’s biggest-ever mining strike. Some 300,000 miners—from a union Ramaphosa himself had founded—walked off the job, protesting pay and working conditions.

“He wants to move the power to the middle, he wants to reduce the power of unions in a party that is in an alliance with the unions,” said Nic Cheeseman, a professor of democracy and international development at the University of Birmingham in northern England. “Thatcher didn’t care about losing the support of the unions because she never had it.” In that sense, Ramaphosa’s task might be more akin to that of Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, he said.

“Labor effectively has a veto on economic policy in South Africa,” said Claude Baissac, who leads Eunomix, a South African country-risk consulting firm. “The government always loses, condemning a vast swath of the population to exclusion, unemployment and poverty.” In his state of the nation address on Feb. 7, Ramaphosa spoke only of the need for a “pragmatic and cooperative relationship” between the government, unions and the private sector. He also announced a restructuring of Eskom and an early retirement program for state workers.

The government has folded to union pressure at times since Ramaphosa took power. When Eskom’s board last year said pay wouldn’t be increased because of the company’s financial problems, which include $29 billion in debt, workers protested and some sabotaged power plants leading to electricity outages. Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan intervened and Eskom agreed to boost pay by an inflation-busting 7%—and even more for the next two years.

What are you doing to President Ramaphosa really

This feels more like the fall of the USSR

Thatcher was an evil person

Malaysia Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Malaysia Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Business: Can Rampahosa channel his inner Thatcher?According to the World Bank, Eskom has 66% too many employees. The 1.2 million-strong public service absorbs 35% of the budget. Labor reform is key to the success of Ramaphosa’s plan to lure $100 billion in investment over five years. But can Ramaphosa untangle the ANC and its needs from the intertwined history of the party and the union movement? By Antony Sguazzin He doesn't have one. He may have an inner Marx, who knows ?
Source: dailymaverick - 🏆 3. / 84 Read more »

Ramaphosa & Mnangagwa get down to business at binational commissionPresidents Cyril Ramaphosa and Emmerson Mnangagwa will co-chair the third session of the meeting; the commission seeks to strengthen cooperation between Pretoria and Harare.
Source: ewnupdates - 🏆 30. / 53 Read more »

JUST IN: Group Five placed in business rescue | IOL Business ReportThe group and its subsidiaries have said to have been experiencing cash flow difficulties due to significant operating losses. busrep interesting move
Source: IOL - 🏆 46. / 51 Read more »

BUSINESS MAVERICK OP-ED: Business schools are SA’s natural partner in the Fourth Industrial RevolutionSouth Africa is playing catch-up, and while it might aspire to become a leading light in the evolving global developments, realistically, the Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution has set its sights on achieving competitiveness and the need for inclusive growth. No
Source: dailymaverick - 🏆 3. / 84 Read more »