From Workshop to Wasteland: De-industrialization and Fragmentation of the Black Working Class on the East Rand (South Africa), 1990–1999

Abstract

In 1999 the South African government passed the Municipal Structures Act which established the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council and merged the East Rand towns of Alberton, Germiston, Brakpan, Benoni, Kempton Park, Springs, and Nigel under a common municipal authority. The new demarcation created a unified administrative structure for this region of approximately 2.5 million people living east of Johannesburg. It gave formal expression to long-standing processes of socioeconomic development that have defined the East Rand as a highly specific geographical entity. Between the 1950s and the 1970s the East Rand mapped itself on to South Africa's economic terrain as its industrial “workshop”, as manufacturing replaced mining as the major contributor to GDP. The administrative unification of the East Rand has taken place, however, at a moment when established patterns of economic and social integration based on manufacturing are undermined by the impact of restructuring encouraged by domestic and global forces.

The Challenges Facing the South African Labour Movement

“…However, economic liberalization has resulted in successive waves of job-shedding (Barchiesi and Kenny, 2002;Donnelly and Dunn, 2006), leading to a small pool of workers employed in formal sector work of a permanent nature. Moreover, given the activity of other social movements, workers have had various opportunities to voice their interests.…”

“…On the one hand, South Africa has repositioned itself as an export-orientated economy, and is globally competitive in areas such as motor vehicle and component manufacture, steel, processed foods and niche textiles. On the other hand, this competitiveness has been attained through a shift to leaner manufacturing and wholesale job shedding (Barchiesi and Kenny, 2002;Donnelly and Dunn, 2006). The ability to sustain membership levels has been further threatened by the apparent inability to organize informal 1.…”

“…Les défis pour le mouvement syndical en Afrique du Sud : la mobilisation d'affiliations dans un contexte changeant Il existe une littérature abondante et croissante sur le rôle et l'influence des syndicats dans les pays en voie de développement et sur leur habileté à mobiliser leurs membres dans un arrière-plan de réformes néolibérales et de restructuration industrielle (Barchiesi et Kenny, 2002 ;von Holdt et Webster, 2008). Le mouvement syndical sud-africain représente une source d'inspiration pour le monde du travail organisé à travers la planète, mais il a dû faire face à bien des défis au cours des ans.…”

“…On possède cependant une certaine preuve à l'effet qu'au début des années 2000, les syndicats ont connu un affaiblissement de leur position : l'effectif syndical du secteur manufacturier a diminué, alors qu'on connaissait des pertes d'emploi de grande envergure dans ce même secteur (voir Makgetla et Seidman, 2005 ;Barchiesi et Kenny, 2002) et les représentants syndicaux élus se sont progressivement éloignés des préoccupations réelles de la base ouvrière. De plus, la démocratie au sein même de la fédération est devenue moins efficace, ce qui se reflétait dans les débats internes et dans la prolifération des syndicats cherchant à se désaffilier (Rachleff, 2001).…”

Claiming Workplace Citizenship: “Worker” Legacies, Collective Identities and Divided Loyalties of South African Contingent Retail Workers

“…2 On the East Rand, where these retail workers lived, the local labor market restructured with manufacturing decline and the growth of contingent service employment (Barchiesi and Kenny 2002). In the 1980s, these workers' households had multiple members working, but by the 1990s, they relied on fewer and more insecure wages (Kenny 2003).…”