Violent, Frequent and Lengthy Strikes in South Africa: Is the Use of Replacement Labour Part of the Problem?
| Jurisdiction | South Africa |
| Pages | 436-460 |
| Date | 20 August 2019 |
| Citation | (2016) 28 SA Merc JL 436 |
| Author | Karin Calitz |
| Published date | 20 August 2019 |
VIOLENT, FREQUENT AND LENGTHY
STRIKES IN SOUTH AFRICA: IS THE USE OF
REPLACEMENT LABOUR PART OF THE
PROBLEM?
KARIN CALITZ*
Professor, Faculty of Law, Stellenbosch University
SUMMARY
Frequent, protracted and violent strikes in South Africa are seen as a
symptom of the failure of the country’s collective bargaining system.
The proposed 2012 amendments to the Labour Relations Act (LRA),
which aimed at preventing high strike levels and unacceptable behaviour
during strikes, included a compulsory strike ballot and compulsory
interest arbitration. These proposals were not included in the final
version of the amended LRA because of opposition by the trade union
federation Cosatu.
This article endeavours to answer the question whether a ban on
replacement labour could be conducive to peaceful industrial relations.
Studies of the Canadian system indicated that there is no clear correla-
tion between a ban on replacement labour and shorter and less frequent
strikes, but there is strong evidence that a ban on replacement labour is
conducive to generating less violent behaviour. In the light of the
constitutional guarantee of the right to strike and the fact that there is
clear evidence that replacement labour exacerbates violence during
strikes, it is recommended that a ban be placed on replacement labour in
South Africa.
I INTRODUCTION
South Africans are concerned about the frequent, protracted and
increasingly violent strikes which have occurred during the past few
years. Working days lost because of strikes increased from 1 847 006 in
2013 to a total of 10 264 775 in 2014,
1
mainly because of the five-month
* BA (Stell) LLB LLM (UJ) LLD (Unisa).
1
Department of Labour, ‘Annual Industrial Action Report 2014’, available at http://
www.labour.gov.za/DOL/documents/annual-reports/industrial-action-annual-report/2014/
annual-report-industrial-action-report–2014.
436
(2016) 28 SA Merc LJ 436
© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd
strike in the mining sector.
2
In 2014, R6.1 billion in wages were lost due
to strikes, which has a considerable negative impact on the economy.
3
The fact that approximately 50% of all strikes in 2013 and 2014 were
unprotected (wildcat strikes) indicates a disregard for the collective
bargaining structure. Violence has also become endemic during strikes
in South Africa, the most notorious example being the strike at Lonmin
mine in Marikana in 2012 during which 44 people were killed.
4
Is the above really a cause for concern when compared to other
countries? For comparative purposes strike levels are measured as
working days lost per 1 000 workers. Statistics on average annual strike
levels between 2009 and 2013 indicate that in Europe the countries with
the highest strike levels are France (170 days lost), Denmark (80 days
lost), Norway (75 days lost) and Belgium (65 days lost).
5
In comparison
to these countries, South Africa’s strike rate is exceptionally high with an
annual average of 459 working days lost during the same period.
6
The
picture becomes worse if the days lost in 2014 are taken into consider-
ation, since 670 working days per 1 000 employees were lost in 2014.
This is an increase of more than 400% since 2013.
7
Bhorat and Tseng
8
maintain that, contrary to common belief, avail-
able data indicate that South Africa does not top the list of strike-prone
countries. Their conclusion is that
‘South Africa’s long-term strike rate ranks fifth in the world with 206 days
lost per 1,000 workers. Lithuania ranks first (5,295 days),followed by
Argentina (1,042 days), Israel (631 days) and New Caledonia (279 days),
who all rank well above South Africa.’
9
2
Sapa-Reuters, ‘AMCU ends five-month platinum strike’ 23 June 2014, available at
http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Amcu-ends-five-month-platinum-strike–20140623.
3
Ibid.
4
‘Marikana Commission of Inquiry: Report on matters of public, national and interna-
tional concern arising out of the tragic incidents at the Lonmin mine in Marikana, in the
North West Province 31 March 2015’ 1, available at http://www.sahrc.org.za/home/21/files/
marikana-report–1.
5
European Trade Union Institute, ‘Strikes in Europe (version 2.1) January 2015’, available
at https://www.etui.org/Topics/Trade-union-renewal-and-mobilisation/Strikes-in-Europe-
version–2.1-January–2015.
6
Department of Labour, ‘Annual Industrial Report 2013’ 6, available at http://
www.labour.gov.za/DOL/documents/annual-reports/industrial-action-annual-report/2013/
annual-industrial-action-report–2013.
7
Department of Labour, ‘Annual Industrial Action Report 2014’; Brand at the 27th Annual
Labour Law Conference in Johannesburg quoted by Odendaal, ‘SA one of the most violent,
strike-prone countries’ Mining Weekly 14 August 2014, available at http://
www.miningweekly.com.
8
Bhorat & Tseng, ‘South Africa’s strike data revisited’ 2 April 2014, available at
www.brookings.edu/blogs/africa.
9
Ibid.
VIOLENT, FREQUENT AND LENGTHY STRIKES IN SOUTH AFRICA 437
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