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South Africa: football euphoria vs. harsh reality of society
Two weeks ago, nearly 1.3 million government employees have begun a strike, claiming a salary increase of 8.6 % – twice the actual inflation, and housing allowance revision. But positions between the unions and the government are still far away. Despite the president Jacob Zuma speech that mingled threats and calls for negotiation, the most troublesome is elsewhere: The movement may stoke political tensions within the coalition, politically marked on the left. That means all those that supported the president, among them, the unions.
Protests and strikes are also signs of exasperation of the weakest categories of the South Africans. If Jacob Zuma and the ANC were comfortably re-elected in May 2009, the victory seemed primarily related to the absence of a credible opposition. Sixteen years after the end of apartheid, the poor black people are still waiting for the benefits promised by the regime change. Unemployment is officially up to 25% of the workforce population, a figure reflecting just a few of the socio-economic reality. Number of workers can only survive in the informal economy and many jobs, including those of the public function, are underpaid. The Populist President Jacob Zuma could be tempted to yield to demands to meet its base and not alienating the unions needed for a possible re-election. But any largess conceded, would immediately be charged by economists and the investors. For President Zuma, the truce of football is over.