South Africa, known for its lush natural resources, has a work crisis on its hands. Anglo American Platinum, the world’s leading producer of Platinum has fired over 12,000 workers due to a prolonged, violent work strike for higher pay. The three week strike has costs the company an estimated $82 million and thousands of common miner’s work. 34 striking workers were killed by police forces on August 16^th after protests turned violent according to the BBC. Following suit, workers in the gold mining industry have begun to strike for higher wages, spreading the crisis. Tensions and pressures are high in South Africa where unemployment has risen to 25 percent. With the number of mining strikers exceeding 72 thousand, President Jacob Zuma is feeling the heat. The move by the AAP to fire their workers has been a blow to Zuma’s reputation and to the nation’s slowly growing economy. Although his African National Congress party has dominated every election since the end of Apartheid in 1994, his leadership of the party is in question. The South Africa parliamentary democracy may have the chance to prove once again its stability to withstand power transitions with the ANC leadership conference commencing in December.  

I picked this issue because South Africa is the giant of sub-Saharan Africa and has been relatively stable for decades. The growing unemployment rate is a huge problem, not only for the economy, but for the credibility of the ANC. The wave of democracy in the early 1990s throughout Africa was driven by economic recession and stagnation. The current high unemployment rate in South Africa sparked this massive strike and is already spreading to other industries. Although the country is already considered a democracy, the leadership could still be replaced due to the pressures of the people. The strike’s growing violence has amounted to 34 deaths already and is threatening to get worse. The police being responsible for the deaths, which could be classified as one-sided violence by the Uppsala Conflict Encyclopedia, is a black eye for the current administration.

The growing protest and violence could lead to a change in power along with the ousting of Jacob Zuma as President and leader of the ANC. Zuma needs to act quickly to answer the strike and growing conflict within his nation. If he stands back and lets the issue grow, he will surely be replaced by his party in December. He cannot lean on the protesters to help him stay in power because South Africa is not a Neopatrimonial state, therefore he must cooperate with the mining strikers. If he does not cooperate, the same protests and economic slowdown that contributed to the rise of democracy in South Africa will replace the democratic leader.

Works Cited

British Broadcasting Corporation. "South African mine owner Amplats fires 12,000 Workers". 5 October, 2012. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19848915>

"South African mining has been hit bay a wave of wildcat strikes, in which miners and officials have been killed " BBC. 5 October, 2012. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19848915>