Defence unions a challenge for alliance
September 25, 2009
 By Terry Bell
Much murk and misinformation has clouded the issue of trade unions and the military. For example, the lie that soldiers went on strike last month because of unionisation, and may do so again, continues to be promoted.
Both President Jacob Zuma, most recently at the Cosatu congress in Midrand this week, and Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu have claimed as fact that "soldiers" went on strike last month; that they did so at the time of the controversial march on the Union Buildings.
"But there was no strike, it was a protest march by off-duty personnel," says SA National Defence Union (Sandu) organiser Lafiuf Mohapi. Sandu, the larger of the two unions in the armed forces, called for and organised the march that ended in violent clashes with the police.
The SA Security Forces Union (Sasfu) has also come out in support of the protest march. In a formal statement, Sasfu commissar and national organiser Fieldmore Mapeto claims that unarmed soldiers were "attacked" by police.
Both unions have also pointed out that any army, navy or air force members who left their posts would be awol (absent without leave) and would be dealt with in accordance with military regulations. They also accept that, "as a true essential service", they do not have the right to strike.
But soldiers, sailors and air crews do have the constitutional right to form and join trade unions and to protest when they feel their employer is being unreasonable. This right was upheld a decade ago by the Constitutional Court and is binding on the government.
Zuma alluded to this last month when he noted that "court rulings are never absolute" and that the writers of the constitution "might have made a mistake" regarding the right to unionisation.
However, he told Cosatu delegates this week that "we (the ANC national executive) took a position in favour of deunionisation of the military". He was confident that a resolution would be found, apparently through the establishment of a military services commission (MSC).
Sasfu president Bheki Mvovo, a delegate to the congress, does not agree. "Legally, they can't ban our union."
Young Communist League (YCL) national secretary and an ANC member of parliament Buti Manamela went even further, describing the MSC as an attempt to establish a "sweetheart union". The YCL has been one of the most vociferous supporters of unionisation of the military, although it refers only to Sasfu.
This is not surprising since the core group of soldiers who initially formed Sandu were drawn from the former SA Defence Force; Sasfu, on the other hand, draws its support primarily from former members of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, most of whose leading members were members of the SACP.
"But we are not politically aligned," says Mvovo. "We are an independent trade union that is affiliated to Cosatu (which is) part of the (ANC-led) alliance, but remains an independent federation."
Privately, members of both military unions admit the government seems determined to see them disbanded. "We are not going to dissolve ourselves," says a junior officer and Sasfu member.
He points out that the government requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament to effect an amendment to the constitution. But he warns that this would not only "drive the unions underground", but could precipitate a major crisis within the governing alliance.
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