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| South African Union Breaks From A.N.C. as Alliance Frays Further | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| LONDON — A simmering dispute within South Africa’s political establishment moved closer to a showdown on Monday when the country’s biggest labor union announced that it would break with the governing African Nation Congress and form a new socialist political party. | LONDON — A simmering dispute within South Africa’s political establishment moved closer to a showdown on Monday when the country’s biggest labor union announced that it would break with the governing African Nation Congress and form a new socialist political party. |
| The move by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, known as Numsa, dealt a significant blow to the coalition of labor and political forces that has dominated the country since the formal end of apartheid in 1994. It threatened to speed the realignment of political forces in South Africa and strengthen the government’s adversaries on the left. | The move by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, known as Numsa, dealt a significant blow to the coalition of labor and political forces that has dominated the country since the formal end of apartheid in 1994. It threatened to speed the realignment of political forces in South Africa and strengthen the government’s adversaries on the left. |
| But, as the country’s leaders and factions maneuvered on Monday, the full impact of Numsa’s step remained unclear. | But, as the country’s leaders and factions maneuvered on Monday, the full impact of Numsa’s step remained unclear. |
| “We decided to break with the alliance, and we resolved to form a united front and explore the possibility for socialism in South Africa,” Numsa said in a statement, quoted in news reports, that gave no further details. | “We decided to break with the alliance, and we resolved to form a united front and explore the possibility for socialism in South Africa,” Numsa said in a statement, quoted in news reports, that gave no further details. |
| South African politics has been dominated for two decades by a three-way alliance among the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions, of which Numsa is a member. The alliance, which grew from shared opposition to apartheid, has begun to fray. | South African politics has been dominated for two decades by a three-way alliance among the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions, of which Numsa is a member. The alliance, which grew from shared opposition to apartheid, has begun to fray. |
| Though Numsa withheld support from the A.N.C. in the general election in May, the party, led by President Jacob G. Zuma, won comfortably with 62 percent of the vote. Even so, it faces challenges, including charges of corruption and mismanagement that have fed popular disillusionment and provoked widespread complaints that the party has strayed from the masses it says it represents. | Though Numsa withheld support from the A.N.C. in the general election in May, the party, led by President Jacob G. Zuma, won comfortably with 62 percent of the vote. Even so, it faces challenges, including charges of corruption and mismanagement that have fed popular disillusionment and provoked widespread complaints that the party has strayed from the masses it says it represents. |
| The election also saw a strong showing by the much smaller Economic Freedom Fighters, a party led by Julius Malema, a left-wing firebrand who once led the A.N.C.’s youth wing. | The election also saw a strong showing by the much smaller Economic Freedom Fighters, a party led by Julius Malema, a left-wing firebrand who once led the A.N.C.’s youth wing. |
| Numsa has a claimed membership of some 340,000 workers in important economic sectors like the auto industry. It has shifted to the left in recent years, after disputes with the A.N.C. over labor and economic policy. | Numsa has a claimed membership of some 340,000 workers in important economic sectors like the auto industry. It has shifted to the left in recent years, after disputes with the A.N.C. over labor and economic policy. |
| In a statement explaining its position, Numsa said it would not voluntarily leave the labor federation, which remains allied with the ruling party. | In a statement explaining its position, Numsa said it would not voluntarily leave the labor federation, which remains allied with the ruling party. |
| Last week, the federation postponed a vote on whether to expel the metalworkers’ union from membership. | Last week, the federation postponed a vote on whether to expel the metalworkers’ union from membership. |