Thesis submitted to the faculty of arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of arts. / This thesis examines the political trajectories of the Independent union movement from 1970-1993. It argues that the political strategies adopted by tbe unions' leadership reflected significant difterences with regard to the political contest over the democratic form of South African society. The political ideology of the unions' leadership was made up of two contrasting 'logics' of political struggle. The one, which we characterise as "simple polarisation", viewed the objective of the unions' struggles primarily in terms of a competition for political dominance which involved a simple dichotomy between the apartheid state and a unified opposition movement. In this view the opposition was conceived of as a homogenous, collective subject, unified in its common assault on the state. Underlying this logic of opposition was a denial of specific and different identities and interests and democracy was seen to be directly associated with the destiny of one distinct social actor. The logic of "simple polarisation" was dominant within the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) throughout the 1980's. It was nourished primarily by COSATU's close relationship with the charterist section of the wider opposition movement There existed within the unions a second political tradition which emphasised a logic of "institutionalised pluralism". This current viewed the organisation of opposition primarily in institutional terms. It emphasised the building of union independence outside the aegis of the wider opposltlon movement. Underlying this tradition was a pluralist conception of democracy, Associated with the early Federation of South African Trade Unions legacy of institutional independence, this logic reared its head within COSATU towards the late 1980's when the federation entered a series of corporatist arrangements with employers and the state. Although there seems to be evidence that there existed (at least some) support within the ranks of FOSATU of a form of workers' control more easily reconellable with an anti-pluralist than pluralist conception of democracy, the nature of FOSATU was such, that. when sufficiently pressed on the issue of which logic of democracy - "simple polarisation" or "institutionalised pluralism" - it endorsed, the latter would have been selected over the former. / Andrew Chakane 2019

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / Through South African labour legislation, bargaining councils are empowered to conclude collective agreements between employers and trade unions. While bargaining councils were created for virtually every sector within the South African private sector, only one bargaining council exists for the public sector. This public sector bargaining council is known as the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC). The PCSBC subsequently established four sectoral councils to further collectively bargain on matters pertaining to sectoral issues relevant to the sector it represents. However, the PSCBC remains the apex of these four public service sectoral bargaining councils. This thesis focuses on how the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) contributes to social dialogue within South African public service. This thesis seeks to fill a significant literature gap on collective bargaining as accomplished by the PSCBC. The thesis briefly examines the history of collective bargaining in the South African public service. The research methodology utilised includes information gleaned from annual reports published by the PSCBC. Interviews of selected stakeholders such as government officials and labour organisations involved in the PSCBC were conducted. The PSCBC objectives are identified and analysed against the performance of the PSCBC for the period 1997 to 2007. The relevant PSCBC role players are identified. The power realities between these role players are reflected. The criteria for remaining a party to these PSCBC will be explained. The thesis holds that historically an adversarial relationship existed between the state as employer and the recognised trade unions. The establishment of the PSCBC created the opportunity for the historical adversaries between an employer and trade union to be converted into social dialogue interactions, which are commonly believed to be a better approach in resolving their differences. / South Africa

This thesis is in the field of Industrial Relations. It concerns a micro-level investigation of the dynamics of public sector industrial relations in post-apartheid South Africa. It focuses on the Tripartite Alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and explores what the Alliance relationship has meant for the traditional roles of employees and their representatives on the one hand, and employers and their representatives on the other. The thesis examines the political, organisational and societal contradictions and implications for COSATU public sector union affiliates and their members in their relationship to the ANC as an ally (via the Alliance) and the context in which ANC members form part of management (in government). The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) was used as an archetype of a COSATU public sector union affiliate that engages with the State as employer at the municipal level. It is a case study of Makana Local Municipality (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa) using qualitative research techniques and content analysis to derive the relevant information. The author conducted a series of in-depth interviews of key informants and observations at Makana Local Municipality were done. Based on the empirical data obtained from the investigation, the thesis argues that the traditional roles in the employment relationship at the workplace have been affected by the political alliance. Industrial relations roles have become increasingly vague especially since many within local government share ANC/SACP memberships with members of the trade union. The study also highlights that within an increasingly globalising post-apartheid environment, the Alliance provides mixture of benefits and challenges for workplace negotiations and employment relations in ways that macro-level analyses of employer-employee relationships do not always capture.

This thesis aims to make sense of Left politics in South Africa within the Tri-partite Alliance between the ANC, SACP and COSATU. The thesis focuses on developments in the Eastern Cape, between 2000 and 2008. The thesis describes the prevalent forms of Left politics in the Eastern Cape and the tendencies in the Alliance that organise this Left. The thesis also examines the historical, social and political conditions and that shape the form and content of Left politics in the province. Based on a survey of literature on what is considered the core manifestations of Left politics globally in the 20th Century Left politics is defined as the elements of the political spectrum that are concerned with the progressive resolution of involuntary disadvantage and with a goal of abolishing class society and capitalism. Although the Alliance as a whole should be seen to be on the Left on an international political spectrum, this thesis argues that the Left/Right dichotomy is useful for understanding the politics of the Alliance, as long as the second part of this definition is taken into consideration. The Alliance Left is understood as those leaders and activists within the Alliance that have the SACP and Cosatu as their operating base. It will be argued that this Left is, in its practice, largely concerned with what insiders refer to as politics of „influence‟, rather than with politics of „structural transformation‟. It is the ANC that is the leader of the Alliance and the party in government and thus it is on the terrain of ANC strategy, policy and positions that contestation in the Alliance plays itself out. Thus, for the Left, there is strength in the idea of the Alliance. However, there are significant theoretical and political weaknesses in the Left that undermine the possibility of making good use of various corporatist platforms to pursue the agenda of the Left in the Eastern Cape. There is also increased contestation within the Alliance Left itself about the continued usefulness of this strategy.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / By the mid 1980s the Nationalist Party had sought to salvage almost four decades of apartheid policies that were based on white supremacy. In this regard it engaged in dual strategies of repression and reform. The state's strategies were challenged by organisations and movements within civil society. In this regard a number of community-based organisation mushroomed both nationally and regionally. These organisations were co-ordinated by adult political activists most of whom were perceived to lack the necessary skills to manage organisation more effectively. In this conjuncture, the Adult Education Departments at five South African universities developed certificate-level programmes to address this gap. This study focuses on three such programmes, the Community Adult Education Programme, based at the University of Cape Town, the Certificate for Educators of Adults at the University of the Western Cape, and the Community Adult Educators Training Course based at the University of Natal- Pietermaritzburg. This study investigates the social and political conditions that gave rise to the three certificate programmes. It also investigates the relationship between the external social and political conditions and the internal curriculum practices of the certificates. In this process it analyses the nature of the relationship and identifies shifts in the programmes and the curriculum practices between 1986 and 1996. The study uses a qualitative approach and draws on elements of critical theory and social constructionism to understand the data gleaned from interviews and documents. This study argues that all three certificate programmes have directly been tied into the social political context in South Africa between 1986 and 1996. In this decade the study argues, there are three distinct political periods, namely repression/reform, negotiations and fragile democracy. It argues that distinct features from each period have shaped the certificates in different ways. Along with the national political conditions as manifest at the level of the state, the private sector and civil society there are local and institutional dynamics that contribute to the different forms assumed by these certificates. The study further argues that the external social - political conditions from each period have demarcated and fixed the boundaries for the certificates as a social practice. In this process the curriculum practices for each period permitted certain words and practices in preference to others. Consequently, it argues that the external and internal social and political dimensions together construct the certificates as a discourse. This study is based on a belief that the role of a certificate practitioner is to creatively locate the day to day practices within different theoretical frameworks in order to advance studies into sites of adult education practices. This study represents a step in such a direction.

Thesis (MA)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The role and influence of interest groups and non-state actors in the foreign policy process remains an interesting topic for debate. This study explores the role of three South African trade union organisations, COSATU, FEDUSA and Solidariteit, in the foreign policy process of South Africa. It asks what role these trade union organisations played between 1999 and 2012 in the South African foreign policy process and what factors had a bearing on that role. The core argument of this study is that trade union organisations participate in creating public awareness of foreign policy issues among its members and the broader population. Through this role they, in turn, get involved in the foreign policy debate by promoting the participation of the masses. The dual approach of quantitative and qualitative content analysis of online news articles, statements and policy documents produced interesting results about the factors that motivate trade union interests in the South African foreign policy process. The main findings show that South African trade union organisations attempt to influence or engage in the economic and foreign policy processes when it affects their members. Their economic focus is on the extent to which economic factors have a bearing on how the macro-economic policy of the state favours the wealth and development of its citizens over the financial gain of international investors. Interesting findings are presented by the political factors that have a bearing on trade union organisations‟ roles in the foreign policy process of South Africa. The results show that trade union organisations have an inherent interest in the strengthening of democratic values, governance and the protection of human rights. Similar to the analysis of economic factors, it was found that South African trade unions show a greater interest in foreign policy events or issues that affect trade unions or workers domestically or in other states. This can be attributed to the strong sense of solidarity among trade union organisations for greater representation in political and policy processes. The findings of this study imply that South African trade union organisations are part of a growing trend among non-state actors and domestic interest groups that take an interest in issues and events beyond national borders. The results of this study correspond with arguments made in existing literature that South Africa trade union organisations play a minimal role in the making of foreign policy. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die rol en invloed van belangegroepe en niestaatsrolspelers in die vorming van buitelandse beleid bly 'n interessante onderwerp vir bespreking. Hierdie studie verken die rol van drie Suid-Afrikaanse vakbondorganisasies – Cosatu, Fedusa en Solidariteit – in die ontwikkeling van die land se buitelandse beleid. Dit ondersoek die rol wat hierdie organisasies tussen 1999 en 2012 in buitelandse beleid gespeel het, en die faktore wat daardie rol beïnvloed het. Die kernargument van hierdie studie is dat vakbondorganisasies hul lede sowel as die groter publiek van kwessies met betrekking tot buitelandse beleid help bewus maak. Deurdat hulle massadeelname aanmoedig, word die organisasies op hulle beurt by die debat oor buitelandse beleid betrek. Die dubbele benadering van kwantitatiewe én kwalitatiewe inhoudsontleding van aanlyn nuusberigte, verklarings en beleidsdokumente bring interessante resultate oor die redes vir vakbondbelangstelling in Suid-Afrikaanse buitelandse beleid aan die lig. Die hoofbevindinge toon dat Suid-Afrikaanse vakbondorganisasies die vorming van ekonomiese en buitelandse beleid probeer beïnvloed of daaraan deelneem wanneer dit hul lede raak. Ekonomies konsentreer hulle veral op die mate waarin die makro-ekonomiese beleid van die staat die welvaart en ontwikkeling van sy burgers bo finansiële gewin vir internasionale beleggers stel. Dit is egter veral die politieke beweegredes vir vakbonddeelname aan die land se buitelandse beleid wat insiggewende resultate oplewer. Die studie bevind dat vakbonde 'n inherente belang het by die versterking van demokratiese waardes en bestuur, en die beskerming van menseregte. Soos met die ekonomiese faktore, dui die ontleding van die politieke faktore ook daarop dat Suid-Afrikaanse vakbonde 'n groter belangstelling toon in gebeure of kwessies insake buitelandse beleid wat vakbonde of hul lede binnelands sowel as in ander state raak. Dít kan toegeskryf word aan die sterk samehorigheidsgevoel onder vakbondorganisasies om gesamentlik beter verteenwoordiging in politieke en beleidsprosesse te bekom. Die bevindinge van hierdie studie impliseer dat Suid-Afrikaanse vakbondorganisasies deel uitmaak van 'n toenemende tendens onder niestaatsrolspelers en binnelandse belangegroepe om al hoe meer in kwessies en gebeure buite landsgrense belang te stel. Die resultate van die studie ooreenstem met die argumente gestel in bestaande literatuur dat Suid-Afrikaanse vakbond organisasies ʼn beperkte rol binne buitelandse-beleidsmaking speel.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Black South Africans have been exposed to an unequal and divided education system. It has been expected that the basis for an equitable education system would be laid in the post apartheid period. In this thesis I have provided an analysis of education policy development in South Africa between May 1994 and mid-1997. My main aim has been to understand the policy vision that the post apartheid state has enacted as the basis for educational reconstruction. The conceptual framework of this thesis is located in the academic fields of Education and Development and Policy Sociology. I have focused on the interaction between the broad delimitations set by the structural, economic and political dimensions in society on the one hand, and the political and policy dynamics that have given education policy its specific meaning on the other hand. The role of the government in enacting a specific policy vision has been at the centre of my analysis. The government has effected a conservative vision with the adoption of the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) macroeconomic strategy. GEAR has targeted the development of an export-based global economy along post fordist lines. Predicated upon an emphasis on fiscal discipline, the dominant policy orientation has supported equity but without an emphasis on redress. This approach has not provided the necessary basis for education reconstruction. The National Qualifications Framework (NQF)and Outcomes-based education (OBE) embody a definite vision in terms of which education policy would be aligned with economic development. This vision is based on the false assumption that education should playa fundamental role in producing the sophisticated labour demands of a globally competitive economy. The logic of both GEAR and the NQF is internally inconsistent and the relationship between these two policy frameworks is unsustainable. By mid-1997 a definitive narrow and conservative education policy vision had been established which would impede the development of an equitable education system. Education policy 'narrowing' has not been achieved easily, nor has its outcome been inevitable. The specificity of the political context and policy processes has shaped the policy outcomes. A moderate constitutional dispensation has impeded the possibility of developing a radical policy vision. The semi-federal powers awarded to the provinces have led to inconqruence between national and provincial policy. Court challenges aimed at protecting historically acquired educational privileges, have been brought by conservative groups against national education legislation. The apartheid-era bureaucrats, whose jobs were protected by the negotiated constitution, have impeded the development of progressive policy. They brought the conservative policy reformism of the apartheid state into the new policy processes. The NQF has been developed on the basis of a policy consensus between labour and capital in support of skills training and upgrading of workers. Participation in policy processes has been determined 0[1 the basis of identified stakeholders This has given rise to a technicist policy approach that bas excluded many interest groups, academics and professional experts. Most teachers felt alienated by the curriculum policy process. Policy has been developed in a reconstituted civil society. The progressive education movement has been demobilised, and its place has been taken by a constellation of conservative forces who have used the moderate political climate to advance conservative policy interests. The government has had to make policy within a constrained political and policy environment. With regard to the main conceptual underpinning of this thesis, i.e. the relationship between equality and (economic) development, it is clear that the government has favoured the development dimension in pursuit of an education framework that would aid the generation of a globally competitive economy. Social equality has thus been sideline. I have advanced the view that where the government has reneged on the delivery of the social welfare and educational demands of an expectant polity, education policy has manifested as, means of compensatory legitimation at the symbolic level to 'signal', rather than give effect to real change. In my analysis of school access and school curriculum policy, I have suggested that policy has been limited to 'signalling' a commitment to a reconstructed and equitable education system. This has masked the conservative framework that has come to underpin education policy by mid-1997.