Cape Town — As tens of thousands of public servants marched in support of a pay claim against the government on Friday, President Thabo Mbeki clashed publicly with a top official of the union movement allied to his ruling African National Congress (ANC).
In his weekly online newsletter, published on the ANC's website, Mbeki lashed out at Zwelinzima Vavi, the general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), for making what he called a "grossly repugnant statement." Mbeki was taking issue with a claim by Vavi that the government was using Nazi-like propaganda in proclaiming an economic boom in the country.
Vavi reportedly said that inequalities between rich and poor were deepening and that while the black elite in South Africa continued to develop slowly, the overall quality of life for black people was not improving.
Mbeki wrote that Vavi's analogy to Hitler's Germany was "very serious in the extreme." He added that the ANC government had rescued the economy from terminal decline, the country was experiencing the longest period of economic growth in history and it had restructured the national budget to meet the needs of the poor in particular.
He condemned "the seduction of reckless demagogy" and accused Vavi of spreading information "that bears no relationship to the truth…
"The truth that he wishes to deny," said Mbeki, "is that our economy is developing very well, but needs to grow at higher rates and to continue to modernise itself. The standard of living of the masses of our people is improving significantly; however, we must accelerate our advance in this regard."
The ANC, Cosatu and the South African Communist Party operate in a sometimes fractious "Tripartite Alliance."
Friday's marches in cities across South Africa were in support of a claim for pay increases of 12 percent. The government has offered six percent. Cosatu's President Willie Madisha, told marchers outside Parliament in Cape Town: "We are not baboons, we cannot be given peanuts." Cosatu's public sector unions have threatened to go on strike from June 1.
Full Text: Letter From the President - The ANC, Our Government and Nazi Propaganda
