The 1973 Durban Strikes: Building Popular Democratic Power in South Africa

By the end of January 1973, workers in around 100 factories and other workplaces went on strike, including more than 6,000 workers at the Frame Group, at the time one of the largest textile companies in the world. The police beat and detained some of the strikers, but despite the repression, strikes cascaded up and down the coast and as far inland as Pietermaritzburg, affecting the docks, mills, manufacturing, and transport industries. Many Indian workers joined the strikes, and the consistent demands from the bosses to elect representative committees were refused. On 5 February, 3,000 municipal workers, African and Indian, walked off the job; by 7 February, this number rose to 16,000. Municipal work was classified as an essential service, so the strike was considered illegal. Unions were formed at a rapid clip in the chemical, garment, metal, and textile industries. The Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, appealed to the striking workers to return to work, promising to negotiate on their behalf. He also cynically sought to divert vertical conflict between African workers and white bosses onto a more horizontal plane by dividing Indian and African workers.