Harm not exaggerated

DEAR SIR — I co-presented a talk to a New York business school here in Cape Town at which my co-presenter said that many of the strikes had been exaggerated and in fact very little damage was caused during the farming strikes in the Western Cape. Unfortunately, trade unions, and in particular the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), like to gloss over some of the negatives resulting from strike action. One of the lasting results of the farm labour strike was that many farms had their vines destroyed and some had buildings and expensive farm equipment burnt.

Many of these farmers have had to lodge claims with their insurers, and in particular under the South African Special Risks Insurance Association. We are informed that in one case a R70m claim was lodged with the destruction of a warehouse. Many of these claims are in the public domain and one day someone will do a calculation to show exactly what was lost in assets.

However, this wanton destruction is minor when compared with the destroyed perception of the international business community.

I had an occasion during this dis- cussion with the American business graduates to hear about their perception of doing business in SA. Unfortunately, the television images of farms burning and labourers marching with weapons are indelibly printed in their minds. Many of these young business people told me that it would be more reliable to invest in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa as opposed to SA. The world is a small one and many of these students reflected on the BMW statements about their refusal to grant SA another opportunity.

The world has come to realise that on many occasions, perception is reality, and the message that SA is giving to the world is that labour unrest is the norm. The only way we can change this perception is to gather the sane voices in Parliament, together with the business leadership, and to ensure that illegal strikes are stopped quickly by both our courts and the political leadership, and that criminal elements in the legal strikes are dealt with harshly. Obviously there needs to be a will within our government to change the negative perceptions, and this will be somewhat dampened by the incredibly negative alliance between Cosatu and the ruling party. The sooner this alliance is annulled the better.

Michael Bagraim

Cape Town