Labour meeting has come late
- Category: Comment
- Written by Limbani Katsache
When government feels it has done its best in the midst of an overwhelming thumbs down from the public in the way the ongoing strikes have been handled, it can possibly mean one thing — there is a disconnect between the two sides. In other words, government has failed to move with the people as it attempts to negotiate the rough economic terrain which has brought about the current volatile situation.
It may well be the case that government has done the right things in trying to rehabilitate an economy that was on the verge of collapsing, but it is important to realise that doing the right thing is not always enough. The people which it serves need to buy into whatever is happening and it is clear, not only from the strikes, but also from the damning indictment of government’s handling of the same, that this has not been the case.
Obviously, government knew that the economy was bad as it was coming in and that the situation was likely to get worse with the proposed interventions which included the devaluation and floatation of the currency. It was, therefore, necessary at that point to prepare the public for what was to come and take pre-emptive action to avoid further damage resulting from industrial action.
The meeting taking place tomorrow [Monday] has the potential to help calm the waters but one can’t help feeling it has come a little too late. If this consultative process had started prior to taking some bold decisions, there are strong chances that we could have sailed through these troubled waters more soberly than has, so far, been the case.Â
