A critical analysis of the causes of violent misconduct during strikes and pickets in South Africa

Abstract : There is a prevalence of strike violence and misconduct during pickets in South Africa. The legislative and judicial arms are particularly faced with a conundrum of how to regulate the constitutional right to strike without infringing on it. In many cases that involve violent strikes, courts have commented that strike violence is an inevitable consequence, and that the courts will intervene only when there is a certain level or degree of violence surpassed by the employees, which justify such intervention. The Labour Relation Act (LRA) does not extensively regulate the matter of strike related violence. This exposes the shortcoming of the legislature in providing adequate measures to address this prevalent issue. The inadequacies in the LRA also contribute to the dilemma faced by the courts. The courts are burdened with the duty to create or broaden the law in this regard through precedence. Total eradication of the scourge of violent strikes may not be feasible in the near future, yet this study seeks to bring forth some aspects worth considering in reducing the prevalence of violence during collective bargaining. The point of departure of this study is to critically analyse the legal causes of violent actions that accompany the exercise of the right to strike and picket in South Africa. The study argues that the causes of violence in industrial actions is the socio economic gap that exists between previously disadvantaged groups and the whites from the apartheid dispensation to date, the norm of resorting to violent conduct during protests dating back to the apartheid era, trade union rivalry and inadequacies of the Labour Relations Act which are mentioned in greater detail in chapter three. The study recommends measures that can be taken by role players in reducing the prevalence of violence in industrial actions and how to address the shortcomings of the LRA.LL.M. (Labour Law