Business, Labor in S. Africa Draft Charter for Peace

South African trade union and business leaders said Saturday that they have drawn up a peace charter to revitalize stalled democracy talks and minimize the crippling effect of next month’s pro-democracy general strike.

A statement by the 1.3-million-member Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Coordinating Committee on Labor Affairs (SACCOLA), an employer federation, did not disclose the contents of the charter to be released next week, but one of the leaders said consensus had been reached on a joint approach.

Reading from the text, the leader, a top unionist who declined to be named, said “The Charter for Peace, Democracy and Reconstruction” commits both parties to help curb political violence, combat poverty, and intervene and mediate in industrial conflicts. It also suggests steps to be taken to get constitutional negotiations back on track.

The announcement of the charter followed a decision by the U.N. Security Council to send an envoy to South Africa to explore what role the organization could play in restarting negotiations and ending spiraling violence.

The envoy, former U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance, will leave for South Africa this week, U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali announced.

In previous U.N. missions, Vance helped to broker a series of cease-fires in the Balkan civil war, and sought to achieve a truce in the fighting between Armenians and Azerbaijanis over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In Paris, Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress, said the U.N. decision is a victory for the ANC.

“We asked in our resolution for the appointment of a special representative of the secretary general to come to South Africa. We never asked for anything else,” he said. “And the Security Council has passed that resolution. So it’s a victory for us.”

COSATU, allies of the ANC, which has broken off democracy talks, said the peace charter does not undermine their relationship but is a last-ditch attempt to get talks back on track.

“This charter will be released with the full blessing of the ANC. The ANC and COSATU regard the charter as a victory for the democratic movement. As allies we are not bent on battering the economy, but we are prepared to talk to anyone for the sake of democracy,” the source said.

COSATU and SACCOLA listed several actions they believe could end the political impasse in South Africa. They also proposed a forum to address rising food prices and moves to upgrade migrant worker hostels regarded as springboards for attacks on township residents.