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The playful revolutionary

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Page context: Home > Transport International Magazine > Issue 24 July 2006 > The playful revolutionary

He is known to be stubborn, frank and radical in his views, yet Randall Howard has brought humour and charm to his role as Secretary General of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), which plays host to the ITF Congress in Durban in August. Profile by Ronnie Mamba.

Randall Howard loves to laugh. He finds the funny side in most things. He even pokes fun at himself, which softens considerably his rather hard exterior. It’s a helpful quality in a young organisation like Satawu, which was borne of a merger between two transport unions, the Transport and General Workers’ Union (T&G) and the South African Rail and Harbor Workers’ Union (Sarhwu) just five years ago.

The two obviously had different cultures and if their merger had not been carefully managed, it could easily have ignited tensions.

Many agree that Howard’s grit and tenacity have helped him to steer the organisation, but they also find his unconventional approach to human relations and politics refreshing. He is direct and frank, yet he has been quite successful in harmonising relations, even in a country like South Africa where one careless remark can plunge an organisation into conflict.

Born in Bonteheiwel, in the Cape Flats, which was then one of the most notorious parts of Cape Town, his radical political views were largely shaped by the realities of the notorious apartheid system that governed his childhood.

At the age of eight his parents took him out of the crazy environs of Bonteheiwel, where drugs, gangs, and social deprivation were rife. However he did not entirely escape the realities of apartheid, which classified him as “coloured” and therefore quite a way down in the social pecking order.

Barefoot and bunking school

Money was fairly scarce, but his parents managed to move to a lower middle class neighbourhood, Green Haven, and held down jobs – his father at sea, his mother in a local clothing factory.

Randall booms with laughter when he recalls days when he would bunk school rather than stand the embarrassment of having trekked there barefoot.

“School was no problem academically, in spite of some severe corporal punishment,” he says. But it was not until he discovered sport that he felt he had found a sanctuary.

“I was extremely competitive as a child and I think this has stayed with me till now. Soccer and athletics became very important to me then, and I got a lot of recognition around the area. It was through football that I broke racial barriers. I was able to get along fine with the Indian people with whom we shared a street. I even played in their team.”

As the star striker for no less a team than the mighty Moon Lighters FC (seven divisions below the premier league), he was getting a degree of female attention. He sashayed through his neighbourhood and worked his romantic charms – landing himself in trouble at the age of 20, when his girlfriend got pregnant. They married, but the relationship did not last.

After a string of casual jobs in shops and restaurants, he got his first “real job” at a container depot, and became a revolutionary.

From soccer to shop steward

“When I joined this company I found an active movement was underway to recruit staff to the Transport and General Workers’ Union, because the boss, an Irishman, was a bully and a racist.”

Randall promptly joined and, already well known as a local football star, he was immediately elected shop steward. A few months later he became chairman of the shop stewards’ committee.

“When we called a meeting to demand formal recognition, our manager was livid,” he remembers. “Tables flew and insults were exchanged. He was too shocked that we had been organising this right under his nose.

“Eventually, after several work stoppages, he reluctantly came round. He apologised and recognised us. That was a serious victory.

“For me it was a life changing experience. With the benefit of age now I can see that it also confused me. I began to personalise the struggle between me and the boss. This did not win me any favours, because I became very careless in my pursuit to ‘fix’ him.”

The vultures were circling over the cocky activist, who didn’t feel the need to explain himself to anybody. When he was eventually dismissed, management submitted such a comprehensive dossier that it was clear they did not want to take chances. Even his appeal was dismissed out of hand inspite of protests from workers.

The silver lining to this cloud was two-fold. The support that he got from his fellow employees gave him the confidence to press on. But more significantly, it opened space for him to look beyond the South Africa Container Depot.

His very public struggles with management had boosted his profile and when he left SA Container Depot, he was seen as brave and energetic enough to advance the struggles of the union from higher up. After serving briefly as an organiser he was elected national vice secretary of TGWU.

So how did he turn from a foul-mouthed rebel to a respected union leader whose views are sought all over the country?

“I am a lot more knowledgeable now than I was when I was younger. I have learned to be a team player, and to delegate. I have been generally raised by the union and I am indebted to it.”

Randall also acknowledges that his exposure to international trade unionism via the ITF has been critical to his growth and learning.

“The former TGWU and Sarhwu were major recipients of ITF co-ordinated solidarity and support during the days of apartheid. We have learned through experience how important that can be – both at the level of practical solidarity and at the level of morale. This makes us all the more proud to be hosting the 2006 ITF Congress in Durban. It is our moment to give something back and to share the fruits of our long struggle, including the vitality of the South African workers’ movement and our culture.”

Ronnie Mamba is press officer for Satawu, based in Johannesburg.

Randall Howard: thoughts on globalisation>>

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