Post-apartheid politics: Workers of South Africa, disunite! THE African National Congress (ANC) is a broad church, home to all manner of political beliefs from communist radicals to austerity-minded finance ministers, ardent nationalists and vocal pan-Africanists. But a recent split in the country's trade-union federation, a key ally of the ruling party, portends important shifts in South Africa's post-apartheid politics. Since the first democratic elections in 1994 the ANC has ruled in a three-way alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party. The cleaving of this struggle-era partnership has often been foretold. Yet it has proved surprisingly durable even as the ANC has drifted steadily towards the political centre ground, privatised state-owned companies and cut tax rates for firms and people with high incomes. Now, however, the cracking of the labour movement may lead to a wider realignment. For South African trade unionists, November 7th was the night of the long spears: at a meeting that dragged into the early hours of the next morning, COSATU executives voted 33-24 to expel the group's largest member, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA). At issue were calls by NUMSA's leader, Irvin Jim, for COSATU to end its alliance with the ruling party and instead to back the formation of a socialist "United Front" consisting of non-governmental organisations, community groups and churches with an eye later to forming a full workers" party that would contest elections. NUMSA's criticism of the alliance with the ruling party underlines dissatisfaction with the dismal performance of the economy and the corruption of the ANC that has grown acute under President Jacob Zuma. NUMSA loudly withdrew its support for the ANC ahead of general elections last May, saying the party no longer represented the interests of workers. Nevertheless it did not want to leave COSATU and hoped instead to pull the federation away from the ANC and have it back the workers" party. One prominent unionist described the vote as a "struggle for the soul" of the labour movement. With NUMSA go some 350,000 workers, or 15% of COSATU's total membership. Seven other unions have pledged to leave in protest over the expulsion. The ANC's secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, called NUMSA's ousting "disappointing and tragic," describing it as bad for COSATU - whose future is now very shaky - for the ANC and the tripartite alliance, "as well as for society in general." But for a union to keep quiet means losing members: the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), formerly COSATU's largest union, has dwindled to irrelevance as members have defected to more militant rivals, such as the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU). A potential leader for a new NUMSA-based party would be Zwelinzima Vavi, who is COSATU's secretary-general though at odds with the executive and seemingly on his way out. It remains to be seen whether a new workers" party would ally with the former ANC youth league leader, Julius Malema, who heads a radical upstart, the Economic Freedom Fighters, which received 6% of the national vote in the May polls. The first test would be the 2016 municipal elections, particularly in the battleground areas of Gauteng, the province that includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, and the Nelson Mandela Bay area around the coastal city of Port Elizabeth. The true measure will not become clear until the next general elections, in 2019. Many expect labour instability in the months ahead as NUMSA and its former allies scrabble over members, already a cause of tension. Over the longer run a reduction of the ANC's overwhelming power will probably be good for democracy. In time people are likely to see NUMSA's expulsion as a milestone in the creation of competitive politics in South Africa.