Imperialism and social movement unionism in South African responses to the Just Transition

In November 2021, South Africa signed the first international Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). This unlocked 8.5 billion USD in donor funding (primarily loans) to decarbonise its economy. The processes and substance of this decarbonisation have been criticised by unions and by civil society. This article traces the stakeholder consultation process through which civil society encouraged marginal improvements while broadly legitimising the JETP, and it details the causes and implications of South African unions’ decreased engagement with the Just Transition. The article argues that the specifics of civil society’s engagement with multistakeholder consultations, and organised labour’s disengagement, work towards legitimising a donor- and market-led transition. In partially explaining why a powerful civil society and the labour movement have not demanded more radical change, the article highlights tensions between the ‘professional class’ that dominates responses to climate change and a workers’ movement where political power is deeply tied to identarian mobilisation.