The Workers Organisation for Socialist Action (WOSA) was a

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

organisation in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. Launched in April 1990 as a national organisation, the WOSA was opposed to racism, tribalism and sexism and supports socialism, accountability, democracy and the leadership of the black working class. The group was formed by a need for an organization that could raise workers issues without being aligned to any political party and has dealt with working conditions, wages, unemployment, housing, education, health and transport. It also claimed that the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

was raising hopes which were unrealisable under

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

. Instead, for the

1994 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa between 26 and 29 April 1994. The elections were the first in which citizens of all races were allowed to take part, and were therefore also the first held with universal suffrage. The election was c ...

, it formed the Workers List Party in alliance with the International Socialist Movement (South Africa) (ISM), which shared much of the politics of (but was not affiliated to) the

International Socialist Tendency The International Socialist Tendency (IST) is an international grouping of unorthodox Trotskyist organisations espousing the ideas of Tony Cliff (1917–2000), founder of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in Britain (not to be confused with ...

. The aim was to build a mass workers' party. The group took only 4,169 votes, and the Workers List was soon abandoned. The organisation, chaired by Neville Alexander, soon formed links with

Workers Liberty The Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL), also known as Workers' Liberty, is a Trotskyist group in Britain and Australia, which has been identified with the theorist Sean Matgamna throughout its history. It publishes the newspaper '' Solidarity'' ...

, but following a disillusionment after the poor election result, its membership declined and it changed direction. In 1997, it hosted a conference with the Italian group

Socialismo Rivoluzionario Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

, also attended by Lalit from Mauritius and the International Bolshevik Tendency. It was close to the

United Secretariat of the Fourth International The Fourth International (FI), founded in 1938, is a Trotskyist international. In 1963, following a ten-year schism, the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International, the International Secretariat and the International Com ...

and published ''Vukani Basebenzi'' and ''Workers' Voice''.Leftist parties of South Africa
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References

{{Authority control 1990 establishments in South Africa Defunct civic and political organisations in South Africa Organizations established in 1990 Organizations with year of disestablishment missing Social class in South Africa Trotskyist organisations in South Africa Working class in South Africa