'SA has most militant working class in the world'

The WEF's 2015 Global Competitiveness Ranking placed SA 49th in competitiveness out of 140 countries.

JOHANNESBURG - The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) says South Africa's last place ranking in a cooperative labour employee relations survey shows that the country has the most militant working class in the world.

The World Economic Forum (WEF)'s 2015 Global Competitiveness Ranking has placed South Africa 49th in competitiveness out of 140 countries in the world.

But the relationship between workers and their bosses is ranked the worst out of all the countries surveyed.

General Secretary Irvin Jim says the South African team currently in Davos will champion mechanisation across industries.

He says workers are unlikely to benefit.

"We are being categorised as number one in terms of militancy in the workforce. I'm saying to the SA Davos team; what they're debating now is how can they displace people and use machinery? What do you expect from that? Where will those workers go? The future looks very bleak."