Social pacts have become a mantra of South Africa's political transition. Ever since the notion was mooted by Geoff Schreiner (1991; 1994) and Adrienne Bird (Bird and Schreiner, 1992), who were then senior officials in the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the idea of a social pact has appealed to leadership figures in business, labour and the state. It is not difficult to imagine why. After all, a social pact promises the possibility of peace between warring social partners, a non-zero-sum outcome where all sides stand to gain at least part of what they desire. For an incumbent political elite, who needed to manage popular and stakeholder expectations and grow the economy, a social pact was a particularly attractive solution. But the romanticised expectations and euphoria surrounding the establishment of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) in 1996 were soon dashed by the cold reality of everyday economics and politics. Within a year or two, business, labour, and the state were bickering over the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy, and almost all other government policies. A climate of political mistrust spread throughout the country during President Thabo Mbeki's terms in office, interrupted by brief attempts by the African National Congress (ANC) and COSATU to broker a kind of truce – usually around election periods.

Yet although hopes for a social pact were dashed, the idea retained its hold on the imaginations of many academics and leaders in business, labour and the state. Every now and then, therefore, the idea resurfaces. It arose for example after the upsurge of labour activism following the ANC's victory in the general elections of April 2009. At that time, driven by the biting effects of the economic recession, the global backlash against corporate executives’ remuneration packages, and the fear that the ANC (including COSATU members deployed in the Cabinet and in government more broadly) was abandoning its roots and being seduced by the trappings of office, unions became more active and robust in their wage negotiations. Over the next few years, this led to a set of rolling public and private sector strikes. In 2010 20 674 737 workdays were lost – the highest yet recorded (Department of Labour, 2011: 26). Caught off guard, business and political leaders initially reacted by berating workers.