Saftu, Cosatu to embark on national day of action

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is set to lead a massive strike across the country on Wednesday, 7 October 2020. The strike is breaking from tradition as workers have been encouraged to stay at home, in line with COVID-19 regulations.

Both trade federations, which make up three million workers, are unhappy with government’s handling of a number issues, mainly corruption and unemployment and have called for action.

However some will also be taking to streets in parts of the country.

Here is where the demonstrations will be held:

• Gauteng – Members of Cosatu’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) will be leading protesting workers in Ekurhuleni and Sedibeng.
• Limpopo – Workers will be gathering at Groblersdal and Giyani, where they will then march to the local municipalities, police stations and labour departments.
• KwaZulu-Natal – Demonstrations will be held in Manguzi, Ladysmith, beginning at various points including local municipal offices.
• Mpumalanga – In Witbank, workers will gather in Lynnville Stadium while in Ermelo workers will start at Msukaligwa local Municipality premises.
• Eastern Cape – In Mthatha, workers will meet at Freedom Square while in Queenstown, they will gather at Indoor Sport Centre. Both protests will end at the respective labour departments.
• Northern Cape – Workers will be in Kimberley at the City Hall before heading to the office of the Premier.

Saftu’s general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi says they have had enough of government’s failures.

“We are determined to put all the necessary sacrifices to ensure that SA doesn’t have to talk about other growing levels of unemployment, poverty and inequalities in the next 26 years of democracy,” Vavi said.

Both unions have warned a number of services will be disrupted including schooling, transport and a number of government departments.

Public Transport

Cosatu wants the public transport system to be improved, saying was a reminder that most citizens do not have access to reliable, affordable, and integrated public transport system.

“Our public transport system is unsafe and many workers contracted the virus from the fully packed taxis. The failure of the government to properly regulate and support the public transport system,” Cosatu said in a statement.

Corruption

Government also faces the tough task of dealing with corruption with allegations having emerged in their numbers. Since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown, a flood of claims of lucrative tenders being irregularly awarded to individuals, many of them either part of or linked to the governing party.