This national action by Cosatu will coincide with World Day for Decent Work on 7 October.
Union spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said, “Our national action will take the form of marches and demonstrations in the city centres and locales of our provinces throughout the country… We will be raising the issue of a crisis in [terms of] the unemployment rate, retrenchments and a reliable, accessible and affordable public transport system. And we will be making a sharp point to oppose the proposal of the privatisation of Eskom made by various big businesses.”
Pamla added that this followed a deadlock on their demand for the scrapping of e-tolls. He also said, “We are going to Eskom to tell them that the electricity crisis is costing us jobs and we oppose the proposed privatisation of the entity, as the majority of South Africans are unemployed and will never afford electricity if it’s privatised. Anyone who wants to do that, will have to go through us.”
He said electricity must be provided by the government so it would be affordable.
Pamla also stated that workers had had enough of government dragging its heels in the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI). He said a green paper on NHI had been released about three years ago, yet there was still no white paper on it.
He added that workers had lost their patience with the fact that the ruling African National Congress had not implemented the 2012 Mangaung resolution which promised to stop the use of service providers by government departments.
The union will also march to the Chamber of Mines to demand a moratorium on the possible retrenchment of 38 000 mine workers. Pamla said, “According to our research, the numbers can go up to 100 000 workers losing their jobs. We are saying this is a crisis, we need all the stakeholders, including government, to convene a meeting to find a solution, as we did in 2009 during the global economy crisis.”
He added that these stakeholders needed radical transformation policies that would enhance service delivery.
“People have long [ago] lost patience, we cannot wait any longer, we will take radical steps to hold our government accountable, and make sure that anti-worker groups such as the Democratic Alliance don’t come to power with their anti-worker policies,” Pamla said.
The Gauteng leg of the march will start at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown.
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