Deputy president joins Cosatu May Day march

MBOMBELA – He said the ANC could have done better.  More than 1 000 members of the unions, the SACP and ANC, marched peacefully from the old showgrounds to the legislature building in celebration of Worker’s Day.

They also handed over a memorandum against corruption and unemployment to the premier, Refilwe Mtsweni. Mabuza, who is, Cyril Ramaphosa;s, second-in-command in the ANC and the state, was among 22 parliamentary candidates flagged by the Integrity Commission as being questionable.

The commission, which is made up of ANC veterans, handed over the report to the party’s top six, but it is likely to be processed only after the general election.

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During his address to the crowd outside the government buildings, Mabuza condemned foreign corruption influencing members of government.

“In seven days we will be voting for the sixth democratic administration. As we celebrated 25 years of democracy last month, as the ANC we are the first to acknowledge that although much has been achieved, we could have moved faster and the quality of services could have been much better.”

Addressing youth unemployment, he said removing barriers to employment remained a pressing priority. “It is for this reason that the ANC government has made it easier for young people to enter the public service by scrapping work experience as a requirement for entry-level jobs. Through institutions of government, we have accelerated the learnership and internship programmes of young people.

“We gather today not only to celebrate but to also claim the victories of workers in their struggles for basic working conditions and fair labour practices,” he said.

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Mabuza added that people must work harder to build a united, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous society for all.
He emphasised that workers were not to be unfairly dismissed and discriminated against. “They are entitled to receive agreed remuneration on the agreed dates and time. These are just some of the rights that our workers are proud to have in our country. They did not come cheap. Workers had to make sacrifices and some even paid the ultimate price for these rights.”

He said this year the ANC government signed into law the first National Minimum Wage Bill in the history of South Africa, which came into effect on January 1. “We are the first to admit that the national minimum wage is not a living wage, but a significant milestone towards it.”

“We know that some will want to say the minimum wage is too little, but we know that it is a minimum, not a maximum wage. The full implementation of the national minimum wage will cover workers in domestic work, farming and forestry, as well as other vulnerable sectors and ensure effective compliance.”

This week Independent Electoral Commission chairman, Glen Mashinini called for a calm peaceful election. He called on those who have been organising and participating in civic demonstrations as part of their constitutional rights to respect the election process.

“The right to protest and demonstrate is a right protected by our constitution and has its roots in our democracy, and so does the conduct of peaceful elections,” Mashinini said during the opening of the national results centre.

“Compatriots, as a nation, we all have a patriotic duty to protect and defend our election and our democracy for the future generations.”

Mashinini added that they appealed to all South Africans to ensure that the conditions under which the elections are held once again bear witness to the world that South Africa remained a strong example of a constitutional democracy in action.

He stated that the commission would have failed in its duty if at this juncture it did not make a clarion call to all South Africans to come out in their millions on Wednesday to cast their votes.

He said they hoped to announce the final results on Saturday May 11.