Cosatu wishes Zuma well on his birthday but won’t attend his party

While the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said it wished President Jacob Zuma well on his birthday as “as a cadre of our movement”, it would not take part in Wednesday afternoon’s festivities when the African National Congress (ANC) would celebrate Zuma’s birthday in Kliptown.

This was reported by EWN on Wednesday, and comes after Cosatu on April 4 called for Zuma to step down from office, saying it no longer believed he was the right person to unite and lead the tripartite alliance movement.

Last week, the union’s general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said they had not been consulted on the Cabinet reshuffle and that the changes to the executive team were based on political loyalty and not merit. Ntshalintshali alleged this was due to Zuma not dealing with Cabinet ministers who were incompetent.

READ MORE: Cosatu joins calls for Zuma to step down

However, on Wednesday Cosatu in the Western Cape came out in support of the strike by bus drivers in a bid to earn “a decent wage”, and the union added it would join workers in the strike action.

COSATU Western Cape supports the strike by Bus drivers https://t.co/ndFd5cfDsf

— @COSATU Today (@_cosatu) April 12, 2017

In a press statement issued on its website Cosatu said, “The bus companies are making super profits and are paying workers a pittance for long dangerous work. The federation believes that the subsidy that these companies get from the government must be used to ensure that workers are also treated fairly.”

The union further came out with a strong statement that if bus companies took workers’ money for weekly or monthly tickets, then they should ensure the transport service would be available.

“It is the companies that are locking out the workers, so they must be liable for the alternative transport for workers, who have bus tickets. Where must workers now get money for other modes of transport, when they have already bought a ticket for the month? The bus companies should make plans for Metro Rail and taxis to accept their bus tickets and refund those service providers,” said Cosatu.

“The Metro rail system is already 200 % overcrowded, yet the Mayco member for transport says that people must take the trains.”

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https://www.citizen.co.za/news/news-national/despite-rain-eff-intensifies-anti-zuma-protest/

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