Trade union federation Cosatu and its affiliated unions are set to hold a protest march in Durban tomorrow as part of nationwide strike action.
The federation said that this was a protected strike, and a Section 77 strike certificate had been issued by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) guaranteeing all workers protection if they joined the strike.
“It is a demonstration by workers that the government needs to do more to end the current levels of load shedding, cable theft, crime and corruption, wasteful expenditure and austerity cuts crippling the state, suffocating the economy, and further plunging workers into high levels of indebtedness and misery,” Cosatu said.
The Durban march will start at King Dinuzulu Park in the CBD and end at the Durban City Hall.
Edwin Mkhize, Cosatu provincial spokesperson, said that the country was in a shambles and a response from the government to the mounting challenges was long overdue. “We have been too silent over the state of the country. We feel that the employer, being the government, does not appreciate the employees and issues faced by them are not considered.”
He said that the recent 3% increase announced for public office bearers just added insult to injury.
“There has been an increase in salaries for (those at the top) but those below are still having to fight for the peanuts they earn. There needs to be a total turnaround in the country. The government needs to go back to the drawing board and assess the issues faced by the economy,” he said.
He said that interest rate hikes were also hurting consumers.
Ntokozo Nxumalo, secretaryof the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), said its members would be part of the march.
“We still have a number of issues that have not been addressed and we will be raising them again including the shortage of staff in the public service, the rising cost of living, corruption in government institutions, collapsing infrastructure in the public health institutions and health and safety issues for workers,” he said.
The SA National Taxi Council said it would be meeting today to discuss whether it would participate in the strike.