JOHANNESBURG - The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has issued a call to all workers and South Africans to join its national strike next week.
Cosatu has called on people to stay away from work or take to the streets in various rally's across the country on Wednesday, 24 August.
Briefing the media at Cosatu House in Braamfontein on Thursday, the federation’s president Zingiswa Losi said the protected national strike was meant to put pressure on both the government and the private sector to correct and resolve the socioeconomic challenges that continue to stifle South African households.
“Workers cannot continue to sit back whilst we continue to suffer. The lives of the people of South Africa need to change and so we are urging that we all join hands together and raise these issues because it is not about workers who are on slave wages, but it is also about the economy that is not able to create employment.”
The announcement comes just a week after the South African Federation of Trade Unions indicated it would also embark on a national shutdown against the rising cost of living, load shedding and fuel hikes on the same day.
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Cosatu said the African National Congress (ANC) will face its most difficult election come 2024, if it does not address bread and butter issues.
The largest trade union in South Africa, which sits in the National Economic Development and Labour Council and is an ANC alliance partner, said the intended national strike was aimed at demanding urgent action to shore up the country’s eroding economy.
Sending a strong message to the governing party, Losi said the ANC must act on the concerns raised by disgruntled South Africans or face their wrath at the polls.
Losi said the federation had engaged the ANC on many policies, but when it came to execution, that was in the hands of the governing party.
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