By Lungile Ntimba
The Congress of SA Trade Unions has given the government two weeks to respond to a list of demands that it submitted during its national strike on Monday.
In an interview with Inside Politics, Cosatu spokesperson Zanele Sabela expressed satisfaction at achieving the aim of the strike, which was to highlight various socioeconomic issues facing workers.
It coincided with the World Day for Decent Work.
“I can actually comfortably say that we have achieved our goal, and so the memorandum that we submitted was to say to them that we need a response within 14 days. We want to know that they will be engaging on these issues,” Sabela said.
“…we wanted all those issues to be put on the table to make sure that the government, stakeholders and businesses are informed, and that workers’ voices are heard because policy is about political choices.”
She said the Government of National Unity must end austerity measures and budget cuts, including those in basic education and the police.
Sabela said that its affiliate, the Police and Prison Civil Rights Union, had been engaging with the federation over the dramatic consequences of the budget cuts.
She indicated that many police officials with specialist skills were forced to leave the public sector for private employment due to insufficient remuneration and better perks.
Earlier this year, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu revealed that the SAPS had closed almost 80,000 unsolved murder cases since 2018. This accounted for two-thirds of all murder cases reported to them during this period.
“… there are no detective skills,” Sabela said.
She said almost all of Cosatu’s affiliates participated in the mass action.
In Gauteng, the memorandum was accepted by Discovery, the Reserve Bank, the SAPS and Business Unity South Africa at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Sandton.
They pledged to respond within the demanded timeframe.
Meanwhile, Sabela confirmed that Cosatu would take its protest to Parliament when the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement was delivered on 30 October.
INSIDE POLITICS
