By: Nomatshawe Bangani
Victoria Grounds in King Williams Town was painted red on Wednesday as members of COSATU, NEHAWU, SADTU, SASCO as well as unemployed youth of the Eastern Cape came in their numbers in support of the national strike.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) embarked on the strike with the aim to fight job losses, threats of retrenchments, labour brokers and the implementation of the national minimum living wage.
COSATU Eastern Cape Provincial chairperson Thabile Kunene said, in responding to the national call by COSATU, in the Eastern Cape the strike took place in King Williams Town, Mthatha, Port Elizabeth and Queenstown.
“The strike came about after a COSATU CEC meeting in November which saw the problems that have been raised in the economy like retrenchments at the SABC and Impala platinum mines, shrinkage and firing of workers at Eskom and other factors that affect workers in both the public and private sector. Looking at all these factors, the federation became concerned on how the government was conducting the restructuring of the public service,” he said.
Kunene said the economy in terms of statistics show that in the last quarter of 2018 about 16 million people in South Africa remain unemployed and 35% of households remain without basic services.
Singing struggle songs the marchers made their way from Victoria Grounds to the Department of Labour to hand over a memorandum of demands to the Eastern Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle.
After signing the memorandum of demands, Masualle assured the marchers that he will make sure that their demands will reach the Office of the President.