Significant support is expected in all nine provinces for Wednesday’s protests against electricity and other price hikes, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said.
”We are geared up … we are expecting an even bigger number of people from what we had a fortnight ago,” said Cosatu deputy general secretary Siphiwe Mgcina on Tuesday.
”We’ll be mobilising two million members and civil society formations in tomorrow’s [Wednesday’s] national stayaway.”
The march is in response to the rising cost of food, fuel and electricity costs.
Cosatu said there was a danger of retrenchments in the mining sector and elsewhere due to Eskom’s decision to reduce electricity supply to industrial consumers.
The union federation also expressed concern about what would happen when municipalities began introducing the recent Eskom price hikes.
”This will put thousands more jobs at risk as companies, already facing massive increases in the cost of fuel and interest rates, try to balance their books by retrenching workers, or may be forced to close down,” said Cosatu.
Eskom was granted a 13,3% increase by the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) in June this year. This was in addition to the 14,2% increase in December.
The labour federation said it would work actively and constructively to help manage power shortages and to find a lasting solution. However, it was adamant that workers should not be made to pay for government’s failure to invest in electricity generation in the late 1990s.
The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) has also called on its 235 000 members to ”fully support” the national strike.
”Teachers suffer as a result of increased prices — like all other workers. We are a part of Cosatu and fully in support of the action led by the federation,” said Sadtu general secretary, Thulas Nxesi.
Wednesday’s marches will take place across the country.
In Gauteng, Cosatu members would gather at the Pretoria City Hall on Visagie Street at 10am. They would then march to offices of the Department of Minerals and Energy Affairs and thereafter to the Union Buildings.
”Workers can rest assured that all those who participate in the strike will be protected by law except for those performing genuinely essential services,” said the union federation.
On rising interest rates, Cosatu’s leadership said the government should find other ways to deal with inflation, which has a negative effect on economic growth.
The planned march to parliament on Wednesday was billed as ”the biggest strike that the city has seen in the last few years”.
Meanwhile, many people were concerned about an email threatening that those found going to work ”will be dealt with severely”.
Cosatu emphasised that nation-wide demonstrations would be ”peaceful, orderly and disciplined in the Cosatu tradition”.
The federation said people should ignore any anonymous emails threatening violence against members of the public.
”Such emails are malicious hoaxes circulated by the enemies of the trade union movement in an attempt to discredit us,” it said.
Cosatu said members of the public were welcome to join the marches and that they would be ”totally safe”.
Tens of thousands of workers downed tools in selected regions about two weeks ago to voice their ”disgust” with rising living costs.
Commuters were left stranded while mining industries and essential services ground to a near halt as the Cosatu flexed its muscles in Johannesburg, the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and North West. – Sapa