May Day rallies call for action against unemployment and poverty

The May Day rallies by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) called for action to address youth unemployment and the rising cost of living, and decried the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

Cosatu held rallies in all nine provinces, with the main rally in Polokwane. One of the main features of the Cosatu rallies was the issue of unity, given the fractures in the tripartite alliance following the South African Communist Party’s announcement that it will contest the upcoming local government elections independently.

Its Western Cape rally was held in Paarl, where all the speakers bemoaned the rise in the cost of living, inequalities and youth unemployment. In the Eastern Cape, rallies were held in Gqeberha, Gompo City (formerly East London), Komani and Lusikisiki.

Hundreds of workers at the Cosatu rally in Gompo City. Photo by Anele Mbi

Held under the theme of uniting the employed and unemployed and calling for an end to austerity measures and the jobs bloodbath, Saftu held rallies in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Limpopo provinces. In Johannesburg, the federation handed a memorandum to the Gauteng legislature, calling for an urgent break with austerity and a shift toward state-led economic restructuring and job creation. Dumisani Nxumalo signed the memorandum of demands on behalf of the Gauteng premier’s office and Salthiel Rambuwani on behalf of the legislature.

Members of Saftu unions at the May Day rally in Langa. Photo by Sharon McKinnon

Challenges facing workers and communities

Elitsha spoke to workers in Cape Town, Gompo City and in Johannesburg.

Eleanor Roberts, a nurse in Cape Town, said that there is a shortage of nurses as a result of the freezing of posts. “This has had a negative impact on the provision of healthcare services and the communities and patients blame the nurses for not being attended to, but the reality is that we are overworked,” she said.

Simiselo Mathemba, a National Union of Mineworkers shop steward who works for SFC-SMA Engineering SA in Westbank, an East London company producing pipes for Daimler, said that they are now working short shifts, and this after the company recently retrenched many workers. “This whole week I am hanging around in Duncan Village since we are forced to work short time. Also, at our plant, people get promoted to be team leaders but there is no capacitation. When you go to the toilet you must clock,” he said.

Saftu delivering a memorandum of demands to the Gauteng legislature. Photo by Simon Ramapuputla

Qedusizi Masina from Springs, representing Macua (Mining Affected Communities United in Action), said rising electricity costs have had a severe impact on her household. She said her family of more than seven people relies on a single pension income, which is not sufficient to meet basic needs.

Masina said her household frequently experiences electricity shortages due to the high cost of prepaid units. “We experience, at times, shortages of electricity,” she said. She added that high fixed tariffs make it even harder for low-income households to manage consumption.

Tensions in the alliance

Yunus Carrim, a member of the South African Communist Party’s central executive committee, who was one of the main speakers, said that the unemployment crisis that the country is grappling with is as a result of the economic policies that the alliance has adopted, and that it is for this reason that they are calling for the restructuring of the alliance.

“As the communist party, we remain committed to the national democratic revolution, we remain committed to the alliance. Yes, it is true and we do not apologise for this: the party will take part on its own in the elections but as part of reconfiguring the alliance. We do not abandon the alliance. We are committed to the alliance and we are committed to the national democratic revolution that is led by the senior partner, the ANC,” said the former minister of communications and digital technologies.

SACP politburo member, Yunus Carrim at the Cosatu May Day rally in Paarl. Photo by Mzi Velapi

In opposing what Carrim said, the ANC’s national executive committee member and Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, David Mahlobo, made it clear that the ANC is the only vehicle and the leader of the national democratic revolution.

“The ANC remains the only vehicle of the national democratic revolution, as it was agreed by the congress alliance that the ANC is the leader of the national democratic revolution towards the journey of a democratic society. There is no other leader than the ANC that can drive the NDR, supported by the alliance components. We shall continue to try to fix the economy,” he said.

Cosatu says it will decide on who to support in the upcoming local government elections at its congress in September. Photo by Mzi Velapi

Cosatu’s central executive council member and the Democratic Nurses Organisation of South Africa’s first deputy president, Simphiwe Gada criticised how the tensions between the SACP and the ANC are managed. “The alliance was not formed during happy moments. As Cosatu, we are surprised that it is easy for one partner to give another partner an ultimatum that people must choose between the two partners. As Cosatu, we call for calm and restraint,” he said.

Gada said that Cosatu has not taken a position yet but is expected to do so at their next congress in September. “Cosatu’s position remains the one that we took in our last congress, and we will also take a position in our next congress,” he said.

Responding to the speech by Mahlobo, Gada warned that the tripartite members are all equal and said that there is no big brother who can take decisions on behalf of others.