The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in the Western Cape led a march to the provincial parliament and the Cape Town Civic Centre on Tuesday, presenting memorandums to Premier Alan Winde and Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis that condemned high unemployment and the rising cost of living.
The demonstration, which also saw a significant presence from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), highlighted a fusion of socioeconomic and geopolitical grievances.
COSATU’s Provincial Secretary, Malvern de Bruyn, outlined the dual focus of the protest. The first memorandum, addressed to Premier Winde, was centered on what the union federation termed a “blood bath” of job losses and the lack of decent work.
“We’ve seen that the question of decent work, that there’s no real decent work for our people,” de Bruyn stated. “We are saying that government should do more. The province should do more to employ more local people.”
He specifically called for an end to labour brokering and the use of Expanded Public Works Programmes (EPWPs), demanding “real jobs for our people.”
The second leg of the march proceeded to the Civic Centre, where a memorandum was handed over to Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis. De Bruyn cited “high electricity tariffs, the high water [tariffs] in our province, in our city” as a major concern. He characterized the city’s recently passed budget as “anti-poor” and accused the city of not caring for its residents.
“We saying to them they must reverse all those decisions and come back with a program or with a plan of a budget that look after the interest of the working class,” de Bruyn said.
The protest coincided with the International Day for Decent Work, which COSATU used to frame its demands.
Adding a distinct international dimension to the march, a contingent from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign joined the COSATU-led action. The date, October 7th, marks two years since the start of the latest major conflict in Gaza, a point noted during the proceedings.
De Bruyn, who was seen wearing a keffiyeh, clarified that the PSC was present in support of COSATU, but that the unions had a unified message for the national government regarding the Middle East.
“In the recent [COSATU] congress we made it very clear in our support for the Palestinian people,” de Bruyn said. “We are saying our government must cut all ties with Israeli government. We are saying close all those embassies because what we see in Palestine is not a war. What we see in Palestine is genocide.”
He concluded by calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the region.
