Cape Town - A national shutdown has been earmarked for Wednesday across South Africa and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said it will be marching to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) demanding a sustainable rail service to workers.
It called for South Africans to down tools and push back against government and the private sector’s lack of tackling the current socio-economic challenges the nation faces.
Some of the issues Cosatu is hoping to raise with the national shutdown are: load shedding, soaring food prices, and increases in fuel prices.
The trade union on Monday released all its assembly points across the nation with the Western Cape point being at the Prasa building in the Cape Town CBD at 9am.
#COSATU Young Workers urges workers to participate in the upcoming #COSATU National Strike which will be taking place this Wednesday, 24th of August 2022. @eNCA @_cosatu #CosatuNationalStrike @CosasHq @SASCO_Jikelele @ANCYLhq @YCLSA pic.twitter.com/hMk9dMv7Qc
Cosatu provincial spokesperson Malvern de Bruyn said they would be marching to Prasa after demands made in 2020 had still not been met.
It will be demanding a more functional, timeous, accessible, affordable, and integrated public transport system.
“We will be requesting Prasa to give us a response on a memorandum which was submitted in 2020. The call is to talk about the ailing rail system in our province.
“We have been asking Prasa and government for some time now to give us a rail system that is workable, sustainable so our workers can make use of trains.
Despite numerous requests to participate in the National shutdown, SANTACO will NOT participate in the planned National shutdown.
— SANTACO (@SA_Taxis) August 23, 2022
“Taxis are expensive and people using their own cars cannot even afford to go to work because they cannot afford to buy petrol.
“We are saying if we have a reliable train system in place, people can leave their cars at home and make use of the trains which can be much cheaper,” de Bruyn told IOL.
Cosatu’s plans to join the national shutdown come after the South African Federation Trade Union (Saftu) said it would be embarking on a national shutdown and will be marching under the tagline: “mobilise or starve” as it aims to bring the focus on the rising costs of living and issues affecting South Africa’s working class as households struggle to keep their heads above water.
Saftu is also calling on the national government to create and implement a basic income grant for the unemployed citizens of the nation.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) said it will not be participating in the national shutdown.
“Despite numerous requests to participate in the national shutdown, Santaco will not participate in the planned national shutdown,” the taxi council said.
The ruling party in the City, DA welcomed Cosatu’s call for a better and more effective management of railway services in the province. It said the planned shutdown will do ‘little to get rail working effectively and efficiently’ in the province.
The DA said it agreed trains must operate at full capacity to enable passengers the freedom to travel however and wherever they choose but stated the trade union needed to take their fight to its “tripartite alliance partner”, the ANC, instead of destabilising the country’s economy.
DA spokesperson for transport and MPP Ricardo Mackenzie said the shutdown will not resolve the rail challenges or fix the country’s economic troubles.
“The DA has been demanding that rail be fixed for decades while Cosatu stood by as their alliance partners and supported Cabinet members in the National Cabinet destroying rail and port services through corruption and maladministration at Transnet and Prasa/Metrorail.
“Now that sense has prevailed, the DA calls on Cosatu to support our calls for rail services to be devolved to capable provincial and local spheres of government.
“This is what Cosatu should be calling for and not a national shutdown that will only harm the economy,” Mackenzie said.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL