By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) held the labour federation’s main Workers’ Day rally at the Kees Taaljaard Stadium in Middelburg, Mpumalanga.
The trade union federation amplified the interests of the working class, among other issues. The day is also a pause to reflect on the high number of those without jobs.
The public holiday signifies the sacrifices made on the long road to fair employment standards and in the struggle against apartheid during which unions played a key role.
President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address at Cosatu’s main rally in Middelburg in Mpumalanga.
He said COSATU marked a turning point in the fight for democracy and freedom.
“It was the founding congress and rally when the first president of COSATU, Elijah Barayi, sent a clear warning to the apartheid government to do away with the dompass.
The apartheid-era Pass Laws act of 1952 insisted that black people over the age of 16 had to carry a passbook. The policy, however, ended in 1986.
Ramaphosa said this was the power COSATU possessed and continues to possess, as they are a tool to fight for workers’ rights in the country.
He added that the trade union federation had been at the forefront of transforming society and in making sure that workers in South Africa received the rights that they deserve.
“Your rights as workers will not be reduced in any way whatsoever. In fact, your rights must keep on being advanced. Your struggle for a living wage must go on. It was COSATU that led the struggle for a minimum wage that was set in the Freedom Charter,” Ramaphosa said.
The president also acknowledged May Day as COSATU’s day, saying he wants to see a stronger COSATU and its affiliates.
He assured the public that COSATU will continue to protect the interests of workers in the country.
COSATU leader, Zingiswa Losi, weighed in on matters of national importance during her address to the workers.
Central to her speech was the demand that austerity measures, which she described as detrimental to essential public services, be reversed.
“As the alliance has spoken, we reject austerity logic that reduces the number of nurses to patients,” she declared.
“Austerity reduces the number of teachers per learner. Austerity reduces the number of police officers per community. We can no longer afford it.”
She called on Ramaphosa to ensure that cuts to vital services, including clinics, schools and law enforcement, were avoided, saying: “Cut corruption, not clinics. Tax the rich, not the poor.”
Losi also acknowledged that corruption within the government had contributed to the country’s economic challenges. “State Capture and corruption was not imported outside. It was homegrown,” she remarked,
She further praised workers who, in her view, were rebuilding key sectors of the economy, such as Eskom, Transnet and the South African Revenue Service (SARS), “because it is workers who are cleaning up the mess. It is never ministers and never billionaires, but workers.”
South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary, Solly Mapaila, opened with a jab on a number of political issues.
He called for the government to “turn against capitalism and neoliberalism”, and advocated for a tax system that targets capital income rather than placing the burden on the working class.
“What we are calling on the Treasury to do as they are preparing a revised Budget is to increase capital income tax… That will give us four times what they wanted to do with the VAT.”
He also called for measures to ensure SARS can recover unpaid taxes from capitalists, emphasising the need to focus on recovering “almost R800-billion”
Chanting “down with the VAT and GNU” and “forward with the NHI [National Health Insurance]”, Mapaila strongly opposed the proposed VAT increase, labelling it a “reactionary” measure that would disproportionately burden the poor.
Mapaila has been one of the strongest critics of the ANC entering a government of national unity (GNU) that includes the Democratic Alliance (DA).