September 27 2017 – COSATU was not interfering in the work of the ruling ANC by taking to the streets to protest state capture, says its president Sdumo Dlamini.
Speaking at Durban City Hall on Wednesday (today) during the trade union federation’s national shutdown, Dlamini told well over 3,500 marchers that Cosatu had a “direct interest” in how the leadership of the ANC was elected.
In Cape Town, the labour body delivered what they called “a present” to President Jacob Zuma on — calling on the State to stop dragging its feet in establishing a judicial inquiry into state capture.
Some of the city centre’s busiest streets were turned into a sea of red as members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) protested against state capture and corruption.
The most prominent placard on display read: “Zuma must go”.
“We didn’t fight apartheid to replace a white devil with a black devil,” Cosatu Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich said while addressing the crowd at Parliament where a memorandum was handed over to representatives of the national legislature and big business in the Western Cape.
In the memorandum, Cosatu demanded, among others, that Zuma immediately set a date to establish a judicial inquiry into state capture.
Meanwhile in Johannesburg, hundreds of workers gathered at the Cosatu head office in Braamfontein in to march and hand over memorandums to government institutions and companies in protest against rampant corruption and state capture.
The workers wore signature red Cosatu garb and sang songs calling for President Jacob Zuma to step down. They carried placards on which was written “Zuma Must Go” and “State Capture is a Criminal Offense”. Some of them wore ANC colours as they ran up and down the street next to Cosatu offices, whiling away time ahead of the march.
Cosatu said it expected thousands of workers to take part in the nationwide protest against rising unemployment, corruption, state capture, likely bringing the country’s major cities to a standstill. At least 13 marches are set to take place across the nine provinces, including one to Parliament in Cape Town. The protest has received support from organisations such as the SA Communist Party (SACP) and Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA). – ANA
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