JOHANNESBURG – The South African Federation Trade Union will embark on a national shutdown against rising cost of living and other issues affecting the working class on August 24.
Saftu, along with over 100 working class formations, says they will embark on a shutdown as there is an undeclared civil war being waged against the working class.
This civil war, Saftu said, was being waged from above, by those in the boardrooms and the state.
The national shutdown aims to address the ever increasing cost of living, including issues around the cost of food, fuel, the energy crisis, unemployment, privatisation of state entities, high crime levels and austerity measures in government procurement.
Saftu spokesperson Trevor Shaku said: “The country is marching towards a precipice, and if the working class is not organised around a programme, and even an organ, it will be used by intra-factions of capitalism for their own end.”
The federation is further motivated by tragedies that the country has witnessed in recent weeks.
“We saw 22 young people perish at Enyobeni Tavern in East London, followed by massacre after massacre in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal taverns.
“This was followed by the gang rape of young women by balaclava-clad thugs in Krugersdorp which further revealed the lived-in reality of women in the whole of West Rand, with some women having been raped by up to 20 monsters, in attacks that have been going on for years.
“The national shutdown might not achieve anything concrete out of government, but it is aimed at achieving a first unity of working class formations in struggle. That unity will allow us to fight persistently until we squeeze concrete gains out of government” said Shaku.
The federation and its allies aim to fight tirelessly for the good of the working class.
IOL