Cosatu to bring city to standstill in anti-corruption march

COSATU plans to bring the city to a standstill as thousands are set to march tomorrow as part of a nationwide strike against corruption and state capture.

The federation was expecting about 20 000 people to march.

Tony Ehrenreich, Cosatu provincial secretary, said most of its affiliated unions will embark on nationwide strike action.

Wayne Bredenkamp from the Communication Workers Union, said they supported the strike, which prompted the SA Post Office to say its service will be affected. Ehrenreich said 15 000 of their members will be taking part in the strike in the metropole. “Protest action will also happen in George, Saldanha Bay, Beaufort West, and Ashton. There will be no buses and taxis, only trains that will transportpeople to the march. We are expecting traffic to come to a halt. After the march we will be handing over memorandums to Prasa (Passenger Rail Agency of SA), Premier Helen Zille and the National Parliament. We are unhappy about the blatant corruption in the ANC and state capture.”

Corruption was behind the rundown state of Metrorail, he said. “Metrorail is claiming to have 88 trains but they only have 66 trains running. So the trains are not delayed, there are not enough trains and this leads to overcrowding.”

Public service union, Nehawu’s provincial secretary Eric Kweleta, added: “As a union we are against state capture, because it steals from poor people. Currently we only see big developments in affluent areas but not in Hout Bay and Khayelitsha.”