SACP, Cosatu calls on workers to go to service
The SA Communist Party (SACP) and trade union federation Cosatu in Gauteng have called on all employees in the public and private sector to sacrifice their Saturday in order to attend the funeral service of mother of the nation, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
This, as the country’s economic hub of Gauteng prepares to host the funeral of the struggle stalwart who died last week on Monday at age 81.
“We recognise that (the) Gauteng province is a predominantly workers’ and working class province. This clarion call recognises that most workers could not attend the memorial service [held on Wednesday] due to the fact that their employers expected them to be at work,” the SACP and Cosatu said in a joint statement.
“We recognise that weekends are the only times that workers have to rest and spend time with their families away from brutal class exploitation.
“We therefore call on workers and all communists, in their overwhelming numbers, to join millions of the revolutionary people to pay their last respect to the mother of the nation, uMama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.” The ANC tripartite alliance partners said while they applaud the remarkable work done by the Gauteng provincial government with a befitting memorial service, they are appealing to Premier David Makhura – who is also acting provincial chairperson of the ANC – to “decisively intervene and ensure that our law enforcement agencies create favourable conditions for a swift and smooth access” to Orlando Stadium.
“We are deeply convinced that workers and the working class broadly may feel alienated and estranged from Orlando Stadium considering heavy handed security arrangements, as was certainly perceived during the government memorial service held yesterday [Wednesday].
“We appreciate the revolutionary role played by uMama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to unite the working class and revolutionary people during difficult times of our struggle for national liberation to create a non-racial, non-sexist, united and prosperous society free of all forms of exploitation.”
See also Page 6
We appreciate the revolutionary role she played