Nationwide workers strike over job losses & poverty

28 Jun '05

2 min read

Tens of thousands of workers have demonstrated in South Africa's main cities in a nationwide strike over unemployment and poverty.

Overall support was patchy, with mines and the textile industry most affected.

Jobs in these sectors have been lost through the strengthening of the South African currency, and by cheap clothing imports from China.

The main demonstrations were in Johannesburg, and in Cape Town, where strikers took a petition to parliament.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), which called the strike, claimed an overwhelming response to the strike, but the Chamber of Business said only 10% of workers were striking.

'Joblessness and despair'

Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi told demonstrators in Johannesburg there would be more protests in coming months unless government and business acted to stop job losses.

"We cannot afford to let our lives go by in poverty, joblessness and despair," he said.

"We must use this process of rolling mass action to tell the bosses and our own political leaders that much more must be done to address the crisis of jobs and poverty."

Chamber of Mines negotiator Frans Barker said the strike would not help the situation

"It is a bit problematic to destroy production for a day... to protest about job losses, because it's just going to make the position of the industry worse," he told Reuters news agency.

Mostmineworkers at the country's largest gold mining concern, AngloGold Ashanti, stayed away from work. However, another mining group, Goldfield, said most of its employees were working.