Cosatu’s planned strike may hurt workers more than help. With job losses and high unemployment, will the protest truly address South Africa’s economic challenges?
Members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) take part in a march in Braamfontein, 6 July 2023, during a nation wide protest by various trade unions. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen
The proposed national one-day strike by the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Monday seem a bit like the turkeys voting for Christmas.
Many of those who have jobs will probably not get paid for the day they strike and businesses will lose money, which could lead to job losses in a country where unemployment is terrifyingly high.
Yet, the protest is about just that: lack of jobs and the high cost of living.
Cosatu, as has been pointed out multiple times in the past, represents what is an elite group in society – workers… that is, those South Africans who have jobs.
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The other 33% (and that is the official figure) are not quite as well-off.
On the other hand, Cosatu – sometimes a shadow of itself compared to the glory days when its members played a major role in forcing the end of apartheid – needs to remain relevant in a labour sector where stability has prevailed for some time now.
However, mass protests over the cost of living and unemployment forced changes in Sri Lanka and people in the streets of Kenya sent a powerful message to the government there recently.
Whether that will happen here remains to be seen.
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