Cosatu calls for strong action against looting of shops

Loyiso Langeni
24 January 2015

The Congress of South African Trade Union has called for strong action to be taken in the violent protest and looting of shops in Soweto.

Cosatu Spokesperson Patrick Craven said the violence in Soweto is pure criminality and should be treated as that. 

A foreign national allegedly shot dead a 14-year-old after his shop was robbed which sparked the protest.

Craven added that although the problems people may face and there is no question, people in poor communities like Soweto do face problems of unemployment, poverty, inequality, particularly amongst the youth, that can never be an excuse for attacking individuals of another nationality or racially origin.

“Its counter productive because they are victims of exactly the same cause and disrupt the unit of the oppressed in trying to change society, so we do not have these underline problems,” Craven said.