Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, has lamented COSATU's planned strike for Thursday, describing it as misguided.
COSATU in the Western Cape, alongside its
affiliates, is set to march to the City of Cape Town, Western Cape Government,
and Parliament on Thursday regarding violent crimes in the province as well as
the exorbitant fuel prices.
Winde says the strike is not the solution.
“It is safe to say all law-abiding Western Cape
residents, including the government, are fed up with high crime rates and are
tired of living in fear, but staging a protest and strike to draw attention to
this issue is not the way to go,” lamented the Premier.
“This demonstration comes at a time when we need
to buckle down to jumpstart the economy and create jobs after the Covid-19
State of Disaster. This action, however, is counter-productive as it will
likely prevent hard-working citizens from getting to work on the day and will
most certainly scupper the earnings of those taking part.”
The Premier said he invited Cosatu to meet with
him to discuss a way forward on taking the unions demands to National
Government.
“[We need to take] the grievances of the labour
federation, as well as the millions of Western Cape citizens, to the doorstep
of the National Government, specifically the President and Police Ministry,
which sits in Pretoria, not the Western Cape.”
“We should rather seek to engage the President
and Police Minister Bheki Cele together, to constructively raise our concerns
and put solutions on the table.”
Speaking to Bush Radio on Tuesday, COSATU's
secretary-general, Malvern de Bruyn, says the union has not received any communication
from the Premier's office.
“It is sad that he (Premier Alan Winde) said we
must meet them to discuss the issues, but we have been trying for the last 2
years to arrange a meeting with the Premier. I have sent numerous letters to
the office to the Premier. Now you want to be the hypocrite and tell the media
that COSATU can discuss the matter. The door was always open and is still open.
Please send a formal communication and we will respond as COSATU and give a
date to meet. We want partnership in this province. They must stop seeing
COSATU as an enemy. We can jointly deal with issues affecting the working
class.”
De Bruyn says taxi associations like CATA &
CODETA will engage with the union on Wednesday regarding Thursday’s strike. De
Bruyn says until then, he cannot respond whether public transport will be operating.
Premier Alan Winde has called on COSATU to join
his office in finding solution.
“The WCG
is going all-out to push for the devolution of the police service,” stressed
the Premier, adding, “we have the political will and constitutional basis on
our side to do this. I am sure Cosatu shares our goal of seeking real solutions
to crime and should then join us in this call.”
Members
are set to march to the three spheres of government buildings on Thursday,
whereby they will hand over a memorandum in which they have 14 days to respond.
PICTURED: Malvern de Bruyn, COSATU Secretary-GeneralDone By: Mitchum George
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