The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will be celebrating this year’s International Workers’ Day across the country, with rallies set to kick off on Wednesday morning.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will address workers at Cosatu’s main celebration, at the Sugar Ray Xulu stadium in Claremont, Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Other rallies will be held at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium in KwaZakhele, Port Elizabeth, the James Motlatsi Stadium in Orkney, North West, as well as various other venues in all other provinces.
“The message is very clear for us. Firstly we need to unify the workers. What we have seen over the last couple of years is that the divisions amongst the trade unions have weakened the workers. So we will be preaching unity today. We have seen NUMSA and NUM working together at Eskom. We have seen SATAWU and NUMSA working together at the bus strike and we think we can overcome those small differences and improve workers’ working conditions,” says Sizwe Pamla, Cosatu Spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) will also be hosting a number of May Day rallies across the country on Wednesday morning. Their main event will be held at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polowkwane, Limpopo.
Thousands of SAFTU members will also be gathering at the King Dini-Zulu Park in Durban before embarking on a march to the City Hall.
“The main event is in Polokwane. The president of SAFTU, Led Tshabala, will be addressing the gathering. We have another rally is Sisa Ditashe Stadium, where the first deputy president Nomvule Galagala will be addressing. It will take the form of a march in Durbam which will start from King Dinuzulu park to the City hall where a series of memorandums will be submitted,” says Zwelinzima Vavi, SAFTU General Secretary.
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