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The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has commended the province\u2019s police leadership for their significant efforts in combating violent crime. <\/span><\/p>\n However, the union has voiced its disappointment and issued a sharp critique of recent comments made by Provincial Police Commissioner Lt. Gen. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who attributed the reduction in government workforce numbers to unions and workers advocating for better wages.<\/span><\/p>\n In a statement issued on Wednesday, Cosatu KZN said it \u201cacknowledges and commends\u201d the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) commitment to combating crime across the province. <\/span><\/p>\n Mkhwanazi <\/span>blamed the country\u2019s rising unemployment rate on trade unions, which he said continually demanded more money from their members.<\/span><\/p>\n The union framed Mkhwanazi\u2019s remarks at a Durban stakeholder engagement hosted by Premier Thami Ntuli on crime prevention in the province as misplaced and potentially inflammatory, arguing they risk widening rifts between law enforcement and the labour movement.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe fight against crime requires resources, commitment, and leadership, and we salute all men and women in uniform who continue to serve under difficult conditions,\u201d Cosatu KZN Provincial Secretary Edwin Mkhize said. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHowever, Cosatu is deeply concerned and disappointed by the Commissioner\u2019s recent utterances\u2026 where he blamed reduced government workforce numbers on unions and workers demanding better wages. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThese remarks are misplaced, out of context, and risk creating unnecessary tension between the labour movement and law enforcement leadership.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Cosatu framed the staffing crisis as a systemic issue rather than the workers’ fault. <\/span><\/p>\n The union asserted that \u201cthe crisis of inadequate staffing and poor resourcing in the police and other sectors of the state is not the making of workers or their unions,\u201d arguing instead that it results from \u201cneoliberal austerity measures\u201d and external fiscal pressures. <\/span><\/p>\n It accused dominant political and economic actors of directing hiring cuts while service demand grows.<\/span><\/p>\n The statement connected current wage debates with broader economic inequality in South Africa, claiming the country remains one of the most unequal in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n Cosatu contrasted high salaries for Ministers and Deputy Ministers with underpayment for frontline workers – teachers, police officers, nurses, and others – calling the situation a manifestation of \u201cstructural inequality, wasteful expenditure at the top, and misplaced priorities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen Cosatu and its allies advanced the struggle for a National Minimum Wage, vulnerable workers were told by business, the Democratic Alliance, and neoliberal forces that we were threatening jobs\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur fight for a Living Wage is not about greed; it is about fairness, dignity, and survival in the face of a rising cost of living,\u201d the statement read, emphasising that frontline workers \u201cperform critical work that holds society together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The organisation urged reframing the debate from blaming workers to addressing systemic inequities.<\/span><\/p>\n thabo.makwakwa@inl.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has commended the province\u2019s police leadership for their significant efforts in combating violent crime. However, the union has voiced its disappointment and issued a sharp critique of recent comments made by Provincial Police Commissioner Lt. Gen. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who attributed the reduction in government […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":250802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[19146,353,515,18018,510,19147],"class_list":["post-250801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics","tag-039disappointed039","tag-comments","tag-cosatu","tag-mkhwanazi039s","tag-police","tag-staffing"],"yoast_head":"\n