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Durban – Political analyst Dr Ralph Mathekga has warned Cosatu to review its alliance with the ANC to avoid more disruptions like the one seen on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The writing had been on the wall for quite some time for the federation to see that workers were fed up, he said, therefore Sunday\u2019s incident where President Cyril Ramaphosa was booed was not surprising. Mathekga said the union must ask itself whether workers were still voting for the ANC after the incident. Cosatu\u2019s leadership had been critical of the ANC but that was not enough to calm workers, he said.<\/p>\n
Mathekga viewed the incident as the last call to leadership that it must either review the alliance or lose members.<\/p>\n
\u201cCosatu would have to listen to workers\u2019 concerns if it still wants to exist. Workers have clearly demonstrated they would no longer tolerate the ANC-led government corruption and ill treatment of workers,\u201d said Mathegka.<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa was forced to abandon the national May Day rally, organised by Cosatu in Rustenburg, after angry Sibanye-Stillwater workers disrupted the proceedings and refused to allow him to speak. He was rejected by the workers and as the mood became more unpleasant, police were forced to intervene while the statesman\u2019s bodyguard quickly ushered him out of the Royal Bafokeng Stadium where the event was to take place.<\/p>\n
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) \u2013 the two biggest mine unions in SA \u2013 have demanded a pay increase of R1 000 a month over the next three years, similar to the amount Sibanye\u2019s rival Harmony Gold agreed to pay its workers last year.<\/p>\n
Sibanye\u2019s chief executive Neal Froneman said the company would not be revising its final offer, as it could not sustain higher wage increases. The workers have been on a three-month-long strike after the mine rejected the R1 000 demand, offering an R800 annual increase, which workers rejected.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, workers brought their demands to the Workers\u2019 Day rally, where Ramaphosa was to address them.<\/p>\n
This could be the first time in his presidency where he has been forced to abandon addressing this historic event. The May Day rally is an important event in the Tripartite Alliance calendar.<\/p>\n
Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi tried to address the disruptive workers, calling for calm to give the ANC president a chance to address them. When the angry workers refused to yield, Ramaphosa walked across the pitch to address them. \u201cYou want your R1 000, I understand that \u2026 We\u2019ve heard that message and we will be dealing with that matter,\u201d Ramaphosa told the workers.<\/p>\n
In an effort to pacify them, he promised to speak to those in power regarding their demands. But tensions rose further and he was ushered out of the stadium.<\/p>\n
A Cosatu member took the microphone and called for workers to remain calm. \u201cComrades, don\u2019t invite something you don\u2019t want. We don\u2019t want anyone to go to hospital today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Besides Sibanye workers, public service workers also raised the government\u2019s somersault on the wage agreement it signed with workers in 2018.<\/p>\n
Attempts to get comment from Cosatu leadership were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a showdown is looming between the government and public servants as consolidation of demands by several unions show they want 7%.<\/p>\n
The SA Democratic Teachers Union said its members want between 7% and 10%.<\/p>\n
Daily News<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Durban – Political analyst Dr Ralph Mathekga has warned Cosatu to review its alliance with the ANC to avoid more disruptions like the one seen on Sunday. The writing had been on the wall for quite some time for the federation to see that workers were fed up, he said, therefore Sunday\u2019s incident where President […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":81436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[3288,12080,515,12081,807,2706],"class_list":["post-81435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics","tag-actions","tag-analyst","tag-cosatu","tag-revolt","tag-warns","tag-workers"],"yoast_head":"\n