Cosatu has joined the flurry of calls for President Jacob Zuma to go. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks
4 August 2017
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has called on its 200,000 members to join the march to Parliament in Cape Town on Monday 7 August. The protest, organised by a civil society coalition called #UniteBehind, will call for the removal of President Jacob Zuma. The next day (8 August), a no-confidence vote in Zuma will be held in Parliament, and opposition political parties will lead a march to Parliament.
A statement on Friday afternoon by the trade union federation said: “Cosatu is calling on its members to support the protest on Monday calling for the removal of President Zuma.” It further said: “This protest must not be used to effect a regime change, but to deal with the real issue of Zuma and the general corrupt state of South Africa. This is a non partisan action that should not undermine the ANC, who we wish to restore and return to its former glory, as the champion of the hopes and dreams of our people.”
Zackie Achmat, who is a member of #UniteBehind’s Organising Secretariat, said: “We welcome the decision by Cosatu to throw its weight behind the march. Every worker is welcome in the struggle for a just and equal South Africa and against state capture.”