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Cosatu March. Image credit: Twitter/@_cosatu

COSATU urges Tito Mboweni to address unemployment in budget speech

Zingiswa Losi, President of Cosatu, has stated that Tito Mboweni must bear their strike in mind when constructing his budget speech.

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Cosatu March. Image credit: Twitter/@_cosatu

Cosatu members have been gathering in Newtown, Johannesburg, for the union strike today. Workers are then expected to make their way to the Gauteng legislature to continue their protest.

Zingiswa Losi, President of Cosatu, told Eyewitness News that Tito Mboweni must bear their strike in mind when constructing his budget speech.

Protesters who arrived carrying signs highlighting unemployment and poor working conditions for students are still hopeful that the Finance minister will act to reduce the number of retrenchments and rising unemployment:

“We are raising this matter between the State of the Nation Address and the budget speech deliberately because we want the Minister of Finance to factor in, in his budget, so that he can focus on addressing unemployment,” said Losi.

While the trade federation has been happy with the Ramaphosa’s job’s summit and general sentiments to boost the economy, he was eager to see how this would be provided for in the budget.

“It’s not issues of not trusting, it’s us raising the issues that we strongly feel they must find expression.”

Protesters in Johannesburg braved the rain this morning to gather and show their disapproval. Losi has not ruled out further industrial action.

The organisation’s central committee would meet after the budget speech at which point they would decide if further action would be planned. Mboweni will deliver the annual Budget Speech on 20 February 2019.

Read – “We will not vote for ANC” – warns COSATU ahead of national strike