Johannesburg -- THE Congress of the South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), has condemned the shooting of South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) members who were shot with rubber bullets during their protest at Makro in Germiston.
The incident happened on Friday after the union embarked on a nationwide strike in demand of an across-the-board increase of 12%, 20% sales commission increase, R100 uniform increase and 13th cheque among other things.
The union’s spokesperson Sithembile Tshwete also condemned the violence meted out to at least 20 of its members who suffered injuries inflicted by police.
“We are condemning the issue of violence because the state and the company are bringing violence into a peaceful industrial dispute. We have always conducted ourselves in a very peaceful and disciplined manner,” he said.
In the meantime, in a statement on Saturday, the Cosatu spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla, condemned the brutal attack on peace protesters adding that police had used unnecessary violence to disrupt a protected and legal strike. Pamla said the federation will be demanding an investigation into the matter as the violence against its members was unwarranted.
“The federation demands an investigation of this unacceptable abuse of power by both the SAPS and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID). We declare our solidarity with the Makro workers who were affected and support their just and legitimate struggle for better pay and working conditions,” Pamla said.
Cosatu said it has always been against the use of violence on striking workers as well as the deployment of police to silent those challenging the status quo -- adding that use of force continues even after 28 years of democracy.
“We have consistently decried the use of police officers to silence workers who are fighting for their rights. We cannot afford as a nation, to revert to an era where police ended up acting like an unaccountable paramilitary doing the bidding of the public and private power structure. After 1994, there was a consensus that the SAPS needed to be transformed from an organisation that was used to brutally repress dissent into an organisation whose sole function is to protect and not intimidate.
“Since then, unfortunately, we have witnessed the continued use of excessive violence during protests. Workers have borne the brunt of this police brutality,” Pamla added.
The Star