The working class is under siege from the increasingly painful costs of living, rising unemployment and the subsequent crises of poverty, inequality, crime, corruption and overstretched public services.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will be holding a national protest against the rising costs of living on Friday 19 June to send a clear message to government and the private sector that workers can no longer cope and action must be taken before it is too late.
South Africa’s history of centuries of institutional discrimination and disempowerment under colonial and apartheid rule are well known and the scars of poverty and inequality they engineered remain painfully etched across the nation.
We appreciate that great strides have been made on many fronts since 1994 under government led by the African National Congress, from investing 60% of the Budget into uplifting working-class communities to opening up the economy to the 90% once denied access to their race, gender or disability.
We must, however, be alarmed by the plight facing millions of working-class and increasingly middle-class families with most drowning in debt and borrowing simply to pay for essentials or other debt. Workers support an average of 7 relatives.
With the doubling of fuel prices over the past few months and workers spending an average of 40% of their wages on transport, we fear we are approaching breaking point
Just as we collectively rallied as a nation to successfully defeat Covid-19, so too must government and business work with labour and society, to tackle our rising costs of living and the dire socio-economic crises underpinning them.
Government has done well to provide some relief for the massive fuel price hikes that have hammered commuters and the economy.
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This article is published on Business Point website
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Updated: June 2026
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