The Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP) will fully participate in the #SAFTUStrike which has been called for by South Africa’s only independent, militant trade union Federation, SAFTU, on the 26 and 27 March 2019.

The conditions facing the working class are almost as bad today, as they were twenty-five years ago when the brutal Apartheid system was written out of the statute books. What has replaced it is a neo-liberal Capitalist system which keeps the majority of people in a permanent state of suffering, whilst enriching the elite. Today more than half the population lives in abject poverty. This has been made worse by 37 per cent unemployment, whilst at the same time the entire wealth of the nation is held in the hands of three white males.

To make matters worse this government is in the process of privatizing and selling off our SOE’s to the highest bidder. The ANC negotiated settlement gave South Africa a Capitalist transition. Capitalism is looting and corruption and is at the heart of the crisis facing every member of the working class and the poor.

It is Capitalism which breeds inequality, greed and corruption. The insatiable greed of the Capitalist ANC government is to blame for the rampant looting and corruption at Eskom and all other SOE’s. And now that Eskom is on the brink of collapse, the only solution proposed by the same greedy capitalists is to sell it off so they can continue to profit at the expense of the majority of people. Because of their failure, Eskom will be privatized.

Five coal fired power stations will be shut down in Mpumalanga to make way for the rolling out of the Independent Power Producer Program. One hundred thousand workers will lose their jobs in Mpumalanga because government has made no plans to help workers to be reabsorbed into the new energy sector. Energy prices are set to go up to please these greedy capitalist parasites who will leech off the energy sector. This

will worsen conditions for the poor and working class who protest daily against their suffering.

All these ills and many more, we are convinced, can only be tackled and abolished by the South African working class, who are organised as a Socialist fighting block against capitalism. Every week inductions are taking place in different provinces and regions. At these meetings we must inform attendees that there is a strike coming up so they may prepare to participate. Only a united working class can succeed in genuinely transforming our society in the interests of the working class and the poor. We call on all our members, and all communities to mobilize and join in the National #SAFTUStrike!

Issued by the SRWP National Core

For more information, please contact:

Phakamile Hlubi-Majola

SRWP Acting Spokesperson

+27833677725

Vuyolwethu Toli

SRWP Acting Spokesperson

+27788029072