Johannesburg - The EFF says it marks the 137th anniversary of International Workers’ Day in the year it is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
The party said it celebrated 10 years of unbroken struggle for the unity of workers.
The Communist Manifesto states that “workers of the world unite, for you have nothing to lose but your chains”.
Since its inception in 2013, the EFF has said it understands that the unity of workers loosens the capitalist grip on people.
The party said its 10-year history bore witness to its unbroken solidarity with the labour movement founded on socialist principles.
“On August 16, 2012, the ANC government massacred 34 black workers, wounding hundreds more on the Marikana koppie. The workers were on strike against the British mining company Lonmin, demanding a living wage of R12 500. Just like the successive regimes of white supremacists, the ANC killed poor, exploited workers who were striking for a living wage,” said EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo.
He said it was party leader Julius Malema who acted immediately in solidarity with the mineworkers when he went to the Marikana koppie after the calamity.
Thambo said the Marikana Massacre drove a generational conversation led by Malema on what was to be done.
He said this ultimately resulted in the formation of the revolutionary movement, the EFF.
Thambo said the EFF Founding Manifesto adopted in 2014 and all the Election Manifestos outlined their commitment to the workers’ struggle.
He said on October 27, 2015, the movement took the workers’ struggles to the streets in a massive economic freedom march to the Reserve Bank Chamber of Mines and the JSE.
On behalf of millions of workers, the EFF submitted demands that included the implementation of minimum wages for all workers at JSE-listed companies.
“Later that same year, on November 11, the revolutionary movement tabled a motion in Parliament for a minimum wage of R4500 in both the private and public sectors with effect from May 1, 2016. The motion was based on the dreadful facts that wages continued to serve as a source of perpetuating the dehumanisation of the majority of black people, including in the professional sectors. Also, South African wages had remained stagnant, with the median low wage increasing by only 2.9% between 1997 and 2013. The motion recognised that more than 60% of South Africa’s workers were paid less than R3 000 per month.
“The progressive motion was rejected by the ANC. The only political party for workers has been at the forefront of insourcing workers. The EFF has used our political platforms to submit motions to ban labour brokers and insource workers in government, universities, state-owned companies and the private sector. Security guards, cleaning and hospitality workers deserve decent labour contracts with benefits and a living wage,” Thambo said.
He further said it was the EFF that tied the struggle waged by students for fees to fall at universities with the plight of university workers, many of whom were employed under repressive labour broker conditions.
“Consequently, many universities have since insourced these workers and allowed them the same benefits other university workers are entitled to, including bursaries for the children of these workers. To date, the City of Joburg and Nelson Mandela Metro have adopted the EFF motion to insource workers,” he said.
Thambo said the EFF responded to the overwhelming demand from workers for intervention on a wide range of labour-related issues by establishing the Labour Desk in October 2020.
“The work of the Labour Desk has surpassed the work of most registered unions. Our branches, regions, provinces and national structures are engaged daily in the workers’ struggle. Just over the past three months, the labour desk has received over 9000 complaints and solved almost 6000 with about 3000 under processing,” Thambo said.
Thambo added that their party was the only political party that represented the workers’ agenda.
The party urged workers to register to vote for it in the 2024 elections to receive a living wage, equal pay between genders and races, and agreeable working conditions.
EFF’s 10th anniversary celebration will take place on July 29 at FNB Stadium. The party said all workers were invited.
The Star