Western Cape commits to creating 600,000 jobs following Cosatu march
Cosatu marched to the Provincial Legislature and to the Civic Centre to demand decent jobs and a safer Cape Town.
Image: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers
The Western Cape government has committed to creating 600,000 jobs by 2035 in response to demands from Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) protesters.
Approximately 300 union members marched through Cape Town's city centre on Tuesday, to deliver a memorandum of grievances to provincial and municipal authorities.
The demonstration, which began at Hanover Street before proceeding to the Provincial Legislature and Civic Centre, highlighted urgent concerns about unemployment, high utility tariffs and what unions describe as "anti-poor" budget priorities.
Cosatu provincial secretary Malvern de Bruyn said the demonstration aimed to highlight the urgent need for decent and sustainable employment.
“We marched to the Provincial Legislature as well as to the Provincial Parliament, but this time around, we did it differently. We asked the Speaker of the National Parliament to come to the Legislature to collect the memorandum,” said De Bruyn.
“The memorandum talked about the question of decent jobs for our people, real jobs for our people, jobs in general for our people. We referred to the issue of the Palestinian crisis and what we wanted our government to do. Then, we went to the City of Cape Town from there. We handed over the memorandum to the Mayor’s Office, and that memorandum also talked about the question of high electricity tariffs, high water tariffs, the question of the anti-poor budget, and also crime.”
“There is a need for people to clean streets and work on trucks that collect waste, but why did we use EPWPs?” he asked.
“Those people have been deprived of medical aid, pension funds, and other benefits. They are getting paid less than R20 an hour. The DA and the city are hiding behind the EPWPs instead of creating real jobs.”
Western Cape Director-General Harry Malila said the provincial administration had a plan to grow the economy and expand employment opportunities.
“As part of our provincial strategic plan for the next five years, we wanted to grow the economy because that would enable the private sector to do what they needed to do,” said Malila.
“In that plan, we wanted to create 600,000 jobs over the next five years, at least up until 2026.”
He said the province’s unemployment rate stood at about 21%, and although the Western Cape accounted for “90% of the net jobs created in South Africa over the last two to three years”, more needed to be done.
Cosatu members took to the streets of Cape Town to demand decent jobs and lower utility tariffs in the Western Cape.
Image: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers
In solidarity with the march, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) joined the protest, linking the struggle for decent work in South Africa with global justice.
The marchers also demanded an end to high water and electricity tariffs, and called for a transparent, pro-poor budget.
They said the 2025/26 municipal and provincial budgets remained “anti-poor”, prioritising “mega-projects, consultants, and profits” while neglecting the needs of communities.
Cosatu further urged the government to prioritise community safety and intensify efforts to combat crime in the province.
The union has given the government 14 days to respond.
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Cape Argus