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‘People are dying': South Africa politicians vote themselves pay raise
[Aljazeera] Johannesburg, South Africa — Hundreds of members of the Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU), the country’s largest labour union, gathered at its head office in the commercial capital Johannesburg on Thursday to demand interest rate cuts, electricity reforms, and job additions.The union also mobilised workers across South Africa’s nine provinces and major urban centres, such as Cape Town, Durban, Kimberly, Mafikeng and Rustenburg, to present a common front nationwide. The protests came on the heels of President Cyril Ramaphosa signing off on a 3.8 percent salary increase for all public office holders including judges and parliamentarians because of "serious economic challenges facing the country", according to a July 1 statement from the presidency. Negotiations between COSATU and the government had led to an increase in the national minimum wage from 23.19 rand ($1.21) per hour to 25.42 rand ($1.33) per hour, as announced on March 1. But union officials have said prevailing economic conditions including high interest rates have offset the effect of the latest increase which targets. Posted by: Besoeker 2023-07-07 |
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