Solidarity is going to take to Sandton’s streets to protest Sasol’s racial scheme
Major traffic disruption is expected in the Johannesburg area on Thursday when several convoys organised by the Solidarity Movement will converge on Sandton for a protest march in support of Sasol workers who are protesting their exclusion from Sasol’s Khanyisa employee share ownership plan. Fellow Solidarity members and the community will come out in their numbers to support hundreds of Sasol workers.
Streets in Sandton will be closed off while protest-goers hand over memorandums to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and to Sasol at its Head Office. At the same time, Solidarity will serve court papers on Sasol to test the legality of Sasol’s Khanyisa plan.
This protest comes in the wake of a dispute between Sasol and Solidarity about the exclusion of white workers from Khanyisa.
“It is a pity we have to resort to the courts and take to the streets about exclusion based on race. We were under the impression that there was consensus in South Africa that the absolute exclusion of workers based on race was a thing of the past. The Mining Charter paved the way in finding a solution to this issue: After years of negotiation government, trade unions, mining companies and communities agreed that all workers must be included in employee share ownership plans. The premise is that workers are workers and that they should not be divided by race. Even the empowerment charter finds Sasol in the wrong. The company, however, chose to break the agreement for commercial reasons,” Solidarity Chief Executive Dirk Hermann said.
Solidarity members started with strike action at Sasol at the beginning of September. The strike led to major disruption in Sasol’s output. The CCMA came with an intervention but Sasol refused to make any concessions.