COSATU demands conditional assistance for the government of Zimbabwe

24 January 2019

The Congress of South African Trade Unions [COSATU] has noted the comments by the South African government on giving assistance to our neighbouring country Zimbabwe. The federation is not opposed to any attempts to help our neighbouring country and its citizens in their hour of need but we demand that any assistance be conditional.

The South African government should insist that all political prisoners be freed before any assistance is given to the Zimbabwean government. The government of Zimbabwe should be forced to respect human rights before any money is handed over. They need to be forced to stop wanton violence and allow people to express their wishes without fear of intimidation or arrest.

The systemic abuse of power and repression against leaders and members of the trade union movement led by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions [ZCTU] as well as the opposition cannot be tolerated. 

The South African government taxpayers and workers will not agree to any propping up of any dictatorship in Zimbabwe. The protests in Zimbabwe are legitimate and legal and this ongoing repression is unwarranted.

Workers have every right to protests against any government that is corrupt and mismanages the economy. The low salaries, fuel price hikes, deteriorating economic situation, living conditions ordinary Zimbabweans is caused by a reckless and clueless Zimbabwean.

We applaud our sister federation the ZCTU in its unwavering determination to represent the working class and poor under terrible conditions. We also call on SADC to stop treating the issue of Zimbabwe lightly, there needs to be a stronger and more sustainable response to normalise the situation in that country.

Issued by Sizwe Pamla, National Spokesperson, COSATU, 24 January 2019