Vavi,+Strike+a+success



='Strike a success' - Vavi=

Finance24, June 27 2005 05:07:46:420PM
Johannesburg - The Congress of SA Trade Unions' (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has hailed Monday's one-day general strike as a success.

"Workers have spoken today. In the streets of Durban, Cape Town, of Bisho, everywhere else in the country, we are getting reports that marches have been well supported," Vavi said.

"Johannesburg today certainly saw the biggest-ever march in this country," he added, saying that "we estimate that up to 100 000 workers' turned up for the march in Johannesburg".

Vavi thanked civil society organisations who supported the march.

"The broad-based support for the campaign for economic justice points to the urgency and the importance of the issues for our people.

"We are here today to highlight the plight of millions of people trapped in poverty."

Striking Cosatu members earlier handed a memorandum of their concerns over job losses to the Chamber of Mines.

Chamber executive Frans Barker said he would study the document and respond to the proposal.

Immediately after handing over the memorandum, the crowd sang songs in support of recently dismissed deputy president Jacob Zuma.

"WeZuma - we! Inyamazane," the crowd sang.

The song is loosely translated as: "Zuma the soldier, we are fully behind you."

The large group was heading for the Gauteng legislature and was still expected to hand over two memoranda.

Traffic was at a standstill in Johannesburg with the start of the afternoon rush hour looming. Earlier, Cosatu president Willie Madisha said the rand should be devalued because it was too strong.

"The rand is too strong and because of its strength we have a problem. This thing of the rand must be looked into. It must be devalued," Madisha said.

Since the rand's recovery from a dramatic downward plunge in 2001, its current relative strength has been blamed repeatedly for job losses, particularly in the export and mining sectors.

From: http://www.finance24.com/articles/business/display_article.asp?Nav=ns&lvl2=buss&ArticleID=1518-1786_1728061 **
 * Edited by Adrienne Taylor