WCAPE COSATU CALLS FOR REFERENDUM CAPE TOWN

October 2 2002 Sapa

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has challenged government to hold a referendum to test whether it has grassroots support for its privatisation programme. The challenge was issued at a rally in Cape Town on Wednesday, the second day of the federation's two-day anti-privatisation strike.

Deputy general secretary of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union Andre Kriel told about 1500 workers and supporters that the strike had not happened because Cosatu leadership was "trigger-happy". "It takes place because our members and structures have mandated us to protest against the ill-effects of privatisation," he said. "Government claims that South Africans support privatisation. We say put these claims to the test. We demand a people's referendum on privatisation." Kriel told Sapa the referendum proposal was a position he had been asked to put across by Cosatu's leadership, which believed government misunderstood the feeling in the community at large. "This means there is a distance between what government thinks on this issue and what's happening among ordinary people," he said. That was dangerous - it meant government was pushing programmes that did not have support on the ground and might cause revolt on the ground in future. Cosatu opposed privatisation because it caused mass poverty and increased inequalities in society. It robbed the poor of access to basic goods and services, foods and basic social services. "We are not surprised that the rich do not understand this," he said. "It is because they are still able to afford everything despite privatisation."

Cosatu Daily Labour News 3. Oktober 2002