News24 reports that Deputy President Paul Mashatile has told organised labour not to fear the government of national unity (GNU) because workers’ rights under the GNU were protected. Speaking at National Economic Development and Labour Council’s (Nedlac’s) annual labour school in Pretoria on Tuesday, he said: “I told our leaders this morning, ‘don’t be scared about GNU’. I know at the beginning there were many who were saying this GNU includes those who don’t have the interests of workers at heart, so we might see a reversal of the gains that workers have made over the years and I said to them, ‘no, don’t worry, we are there to make sure that workers’ rights are protected’. Don’t be scared; workers’ rights will always be protected even if we have the GNU. That is what I want to assure you of. Please sleep peacefully at night; don’t be worried about what will happen now.” His message, however, did not resonate with some of those in attendance, who pointed out that the ANC’s main GNU partner, the DA, opposed the minimum wage. A National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu) representative asked Mashatile to respond to the stance of some GNU partners who were anti-minimum wage. Another Saftu representative refuted Mashatile by saying they could not afford to sleep peacefully. Cosatu’s Mike Shingange, stated: “One of the problems that South Africa faces since 1994 is what the deputy president is asking the workers to do, to go home and sleep peacefully while the revolution is unfolding.”
Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siyamtanda Capa at News24 (subscription or trial registration required). Read too, Labour school a critical platform for market, says Paul Mashatile, at TimesLIVE. And also, Mashatile vows: No exploitation of farmworkers under GNU, at The Citizen