The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) will lead a national protest on Wednesday, 19 February 2025, calling for higher taxes on the wealthy, an end to budget cuts, and the implementation of a Basic Income Grant.
Speaking on VOC’s NewsBeat on Tuesday, SAFTU spokesperson Newton Masuku emphasized the significance of the demonstration. “The protest serves two roles first, to bring these demands to the forefront and spread awareness among the working class that these are the issues we must be pushing the government to address. Second, it is to show that these demands can indeed be realized,” he explained.
Masuku described the protest as the beginning of a broader resistance against austerity measures. “This is just the start of what we believe will be a sustained pushback against the austerity budget and the ongoing onslaught on the working class, which has been happening for quite some time,” he said.
Listen to the full interview below:
VOC News
Photo: Supplied
