JOHANNESBURG - The Cosatu strike, which was expected to hit the country’s economic hub of Johannesburg on Wednesday, is currently under way across the country major cities and has already resulted in the tumbling of the rand.
By 12:50 in Johannesburg the local currency was trading at 13.5389 against the dollar, its weakest since July.
In this month alone the rand has declined by more than 4%. This as the Chamber of Mines, which represents about 90% of mining industry, said it would join Business Unity South Africa and Business Leadership South Africa in support of Cosatu’s stance against the scourge of corruption and capture of key state institutions.
The SA Communist Party (SACP) said it has instructed its members in government, including ministers, to down tools and join workers at the picket lines. Cosatu and the SACP have repeatedly called on President Jacob Zuma to step down in the face of damning allegations of corruption and looting of state resources by his friends, the controversial Gupta family and their associates. Zuma's son Duduzane is a business partner of the Guptas.
Also read: Cosatu will strike nationally over state capture
Supporting Cosatu's strike action, the Chamber of Mines said state capture and corruption were putting the future of South Africans in jeopardy and also placing the mining industry at risk.
"There are many committed and hard-working individuals within government and in the Department of Mineral Resources, who like us, believe that South Africans deserve better: That South Africans have earned the right to a meaningful future, a future where every citizen has the opportunity to prosper, not only the well-connected few," said the Chamber in a statement.