Media Statement on the readiness on the National May Day Rally at Polokwane, Limpopo on May 1 30 April 2014
The Congress of South African Trade Unions jointly with the African National Congress will hold a National May Day Rally at Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane on May 1. The tradition of celebrating May Day comes from the struggle for the eight-hour day in 1886 in the United States and Canada. On 1 May 1886, during national strikes for an eight-hour day, Chicago police attacked striking workers, killing six. The next day a bomb exploded at a demonstration against police brutality, killing eight policemen. They arrested eight trade unionists and put them on trial. Whether they were guilty or innocent was irrelevant. They were labelled agitators, fomenting revolution and stirring up the working class, found guilty and executed. This year, 2014, is the 125th time workers all over the world have been observing May Day. In our country this year is also the year we celebrate 20 years of democracy, and must always remember the significance of 1994, and never forget just how evil was the system of colonialism and apartheid we destroyed. Colonialism robbed us of our country’s natural riches, ruthlessly exploited the cheap labour of migrant workers, and condemned the majority of our people to virtual slavery in order to amass super profits for the British ruling class. Apartheid denied the majority of South Africans all basic human and democratic rights. It forced them to live and work where the government ordered, barred them from all the better paying jobs and even told them who they could or could not marry. Now, thanks to the struggles of working class, led by tripartite alliance under the leadership of the ANC, we have a democratic constitution and laws, which guarantee freedoms and human rights. We can vote, join any party and protest against the government. The National Rally is expected to be attended by 25 COSATU Locals, 538 ANC Branches, 5 SACP Districts and 5 SANCO Districts in the province. Other stakeholders to be in attendance are traditional leaders, faith based organizations, student formations, traditional healers, Non-Governmental Organizations and other Community Based Organizations. The event has culminated in the Alliance leadership criss-crossing all the length and breadth of the Province, to mobilize for the decisive victory of the ANC on May 7. The event will be addressed by the Alliance leadership. And the Speakers are: SANCO President: Cde Richard Mdakana SACP General Secretary: Cde Blade Nzimande COSATU President:Cde Sidumo Dlamini ANC President:Cde Jacob Zuma The formal programme on May 1 will commence at around 10h00 at the stadium, with various performances. The stadium will officially be opened at around 07h00. We wish all workers, their families and all members of the community to travel safely and also to celebrate the International Workers’ Day in our 20 years of a democratic government. This May Day in 2014, we must all commit ourselves to rebuilding a strong, united trade union movement, independently controlled by the workers, and led by dedicated servants of the working class, who never put their personal interests ahead of those of the workers who elected them. Issued by: COSATU Limpopo Contacts persons: Cde Dan Sibabi 082 779 2421 Cde Louisa Nxumalo 082 339 6004 ANC Contacts Cde Nomonde Nkosana 0825519157 Cde Lakela Kaunda 0827822575 -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
