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The South African Communist Party (SACP) in Gauteng Province pledges its full support to the militant and decisive workers’ strike in the City of Tshwane, led by the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU).

 Members of SAMWU embarked on a strike, following an extremely provocative decision by the DA-EFF-led Tshwane Municipality to pay their master thief and corrupt City Manager Dr Moeketsi Mosola a whopping R7.5 Million golden handshake for all the troubles and crises he has plunged the City into.

It is also reported that the City gave workers what could be viewed as a slap in the face when it paid more than 18 percent salary increases to the already heavily paid senior municipal managers. Even making matters worse, is the unaccounted absence of Stevens Mokgalapa, the Executive Mayor of the City, in the midst of this self-engineered crisis.

We strongly condemn right-wing narratives that seek to laying the blame for this crisis at the doorstep of the workers who had nothing to do with the corrupt golden handshakes by the self-serving City elite.

We have noted how the recently released unemployment data on the poor and depressed state of the economy and overall negative investor sentiment is being used to wage a right-wing attack on the workers.

We strongly believe that the handshake loot and criminal salary increases for the DA-EFF crew in the City constitute the root cause of the strike. It was purely the City’s highly insensitive and irresponsible “self-greasing” and morally bankrupt handshakes and salary increases that are to blame for plunging our country’s capital into a deeper and regrettable crisis. We will continue to be with and work amongst the workers under these difficult conditions.

Issued by the SACP Gauteng Province