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On Thursday, 10 February 2022, organisations affiliated with the Cry of the Xcluded will picket at the Bhunga Avenue off-ramp on the N2 and on seven footbridges along the Nelson Mandela Boulevard from 6 AM until 10 AM. We are picketing to raise various issues about the country’s state of affairs, and reflect the real state of the nation.  

Unemployment Crisis

The South African unemployment rate has hit a record high at 46.6% as the latest statistics indicate that 12.48 million people are currently unemployed. The government has failed to address this scourge, with the youth hardest hit at 66.5% as the government struggles to create sustainable jobs. 

Drastic measures are required to address and begin reversing this situation hence we called on the government to reverse budget cuts which will exacerbate joblessness within the public sector.  

Millions of people go to bed hungry including more than 3 million children while a handful of CEOs have incomes of more than R1.7 million a year on average. We cannot afford to remain silent. That is why we call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to implement a wealth tax. 

Besides poverty and joblessness, our country faces a deep political crisis. The State Capture Commission led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo revealed just how systematic corruption and looting from the state almost crippled this country.  Ordinary South Africans are suffering because resources meant to improve their everyday lives were channelled somewhere else by corrupt politicians and administrators.

Another report that gives a bleak picture of state affairs is the expert panel report on the 2021 July unrest that rocked KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng and left over 300 people dead. The report, which was released this week, indicates that the South African police service had insufficient capacity to stop the violence. The budget cuts and the increased privatisation of the economy including our energy and transport sectors will make everything worse. Already, the government has terminated the contracts of thousands of health workers who were temporarily employed during the pandemic. In spite of the fact that our health sector (like our education system, and the public sector in general) is heavily understaffed.  Budget cuts to social grants, education, health care, municipalities etc is the wrong medicine.

This speaks to our ongoing call for the reversal of the current austerity measures that are having a negative impact on service delivery and hinder the proper functioning of government institutions. 

These are some of our demands:

• Implement the basic income grant of R1500: We call on President Ramaphosa to implement a Basic Income Grant of R1500 per month for all unemployed between the ages of 18-59, including caregivers, home-based workers and precarious workers who earn below the national minimum wage. This will bring much-needed relief to millions of South Africans who are languishing in poverty. 
• Affordable Housing: The Covid_19 pandemic has exposed the failures of the so-called people’s government in providing decent shelter for the citizens. A number of people found themselves homeless during the national lockdown after losing their jobs and could no longer afford to pay rent. While the government did put a moratorium on evictions during the lockdown, most landlords continued to put tenants out illegally. Major cities are facing a high number of homelessness and instead of adopting a strategy that prioritizes giving people housing, municipalities like the City of Cape Town have opted to criminalize homeless people. The government needs to understand that ignoring homelessness won't make it go away. 
• Free Education for all: The struggle for free education speaks to the socio-political and economic state of the nation. Section 29(1)(b) of the Constitution states that “everyone has the right to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively and accessible”. We support the #FeesMustFall movement and reject the proposal by Higher education and training minister Blade Nzimande to convert the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to a loan. South African youth is already drowning in student debt. We cannot commodify education. 
• We demand decent and sustainable jobs: We call on the government supported by all roleplayers including the private sector to deliver on its promise of addressing joblessness by creating decent and sustainable employment. We demand an end to labour brokering and casualisation of workers. EPWP workers must be insourced and given the benefits afforded to permanent workers. 28 years into our democracy, South Africa has the highest youth unemployment rate in the world,  with over 50% of young people who are struggling to find employment. Due to this, most young people are excluded from enjoying the fruits of our democracy. 
• Tax the rich: We call on the government to tax the rich who have become even richer during the pandemic in order to address the deep inequalities our country is grappling with. Studies have shown that implementing a wealth tax of between 3% and 7% on the wealthiest individuals in the country could raise more than R140 billion each year. 
• No to the privatization of Eskom: We are against the unbundling of Eskom. The government should invest in transforming Eskom into a fully public renewable energy utility. Keep Eskom fully public to provide Renewable Energy as a public good and not for the profit-driven scheme. We have seen the results of market-driven Renewable Energy in Europe which led to job losses and rising energy prices for consumers. Government must start a planned localisation of Renewables and increase import tariffs urgently.
• Implement the State Capture Commission recommendations: We will join other social movements and civil society organisations in playing an oversight role to ensure that the State Capture Commission recommendations are implemented accordingly. All those who are implicated in the state capture must be held to account. 
• Climate Crisis: We call on the government to act on the climate crisis to save our planet. The government must put in place proper resource disaster management plans as we are already experiencing extreme weather conditions throughout the country. South Africans must unite and take a stand against climate injustice.
• We call on the government to reject the R11.4 billion World Bank loan: As a country, we are already struggling to service our current debt, accepting this loan puts the nation at risk of losing its sovereignty. We must not sit back while the government is selling our sovereignty to the highest bidder. It is a fallacy that this loan comes with no conditions. The Alternative Information and Development Centre debunked five myths about the World Bank Loan. 

President Ramaphosa needs to understand that we are tired of hearing the same rhetoric without seeing any positive results. It is criminal that so many millions have been looted from the public purse while millions of South Africans are subjected to poverty, joblessness and inequality.

#OurPotsAndPansAreEmpty 

#OurStateIsInShambles 

#Sidikiwe 

Issued by Bridgette Nkomana from Back2Work Campaign, Abraham Agulhas from Revolutionary Socialist, Wafaa Abdurahman from Fight Against Inequality, Tembeka Majali from Alternative Information and Development Centre and Lydia Petersen from Western Cape Water Caucus