Mining bosses and factory owners retrenching workers were threatening stability, Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi told hundreds of Cosatu members in Cape Town taking part in the federation’s countrywide World Day march for Decent Work on Wednesday.

“Retrenchments are a declaration of war on the poor,” hammered Nxesi, who is also the deputy chairman of the South African Communist Party (SACP), adding that along with retrenchments, capitalism and labour brokers were threats to decent work conditions.

Asked why, as a minister he was marching with workers, Nxesi answered: “We, as the SACP and COSATU, will fight the struggles of our people inside and outside of Parliament, inside and outside of the boardrooms.”

Nxesi went on to stress the SACP’s demand to government, that a “multi-stakeholder mining indaba” be held urgently to tackle transformation in the troubled sector.

As Cosatu marchers in the Mother City headed to Parliament, about 2 000 Cosatu members, sporting the organisations red t-shirts, in Johannesburg began marching to the Telkom offices to demand that retrenchments be stopped. They also planned to march on Gauteng Premier David Makhura’s office to demand the scrapping of e-tolls.

‎Cosatu communications officer Norman Mampane said the labour body was expecting thousands more to attend.

“We are expecting 56 000 people, more members are still arriving,” said Mampane, who also used the event to call for the banning of labour brokers. He said companies that used brokers needed to be exposed.

“Cosatu has been a shield for workers for many years. Today marks International Day of Decent Work. We are going to the streets to demand the end to labour issues, as well as total scrapping of e-tolls because we believe they are an invasion of public property,” Mampane said.

A group of men who work for the local municipality told ANA that there were many issues that they had with labour brokers and that was why they were attending the march.

“Today is International Day of Decent Work … we came to the march to confirm to the government and private sector that decent jobs need to be created for workers in South Africa,” said a Cosatu member who did not wish to be named.

“Integrated public transport system is what is wanted instead of e-tolls, and we want them to do away with the central bargaining system.”

“People are being exploited due to labour brokers. It’s like an apartheid system. Certain laws are being approved but aren’t being implemented.”

In Durban about 3 000 Cosatu members marched from Botha Gardens down Pixley ka Seme Street to the Durban city hall, where they were due to hand over a memorandum, and also protested against labour broking.

An eThekwini Metro Police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the expectation had been that about 7 000 people would march.

Several carried posters and placards that read “Labour Brokers = Slavery” and “End Poverty, Job Losses and Inequality”.

The march was peaceful with a visible police presence. There appeared to be very few shops that had closed up or rolled the shutters down.

At the front of the march, slogans were chanted while at the rear there was a more festive atmosphere with marchers dancing to catchy tunes played over a loudspeaker on the back of a lorry.

In Cape Town, marchers voiced a wide range of reasons for worker and working class frustration. Twin sisters Natasha Cleophas and Vanessa Miggel said they were sick of arriving late for work because of public transport.

“The buses and trains are late everyday and then we lose our jobs,” said Cleophas.

Both sisters, who worked in the textile and clothing industries, said another frustration of theirs was decreased pay when returning from maternity leave.

“You leave getting paid 100% of your salary, and then you return getting paid 80%,” said Miggel.

An industry peer, Nuraan Cassiem, said government needed to adjust municipal rates according to income bracket.

“Our industry is the lowest paid [sic] yet we are expected to pay the same as higher earners,” said Cassiem.

She added that bosses chose to ignore the workers’ plight.

“When we’re late because of having to take two trains and two taxis, the boss says it’s not his job to get us to work on time,” she said.

“So, what else can we do but march?”

Marchers also gathered at the Rustenburg taxi rank in the North West on Wednesday, singing liberation struggle songs.

Dressed in red t-shirts they chanted and toyi-toyied while carrying posters calling for decent jobs and that the poor should not have to pay for electricity.

Some had umbrellas to shield themselves against the scorching sun.

North West Public Works MEC Madoda Sambatha, who is also the provincial secretary of the SACP, was among leaders of the march.