“The ANC committed a crime when they introduced outsourcing and labour brokers”. These are the words of John Appolis from GIWUSA on 18 February 2017, when Outsourcing Must Fall (OMF) activists held a rally at the Mary Fiztgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg, attended by outsourced workers. The rally was held in the build up to the planned occupation of the Gauteng Legislature by OMF activists, set to take place on 22 February. Organisers of OMF, Workers and Socialist Party (WASP), GIWUSA and guest speaker from the new union federation pledged their support to outsourced workers and the struggles that they face.
On the 22 February 2017, OMF workers from the Department of Health, Education, Transport, Social Development, Public Works, State Security, all municipalities and all state owned entities, including Prasa, and SAA, marched from Beyers Naude Square to the Legislature to hand over a memorandum of demands and stage an occupation of the Gauteng Legislature. More than 300 marchers participated but unfortunately Legislature security managed to lock and secure all entrances and doors into the Legislature building. Eventually the Legislature agreed to open the main assembly gates for the deputy speaker to receive the memo from the OMF movement.
Some of the marchers were holding placards saying; ‘STOP WAGE SLAVERY 4 ALL,’ ‘DECENT WORK, DECENT WAGE R10 000’, and ‘DOWN WITH R3,500’ minimum wage proposed by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. One of the marchers, who did not want to named, said they want the government to do away with
Jozi@Work, they want to be employed directly by the City of Johannesburg. “I am tired of getting peanuts from Jozi@Work,” she said.
Dimakatso Mogapi from Tladi Clinic told Karibu! that, “if the Legislature fails to respond to our demands, we will be calling for a national shutdown.” “The movement believes that there can be an amicable resolution to the issues raised in the momerandum,” said OMF organiser and member of WASP, Lebohang Phanyake. “We wish to state it clear that we have every intention of fighting against outsourcing to the bitter end.”
Dorothy Mabelebele is a Community Journalist Activist for Karibu Newspaper at Khanya College. She writes articles about the different struggles that the Black Poor Working Class are facing on a daily basis. The struggles that she writes about is to raise awareness to the communities about issues that are happening around them.
