The Congress of South African Trade Unions welcomes the resignation of President Jacob Zuma. This resignation was long overdue. We do laud him for finally doing the right thing and freeing the country from what was a momentous week of political turmoil.

This decision will hopefully allow the country to move away from the relentless partisan fighting, the prolonged political gridlock, and also the damaging corruption scandals. Now the ANC has an opportunity to work to consolidate the gains of our country’s young democracy and rescue many poor people from the clutches of poverty.

We expect the new incoming president to restore confidence in the ANC and its government by giving its government a facelift. He needs to deal with mediocrity and bureaucratic arrogance that has paralysed government over the last few years. Some ministers and government leaders need to be removed and replaced in order for our economy to grow and the people centred development to thrive.

COSATU expects the fight against corruption to be intensified and the new president to prioritise a Job Summit that will help u deal with the scourge of unemployment. The new government leadership needs to work to resolve South Africa’s structural unemployment through deliberate planning and imaginative policy formulation.

Issued by COSATU

Sizwe Pamla (Cosatu National Spokesperson)

Tel: 011 339 4911
Fax: 011 339 5080
Cell: 060 975 6794