The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) whole-heartedly supports its principled Affiliate, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU)’s Restore Dignity March, planned for Tuesday, 24 June.

The march is part of POPCRU’s ongoing campaign to defend workers’ rights, uphold human dignity within the criminal justice cluster, and demand decisive action against systemic injustices impacting members of the South African Police Service and Correctional Services.

It is also an appropriate and necessary response to the allegations of sexual exploitation of trainees at SAPS training facilities and in workplaces in general. COSATU joins POPCRU in condemning all forms of sexual harassment in the workplace as a violation of human rights and dignity and a gross abuse of power. We cannot have the same people who are supposed to protect society from gender-based violence and other calamities, be perpetrators of this horrific scourge. 

Those found guilty of preying on fellow police service members, particularly the young and vulnerable, must face the full might of the law regardless of rank or position.

It is equally critical that workers across all sectors, be trained on the 2021 amendments to the Sexual Offences and Criminal Procedures Acts, to ensure that they are fully empowered with regards to the rights and responsibilities in the fight against the pandemic of gender-based violence, including sexual harassment at the workplace.

Details of the March:

• Date: Tuesday, 24 June 2025

• Time: 08h00

• Meeting Point: Burgers Park, Pretoria

• Route: March to the Shorburg Building, 429 Helen Joseph Street, Pretoria

• Purpose: Handing over of a Memorandum of Demands to the National Police Commissioner

Issued by COSATU

Zanele Sabela (COSATU National Spokesperson)

Mobile: 079 287 5788 / 077 600 6639
Email: zaneles@cosatu.org.za