COSATU Bushbuckridge Holds Peaceful March to Demand Action on Service delivery

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in Bushbuckridge held a peaceful march on 15 April as part of its national “Day of Action” programme ahead of the main COSATU rally in Middelburg.

Led by Fortune Ndlovu, the march aimed to highlight persistent service delivery issues affecting the local community, including electricity challenges and unaffordable utility tariffs. Protesters marched from the R40 traffic circle to Mapulaneng Hospital to hand over several memorandums of demand to key government and service entities.

Ndlovu said the first memorandum was addressed to Eskom, focusing on the ongoing problem of load reduction. “Load reduction is disrupting our learners, workers, and the community at large. If Eskom has challenges, they must be transparent and engage the community. Those who are not paying for electricity must be dealt with appropriately,” he said.

Another memorandum was handed to JAMs (a local water utility provider), which recently announced a 13.4% increase in service subscriptions — a move COSATU says places an unfair financial burden on workers. The trade union federation has called on JAMs’ board to engage directly with the workers and reconsider the steep hike.

Further memorandums were prepared for the Office of the Premier and various government departments, including Social Development, Health, and Education, addressing high unemployment and poor public services. COSATU has given the authorities 14 days to respond to their demands.

“We are happy to announce that unions such as SAKAU, SAMWU, NEHAWU, SADTU, and DENOSA joined the action, along with our alliance partners from the ANC and SACP,” Ndlovu added.

Speaking in support, Mr Malandule from the ANC said: “COSATU is our alliance partner, and we are here to support them because we believe their demands are aimed at improving our communities, not tearing them down.”

The march remained peaceful and was praised for its organisation and message of unity among workers, unions, and communities.