Cosatu urges Cape to vote ANC

2004-04-07 12:40

Cape Town - With exactly seven days before the elections, the Congress of South African Trade Unions is urging Western Cape workers to cast their vote for the ANC.

Speaking at a media conference in Cape Town on Wednesday, Cosatu president Willie Madisha said that the union was concentrating its efforts on boosting ANC support in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

If the party gains control of the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal it will rule all nine of South Africa's provinces.

Madisha said the ANC was the only party that could advance the rights of workers.

"A vote for the ANC is a vote for continued transformation of the workplace and the improvement of worker rights. It is a vote to defend, consolidate and take forward the social transformation that started in 1994. Your future is in your hands. Do not destroy it! Protect it!" he urged.

He said that workers must not allow themselves to be intimidated away from the polls.

"Cosatu has heard reports that some retail and farm workers have been threatened with disciplinary action if they fail to report for work on time on voting day. This is outrageous. People died fighting for our right to vote. No employer may stop workers from voting at their local voting station."

Madisha urged workers to return to the areas where they were registered to vote in time to take part in the elections.

The election day is preceded by a number of public holidays, and there are concerns that some people will not return from their holidays in time to vote.

"Workers should also remember that they can only vote where they are registered. Even if the employer has given them a week off, they must be sure to be at the right polling station on elections day. We cannot afford to lose votes because we want to spend more time at home or on vacation."

- SAPA