COSATU spent R5 million in legal fees fighting for government employees to hold political office
The Municipal Systems Amendment Act was passed in 2011 and prohibited government workers from holding any political office.
COSATU headquarters in Braamfontein. Picture: Jacques Nelles/EWN
JOHANNESBURG - The Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU) says it has spent R5 million on legal fees fighting for the right of government employees to hold political office.
The Municipal Systems Amendment Act was passed in 2011 and prohibited government workers from holding any political office.
The SA Municipal Workers Union, an affiliate of COSATU, took government to the Labour Court and had the Act overturned and declared unconstitutional.
National government has appealed the Labour Court ruling at the Constitutional Court.
Speaking at the South African Communist Party’s congress on Thursday COSATU's first deputy president, Mike Shingange says government is trying to take away workers' constitutional rights to political affiliation.
“We have spent more than five million as COSATU in defence of the right of municipal workers to hold political office in their political parties while they work for the municipality. In other words, the political elite sought to disenfranchise municipal and public sector workers from being political activists on the ground and change the lives of people in communities.”