COSATU vows to continue to fight for government workers to hold political office

JOHANNESBURG - The Congress of South African Trade Unions (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 South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), a COSATU affiliate, took the 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 (SACP) congress on Friday, COSATU first deputy president, Mike Shingane, said the government was trying to take away workers' constitutional rights to political affiliation. 

"We have spent more than R5 million as COSATU in defence of the rights of municipal workers to hold political office 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 communities."