DA leader John Steenhuisen said that South Africa had very little to celebrate this Workers’ Day saying that never before had the plight of the South African worker been more precarious.
The leader of the official opposition party said until the country was willing to confront the real reasons, and not simply go along with the government's scapegoated reasons, it would make no inroads. Given the country’s spiralling unemployment rate, which currently stands at 32.5% from the fourth quarter of 2020, IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa called for local opportunities to be granted to locals.
He added that the past contributions made by Cuba in the fight for South Africa’s democracy cannot be ignored. With government and public sector unions in an impasse over the increase of public servants’ wages, SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande pledged the party’s support against the undermining of collective bargaining rights.