The working class have been encouraged not to moan but to mobilise to show their disapproval at the skyrocketing prices of essentials and the energy crisis.

This as the trade federations Saftu and Cosatu are leading a national shutdown for today.

It’s being supported by a number of organisations. Among them is the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) which says that the protest action is an important initiative in a country where the socio-economic and political crisis is deepening. There is mass unemployment with close to 13 million people jobless while over half the population need to survive on less than R1335 a month. It says government’s austerity must end, a decent basic income grant of R1500 must be introduced for people between the ages of 18 and 59 years old and decent work needs to be created. It also wants an end to the privatisation of the energy system and Eskom to be fixed.

The AIDC believes that South Africa has enough resources that can be harnessed for an alternative economic policy that prioritises the needs of the people and the planet. It has called for an end to corruption and the looting of the state and the implementation of a progressive net wealth tax.