Press Statement Issued by the Cry of the Xcluded, 19 February 2020
Hundreds of people from all across South Africa are traveling in the Caravan of the Xcluded to converge in Cape Town for a Real Jobs Summit before gathering at Parliament to protest on Budget Day. Our message is clear: We Want Jobs, Dignity and Services! We want to make South Africa #WorkForUs.
Our Budget Day protest will be preceded by a Real Job Summit from the 24th to the 25th of February that will present the demands of the Xcluded and adopt a programme of action to fight for Jobs, Services, and Dignity. The participants of the summit will also plan to build a mass campaign for a South Africa that can #WorkForUs under the banner of the Cry of the Xcluded.
The Cry of the Xcluded was recently launched by the Assembly of the Unemployed, SAFTU and AMCU to unite the working class – both employed and unemployed – to fight for the decent life we were promised by our leaders.
The media are invited to cover the Caravan of the Xcluded that departs from the Eastern Cape, KZN, Limpopo, North West, & Gauteng on Friday 21 February, stopping to gather support from South Africa’s forgotten people in towns along the way.
The Xcluded from all over the country will then gather in Bloemfontein for a Rally of the Excluded at 10h00 on Saturday 22 February while en route to Cape Town.
About the Caravan of the Xcluded (21 to 23 February):
As part of this campaign we are going across the nation in the Caravan of the Xcluded to canvas ideas and mobilise support for a programme of action against the suffering and exclusion that this government have promised us. This Caravan represents a call to action, for all the Xcluded of this country to rise against the suffering that has continued post-apartheid. As the Xcluded we are resolute in our belief that to address the plight of the poor majority means shaping an economic development path whose central focus is putting people to work in fixing our crumbling country, and redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor.
The Caravan of the Xcluded will leave Emalahleni on the 21st of February and will carry with it a diverse set of community activists from across Mpumalanga on a 2 Day journey to Cape Town for the Real Jobs Summit. Along this long journey, the caravan will pick up other activists throughout the country. It will also stop at various towns and villages across South Africa and engage with South Africa’s forgotten people, collecting ideas and demands for our Real Jobs Summit.
Media are invited to join the caravan and/or cover our rally in Bloemfontein’s Hoffman Square, Charlotte Maxeke Street at 10h00 on Saturday 22 February, 2020.
About the Real Job Summit (24 & 25 February):
The South African unemployment rate is one of the worst in the world and this hasn’t changed despite the Presidential Jobs Summit in 2019. Since then, more retrenchments have been announced and unemployment has increased.
The Real Jobs Summit will present the Xcluded an opportunity to discuss workable alternatives to the anti-poor ‘growth’ path government has pursued over the years. In effect, the Real Jobs Summit is a platform for the internal and public debate on what kind of actions are needed to get the government and corporations to meet the demands of the working class and marginalised majority.
There are solutions to our problems. The Xcluded, supported by the AIDC, TCOE, Black Sash, and Ndifuna Ukwazi, will show the public how South Africa can #WorkForUs!
About the Budget Day Protest (26 February):
During his State of the Nation address on the 13th of February President Cyril Ramaphosa Stated “two weeks from now, the Minister of Finance will outline a series of measures to reduce spending” . In effect the president has promised as an Austerity budget. While there is reason to question whether Ramaphosa can fulfill the countless empty promises he made in his SONA, one things for sure with Moody’s breathing down their backs this is a promise they will fulfill.
An austerity budget is the worst thing treasury can do to the country. It will mean real reductions in spending on housing, healthcare, water and sanitation, land redistribution, social grants and a whole host of other basic needs.
As a result the Xcluded will meet outside parliament to challenge the neoliberal dogma that will define the budget. We want to build a South Africa that can #WorkForUs
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For Comment:
Pinky Langa (SAGRC) – 078 784 2148
Lebohang Phanyeko (SAFTU) – 076 387 8607
Siziphiwe Dunjana (PCM) – 060 382 2153
Visit www.theXcluded.org.za for more details about the Cry of the Xcluded.
To arrange coverage of any of the above events contact Rekang Jankie from the Xcluded’s Media Liaison team at rekang@aidc.org.za or 0659220746