PRETORIA – Workers who are struggling under the current economic conditions in South Africa need an alternative voice that will be led by those who do not care only about their self-interests and self-gratification, according to Tahir Maepa.
Speaking at the launch of the Public Service and Commercial Union of South Africa (PSCU) at the Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria, Maepa shed light on the dire situation faced by unemployed people in South Africa, as well as those who are made to work under difficult conditions.
Maepa said one of the founding principles of the newly-established trade union is to be an alternative voice for such people and said the union will be led by people who have a clean track record.
“We need an alternative voice – a voice that will understand the pain of the workers, a voice that will rise above greed, a voice that will rise above a need for self-gratification, a voice that will not be led by leaders who only care about their self-interest.”
“Now the issue is that where do you get that voice? How do you guarantee that this organisation will indeed be different
from the rest? The founders who initiated this process are the people who can be able to stand up and say that we are those people because we have been in this business and we have never been accused of ever selling out the interests of workers.”
Tahir Maepa was one of several PSCU office bearers and officials who attended the launch of the Union. Watch the full conference here:
